Proposition 8, DoMA and the Supreme Court (tags)
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage passed by California voters in November 2008, and also the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA) that defines marriage under federal law as only between one man and one woman. But the current Right-wing Court is likely to uphold Prop. 8 as constitutional and leave the battle for marriage equality to state-by-state political and social campaigns.
S.A.M.E. Hosts Victory Celebration for Marriage Equality Protesters (tags)
The San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (S.A.M.E.) held a victory celebration September 21 at the Bamboo Lounge in Hillcrest after San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith dropped all charges against the Equality Nine, protesters who were arrested at the San Diego County Clerk's office August 19, 2010 for showing up to request marriage licenses or support others doing so, including same-sex couples who had appointments. The event featured five of the Equality Nine and also Queer-rights pioneers Leo Laurence and Pat Brown, who led militant Queer-liberation demonstrations in San Francisco months before the Stonewall riots.
Obama's Profile in Courage (tags)
Say what you will about President Obama's overall record, his recent endorsement of marriage equality for same-sex couples was an act of real political courage. It's not going to help him politically because the states in which it's going to win him more votes are large, cosmopolitan East and West Coast states he was going to carry anyway, while it's going to cost him votes in the South and so-called "swing states." It also dramatically contrasts him with Mitt Romney, who supports amending the U.S. Constitution to abolish marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Where's OUR Religious Liberty? (tags)
The recent controversy over whether institutions owned by the Roman Catholic Church should be required to include birth control coverage in the health insurance they offer employees, the attempt in Virginia to require women seeking abortions to submit to medical rape, and the radical Right's reaction to the 9th Circuit appeals court ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional raises the question: why does it seem as if only bigoted Right-wing churches have "religious liberty" in this country? Why are America's officially tolerated spiritual belief systems seemingly limited to those of the Roman Catholics, Mormons and Southern Baptist Convention?
Marriage Equality Protesters Have Day in Court Oct. 17 (tags)
The "Equality Nine," marriage equality protesters who were arrested in August 2010 for staging a sit-in at the San Diego County Clerk's office to protest the continuing denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, were back in court October 17. The city attorney, who has refused to drop the charges, has offered them a plea deal, but so far all but two have refused to take it.
The Long and Winding Road of Marriage Equality Litigation (tags)
Seeking social change through litigation is not for the faint-hearted ? or the impatient. At the July 28 meeting of the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club, attorney Jason Molnar of the Southern Poverty Law Center talked about the history of marriage equality litigation and brought two flow charts showing the twisted route it's already taken through the courts ? and it's likely to get even more twisted before the U.S. Supreme Court rules one way or the other.
The vote of the New York legislature to legally recognize same-sex marriage has produced a backlash of unexpected ferocity and scope. It comes from an Iowa-based organization called THE FAMiLY LEADER (that's the way it's printed on their logo) and it's called "The Marriage Vow." It's a far-reaching set of principles that goes beyond attacking same-sex marriage and supporting a Federal Marriage Amendment to ban it nationwide. It targets African-Americans in particular and says Black children born during the slave era were more likely to be raised by their mother and father than African-American infants born since Obama's election. It also calls for bans on adultery, "quickie" divorces, Sharia Islam and laws that don't conform to the Judeo-Christian agenda. The aim of its authors is to get all the current candidates for President to sign it ? and two Republicans, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty, already have.
Over 100 San Diegans Demonstrate for Marriage Equality on Eve of Court Hearing (tags)
Over 100 San Diego supporters of marriage equality took to the streets in Hillcrest Saturday, December 4 as part of a statewide mobilization, "Unite to Make It Right," two days before the scheduled Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on the legal challenge to Proposition 8, which banned legal recognition of same-sex marriage in California. The event consisted of two rallies and a march in between, and speakers called for more militant activism and more aggressive challenges aimed at President Obama and other elected officials who have talked the talk of Queer equality but have done little or nothing to bring it about.
“Equality Nine” Marriage Rights Demonstrators to be Arraigned Sept. 30 (tags)
The “Equality Nine” — Michael Anderson, Brian Baumgardner, Sean Bohac, Felicity Bradley, Kelsey Hoffman, Mike Kennedy, Zakiya Khabir, Chuck Stemke, and Cecile Veillard — are activists with the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME) who were arrested at a sit-in outside the San Diego County Clerk's office August 19. They're scheduled for arraignment at the San Diego County Courthouse, 220 West Broadway downtown, Thursday, September 30, and they want supporters to come to the plaza outside the courthouse at noon that day to show support.
