Labels: AFA, Alzheimer's, CA Supreme Court, California, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Proposition 8
reposted from Joe
A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
After indicating to the Des Moines Register that he will compete in next year's Iowa caucus should he decide to seek office, Trump was questioned on his stance concerning same sex marriages. "They should not be able to marry," the Celebrity Apprentice star asserted. Trump also admitted that he hasn't developed a "fully formed" opinion on extending medical and civil benefits to gay couples, but he added: "As of this moment, I would say no and no." The TV personality has suggested that he will announce his final decision on whether to launch a presidential bid in the coming months.GOProud will be so pleased.
So, just like any other despot, Obama decided unilaterally to make the decision for all of us ignorant Americans who support DOMA, and we should be grateful. Shame on him. And shame on us if we just stand by silently and take it. We should not! We must speak out. Truthfully, we have been too silent for far too long. President Obama and Mr. Holder have been actively working against DOMA and, therefore, against all Americans ever since they took office. Even on the cases where they decided to “defend” DOMA, they were actually undermining its reasoning by abandoning the most effective arguments.
DOJ’s mission statement says it is “...to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” But President Obama and the attorney general have made a mockery of impartiality. They have chosen to side with an extreme, liberal minority and chose to suppress the rights of the majority of Americans. Simply put, if you support DOMA, this president and his administration view you as the enemy who does not deserve the same protections other Americans enjoy. We are on our own.
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This year, several potential presidential candidates are vying for attention among religious conservatives. But only Gingrich was instrumental in the most heralded event of recent Christian political activism: The effort last fall to remove the Iowa judges. "It wouldn't have happened without Newt," said David Lane, executive director of Iowa for Freedom, the organization that led the campaign. "Newt provided strategic advice and arranged the initial seed money, about $200,000, which is what got everything started." The money came from an anonymous donor whose contribution was arranged by Gingrich, Lane said. Robert L. Vander Plaats, chief spokesman for the judicial campaign, said the former speaker provided key strategic advice. He said Gingrich had won over pastors in the state with his "open and transparent" approach.Newt Gingrich would like to remind everybody that that marriage is between one man and one woman whom you abandon riddled with cancer on her hospital bed while you fuck the shit out of your mistress whom you later marry and cheat on with a third woman while screaming with Godly moral outrage about the infidelities of the president.
Modern conceptions of homosexuality began, ironically, with an anti-sodomy law. When the German empire was unified in 1871, the Imperial Criminal Code included a law prohibiting sexual penetration of one man by another. Questions about what types of activity should fall under the law spurred a sustained public inquiry into the nature of same-sex eroticism and sexuality in general. [snip] This new view of same-sex love was pioneered by German doctors who published early case studies of homosexuals in the 1850s. German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing released the first edition of his hugely influential Psychopathia Sexualis in 1886, which included multiple case studies of homosexuals that supported this new position. Through his work, Krafft-Ebing became a vocal opponent of the German anti-sodomy law, stating that homosexuality "should not be viewed as a psychic depravity or even sickness."Beachy claims the world's first gay rights group, the Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee (Scientific-Humanitarian Committee) came into being at that time to gather petition signatures to repeal the anti-sodomy law. His book, The German Invention Of Homosexuality, is due out next year.
We must repeal this discriminatory law. There is no reason same-sex couples should be denied the same rights that my husband and I and so many other straight Americans enjoy. For me it comes down to the very simple principles that every American should be able to marry the person they love, and that discrimination against LGBT Americans is unconstitutional and wrong. The law as it currently stands denies federal benefits to thousands of legally married couples -- more than 1,100 federal rights and privileges enjoyed by straight couples, including hospital visitation, inheritance and some health care benefits. It discourages states from recognizing these legal marriages and it denies millions more Americans the right to marry the person they love. This is wrong.Gillibrand has also pledged to cosponsor Feinstein's coming repeal bill.
“I stand by [Boehner’s] commitment to make that happen,” Cantor (R-Va.) said Monday afternoon at a press conference, promising to outline their plans in detail Friday. Cantor said the Justice Department’s refusal to defend the law is a problem separate from the substance of the law itself, which allows states to decide whether to recognize same-sex unions in other states. The Justice Department has called another provision, that bars same-sex couples from receiving federal-worker benefits, unconstitutional. “Again I do believe that this is a case that is distinguishable on its merits and to have the administration take the position, the president take the position, that he’s not defending the law of the land, is something very troubling I think to most members of the House,” Cantor said. When pressed on what House Republicans planned to do, he demurred. “I think you’ll see that on Friday,” Cantor said.Yesterday House Speaker John Boehner told the Christian Broadcast Network that he may appoint a special House counsel to defend DOMA, a move suggested to him by former GOP Sen. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum.
Attorney General Harris said it is unlikely that an appeal will succeed in overturning Judge Walker's ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. The appeal's likelihood of success has been substantially diminished, Attorney General Harris said, "both by the United States Attorney General's conclusion that classifications based on sexual orientation cannot survive constitutional scrutiny and by this Court's certification order to the California Supreme Court, which seriously questions the Court's jurisdiction to decide the merits of the case."Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also filed a brief today with the same request.
In addition, Attorney General Harris said, "there is no injury that the proponents of Proposition 8 will suffer if same-sex couples are permitted to enter into civil marriages in California." But as long as the stay on same-sex marriages remains in effect, Attorney General Harris said, the due process and equal protection rights of same-sex couples will continue to be violated, perpetuating unconstitutional discrimination and making a stay of Judge Walker's ruling legally inappropriate.
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Dear Daniel, This week, we’re filing an amicus curiae letter to the Supreme Court of the State of California asking them to speed it up. We’re taking this step because couples are literally getting sick and dying while the Court is dragging its feet, and we’ve had it. When the Court announced that it would look into the question sent to them by the Ninth Circuit regarding whether Prop 8 proponents had standing, they announced a schedule that would have the oral argument in “late September 2011.” That isn’t good enough. Help us show the California Supreme Court what happens when they drag their feet. Can you co-sign our amicus curiae letter to the California Supreme Court? In the letter, we describe some of the heartbreaking stories of over 400 Courage Campaign members who wrote in to tell us how they are impacted by these delays. Stories like those of Derence Kernek, who wants to marry his partner of over forty years before Alzheimer’s robs his partner, Ed, of the ability to even recognize Derence. Four months really could mean the difference between getting a chance to marry and a lifetime of regrets. Throughout the trial process, the federal courts have moved along with breakneck speed, but now the California Supreme Court is slamming on the brakes. For so many Californians, this could have devastating consequences. Tell the California Supreme Court: Marriage can't wait! Please co-sign to our letter to the California Supreme Court and forward it on to five of your friends. www.couragecampaign.org/NoMore We need the Court to see how painful any additional delay could be for so many Californians. Thank you for your continued commitment to equality. Sincerely, Rick Jacobs Founder and Chair, Courage Campaign P.S. To see additional stories, and to provide your own, check out our newest project we’re launching this coming month, Testimony: Take a Stand. |