Supreme Court Case Update - DOMA/Prop 8 Briefs Streaming In
Some updates on the amicus briefs streaming into the court. The Huffington Post takes a look at the amicus briefs submitted by 14 states:
“There is no federal interest adequate to justify DOMA’s categorical disregard of the choice of some States to recognize or authorize same-sex marriage,” the brief states, adding that DOMA’s “sweeping refusal to recognize for federal purposes a class of marriages valid under state law violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. The federal Defense of Marriage Act clearly violates the principle of equal justice under law as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and improperly intrudes on the traditional role of states in regulating marriage and promoting equality. We urge the Supreme Court to overturn this discriminatory law,” Schneiderman said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post.
Over at Queerty, John Gallagher pooh-pooh’s the much ballyhooed GOP brief on Prop 8:
In fact, it means very little. Despite the MSM trumpeting the signees as “prominent,” they are by and large political has-beens, never-beens or behind-the-sceners who have virtually zero influence on the current Republican party. It’s hard to describe such luminaries as the mayor of Melrose, MA, and the former Undersecretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs as political supernovas without laughing out loud.
He explains why:
Let’s not kid ourselves: these people have very little influence in the fever swamps that constitute the GOP today. As Charles Pierce at Esquire put it, “Christine Todd Whitman is an influential Republican? Since when? You might as well be talking about William Seward.”
And finally, the Mountain Xpress reports that the Campaign for Southern Equality has also joined an amicus brief against DOMA/Prop 8:
Add a commentAmong its arguments, the brief asks the Supreme Court to extend the fundamental right to marry to gay and lesbian Americans, including those who live in Southern states where constitutional bans on marriage equality are in place. Using the case study of Utah laws, the brief speaks to the experience of lesbian and gay Americans in a majority of states – including the entire South – where systems of entrenched legal discrimination treat LGBT people as second-class citizens.
Germany, California Considering Tax Fairness for Same Sex Couples
There’s movement both in Germany and in California to bring more fairness to the tax system for same sex couples, Dot429 reports:
Germany’s conservative government has become the latest administration to consider tax reform that would grant same-sex couples the same tax perks as heterosexual couples. This marks a dramatic policy shift for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party following their December congress where a proposal of tax equality was rejected. This apparent shift in policy from Chancellor Angela Merkel demonstrates the growing momentum around Europe for equalizing tax laws. The move from Merkel is an indication that this issue is gaining broad support and would extend the CDU’s appeal ahead of Germany’s September election.
Add a commentCalifornia’s Assembly Bill 362 aims to bring fairness to a situation whereby health benefits received by one same-sex partner from the other are taxed by the federal government as income. Then, when companies reimburse this tax to employees, the state taxes this reimbursement. The legislation, if passed, would provide a state tax exemption and would cover persons in a same-sex relationship who work for public entities or for private sector companies who opt in.
Newsom, Frum, Reagan on Marriage Equality
A few more marriage equality loose ends to wrap up for the morning.
Marriage equality hero Gavin Newsom speaks out on the surprising progress same sex marriage has made since 2003, as On Top Magazine reports:
“It’s extraordinary to see that progress,” Newsom said in reference to increasing Republican support on the issue. “I’m all for incrementalism in some ways but not when it comes to fundamental human rights, civil rights. And we have to be as bold as the problem is big. To deny people the ability to live their lives out loud and to fall in love and express that love and devotion and faith to one another was something that upset me. And I just didn’t like the timid nature of my party on it.”
Also at On Top Magazine, Ron Reagan, son of the former President, had this to say about GOP opposition to marriage equality:
“It’s not just that they are hateful towards gay people, it’s that they are ridiculous about this issue,” Reagan told host Chris Matthews. “Now you can be hated and people still respect you in some way, shape or form. But when you’re absurd, when you’re ridiculous about this kind of issue, you lack all credibility.”
And finally, David Frum talks about why he signed the GOP amicus brief for marriage equality, at The Daily Beast:
“As a conservative concerned with stabilizing families to rely less on government aid, I have been convinced: I’ve been worrying about the wrong thing. Stopping same-sex marriages does nothing to support families battered by economic adversity. Instead, it excludes and punishes people who seek only to live as conservatives would urge them to live. Treating same-sex partnerships differently from husband-wife marriages only serves to divide and antagonize those who ought to be working together.”
