Following yesterday's U.N. General Assembly vote to recognize and condemn killings based on sexual orientation - a reference that had been stripped in an earlier vote and was subsequently championed by, among others, the United States - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement praising the 93-55 vote and reaffirming that "killing people because they are gay is not culturally defensible - it is criminal."
This week, Republicans in the Senate successfully showed their collective contempt for our men and women in uniform and in the process they made our military weaker and our country less safe.
Led by John McCain -- the upper chamber's cranky uncle -- Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on gay men and lesbians openly serving in the military.
If McCain's comments after the repeal effort failed are any indication, members of the Grand Old tea Party fail to grasp the finer details of the policy or how it has been implemented. Worse still, they are defiant in their ignorance.
If you didn't see Freedom to Marry's introductory post this morning on their summer tour, you can read it here.-Adam
Earlier this week, Freedom to Marry teamed up with local and state equality groups to launch Summer for Marriage, a cross-country series of events about the importance of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. The tour also counters the anti-gay bus tour being sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). NOM is headed by Brian Brown who recently called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex couples from marrying.
The first stop on the equality tour was in Augusta, Maine. Marriage supporters were joined by Gov. John Baldacci who called the marriage movement "It was one of the most passionate, committed causes that I've been a part of, and proud to be a part of." Gov. Baldacci signed the marriage bill into law in 2009 that was overturned by votes in a ballot fight partially financed by NOM. Adam provided great on-the-ground coverage of the Maine ballot campaign here.
A coalition of groups led by Equality Maine is working together to win back marriage for gay and lesbian couples. The coalition held a press conference on Wednesday attended by rough 100 marriage supporters and featuring same-sex couples and elected officials who support marriage equality.
Pleased to announce Freedom to Marry will be blogging on OpenLeft for the next month from their tour across the country -Adam
Last month the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM), has announced it's "Summer for Marriage 2010 Tour" which will feature a series of "one man, one woman" rallies promoting the exclusion of gay and lesbian couples from marriage. NOM was one of the forces behind the passage of Prop 8 which stripped away marriage from gay couples in California.
In NOM's call to discrimination, they declared "this is an urgent time for marriage," that "a strong marriage...makes a strong family," and that "groups of these strong families make strong neighborhoods" and "strong towns, cities, and states." We at Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples nationwide, couldn't agree more, that's why we are teaming up with local, state, and national equality groups on a series of pro-marriage events across the country in July and August.
We're honored to partner with OpenLeft to provide on-the-ground coverage of our tour over the next month or so. Also called "Summer for Marriage", the pro-equality tour will have events in 16 states and the District of Columbia. We'll have video, photos and all the action from the ground as we and committed same-sex couples from around the country confront the right-wing.
The FOX TV series Glee broke new ground this week, and it's not because they had a Lady Gaga episode. As any viewer who watches the show would know, that idea was just painfully predictable. No, the highlight of the episode (which can be viewed here) was when Kurt's father - played by Mike O'Malley - stood up to Finn for using the word "faggy." Watched by over 11 million viewers, you can't help choking up at the scene - and wish that every gay teen had a Dad like Burt Hummell. But for a show about a high school choir that is popular in the LGBT community, there is much more Glee can do to move hearts and minds. Kurt has a tough time growing up in Lima, Ohio - beaten up at school by the jocks, while coping with his own identity. It raises the question: why do we never meet Rachel's "two gay Dads," and wouldn't they be terrific role models for Kurt?
I was originally writing something up on the conservative response to Lt. Dan Choi's arrest when I wrote this sentence: "If conservatives want us to stop equating their homophobia to the racism that the civil rights movement experienced, they should stop using the same talking points." I decided to write the following instead of a typical conservatives-freak-out-at-liberal-activism post.
Let us play a game. I am going to give you a quote about the bigotry of the armed forces. I will redact all names, dates, and any words along the lines of "homosexual", "gay", "sexual orientation", "black", "negro", "race." You try to guess what kind of bigot these perfectly rational arguments came from, homophobic or racist! Sounds fun, right?
This week in a San Francisco Federal District Court, a legal odd couple will be on display. Attorney David Boies, who represented Al Gore before the U.S. Supreme Court in the infamous 2000 case ofBush v. Gore, and conservative attorney Ted Olson, who represented George W. Bush, are joining forces to overturn California's Proposition 8. It will be their contention that the initiative passed by voters in 2008 banning same-sex marriage in the Golden State violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, singles out gays and lesbians for a disfavored legal status, and discriminates on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
Regardless of which side prevails, experts agree the case is likely to be appealed all the way to the highest court in the land.
Originally posted at Sum of Change, with lots more pictures available here
Over the weekend, you probably heard about tens of thousands of people standing up for LGBT rights at the Equality March in Washington, DC. It got some decent coverage, mostly on C-SPAN, but for the most part, the MSM really missed the scene. They missed the personal stories attached to this event. Our own Laura Gilbert was there to speak with the protesters.
On Monday, August 3rd, there was a candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting at a support group meeting for LGBT youth at the Agudah LGBT community center headquarters in Tel Aviv. Hundreds of people gathered in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC at sunset. You can download the event press release in pdf format.
When Ellen Tauscher announced she was headed for the State Department it seemed there would be no shortage of Democrats running to replace her in this safe district, including California's Lt. Gov, John Garamendi, who ducked out of the race for governor when he got no traction and decided not to contest Republican held CA-03. Recently though, CNN's Campbell Brown (bleck!) interviewed a candidate I hadn't heard anything about until now, and after watching the clip I walked away impressed.
