Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel has bowed to national outrage and issued an apology (just to his employees, so far) for funding an anti-gay Minnesota PAC to the tune of $150,000. Steinhafel's letter says the company "will more closely scrutinize" political donations in the future. Minnesota Forward, the recipient of Target's dough, funneled the money to anti-gay candidate for governor, Tom Emmer. Is this enough to call off the LGBT dogs? We shall see. And no word yet from Best Buy, who made a similar donation.Thursday, August 5, 2010
Via JMG: BREAKING: Target Apologizes For Funding Minnesota Anti-Gay Political Group
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel has bowed to national outrage and issued an apology (just to his employees, so far) for funding an anti-gay Minnesota PAC to the tune of $150,000. Steinhafel's letter says the company "will more closely scrutinize" political donations in the future. Minnesota Forward, the recipient of Target's dough, funneled the money to anti-gay candidate for governor, Tom Emmer. Is this enough to call off the LGBT dogs? We shall see. And no word yet from Best Buy, who made a similar donation.
Via HRC:
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Dear Daniel,
Yesterday, when a California court ruled that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution, the radical-right "National Organization for Marriage" (NOM) immediately went ballistic, saying the case could "strip millions of Americans of our core civil right to vote..." The ruling has fueled a right-wing fire that was already raging: NOM is in the midst of holding anti-equality rallies in 20 cities, and rabidly anti-marriage candidates are making headway – including one who's received major support despite his ties to a group that condoned executing gay people. It all adds up to a right-wing onslaught – groups firing up their activists for a make-or-break election this November and anti-equality candidates bolstered by new sources of funding. And yesterday's court decision kicked it into high gear. This is the next big moment for marriage. To have the strength to fight back, we need to raise $100,000 in the coming week. With your help, we're mounting a major grassroots campaign against the right-wing effort to shift the balance of power – by getting lawmakers elected who support equality, voting out those who don't, and preventing hateful initiatives. But it won't be easy. We face a wave of anti-equality candidates backed by Tea Partiers and front groups. The stakes are enormous, Daniel, and the danger of defeat is real. And that's why we need you in the fold as an HRC member. Can you help? Between yesterday's historic Prop. 8 decision and the recent rebuke of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the right wing is spitting mad. NOM’s leaders have raised the specter of a "culture war" and threatened retribution at the ballot box: "Let me promise you one thing: This is going to light a fire for November." The Family Research Council called an earlier DOMA ruling "an attack on America's moral foundations." When extremists lash out, it's not just about rhetoric. They raise money – a lot of it – off their bare-knuckle tactics. And the right-wing candidates they've gotten on the ballot – people who could stand in the way of marriage equality in states like Minnesota – are also enjoying an unprecedented flow of donations in the wake of relaxed campaign finance rules. To fight back, we're counting on the generous financial support of our members. We need to get grassroots organizers into the field, train and mobilize volunteers, run ads, speak out in the media, and fight the right-wing rhetoric daily. The victories we've earned this year could be short-lived. They could spark a devastating backlash unless we're there to defend and build on them. Thanks in advance for being there when your help is needed most. Warmly,  Joe Solmonese President  This link is specific to you, so please make your own gift before you forward to your friends. Having trouble clicking on the links above? Simply copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar to reach the donation form: https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Donation2?df_id=5543&5543.donation=form1 |
via AFER:
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SACBEE.COM BREAKING NEWS ALERT
Proponents of California's gay marriage ban have formally appealed a federal judge's ruling striking down the voter-approved law. |
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via sacbee:
Gay couples in Sacramento area rejoice over Prop. 8 ruling but have to wait to wed
By Cynthia Hubert
By Cynthia Hubert
Within an hour after a federal judge declared that gay people in California have the right to marry, Wendy Rae Hill gathered her partner, two children and mother and headed to the Sacramento County clerk's office. - Read More
Via o Globo: Juiz derruba proposição que impede casamento gay na Califórnia
Para juiz federal, proposição 8 viola a Constituição norte-americana.
Aprovada há 2 anos por californianos, proposta vetava união homossexual.
Na decisão, o juiz federal Vaughn Walker afirma que a proposição, aprovada por referendo em 2008, é "inconstitucional", já que viola o 14º artigo da Constituição americana, que prevê proteção igual a todos os cidadãos.
Spencer Jones (esq) beija o marido Tyler Barrick após ouvirem decisão em frente à Corte Federal em São Francisco, na Califórnia (Foto: Jeff Chiu / AP)A decisão foi uma resposta à ação impetrada por um casal de lésbicas que questionava a proposta 8, cuja aprovação em novembro de 2008 por 52% dos californianos anulou a decisão da Suprema Corte de Justiça do estado que autorizava os casamentos gays.
Nem os adversários nem os partidários do casamento homossexual acreditam que esta seja a decisão final sobre o caso. Ambos os lados disseram que a decisão deve ser objeto de recurso e, eventualmente, deve acabar na Suprema Corte dos EUA.
Schwarzenegger comemora
Pelo Twitter, o governador da Califórnia, Arnold Schwazenegger, comemorou a decisão do juiz. "Esta decisão confirma as completas proteções legais e as garantias que acredito que todos merecem", postou.
Na declaração completa, publicada no site do governo, o governador diz que o juiz "ouviu em profundidade todos os argumentos de ambos os lados sobre as questões fundamentais do devido processo legal, da igual proteção e da liberdade da discriminação".
