Archive for the ‘Gay Marriage’ Category

Marriage is Marriage


24 Jan

I want to say that I am proud ofWashingtonstate, and I am. At the same time, I still can’t believe it has taken us this long. Yesterday the first hearings were held for both the state Senate and House bills that will bring marriage equality to our state.

I don’t even want to call it gay marriage, because it’s not like it’s a separate thing. It’s marriage. Making interracial marriage legal did not change marriage. It was not a separate thing from same race marriage. This isn’t about gay rights. It’s about equal rights. And it’s about time.

Respect for Marriage Act


21 Jul

Respect for Marriage. I like that. Because really, did marriage ever actually need defending? When people are willing to fight for the right to marry, I’m pretty certain marriage is in good shape.

Diane Feinstein has cred on this issue. She was one of only 14 Senators  who voted against DOMA to begin with. And, now, unsurprisingly, she’s the one to sponsor the bill to repeal DOMA.

Thank you, Senator, for the respect you’ve shown on this issue.

The fact that Obama is endorsing the Respect for Marriage Act is the icing, but you’re the baker.

Equal means equal, always.

No purpose other than discrimination


07 Jul

The Obama administration has not been perfect. I’ve had problems with some of their decisions. However, there are others that keep hope alive for me, and this is one of them.

The Administration has sent a brief to a California court, urging it to find the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, and to rule in favor of a federal employee who is suing over health insurance benefits for her same sex spouse.

So now, not only is the Administration refusing to defend DOMA, its actively working to bring it down. This makes me very happy. This I can support.

New York says “I Do” to Gay Marriage


25 Jun

I would like to say Thank You to both legislative houses of the state ofNew York, but especially the Senate where Republican state lawmakers took a stand for decency and equality against the prejudices and hate of their party. Thank you,New York, for saying that all men are created equal, and opening an avenue for the pursuit of happiness to a portion of the population to whom we’ve been denying that path.

Thank you for standing up for the right thing, the human thing. Your stand is appreciated by all of us who believe that equal means equal.

“God says No” vs “God is Love” – Gay Marriage in NY


21 Jun

Take God out of it. We aren’t deciding church policy, we’re deciding a state law in theUS-a place that clearly spells out in it’s founding documents a distinct separation of Church and State. God doesn’t matter when it comes to our laws.

As for the “religious exemptions” the Republicans are supposedly asking for, do they not know how the law works? A church already has the right to refuse to marry anyone. The only thing they can’t do is refuse to rent their church out for a gay marriage if they rent it out for other random marriages.

Bonus Current Events Content: Just because you’re gay…


15 Jun

Why do some people seem to think that the historically most prejudiced people out there (straight white males) are the only ones capable of being impartial?

Given the legal precedents, I did not really expect this ruling to come out any differently. Still, it’s nice to hear our legal system affirm being gay does not invalidate Judge Vauhgn Walker’s ruling in the California Prop 8 case. It was treated by reviewing Judge James Ware just like any other discrimination case. Women are capable of presiding over gender discrimination cases; blacks and Hispanics are capable of presiding over racial discrimination cases.

DOMA is about Discrimination, not Dollars


26 Apr

Personally, I’m thrilled that political pressure can lead a large law firm to deciding to back away from the defense of DOMA. Nor am I the least bit surprised that the lawyer who is working so hard to defend it (now at a new firm) is a former solicitor general under George W Bush.

But don’t try and make this a budget issue. It’s not. Pelosi’s quote that Boehmer needs to think about this $500,000 contract is ridiculous. Its 6 figures when our debt is 13 figures. If 1 trillion were $1.00, half a million would be 1/20,000 of $0.01

We Have a Right to Free Speech, Even When We Don’t Want to Hear it


03 Mar

I hate the Westboro Baptist Church, and all it stands for, but the Supreme Court made the right decision, in their ruling that the church can not be sued for protesting outside military funerals.

No matter how much I dislike what you’re saying, our soldiers are fighting and dying for your right to say it. And while I think you’re discrediting their sacrifice through these protests, I think it would be even more greatly discredited if we took that right away.

This was as close to no win situation as the court gets. I think they went the right way.

Goodbye DOMA, Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass on the Way Out


24 Feb

Wednesday morning, President Obama, acting on the advice of the Attorney General, decided that discrimination based on sexual orientation should be presumed unconstitutional. This created a snowball effect which as the Department of Justice concluding that the “Defense of Marriage” Act is also unconstitutional and an illegal law.

I am going to let that sink in for a moment. DOMA = unconstitutional

Repealing DOMA means that all states would have to recognize all marriages from other states. It means a couple from Utah can get married in Massachusetts, and Utah has to accept the marriage, even if they’re both men.

Full Faith and Credit


31 Jan

One of the reasons the Articles of Confederation failed was that states did not have to recognize the laws of other states.

The Full Faith and Credit clause in the Constitution was tested multiple times, most famously with the Dred Scott case, where it was ruled a free state had to give full faith and credit to the laws of a slave state. And that was a good thing.

Gay marriage and adoption, legalized marijuana- states still want to ignore the laws of other states. But we have Full Faith and Credit. Its time state governments were reminded of that.

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