09-12-2019, 02:02 PM
Aldurian Conservatives March Against Government's "Assault on the Family"
PUNTA SANTIAGO, ALDURIA -- More than 100,000 conservative Aldurians marched through Punta Santiago yesterday accusing both President Campos and Prime Minister Velez' coalition government of “family-phobia” for the legalization of same-sex marriage, legalization of marijuana, and advancing an agenda that they say harms families and the country.
The marchers, expressing growing frustration with the government, denounced the government's direction and urged the President and Prime Minister to reverse course and to put a "family-centric" agenda at its center.
Most demonstrators were middle-class families, some pushing little children in prams, posing no apparent risk of violent confrontation with the police.
One protester, Martine Chevrier, said: “Mr. Campos doesn’t listen to us or want to talk to us, and Mr. Velez will do everything and anything to push us to the side and disregard that this is a young nation and that our future depends on healthy and growing Aldurian families. Legalizing pot and throwing away the sanctity of marriage is the last thing we should be doing.”
Although Alduria legalized same-sex marriage and marijuana, a subset of mostly religious social conservatives of Alexandrian and Caputian descent have been challenging these rights, and now are mobilizing in favor of a more “traditional” view of marriage, gender, and parenthood. The Euran Destiny Party and Zurvanites have also opposed these new rights vehemently. Some activists say that both movements are simply fighting to place human dignity at the center of Aldurian politics.
“We have a clear message to the President and to the Prime Minister, we just want it to be heard,” said Michel Gonzalez, also marching in the capital. “It’s the defense of children and the family.”
The union of religious social conservatives of Alexandrian and Caputian descent with a grassroots Zurvanite movement may be surprising to some. But according to political scientist and historian Dr. Mark Lilla, it’s part of the emergence of a new conservative movement in a political landscape that is heavily fractured among party lines. "You'd think these groups would be incompatible, but we're seeing a growing trend in Aldurian politics where people are signaling a willingness to consolidate the fractured political landscape and create larger movements focused on shared goals," said Dr. Lilla. "Whether these have staying power is another matter."
Critics warn that social conservatives’ views are racist, homophobic, and sexist. The vision of a more “traditional” society centered around the nuclear, heterosexual family is also at odds with the views of many Aldurian people, mainly those of Alexandrian and Caputian descent. But that doesn’t mean this new social conservative movement should be deemed irrelevant.
For one, their next big fight is coming. In an effort to capitalize on the movement, the National-Liberal Alliance has prepared a bill for Opposition Week that requires that the bathrooms a person uses are determined by his or her biological gender at birth. LGBT and liberal groups have decried these laws as discriminatory against transgendered persons, while conservative groups have voiced support for these laws as protecting privacy rights.
The marchers, expressing growing frustration with the government, denounced the government's direction and urged the President and Prime Minister to reverse course and to put a "family-centric" agenda at its center.
Most demonstrators were middle-class families, some pushing little children in prams, posing no apparent risk of violent confrontation with the police.
One protester, Martine Chevrier, said: “Mr. Campos doesn’t listen to us or want to talk to us, and Mr. Velez will do everything and anything to push us to the side and disregard that this is a young nation and that our future depends on healthy and growing Aldurian families. Legalizing pot and throwing away the sanctity of marriage is the last thing we should be doing.”
Although Alduria legalized same-sex marriage and marijuana, a subset of mostly religious social conservatives of Alexandrian and Caputian descent have been challenging these rights, and now are mobilizing in favor of a more “traditional” view of marriage, gender, and parenthood. The Euran Destiny Party and Zurvanites have also opposed these new rights vehemently. Some activists say that both movements are simply fighting to place human dignity at the center of Aldurian politics.
“We have a clear message to the President and to the Prime Minister, we just want it to be heard,” said Michel Gonzalez, also marching in the capital. “It’s the defense of children and the family.”
The union of religious social conservatives of Alexandrian and Caputian descent with a grassroots Zurvanite movement may be surprising to some. But according to political scientist and historian Dr. Mark Lilla, it’s part of the emergence of a new conservative movement in a political landscape that is heavily fractured among party lines. "You'd think these groups would be incompatible, but we're seeing a growing trend in Aldurian politics where people are signaling a willingness to consolidate the fractured political landscape and create larger movements focused on shared goals," said Dr. Lilla. "Whether these have staying power is another matter."
Critics warn that social conservatives’ views are racist, homophobic, and sexist. The vision of a more “traditional” society centered around the nuclear, heterosexual family is also at odds with the views of many Aldurian people, mainly those of Alexandrian and Caputian descent. But that doesn’t mean this new social conservative movement should be deemed irrelevant.
For one, their next big fight is coming. In an effort to capitalize on the movement, the National-Liberal Alliance has prepared a bill for Opposition Week that requires that the bathrooms a person uses are determined by his or her biological gender at birth. LGBT and liberal groups have decried these laws as discriminatory against transgendered persons, while conservative groups have voiced support for these laws as protecting privacy rights.