Lawmaker who thinks gays a threat to children crashes boat into children

[Ichingcarpenter]

A homophobic Maryland lawmaker has admitted to being drunk when he accidentally crashed his boat into a boat full of children.

Maryland delegate Don H. Dwyer Jr was drinking with another man on his boat on the Magothy River in Pasadena around 7pm when his boat struck a smaller vessel with five children on board.Four of the children were injured with one, a five year old girl, taken by helicopter to Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Two adults on the boat were unharmed.The smash was so severe that Dwyer’s boat sunk in the river.Dwyer later admitted to having a blood alcohol level of 0.2 – twice the legal limit.


Dwyer, a Tea Party Republican, has in the past suggested that homosexuals were a threat to children and that same-sex marriage would lead to homosexuality being taught in schools.

Dwyer has previously attempted to ban same-sex marriage in Maryland by attaching an amendment to a bill on marriage license fees and sought the sacking or impeachment of public officials who have made decisions that were supportive of same-sex couples having the right to marry.

Earlier this year Dwyer supported a ballot measure to strip lawmakers of their office when found guilty of serious crimes which Maryland voters will decide on in November.

If Dwyer is found to have committed an offense and the ballot initiative is successful he may find himself out of office under the law.


http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/lawmaker-who-thinks-gays-threat-children-crashes-boat-children240812?utm_source=New+email+sign-ups&utm_campaign=5a2c6f4264-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

[Turbineguy]

1. For the USCG the limit is 0.04

He was 5 times over the limit.

[Brother Buzz]

33. Maybe for a commercial licence, but for recreational watercraft it's still .08

The Federal Government's statutes and regulations regarding Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limits related to Operators of Recreational Watercraft specify a 0.08 per se rule for all Federal waterways except "within the geographical boundaries of any State that has established" a separate and different BAC limit. In those cases, "… a standard established by State statute … is applicable to the operation of any recreational vessel on waters within the geographical boundaries of the State."

[xchrom]

2. du rec. Nt

[Hells Liberal]

3. He was on the boat with another man, eh?

Let me guess, their wives and kids weren't with them.

He sounds like another right-wing, heavily closeted homophobe. He was probably too busy practicing his "wide stance" to notice he was about to kill those kids.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. See, that's a right wing meme in itself, one that good people reject...

Your theory that he could not be heterosexual AND a rotten rat fink so that he MUST be closeted is just so fucked up, so old and tired, that few on DU will accept such bigoted and backward crap.
I mean, let's be specific. What about him 'sounds' as if he's really gay? You claim he sounds like another of them. What elements in this story preclude his heterosexuality?

[BlueToTheBone]

10. He's a hypocritical republican?

[behrstar]

11. ummmm

Lets start with his obsession with homosexuality. Nasty perv can't stop thinking about what I do with my husband in the privacy of our own home (And he's jealous). And then (nothing to do with homosexuality) he offers prayers and asks for forgiveness. Nice touch.

[TBF]

13. Oh yes they will accept it -

"A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Sat Aug 25, 2012, 09:02 AM, and voted 2-4 to LEAVE IT ALONE"

I won't take it to Meta because I really hate that forum, but this kind of stuff goes on every day at this website and various stealth trolls get away with it.

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. It was a bad call... I hope the poster removes or edits it

on his own.

[chervilant]

20. As is the same situation

with sexism. Apparently, it's okay to be sexist, as long as it is directed toward Republican women...

[TBF]

28. Yes - that is true as well. nt

[Loudestlib]

22. Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay

"In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/homophobic-maybe-youre-gay.html?ref=opinion

[yardwork]

18. Because two straight men have never gone out on a boat drinking together.

[Stinky The Clown]

23. That's quite a leap in conclusions

How does two men being on a small, cabinless runabout boat on a normally crowded, narrow, highly visible waterway imply they are gay?

Yes, there are many self loathing, self-denying, probably closeted gay people. Nothing in this story points to that. The man is what he appears to be - a right wing bigot and hater. He may be more, but nothing in this story - and certainly nothing in the fact you cite - points to his being gay.

Welcome to DU.

[Hells Liberal]

29. It's no more a leap in conclusions

than the way repubs assume President Obama is not really American or that I and all my fellow liberals, progressives and Democrats are all Communists, or that we're using climate change as an excuse to bring down American business.

When the repubs decide to act like civilized people and debate in an honest fashion, I'll return the courtesy. But if they're going to cast aspersions, then they better be ready when we offer our speculations on their behaviors.