Zenger’s Newsmagazine Editorial on Proposition 8 Decision (tags)
Written before the most recent development in the federal case challenging Proposition 8 — the good-news, bad-news decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to delay same-sex marriages in California until at least December, but also to consider the all-important issue of whether the supporters of Proposition 8 even have legal standing to appeal — this editorial from the summer 2010 print edition of Zenger's Newsmagazine shows what a roller-coaster this issue has been and how the Queer community needs to be militant and ready for a long-term battle for full equality before the law, including marriage rights.
‘8: The Mormon Proposition”: Two Movies in One (tags)
Director Reed Cowan’s film “8: The Mormon Proposition” is really two movies in one. It’s an exposé of the Mormon church’s role in passing California’s same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8, at the polls in November 2008 and also a stunning tale of how a church that has institutionalized anti-Queer bigotry wreaks its vengeance against hapless Queer youth from Mormon families who, as part of their belief system, feel duty-bound to drive out their Queer kids and abandon them to homelessness, drug use, prostitution or suicide.
California Governor Candidate Stewart Alexander Backing Same-Sex Marriage Rights (tags)
Stewart Alexander is confident that Californians will be voting on the issue of same-sex marriage rights in November; however, Alexander says it is necessary to win the vote and to win the decision of the courts. With little or no money to finance a political campaign, Alexander is prepared to challenge a billionaire and the multi-millionaires in the California governor’s race to defend same-sex marriage rights.
Béla Dornon: Queer Photographer Seeks to Document California’s Same-Sex Marriages (tags)
Photographer Béla Dornon calls them the “142 Days” — from June 15, 2008, when the California Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriages to be legally recognized took effect, to November 4, 2008, when the passage of Proposition 8 took that right away again. He’s responded to his anger by starting a project to document every same-sex marriage that took place in California during that time, exhibit as many images of happy same-sex couples as he legally can, and thereby counter the Right-wing hate propaganda used to pass measures like Proposition 8.
PFP Candidate Wants Same-Sex Marriage on 2010 Ballot (tags)
While most of the Democrats and Republican gubernatorial candidates are opposing same-sex marriage rights and the legalization of marijuana, Stewart Alexander has placed these two important issues at the center of his campaign. Alexander says the best means to achieve same-sex marriage rights and to support legalizing marijuana is to support a political party and the candidates of that party that has a strong record of support on both issues, “that is the Peace and Freedom Party.”
Billionaire Meg Whitman to Challenge Same-Sex Marriage Rights (tags)
Meg Whitman may be the most dangerous opponent the same-sex marriage supporters may face in 2010; she is a billionaire, she already has the strong support of her Republican base and she has the financial backing to campaign for governor. The political far right has moved from Hollywood to the corporate board room to recruit candidates for public office and to win political power in California.
Stewart Alexander: Same-Sex Marriage Rights Can’t Wait (tags)
The leadership within the Peace and Freedom Party wants a measure to support same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2010. Kevin Akin says, “The fight for human rights is back on the ballot for 2010, and if it fails, then 2012.”
Don’t Rush Back to the Ballot on Marriage (tags)
The Queer community in California is asking itself the wrong question in the current debate over whether to try to repeal Proposition 8 at the ballot box in 2010 or 2012. Either date is too early, Mark Gabrish Conlan argues in this editorial from the July 2009 Zenger’s Newsmagazine. Rather than launch a premature initiative drive we will likely lose, organizing around this issue needs to occur outside the electoral process and take the form of nonviolent direct action and public education efforts to convince a majority of Californians that denying legal marriage to same-sex couples is an intolerable form of discrimination.
One and One-Half Class Citizen (tags)
The California Supreme Court decision on May 26 upholding the validity of Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage voters approved in last November’s election, but also ruling that the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages in California between June 15 and November 4, 2008 were still legal, left the same-sex couples who got married in time (including this author) in an anomalous position. We can’t really call ourselves second-class citizens because our marriages are still in force, but we can’t call ourselves first-class citizens either because other couples with love and mutual commitment equal to our own can no longer follow suit. In a sense, the voters and the courts have granted us “special rights” we neither wanted nor expected.
