Arizona Anti-Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment

Yesterday, eleven Arizona Senators voted against Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1042 effectively killing it - for now. This is the resolution that would put the anti-gay marriage amendment to Arizona's Constitution on the ballot in November.

According to Equality Arizona, SCR 1042 failed to pass by a vote of 14-11, with 5 members not voting on final read. It needed 16 yes votes to pass. Openly-gay Senators Paula Aboud (D-28) and Ken Cheuvront (D-15), along with longtime ally Senator Caroline Allen (R-8), stood strong as leaders to defeat this bill.

While the bill failed to pass yesterday, it could be brought back up for another vote because a majority of Senators on the floor at the time supported a motion to reconsider by Senator Linda Gray (R-10)

In its email announcement, Equality Arizona said that the motion to reconsider "...is one more desperate attempt to activate the extremists within these Senators' districts. This is truly divisive politics. Arizonans should be outraged at this abuse of the Legislative process by a handful of legislators who are pandering to the likes of Cathi Herrod and the Center for Arizona Policy, a subdivision of national extremist political groups."

If you live in Arizona, please take a few minutes to either email, phone or fax your state Senator and urge them to vote NO if SCR 1042 is brought back for another vote.

To find who your State Senator is for your district go to: Arizona State Legislature

Arizona Senate Can't Send Anti-Marriage Amendment To Ballot

According to an email I just got from Equality Arizona, the Arizona Senate failed, by two votes, to send the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment to November's ballot.

The email announcement said, in part:

Eleven Senators today voted against Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1042 on the Senate floor after a desperate maneuver by Senate Republicans to force a vote on the measure. While the bill failed to pass today, it could be brought back up because a motion to reconsider was approved.

I will have more on this in the am.

Ohio Teacher Burns Cross Into Arms of Several Students

An eighth-grade science teacher at a Mount Vernon, Ohio school used a science tool known as a high frequency generator to burn images of a cross on several students' arms.

John Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district for 21 years, told investigators that he was simply trying to demonstrate the device on three to eight students and described the images as an "X," not a cross. Pictures however show the images clearly depict a cross, the report said.

Although Mr. Freshwater seems to be liked by many of the students, the cross burning incident has greatly upset the families of the student victims.

The Mount Vernon News reported that they had received a fax from attorney Jessica Philemond of the law firm Isaac, Brant, Ledman & Teetor, who issued a statement from her clients, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of their child being retaliated against.

The fax stated, “We are religious people, but we were offended when Mr. Freshwater burned a cross onto the arm of our child. This was done in science class in December 2007, where an electric shock machine was used to burn our child. The burn was severe enough that our child awoke that night with severe pain, and the cross remained there for several weeks. ... We have tried to keep this a private matter and hesitate to tell the whole story to the media for fear that we will be retaliated against.”

This is not the first incident John Freshwater has been admonished for. He has also taught the unreliability of carbon dating in support of opposition to evolution, told his classes that homosexuality is a sin, refused to remove a bible prominently displayed on his classroom desk in violation of school rules and has conducted prayers and engaged in a healing session in his capacity as as monitor for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes which is a non-school sponsored religious club that federal law prohibits school employees from actively participating in.

Late last Friday, the Mount Vernon school board voted 5-0 to move ahead on firing John Freshwater after an investigation showed he preached his Christian beliefs in class and did, in fact, burn the image of a cross on students' arms.

News Sources: Yahoo News and Mount Vernon News