Blender Herb passed on this horror of a news story.  To set the stage, over 200 people showed up to speak before New Hampshire’s Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to the measure, with 94 signing up to give their testimony in favor of it. [The first to come before the committee, incidentally, was New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson – the first openly gay bishop.]

But one of the people stepping up represents the father from hell for a gay child.  Former state senator Gary Francouer was one of many who showed up  to speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is how the Nashua Telegraph covered it:

Former Sen. Gary Francoeur, a social conservative from Hudson, returned to Concord to give sob-filled testimony in which he revealed his second oldest of four daughters is a lesbian.

“I am proud of each one of them, and I love each one of them very deeply. I have a great relationship with them. But my heart aches today as I watch the consequences of the sin in their lives,” Francoeur, a Republican, said while choking back tears.

“Each one of my children has been taught to know what is right and what is wrong. My second daughter wasn’t born gay. She chooses to be one. We live a life of choices. Each choice has a consequence: some good and some bad.”

…”This issue has been settled by God thousands of times,” as shown in the Bible, he said. “If this lifestyle was a sin then, then it is a sin today.”

This is a sad man — he would rather his daughter be a second-class citizen than accept that she is gay. Herb:

Francouer is a total ass.  Thank God he’s no longer in the Senate.  We got rid of him a couple of years ago.  He had a lot of power a couple of years back under the last Rep governor.  Our Town of Hudson has been home to two Senate Presidents and a majority leader over the last ten years.  Up until this year all 11 of our Reps and 1 Senator were all Republican.  Now there are a couple of Dems.  It must be the water.  I’m safe – I drink bottled water.

As bad as Francoeur was, he wasn’t alone spewing bible-based bigotry. Read in disbelief at some of the testimony at this hearing. The fundies really crawled out of the woodwork on this one.

“This is not the type of family structure to teach or promote to our children and future generations.”
— Rob Eifler of Chichester

“The bottom line is it’s marriage and it’s being pushed down people’s throats.”
— Rep. Alfred Baldasaro, R-Londonderry

“If we deviate from the truth of what God’s word says, we as a nation are in trouble. God’s word is the only truth that we have.”
— Rev. Garry Hamilton, pastor at First Assembly of God in Manchester

“That it is your responsibility, each one of you, to lead the people of New Hampshire in the righteous path. How you vote on this legislation shows your understanding or lack of righteousness.”
— Francoeur to the committee, after thanking Hamilton for explaining “the truth of the scriptures”

“The first marriage in the history of mankind was ordained by God, and it was between one man and one woman…there’s a difference between religion, which is manmade, and Christianity, which is a relationship with Jesus Christ, the son of God, with God through his son. That’s a fact.”
— Rep. Dan Dumaine (R), bleating away about Christosupremacy. Two of the five committee members are Jewish.

“Just because somebody can pick and choose out of the Bible what they want to read and disregard what else they want to read doesn’t make them a Christian.”
— Dumaine, going for bonus points