As we’ve often observed here, things are moving quickly.
A few more marriage equality loose ends to wrap up for the morning.
Marriage equality hero Gavin Newsom speaks out on the surprising progress same sex marriage has made since 2003, as On Top Magazine reports:
Add a comment“It’s extraordinary to see that progress,” Newsom said in reference to increasing Republican support on the issue. “I’m all for incrementalism in some ways but not when it comes to fundamental human rights, civil rights. And we have to be as bold as the problem is big. To deny people the ability to live their lives out loud and to fall in love and express that love and devotion and faith to one another was something that upset me. And I just didn’t like the timid nature of my party on it.”
Obama administration urges Supreme Court to strike down Prop. 8
California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriages in the state, should be overturned, the Obama administration plans to tell the Supreme Court.
An administration official confirmed that the Justice Department will file a brief in the case today. Officials would not discuss the legal arguments the brief would contain.
The decision to enter the case comes despite the president’s past position that marriage rights should be a state matter. In recent weeks, however, Obama increasingly has referred to same-sex marriage as an issue of civil rights.
Other administration officials have taken the same stance. In a television interview to be aired next week, for example, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said that he saw marriage equality as “really the latest civil-rights issue.”
“It is the question of whether or not American citizens are going to be treated with equal protection of the laws,” Holder said in the interview with ABC News.
TIMELINE: Gay marriage through the years
Add a commentNOM Head Gripes that HRC Stole His Logo
National Organization for Marriage head Brian Brown is up in arms about the new logo HRC created for the Respect for Marriage Coalition.
“Because I designed NOM’s logo personally, I find this to be an insulting mockery, as well as very ironic: you see, I created this image to reflect the difference between men and women symbolically. The red ring represents men and the blue represents, women. The intertwining of the rings is meant to show that marriage is the unique union of both a woman and a man coming together in committed love. As for what it means for HRC, though, I can’t imagine.”
Joe.My.God takes him to task:
Hate group leader Brian Brown, who stole an Obama rally photo and pretended it was NOM rally, who stole my original video from my YouTube channel and posted it to their own, and who stole a photo from the 1963 March On Washington to use in their artwork to promote their hate march on the Supreme Court.
Black pot, meet kettle.
Add a commentMurder of Mississippi's first gay candidate for mayor
A man is in custody today after Mississippi's first openly gay mayoral candidate was found murdered and his body dumped alongside a river.
Lawrence Reed, 22, of Clarksdale is reportedly being held as a person of interest but has not been charged, sources said.
Rising political star Marco McMillian, 34, was found dead on the Mississippi River levee at around 9am on Tuesday. Reed was allegedly driving McMillian's SUV when it was involved in a head-on crash around that time.
The relationship between the two men is unclear. An autopsy report on McMillian's cause of death is expected later today.
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Marriage Equality Opponents Make New Claim to Supreme Court, Plan Rally Outside Hearing
Some interesting news from the Los Angeles Times:
Marriage should be limited to unions of a man and a woman because they alone can “produce unplanned and unintended offspring,” opponents of gay marriage have told the Supreme Court. By contrast, when same-sex couples decide to have children, “substantial advance planning is required,” said Paul D. Clement, a lawyer for House Republicans.
This is a new spin on “only straight couples can have kids, and seems intended to sidestep the inevitable comeback – what about infertile couples? What about the elderly?
It’s noteworthy, too, that this strategy emphasizes carelessness, when we’re always being told about the sacred responsibilities of marriage and family.
In other DOMA/Prop 8 News, NOM has announced a rally for the day of the Prop 8 hearing. From Joe.my.God:
Dear Joe, Thank you for your interest in the March for Marriage on March 26, 2013! When the Supreme Court convenes to hear oral arguments in what could be the Roe v. Wade of marriage, we’ll be there — and we hope you’ll be there with us! We are working hard to finalize all of the plans for this exciting event, and will let you know very soon all the details of the schedule. Again, we’re honored by your support and hope that you can show up in person to stand with us on March 26th for what we pray will be an unprecedented outpouring of support for society’s most fundamental and sacred institution: marriage between a man and a woman. Together, we’ll stand before the Supreme Court and make sure our voices are heard that we will not allow the dismantling of marriage by Judicial fiat to happen on our watch! Thank you for your willingness to stand with us. Gratefully, Brian S Brown.
