Oooh, Peguins!

[thefemnazi]

Check this out!

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4352011/

And for those that were curious like me, the adopted penguin is named Tango.

[Gwyn]

Penguins arn't God fearing, that's why they accept same-sex commitments ;p
*cowers from thrown fruit from religious zelots*

The whole article is pretty funny tho.
"I'll admit it, I had gone to Central Park in hopes of seeing some hot gay penguin sex" (who dosn't love hot gay penguin sex? buy my DVD!)

[Xepher]

This was on the daily show a few months back. As always, they had a pretty funny take on it, while still getting a good point across.

[Ashley_Rose]

I loves the Daily Show. Jon Stewart, thou art a hottie.

[Lei]

Woot! Daily Show! Who can forget the bomb sniffing Toucans?

[Aetre]

i am so very sorry to have to do this, but such is life when you use an outdated source.

http://gcc.savvior.com/Silo_Rains_on_the_Penguin_Pride_Parade.php

NOTE: i am entirely aware that the site linked above is an extremely biased website. i just googled "ron silo penguin" and this is what came up as the second link.

[Gwyn]

Silo, you WHORE!

[Xepher]

Heheh... definitely a biased source, but then again, what isn't these days, especially when it comes to op-ed pieces. I do agree with one part though, taking cues from animals for our behavior is just stupid. I mean, apes are our closest relatives, yet I don't think we should be throwing feces at each other. But maybe that does explain something about politics... :-)

[thefemnazi]

they broke up?  but they were so cute together!  Now I'm depressed.

[Tangle]

The problem with saying that "they broke up" is that it anthropomorphizes these penguins, and gives them human motivations for their actions.  You can't point to a gay penguin couple and say "oh look, honey, see how they love each other and are committed to each other."  The connotations of "committment" and "family" have completely different meaning for humans than they do for penguins, or any other animals, for that matter.  The gay rights activists may have been right about pointing to the penguins as an example of a biological basis for homosexuality across the animal kingdom, but that's not the issue.  We want gay people to be treated as people, not animals.  We have to decide what is right and wrong on a human, moral level.  

The activists are just hurting their case by trying to use the penguins to prove that gay couples can raise a happy family.  Not just because one of them ran off with some other penguin from California, but because this animal family is not a human family in the deeper sense of the word.  If you're trying to say that gay couples can commit and can raise perfectly well-adjusted children, the place to look for examples of this is in the real world, not some penguin fantasy land.  

Sorry.  I just get a little irritated when people go all "squee" over this stupid penguin pair rather than, you know, going out and actually supporting some gay people.  By like *gasp* voting!  Or donating to advocacy organizations!  Or campaigning!

[Databits]

I've never really honestly cared either way. I'm not for it, I'm not against it, I just don't care. So long as other males don't start hitting up on me, I'm fine.

[dragyn]

I'm gonna' have to go with Databits on this one...

[Ashley_Rose]

The problem with saying that "they broke up" is that it anthropomorphizes these penguins, and gives them human motivations for their actions.  You can't point to a gay penguin couple and say "oh look, honey, see how they love each other and are committed to each other."  The connotations of "committment" and "family" have completely different meaning for humans than they do for penguins, or any other animals, for that matter.  The gay rights activists may have been right about pointing to the penguins as an example of a biological basis for homosexuality across the animal kingdom, but that's not the issue.  We want gay people to be treated as people, not animals.  We have to decide what is right and wrong on a human, moral level.  

The activists are just hurting their case by trying to use the penguins to prove that gay couples can raise a happy family.  Not just because one of them ran off with some other penguin from California, but because this animal family is not a human family in the deeper sense of the word.  If you're trying to say that gay couples can commit and can raise perfectly well-adjusted children, the place to look for examples of this is in the real world, not some penguin fantasy land.  

Sorry.  I just get a little irritated when people go all "squee" over this stupid penguin pair rather than, you know, going out and actually supporting some gay people.  By like *gasp* voting!  Or donating to advocacy organizations!  Or campaigning!

*wanders over and humps your leg for a moment, then wanders off*

[thefemnazi]

Sorry.  I just get a little irritated when people go all "squee" over this stupid penguin pair rather than, you know, going out and actually supporting some gay people.  By like *gasp* voting!  Or donating to advocacy organizations!  Or campaigning!

I liked that they were together because I thought it was cute.  And I'm not saying that activists should or shouldn't use these or any oher homosexual animal couple for ANYTHING except to throw the arguement "It doesn't happen in nature" out the window.  And I feel that this statement is telling me that I'm stupid to like the penguins, or that I can't find them fun and interesting if I'm also politically involved.  I mean, ask me about my family life, seriously.

[Aetre]

no, fem. there are many, many problems with this whole situation being used to prove anything--even that "it doesn't occur in nature" is false. one, a zoo is not a natural habitat. two, a single relationship is an abnormality, not a normality. three, this breed of penguin is known to pick a "partner" for life, and this relationship clearly did not last a penguin's lifetime, and it therefore cannot legitimately be compared to heterosexual partnerships within the same species.

look, i don't trust many people on this issue, so regardless what anyone says, i'm gonna remain skeptical on it. i don't trust a pro-gay group yelling that they know everything about science (before anything has been proven) any more than i trust some idiotic bible thumper saying science is work of the devil. just because you read the bible and go to church does not suddenly make you an expert in biology or psychology. likewise, just being gay or just liberal does not make your wishful thinking about what genes you'd like to exist magically come true. the text on your avatar, specifically the word, "proving," is exactly the type of stuff that makes conservatives look at liberals and see nothing but sophomoric arrogance in an argument where the liberal platform is flimsy at best.

if you want reasonable discussion on the issues, you're going to have to start by reaching out to opponents instead of getting in their face about how you're-right-they're-wrong.

--rant over.