“MARRY US OR JAIL US” DARE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE EQUALITY ACTIVISTS (tags)
An estimated 500 people (many of them high school youth) participated in a passionate protest organized by Latinos for Equality Alliance of East Los Angeles reacting to this morning’s announcement of the California Supreme Court’s decision to allow Proposition 8 (the gay marriage equality referendum) to stand as law.
Over 4,000 Rally in San Diego Against Prop. 8 Decision (tags)
Over 4,000 people attended a march and rally in San Diego on May 26 denouncing the California Supreme Court's decision upholding Proposition 8, the initiative banning same-sex marriage in California, while simultaneously keeping in force the estimated 18.000 marriages between same-sex couples during the 4 1/2 months the court's previous ruling allowing them was in effect. The mood of the action was a combination of sorrow, hope and determination to put the issue before California voters again and campaign at the ballot box for the repeal of Proposition 8.
San Diego Hosts Meeting on Same-Sex Marriage Equality (tags)
The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center hosted a town-hall meeting April 2 to discuss the future of marriage equality in the wake of the upcoming California Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in the state. Speakers included Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, other professionals and grass-roots activists like Fernando Lopez, whose group is organizing people to go talk to individuals one-on-one to make them aware of how Queer people suffer from not having access to civil marriage.
Commentary: State Supreme Court Hears Prop. 8 Cases (tags)
Not everything that is unjust is therefore unconstitutional. That's the lesson the progressive community should learn from the California Supreme Court's oral hearings on Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage recently approved by a narrow majority of California voters. Instead of relying on the courts to secure our rights, we should be doing education, direct action and other tactics to win majority support for equality.
Over 500 Turn Out for Marriage Equality Demonstration (tags)
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and his Lesbian daughter Lisa (pictured) led off the San Diego installment of "March Forth on March Fourth," a series of rallies and demonstrations held statewide on the eve of the California Supreme Court's oral hearings on the legal challenges to Proposition 8. Mayor Sanders endorsed same-sex marriage equality last year after deciding he couldn't tell his daughter that her relationship was less important than his.
Re-Introduction of Uniting American Families Act (tags)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) re-introduced The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the House and Senate today. The legislation calls for an end to the immigration discrimination gay and lesbian Americans face when they seek to sponsor a foreign partner to live with them in the United States. “One of the fundamental principles of American immigration law and policy is the notion of family unification…. Unfortunately, same-sex couples committed to spending their lives together are not recognized as "families" under current federal law, including US immigration law,” said Nadler.
“No on 8” Actions, Discussions Continue (tags)
The fight against the anti-marriage Proposition 8 has lasted quite a bit longer than the election, in which the same-sex marriage ban passed by a five-point margin. Queer and allied activists are still holding demonstrations against the initiative and meeting to discuss where the fight will go next. But their discussions are stronger on building communications strategies than actually plotting a course to reverse the ballot measure.
Prop. 8 and the Triumph of Theocracy (tags)
The passage of Proposition 8 proves that many American voters are committed to a basically theocratic view of government in which THEIR moral values and commitments should rule over others. It also means the Queer community needs to do some soul-searching over why people of color and others we considered natural allies voted for 8 in greater percentages than whites did, and whether "marriage" as a term carries too much religious baggage ever to win majority support for its legal extension to same-sex couples.
AJLPP support the the Emergency Protest & Rally No More Hate! Overturn Prop. 8! (tags)
The AJLPP is deeply angered by the well-funded right-wing campaign of bigotry that is trying to push millions of LGBT people back into the closet. What the right cannot win in a fair elections are being done by deceit and manipulations through vaguely worded propositions like PROP 8! AJLPP expresses militant solidarity with those who came out in a massive mass action last night in Los Angeles and in San Francisco against Prop 8. We promise more mass action and other means to fight these wrong and unjust measures.
Marriage: Some Good News, More Bad News (tags)
The October 10 Connecticut Supreme Court decision endorsing marriage equality for same-sex couples was good news, but it was far overshadowed by the devastating new poll results on Proposition 8, which seeks to overturn the similar ruling last May by the California Supreme Court. Not only has Yes on 8 taken the lead, but they've done so by organizing younger voters — whom marriage equality supporters had assumed would be a bulwark of their coalitiion.