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The State of Our Unions: Why Obama didn't mention Gay Marriage in the SOTU
I was thinking about Obama mentioning gay marriage in the State of the Union. Of course, the thing is, that he didn’t mention it. He skated around the issue noncommittally, instead talking about equality, regardless of “what you look like or who you love.” The SOTU is the ultimate bully pulpit, giving the opportunity to stand strong on matters of principle and matters of conscience. Considering to status of DOMA in the Supreme Court, with the matter thoroughly out of his hands, POTUS has little to lose by re-establishing the position of the Administration. Frankly, his limp, post-facto support for gay marriage never included any indication of the steps that would be taken to make real progress. That dearth of progress is a shallow reward for the efforts of a community which had so galvanized itself in Obama’s support.
His nod to the LGBT community in the SOTU was only just barely that. He never used the word gay, and his only commitment to changing our lives only counts if we’re in uniform. One would never begrudge our brave service people the (relatively minor) expansion of benefits for same-sex couples, but they aren’t the only people who urgently need change. The Federal Government is the country’s largest employer, and doesn’t extend any health benefits to gay couples; now would be a perfect moment to include rights for same-sex couples in comprehensive immigration reform. Obama needs to stop worrying about what the GOP and the very thirsty Marco Rubio have to say. I think that’s the larger point: we’re into the second term – there are no real political consequences for the President for leading the nation, and standing up for his beliefs and stepping just left of center. I was hoping for some change this time around – weren’t you? What we were given instead is some watered down language from an ambivalent administration, and a long shot at the judicial overturn of DOMA – frankly no real progress from the President on gay rights.
Jared Bieschke is a certified Project Manager, etiquette specialist and calligrapher. He also owns J. Bieschke Events in Washington, DC, specializing in same-sex weddings and other life events. You can see more advice, ideas and “tips of the trade” on his website, www.jbieschkeeventsetc.com, Tumblr, Twitter and Pinterest.
Jared and his partner divide their time between Rehoboth Beach and Washington, DC.
Suze Orman Speaks Out on Marriage Equality
Out financial advisor Suze Orman spoke out on CNN yesterday about marriage equality, demanding full federal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships. Towleroad.com reports:
“How would all the heterosexual couples feel who are married if all of a sudden the wife or the husband knew that upon the death of one of them if they have a certain size estate they’re going to lose up to possibly half of that estate? They wouldn’t stand for it.”
Go Suze go!
Add a commentSaturday: Expression Not Suppression
Expression Not Suppression (ENS) is a Fresno-based annual conference for LGBTQ youth and straight allies who are dedicated to creating safer schools and building the GSA movement in the Central Valley. ENS is youth-planned and youth-led.
Are you a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or straight ally youth? Want more tools to make YOUR school safer and defeat bullying?
Join us at ENS on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at The Big Red Church in Fresno for a day of powerful workshops, insightful speakers, an LGBTQ Resource Fair, and a youth dance!
WHAT: Every year, ENS brings together more than 100 LGBTQ youth activists and straight allies from around the Central Valley who are dedicated to creating safe schools and defeating homophobia and transphobia in the Central Valley.
WHEN: Saturday, February 23rd, 2013, 9:00am to 9:00pm
WHERE: Big Red Church of Fresno
2131 N Van Ness Blvd.
Fresno, CA 93704
WHO: We encourage high school and middle school students, teachers, school administrators, parents, GSA advisors and organizations working in support of LGBTQ youth, to join us and learn about youth activism, leadership and how to make our Central Valley schools safer for all!
YOUTH - Click HERE to register!
ADULTS - Click HERE to register!
In order to participate, you must also download, sign, and bring this form to ENS. Youth under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the form.
Anti Gay Groups Repeating Lies That Gays Already Have Full Marriage Equality
The Illinois Family Institute, a designated hate group, is joining the chorus of conservatives claiming that gays and lesbians already have equality under the law. Unlike the National Organization for Marriage and Family Research Council, IFI is a bit more candid about how exactly it sees this vision of “equality”:
First, those who choose to place their same-sex attraction at the center of their identity are “treated like anyone else under the law.” They are perfectly free to participate in the sexually complementary institution of marriage. They choose not to. They are not asking to be treated equally. They are demanding to be treated specially. They want the unilateral right to jettison the central defining feature of marriage (i.e. sexual complementarity) — something, by the way, that polygamists, polyamorists, “minor-attracted persons,” and sibling-lovers are not permitted to do.