Besides, it's not like there aren't any precedents for homophobic repubs to turn out to be closeted, self-loathing gays. (Sarcasm).

[madinmaryland]

27. The passenger was John E. Moran IV, a former police officer who narrowly lost an election for

Anne Arundel County Sheriff in 2006.

Just because two men are on a boat together, doesn't mean they are gay.

[Hells Liberal]

34. I don't know if they were gay or not.

I'll admit, I'm just speculating. But they are a couple of right-wing homophobes and those people tend to be self-loathing closet cases.

Which means I have more to base my speculation on that the birthers do for their aspersions.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. The irony is almost ferromagnetic.

We celebrate the facts that the kids were ok
And
That his boat sank.

[rocktivity]

14. And that

...(e)arlier this year Dwyer supported a ballot measure to strip lawmakers of their office when found guilty of serious crimes which Maryland voters will decide on in November.

If Dwyer is found to have committed an offense and the ballot initiative is successful he may find himself out of office under the law.

rocktivity

[yardwork]

19. Are the kids ok? The article says that one was air-lifted by helicopter to Johns Hopkins.

[LiberalEsto]

31. Unfortunately the 5-year-old has a fractured skull

Let's all hope she recovers quickly and completely

[Ilsa]

5. Was he arrested for Boating While Intoxicated?

Alot of states treat drunken boat drivers as severely as drunken auto driving. He should be arrested and charged with a felony, especially since those kids were hurt.

I didn't see it in the article.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Maybe his church helped him make bail

but you are right.... HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED
if we did that we would have been.

[xtraxritical]

17. I'm sure he was arrested, nobody gets away with running down children while drunk, I hope.

[midnight]

8. I wonder how mixing alcohol and a motor boat accident will not be found an offense... I suppose if

a Republican does it, it is a human error that is being politically prosecuted...

[mwooldri]

9. So, his boat sank. Big f'n deal. The kids - I hope they are all OK.

Johns Hopkins is a brilliant hospital - I hope the girl gets on the mend soon. If Mr. Dwyer identifies as being "pro life", his actions were certainly not promoting and preserving life.

Intoxicated people are far more dangerous to children than sober ones. Sexual or gender identity has absolutely nothing to do with it. There is a reason why alcoholic beverages are advertised as "please drink responsibly".

Mr. Dwyer Jr. needs to man up and take some responsibility for this. A resignation may be in order here... he got the ballot initiative onto the ballot, he supports it, and since he has committed a serious crime, he needs to be held up to his own standards, no matter what the election in November brings.

[Auntie Bush]

12. Wouldn't that be nice? Fingers crossed!

[zbdent]

15. Well, he's safe ... they weren't fetuses ...

so he's not "attempting murder" ....

Right?

[Ilsa]

21. I went to a different article:

""The cause of the collision is still under investigation," Albert said. "A number of investigators are on a fact-finding mission.""

And:

""Pending the analysis, DNR police will determine what charges — if any — will be filed, Albert said.

"We're in no hurry to expedite the investigation," Albert said. "It takes a long time to reconstruct an accident that occurs on the water, we have both vessels and we don't think any of the parties are going anywhere.""

[mike dub]

24. Glad the kids weren't seriously hurt and Hopkins is a great institution...

And the kids and their parents, & Dwyer and passenger are lucky both boats were shut down after the accident (Dwyer's is down permanently) and that apparently no one was ejected into the water.

My friends were powerboating when they were broadsided by a powerboat pulling a waterskier (driver looking rearward to observe skier and drive at same time). One of my friends was ejected from the helm of his boat into the water, sending his boat into a "death spiral": engine at 3/4 throttle and wheel hard-over, and boat and propeller making concentric circles in the water.

As my friend's boat inched closer to him, helpless in the water, the driver of the boat that hit my friend's boat purposely collided into my friend's boat Again, to knock its churning propeller away from my friend bobbing in the water. The waterskier was down in the water too, and in peril as well.

So many things can go way wrong with people drinking (or in just driving distracted) and then operating a boat.

[Did I Just Type This]

25. I am assuming at least one may have been seriously hurt.

Last time i checked, the emergency crews don't make it a habit of air lifting people with minor injuries.

[LiberalEsto]

32. The 5-year-old has a skull fracture nt

[louis-t]

26. Karma.......

He should "find himself out of office" whether the law passes or not.

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. he can look forward to lots of lawsuits from the parents. no sympathy for a hate monger

glad no one died from his drunkedness