What They're Really Saying in the Debates (tags)
A brief analysis of the televised debates between vice-presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joseph Biden October 2 and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain October 7. The post also includes a transcript of the answers Palin and Biden gave to the question on the legal rights of same-sex couples, including whether they should have marriage equality.
Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) Gets 100th House Co-Sponsor (tags)
Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) became the 100th Congressional co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, H.R. 2221) on 1st August, 2008. The UAFA is a bill before Congress that would make a small change to existing immigration law to close a loophole barring gay and lesbian Americans in committed relationships with foreign partners from sponsoring their partner for a green card. These same-sex binational couples are denied the right that opposite-sex couples have been afforded for decades – the right to legally keep their families together in the United States.
Same-Sex Marriages: Orange County, California, USA (tags)
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA: June 17, 2008, After the California State Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, couples eagerly waited in line to be married at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, California.
AJLPP APPLAUDS SAME SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) joyously joins the LGBT community in celebrating the California Supreme Court decision that overturned the same-sex marriage ban. According to the news sources, the California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
Queer Marriage Advocates Launch "Decline to Sign" Drive (tags)
Faced with a well-funded campaign to permanently ban same-sex marriage in the California constitution, Queer and Queer-friendly Californians are joining forces to mount a volunteer campaign to keep marraige equality opponents from getting the signatures they need to get their initiative on the ballot at all.
S.F. Assemblymember Leno Speaks on Same-Sex Marriage (tags)
San Francisco Assemblymember Mark Leno was the keynote speaker at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club's Freedom Banquet fundraiser October 6. He talked about the bill for marriage equality for same-sex couples he's pushed through the California legislature twice, the likelihood that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto it (as he did in 2005) and the various radical-Right initiative proposals to ban marriage for same-sex couples in California forever.
Mexican state of Coahuila to allow gay marriages (tags)
Mexican state of Coahuila to allow gay marriages (Coahuila is along the Texas border between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon)
Leader of evangelical group quits amid gay-sex allegations (tags)
This Christian hypocrite who has been pushing the hate gays christian line turns out to be gay.
Same-Sex Couples Suing for California Equal Marriage Rights Ask Academy Awards Recipients to Come Out in Support When They Receive Their Oscars
BTL:Connecticut Set to Become 2nd State to Pass Same-Sex Civil Union Bill (tags)
Interview with Ann Stanback, president of the group Love Makes a Family, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris
N.Y. Judge Orders Gay Marriage (tags)
"It is clear that moral disapproval of same-sex couples or of individual homosexuals is not a legitimate state purpose or a rational reason for depriving plaintiffs of their right to choose their spouse."
Gay-marriage foe fails to make case (tags)
Abaham Lincoln said, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." I suggest that anyone who would deny those different from themselves the freedom to marry should look in the mirror and try a little introspection.
The way leading right wing operatives often conduct their personal lives is also emblematic of the emptiness of the conservative agenda. And this week, their tiresome values charade once again has been shattered.
Partner benefits only for homosexuals (tags)
University discriminates against 'straight' unmarried couples: Ohio University is offering "domestic-partner" benefits to employees, but only same-sex couples can apply.
Same-sex marriage: Its time has come (tags)
The struggle for marriage equality saw its first major victory last month as Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
A Party of tolerence and personal choice. (tags)
Why Libertarian presidental canidate Gary Nolan left the Republican party.
Furor Over Gay Marriages: The Insane Ravings of the Marriage Police (tags)
,
L.A. Gay Activist Expands Gay Marriage Battle (tags)
LA Gay Activist Rev. Troy Perry, the first Southern Californian to be legally married in Canada, to fight for us recognition.
LA Gay Leader Legally Married In Canada (tags)
LA Gay Rights Leader Legally Marries Same-Sex Partner in Canada; Announces Plans To fight for US Legal Recognition
Isreal Cracks Down on Peace Activists; Ithaca Celebrates France (tags)
Iraq in Chaos Media Ownership Rules in Jeopardy NY Green: Public Supports Same-SeX Marriages Airlines in Tailspin Rumsfeld Agenda Wold Gut US Democracy
Conservative lawmakers seek to divorce themselves from gay-marriage legislation (tags)
Legislation that would create a parallel system of marriage for gay couples in California is raising a political fury between Democratic lawmakers and conservative voices who say marriage should only exist between a man and a woman.