See the Full Story at Think Progress
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Video: Same sex couples request marriage licenses in Fresno
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The Kinsey Sicks - America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet
Guaranteed night of laughter and fun!
With a phenomenal performance record that includes an Off-Broadway show, an extended run in Vegas, two feature films, seven albums and appearances throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, the Kinsey Sicks hardly need an introduction. For over 16 years America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet has served up a feast of music and comedy to audiences at performing arts centers, music venues and comedy festivals in every kind of town you can imagine, in over 40 states! Their award-winning a cappella singing, sharp satire and over-the-top drag have earned the Kinsey Sicks a diverse and devoted following.
Educational panel after the show.
Purchase advanced tickets at the University Student Union Information Center.
$5- Fresno State Students with valid student ID
$10 - General Public
For mature audiences.
Tickets at the door:
$7 - Fresno State Student with valid student ID
$12 - General Public
* CASH ONLY at the door
Parking Enforced - $3
Sponsored by USU Productions and Fresno State United Student Pride
Add a commentAnti Equality Group Running Out of Money
According to Reuters, Protect Marriage ran a huge shortfall in 2011:
ProtectMarriage.com, the advocacy group defending a California gay marriage ban now under review by the high court, showed a $2 million deficit in its legal fund at the end of 2011 – the third year in a row that expenses exceeded donations, federal tax records show.
Not only that, but they’re $700K short in their fundraising for the US Supreme Court cases:
The 2012 accounts are not yet available. ProtectMarriage.com says it has since covered the 2011 shortfall. However, it is still $700,000 short in fundraising for its Supreme Court costs, according to a ProtectMarriage.com attorney, Andrew Pugno. That message has gone out to donors, with some urgency, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in March in its first thorough review of same-sex marriage.
Where are the Knights of Columbus when you need them?
Add a commentChick-fil-A's Anti Gay Stance Didn't Hurt Business; No Anti-Gay Donations in 2011?
According to the Hollywood Gossip, Chick-fil-A, in the midst of the controversy over the company’s anti-gay policies, sales actually grew:
The company ended 2012 with $4.6 billion in sales, up 14 percent from $4.1 billion a year earlier, and it opened 96 news stores, four more than 2011. The company does not have to publicize its finances because it is privately owned, but made those figures available to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In related news, Pink News reports that the company’s tax returns show no donations to anti -gay groups in 2011:
A gay rights advocacy group has said that, according to its most recent tax documents, Chick-fil-A has ceased giving money to groups opposed to equal marriage and gay rights. According to gay rights group Campus Pride, the 2011 IRS 990 filings for Chick-fil-A’s charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, shows no sign that they had funded anti-gay groups.
So mixed news… and they keep popping up in new places – at least two new ones here in Sacramento in the last few months.
Add a commentThe Family Research Council Files DOMA, Prop 8 Briefs
Joe.my.God is reporting that the FRC has now filed its brief with the US Supreme Court on the DOMA case. One spurious claim – DOMA did not intend to discriminate against gays:
Even assuming, for purposes of disparate impact analysis, that sexual orientation is to be treated in the same manner as race or gender and subject to heightened scrutiny, neither plaintiff nor the Government has cited any evidence that even remotely supports the conclusion that in enacting § 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, Congress, as opposed to certain individual members thereof, had the intent or purpose to discriminate against homosexuals who wish to marry someone of the same sex, rather than the mere knowledge that § 3 could have a disparate impact on them.
Yes, congres was just full of christlove that day… extra points for recognizing the reference. 
Joe also reports on FRC’s Prop 8 brief, and guess what? Same (il)logic applies here:
Even assuming, for purposes of disparate impact analysis, that sexual orientation is to be treated in the same manner as race or gender and subject to heightened scrutiny, plaintiffs have cited no competent evidence that even remotely supports the conclusion that in adopting Proposition 8, the People of California had the intent or purpose to discriminate against homosexuals who wish to marry someone of the same sex, as opposed to the knowledge that Proposition 8 could have a disparate impact on them.
