LGBT News Chris Christie to sign bill banning gay conversion therapy.

Finally. This medieval practice needs to go away. Rest of the world, follow suit!

 

Interesting that the media has latched on to his seemingly supportive comments being against his faith. He could easily "clarify" and tell people what he really meant to say was, "It is not sinful to be attracted to the same sex. It's only sinful when you act on it." He's gotta pander to the base if he wants to make it through the primaries.

 

This is interesting because whatever his religious beliefs are, they are quite irrelevant when it comes to doing his job, considering the whole separation of Church and State thing.

 

I'm sure he'd also like a remote chance at the end game, though. Pick your poison.

 

Surprising from Christie but still happy to hear this. For once Mr. Christie: bravo.

 

I am starting to like Christie more and more. He's almost everything I like in a candidate.

I really hope ultra conservatives/the Tea Party don't derail Christie's chances of winning the GOP nomination because he'd have an excellent shot to win in the general election.

He's easily the most electable Republican right now.

 

Well he's not stupid. He's always struck me as a decent man.

Even if he is Republican.

 

so you are born gay, but I, chris christie, am still going to fight to ensure that though you cant help but be gay, you are still a second class citizens because I am unconstitutionally deciding that my religious belief trumps the constitution, and I will use it to illegally justify denying you marriage rights, even though you did not make a choice to be gay.

 

^ Tell that to Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, Bryan Fischer and Mitt Romney.

 

It would be sad if he were pandering to the GOP base to win the primaries, since they will never support him in the primaries no matter what he does.

 

I was excited to read this article. Unfortunately the comments on yahoo were mostly negative. A lot of haters out there. Still, it's a step in the right direction.

 

I wouldn't be surprised.

But the problem Christie will have is shifting far to the right to get through primaries, and then attempting to move back to the middle again for the general election. Though every politician has to move to the right or left to survive primaries and then move back to the middle, it's really going to be scrutinized for Christie.

The Tea Party and many hardcore conservatives are incapable of critical thinking and don't realize that forcing Christie to take absolutist, far right wing policies will never appeal to a general electorate. Democrats will win again in 2016 if hardcore conservatives make Christie pander to them like they forced Mitt Romney to do last year.

However, as I said previously, if Christie gets through the Republican primaries, he could definitely beat Hillary, and probably would defeat anyone else behind Clinton.

 

Good for him.

Though apparently a group is already filing acase against the ban.

 

Wouldn't his right wing extremist pandering come back and bite him in the ass with moderates? And wouldn't he need to keep up with it, else risk alienating him from his core voters in the presidential election?

 

That's not even a little bit true. There is nothing psychologically wrong with conservatives or tea partiers, you just don't understand the differences in our moral thinking. Prof. Jonathan Haidt now of NYU talks about this distinction in his book The Righteous Mind, and in this excellent TED Talk.

Christie has not been pandering to the right. His high-profile spat with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) indicates to me that he's taking a decidedly moderate, anti-tea party tack. That's why you see Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and yours truly declaring themselves members of "Team Paul" over "Team Christie."

Christie is okay with marriage equality provided it is passed via referendum like it was in Washington state, Maine, and Maryland. Honestly, I think Democrats in New Jersey are being unreasonably obstinate by demanding that "civil-rights matters shouldn’t be left to popular opinion." As if somehow marriage equality enacted by a vote of the elected legislature is somehow more noble than marriage equality enacted by a vote of the people themselves. We would win at the polls there if Democrats would allow the vote, support for marriage equality in New Jersey is over 60% (link).

 

In that case he has no chance at getting the republican nomination.

A state should give all its citizens equal rights by default. Also, it's of no business to heterosexuals if gay people marry each other or not. I'd feel personally insulted if such a thing would be ever put to a vote, and I'd have to beg people to treat me as a human being. Christie ultimately doesn't consider gays to be anything other than second class citizens, and is using the tired old "let the people decide", probably joping for a prop 8 situation (which thankfully was overruled). No, it's not "the people's" right to decide this.