The theme of equality was central to our nation’s founding, with the declaration that “all men are created equal.” Our country’s history has witnessed the gradual evolution of that core principle from a ruling class that countenanced slavery and subordination toward an egalitarian vision that embraces the inherent equality of all people. We fought a civil war in part to give life to this proposition. It is embodied in our Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under law, and in the other Civil War amendments. And epic social movements of the past two centuries have moved our country, in fits and starts, further still toward the reality of truly equal opportunity. As Abraham Lincoln said of the Founders’ vision:
“They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.”
It's because of this rich history that recent happenings in Nevada and California are so discouraging. First, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, this week Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons vetoed a law that would give domestic partners similar rights and benefits to those enjoyed by Nevada married couples.
In a statement (PDF) released by the Governor, he writes: "My disapproval of this bill should not be taken to suggest that domestic partners are in any way undeserving of rights and protections." But this is a canard. As Justice Carlos Moreno, the sole dissenter in this week's California Supreme Court ruling, said:
"Granting same-sex couples all of the rights enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, except the right to call their officially recognized and protected family relationship a marriage, still denies them equal treatment."
He continued to say the ruling "places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities."
Granting gay couples anything but the ability to marriage is fundamentally separate and unequal. These actions in California and Nevada are a troubling trend and particularly discouraging in light of the recent advances in gay rights in so many other states.
As some of you may know, Greg Harris again passed a bill that would allow civil unions in the state of Illinois. His attempt last year was side-swiped by Blago's impeachment trial at the end of the legislative season which delayed the vote.
Apparently, the different now is that according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) , the Mormon Church is bringing their anti-gay crusade to Illinois
The e-mail, sent to at least one LDS ward in Illinois, was authorized by Bishop Chris Church, of the Nauvoo, Illinois 3rd Ward, and was sent out by that website's ward administrator. The messaging in the e-mail carries many of the same bigoted lies that were hallmarks of the LDS Church's campaign in support of Proposition 8 in California and Proposition 102 in Arizona. The e-mail misleads citizens in Illinois by blatantly misstating that the civil unions legislation would "empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise." It goes on to issue this incendiary and inaccurate warning - "it will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores." The e-mail was uncovered by BoxTurtleBulletin.com, a website that tracks and monitors anti-gay rhetoric.
Greg Harris himself sees the national implications such a bill will have and the mounting opposition from outside groups
Our opponents now see passage of civil union legislation in Illinois as a very real threat. Some of the forces that came in from out of state to defeat Proposition 8 in California are now beginning to turn their attention to our State.
Advocates in Illinois are now gearing up for a statewide campaign with national implications for this legislation as the United States turns its attention to Illinois on the issues of equality and fairness.
I am asking that for those of you who take same-sex liberties seriously, as I do, to please track the progress of HB2234. Please contact state representatives so they know where you stand, and help counter-balance those voices which oppose basic same-sex couple equality.
While I'm fairly certain we will win this battle, I'm not willing to watch a good bill slip away, again.
Amidst all of the discussion about how the Republican Party is searching for a way out of the wilderness, the sheer scope of the Republican deficit is often missed. Currently, Republicans face a far more severe electoral problem than Democrats faced four years ago. Consider the following:
Republicans equally popular as Republican boogeymen: With a favorable rating hovering just on the south side of 40%, Republicans are currently about as favorable as most of their favorite boogeymen used to scare voters. Republicans are currently viewed about as favorably as legalizing marijuana, gay marriage, Communist China, and increasing the current level of immigration. All of these right-wing scare tactics--increasing immigration, legal drugs, gay marriage, Communist superpowers--hover around the same 40% favorable rating as Republicans themselves. Among voters under 45, Republicans lose pretty solidly to most, if not all, of these boogeyman. If you are only as popular as the ideas you try to scare voters with, and if long-term trends suggest that it won't be long before the boogeymen you use will actually be more popular than you are, then it is really, really hard to see a way back for your party.
Demographic trends point in the wrong direction for Republicans. This has been a favorite subject of mine for a while, as I wrote in Maybe It Is A Battle Of Civilizations, Towards a Pluralist Strategy, and The End of Bubba Dominance. The simple fact is that Democratic voting groups, mainly non-whites and non-Christians, but also union voters and the LGBT community--are actually growing in size. For example, when projected ethnic population growth (PDF), and is applied to current ethnic voting patterns, if the 2008 election had been held in 2020, Obama would have defeated McCain by 9.8%, a 2.5% increase from the 2008 margin of 7.3%. That doesn't even factor in what will inevitably be a large non-Christian and LGBT vote, two groups that vote for Democrats at nearly the same rate as non-whites. The point is that if Republican popularity stagnates among current demographic groups, overall Republican popularity will actually decline. They have to improve just to maintain their current level of unpopularity.
(more great anti-Republican numbers in the extended entry)
At 10 am central time this morning, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Varnum v Brien, a case in which six couples are challenging Iowa's law declaring that "Only a marriage between a male and female is valid." Polk County has appealed a district judge's ruling last year that the statute is unconstitutional. Last night jpmassar published a good overview of the legal issues underlying Judge Robert Hanson's ruling as well as the county's defense of the statute.
If you like, you can watch a livestream of the oral arguments at the Iowa Supreme Court's website as well as at several other media sites. You can download pdf files of the district court ruling and the briefs submitted to the Iowa Supreme Court on appeal here.
My focus in this diary is not the legal arguments, but the political case that will need to be made for marriage equality once the Supreme Court has ruled on Varnum v Brien several months from now. Follow me after the jump for more.
Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson has an interesting article on the campaign against Proposition eight in California, and what they did wrong. What's interesting about the post-mortems, though widely known, is how little scrutiny the anti-prop 8 leaders have actually gotten. Dickinson's article is useful to a point in that he got five people to go on the record with what the group did wrong, but most of his piece is framed by sniping from anonymous top level Democratic consultants and strategists towards the (mostly) unnamed leadership of the No on Proposition 8 forces.
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