So the FRC has given the Supreme Court a convenient way out – just rule that there actually is no animus here. Will they see through this ploy? Do they want to? We’ll see in June or July…
In related news, AmericaBlog reports that President Obama’s own past statements on marriage equality have come back to bite him (and us) in one of the amicus briefs supporting Prop 8:
On page 27, they quote Obama acknowledging in an interview last year that many people “feel very strongly” about preserving the traditional definition of marriage because they “care about families.” And on page 60, they quote Obama disclaiming any desire to “nationalize the issue” of gay marriage — in effect claiming Obama as their ally in the argument that Prop 8 should not be struck down.
Which just rachets up the pressure a little more for the White House to file their own amicus brief agains Prop 8 and DOMA.
Add a commentNew Supreme Court Amicus Briefs Filed in DOMA/Prop 8 Cases, Rally Updates
The Mormon Church is once again inserting itself into the fight over marriage equality, filing an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court urging the court to uphold DOMA. On Top Magazine reports:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) is urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8, California’s 2008 voter-approved gay marriage ban. The Supreme Court will hear 2 cases in March challenging the constitutionality of each statute. Lawyers for the LDS Church drafted the briefs on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Romanian-American Evangelical Alliance of North America, Truth in Action Ministries and the Mormon Church.
African American “Bishop” Harry Jackson has also filed a brief advising the court to uphold DOMA, Joe.My.God says:
Jackson’s SCOTUS brief mostly treads his tired “don’t compare your sin to my skin” tropes. “At the heart of these arguments is the assertion that California’s expansive domestic partnership law, providing vast rights for same-sex couples, is a modern-day Jim Crow law. But comparing California’s choice of family institutions to the dehumanizing Jim Crow era is a logical fallacy. Such an assertion not only misunderstands the history and effect of the Jim Crow era but also disrespects those African Americans that lived through the era and those still struggling with its scars today. Quite simply, there is no comparison.”
This line always infuriates me. As someone who has always had the utmost respect for the civil rights struggles of African Americans, it is crazy to me that some in this minority seek to slam the door shut behind them, instead of working with us to improve things for all minorities.
Joe.My.God also reports that NOM is using an old march on Washington photo to promote their rally at the Supreme Court next month – a rally that was organized by a gay man:
Add a commentJeremy Hooper writes: “Important reminder: March 26 is not only the first day of SCOTUS hearings and the day that NOM plans to march against us–it’s also the one year anniversary of us all learning their stated intent to ‘drive a wedge between gays and blacks’ in order to ‘provoke the gay base.’
"I Trust The Constitution"
“I trust the Constitution,” Edie Windsor told BuzzFeed reporter Chris Geidner in an interview for his recent profile of the 83-year-old whose lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act will be heard by the Supreme Court this March. “Sometimes there’s a mistake, but mostly we move forward. I think we’re going to win just because I think justice will prevail. Is that crazy?”
Edie Windsor’s faith in the Constitution is well-placed, I think, and a sign of how long-term her thinking about the marriage equality issue is: In the end it isn’t really the Supreme Court or even one specific case that will determine whether LGBT Americans are provided with full equality; it is the Constitution, a document that holds within it the possibility of future equality even if the generations before ours would never have read it that way. To borrow an idea from the great Walt Whitman, the U.S. Constitution contains multitudes.
But this is 2013, not some unspecified and more enlightened year of the future, and the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked this March what the Constitution has to say about Proposition 8, the Defense of Marriage Act and marriage equality in general.
Full Story at The Huffington Post
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Reparative therapy: ‘It is shocking that we are still shocking people!
It is shocking that we are still shocking people!
Forty years ago, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association announced that homosexuality was not a mental illness. “Conversion or Reparative therapy” has been rejected by the World Health Organization, the American Psychological Association and almost every other professional therapeutic group in America to date.
When a medication is harmful, we pull it off the market, yet we allow a so-called therapeutic practice that we know is harmful to be used on minors. There is something very wrong here.
Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance, Calif.) sponsored California’s Senate Bill 1172 that was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last year. The law would officially ban California Licensed Mental Health Professionals from practicing “reparative therapy,” which attempts to change the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of a minor.
There are dreadful consequences for children who are often subjected to these practices at the insistence of misled parents who either do not know any better or do not believe that the practices are harmful.