Ao mesmo tempo, afirma Schwazenegger, a decisão "fornece uma oportunidade para todos os californianos para considerar a nossa história de liderar o caminho para o futuro, e nossa crescente reputação de tratar todas as pessoas e suas relações com igual respeito e dignidade."
*(Com informações da Reuters, France Presse e EFE)
via tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com
A federal judge in California has ruled that Prop 8 -- the voter initiative that banned gay marriage -- is unconstitutional, CNN and NYT are reporting. Supporters of Prop 8 (that is, opponents of gay marriage) have already promised to...
Via MSN
- California Gay Marriage Ban Overturned A federal judge's decision to overturn voter-approved Proposition 8 is likely to be appealed.
- Mormon church regrets ruling
- Video: Ruling likely not last word on Proposition 8
This from a great former student in Fairbanks:
Btw: woopie here in California! We are still married!
Well - honestly folks will always be married.
End of story there. Enough folks will keep standing
up for what is simply right. Not special, not different, just right.
I believe with every fiber of my being that the force of good is
much more powerful than the force of evil.
The cretins will never 'get it'.
But it is cause for the happy dance that it is still legal - HOORAY and CONGRATS
for sadly - another teeny tiny step in the right direction.
Dang, I cannot even imagine as to how frustrating and - gadzooks - even ANGERING
- that is. It just shouldn't be.
Just as no human being can be illegal.
Love cannot be legislated.
It is just stupid.
Ah, but I am prolly just 'preaching to the choir'.
hugs
cbs
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Via Belirco: Our Constitution Is a Living, Breathing Document
Reading the words of Judge Walker moves me deeply. Once again, our constitution is a living, breathing document, and today it protects our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, just as it should protect all people and peoples when the government treats them unequally because of who they are.
Our community should take great pride in this ruling--all of us. For while the ruling is the direct result of a wise judge and a skilled legal team, the conditions that enabled this ruling are the result of the brave, courageous, and hard work of so, so many, in California and elsewhere. Equal protection and due process are abstract legal concepts until we, individually and collectively, bring them to life. Only nine years ago, in 2001, when I first got involved in the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts, there were many--including a large number in our own community--who argued that asserting the right to marry would hurt our cause dramatically, even leading to the reversal of the most basic civil rights laws protecting our community.
But those fears did not prevail because same-sex couples and LGBT individuals--and those who love and care about them--knew what was right, and stood up and made strong, brave and compelling cases for their own love and dignity. It's not that they weren't afraid--many who I knew, in Massachusetts, California and elsewhere--were frightened about speaking out authentically about their lives. But they did it anyway, because they knew of its fundamental importance. And not one person that I know regretted afterwards having done so
Continue reading "Our Constitution Is a Living, Breathing Document" »
Our community should take great pride in this ruling--all of us. For while the ruling is the direct result of a wise judge and a skilled legal team, the conditions that enabled this ruling are the result of the brave, courageous, and hard work of so, so many, in California and elsewhere. Equal protection and due process are abstract legal concepts until we, individually and collectively, bring them to life. Only nine years ago, in 2001, when I first got involved in the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts, there were many--including a large number in our own community--who argued that asserting the right to marry would hurt our cause dramatically, even leading to the reversal of the most basic civil rights laws protecting our community.
But those fears did not prevail because same-sex couples and LGBT individuals--and those who love and care about them--knew what was right, and stood up and made strong, brave and compelling cases for their own love and dignity. It's not that they weren't afraid--many who I knew, in Massachusetts, California and elsewhere--were frightened about speaking out authentically about their lives. But they did it anyway, because they knew of its fundamental importance. And not one person that I know regretted afterwards having done so
Continue reading "Our Constitution Is a Living, Breathing Document" »
Via Belirico: Good Riddance Prop 8
Well, it's official: Proposition 8 is history - hopefully, for good. Today, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and violates the United States Constitution's 
guarantees of due process and equal protection of the laws. The ruling is a tour de force--a grand slam on every count.
The court held that Prop 8 violates the fundamental right to marry and discriminates on the basis of both sex and sexual orientation in violation of the equal protection clause. The court held that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation must be subject to the highest level of constitutional review, but that Prop 8 would fail even the lowest test, because it is based solely on moral disapproval of gay people. The court made detailed findings of fact about all of the evidence presented and the credibility of the witnesses.
This is without a doubt a game-changing ruling. Today's decision is the most comprehensive, detailed decision addressing the constitutional rights of same-sex couples to affirmative recognition and support ever to be issued by a federal court. There are many "money quotes" in the decision but among them:
Continue reading "Good Riddance Prop 8" »
guarantees of due process and equal protection of the laws. The ruling is a tour de force--a grand slam on every count. The court held that Prop 8 violates the fundamental right to marry and discriminates on the basis of both sex and sexual orientation in violation of the equal protection clause. The court held that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation must be subject to the highest level of constitutional review, but that Prop 8 would fail even the lowest test, because it is based solely on moral disapproval of gay people. The court made detailed findings of fact about all of the evidence presented and the credibility of the witnesses.
This is without a doubt a game-changing ruling. Today's decision is the most comprehensive, detailed decision addressing the constitutional rights of same-sex couples to affirmative recognition and support ever to be issued by a federal court. There are many "money quotes" in the decision but among them:
Continue reading "Good Riddance Prop 8" »
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