While this law is certainly a step in the right direction, it is weak in that it only covers state-licensed therapists. Many clergy, “ex-gay groups,” and other untrained and unlicensed counselors sell snake oil to parents who unknowingly subject their LGBTQ children to dangerous treatment that is unnecessary and not effective.
Sexual orientation change efforts cause serious health risks, including depression, social withdrawal, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide. So, why do we allow state licensed, trained mental health professionals to practice an unsafe treatment for a disorder that does not exist? Add a comment
Read more: Reparative therapy: ‘It is shocking that we are still shocking people!
'Ex-Gay' Writer and Advocate Caught on Grindr
A man who has written about and advocated using religion to stop same-sex attraction was discovered to be using the gay hookup app Grindr.
Christian Post blogger Matt Moore was first spotted on Grindr by Huffington Post blogger Zinnia Jones, who received a tip from a reader of her page atFreethought Blogs. Moore eventually confirmed that it was his profile.
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Anti Gay GOP Activist Admits Republicans Have Lost War on Marriage Equality
Prominent anti-gay advocate Gary Bauer admitted on Wednesday that his party cannot keep up with the change in public opinion on marriage equality, according to an interview with the conservative religious organization LifeSiteNews.
Bauer, a former president of the Family Research Council who remains influential in certain evaneglical and Republican circles, ran a super PAC during the 2012 election that attacked President Obama on his support for marriage equality. While Bauer suggested after the election that then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have won over critical minority voters by attacking LGBT rights, he’s now admitting that he was mistaken:
“The coalition in favor of normal marriage has been made up of political conservatives and American minority groups, including Hispanics and blacks. But the president’s so-called ‘evolution’ on this issue has resulted in what appears to be a major shift among blacks and Hispanics toward favoring same-sex marriage.”
See the Full Story at Think Progress
Add a commentConservative Christians - It's OK to Evolve on Marriage Equality
In less than 24 hours after his appointment was announced, it was discovered that the Georgia megachurch pastor chosen to give the benediction at President Obama’s second inauguration preached antigay sermons over a decade ago. The Reverend Louie Giglio took quite a public lashing from progressives around the country and was quickly replaced by the Reverend Luis Leon, a D.C. Episcopal priest who, along with his 1.9 million-member denomination, supports same-sex unions.
The controversy has sparked a more fundamental discussion: Are antigay beliefs welcome in the public square?
The short answer is no, but this is not a wholesale rejection of Christian beliefs, or even “traditional evangelical beliefs.” At first glance, it may seem superficial to criticize Giglio based on a sermon he preached over a decade ago. Even the president of the United States has “evolved” on LGBT equality in the past year. But Giglio has given no indication that his views have changed.
Authored By Joseph Ward – See the Full Story at The Advocate
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How Will Chief Justice Roberts Rule In Marriage Equality Cases?
Gay marriage may well be the defining social and legal issue of our time. After receiving the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, President Obama delivered a monumental speech in which he became the first President in history to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address. In unveiling an unmistakably progressive agenda, he proclaimed that, “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
Much has been written about the ideological divide between Obama and the Chief Justice. Author Jeffrey Toobin devotes to the subject an entire book entitled The Oath. There, Toobin boils down the differing views that each has of the Constitution, the Supreme Court and the country. Toobin writes that,
“Both men gave considerable thought to the Constitution, and they reached different conclusions about its current trajectory:
Add a commentWhen Marriage Equality is Done, What's Next?
Though the past year was perhaps one of spectacular gains for the LGBTQ community, it looks as if, yet again, key issues for the transgender community will have lackluster support in the 113th Congress, with the House still controlled by Republicans. Remarkable gains in this Congress, with openly gay Tammy Baldwin taking one of the Senate seats for Wisconsin and Elizabeth Warren taking one of the Senate seats for Massachusetts, do bring hope for a future Congress with a mandate on full LGBTQ equality, but not in the immediate future.
In March the Supreme Court of the United States will hear two of the marriage equality cases out there. The decision will not necessarily be a clear victory for advocates of marriage equality, given that many states still have legislation and constitutional amendments preventing same-gender marriage.
There are valid reasons for upholding the fight for marriage equality, such as much fairer tax laws, survivor benefits and the like for same-gender couples, but should the Supreme Court find the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, will the progressive movement achieve the same level of support for other issues affecting the LGBTQ community, particular economic issues?
See the Full Story at The Huffington Post
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