April 7, 2013
North Carolina Legislators Prove Republicans Love Big Government
Hey North Carolinians, while you were busy living your life, your state decided to go all tyrannical on your ass.
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March 29, 2013
Justice Alito: Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘Newer Than Cell Phones Or The Internet’
During Tuesday’s “Prop 8” oral arguments, Justice Alito compared same-sex marriage to modern technology saying, it is “newer than cell phones or the Internet.” I don’t know about you, but I find statements like this unconvincing, and actually in this case, just bizarre. Because the whole point of the “Prop 8” and “DOMA” cases is that gays and lesbians are being denied equal rights. If you’ve been denied equal rights for decades or centuries, but only started to gain those rights (state-by-state) in recent years, how can that be used against you? Same-sex marriage is new because it was illegal until recently. Same-sex marriage is not new because it’s the latest trend, fad or what all the cool people are doing.
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March 27, 2013
DOMA: The Indefensible Defense Of Marriage Act
Signed into law in 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of restricting federal marriage benefits to heterosexual marriages only. But what exactly does DOMA defend? I mean, the very name of this act implies a profound protection of the institution of marriage, so it must make great strides to defend the institution.
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March 26, 2013
Justice Scalia Got Served By Ted Olson During “Prop 8” Arguments
During today’s oral arguments on California’s gay marriage ban (Prop 8), Justice Scalia asked Ted Olson, the lawyer challenging Prop 8, “When did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? 1791 [Bill of Rights ratification]? 1868, when the 14th Amendment was adopted?” Olsen answered Scalia’s question with his own question responding with, “When did it become unconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages?”
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March 26, 2013
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness: Marriage Equality is Inevitable
There are times when it feels like we are taking one step forward, two steps back. There are times when advancing freedom and liberty takes a backseat to narrow-mindedness and bigotry. But over the past decade, on the issue of gay rights, Americans have made great strides in social acceptance. And regardless of bumps in the road and hurdles yet faced, for those of us who are not guided by prejudice, bigotry and dogma, we see what is inevitable — that all 50 states will some day recognize same-sex marriage, and afford gay and lesbian couples the same rights.
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March 24, 2013
The Legal Argument For Marriage Equality
Marriage, as recognized by the state, requires a license and is a legal contract between two people. It should be of no consequence if this legal contract is between a man and a woman or two men, or two women. Because it is administered by the state, that state must abide by the U.S. constitution. Or in other words, a marriage license and the legal contract that goes along with it must not discriminate.
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March 18, 2013
Poll: 58 Percent Of Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage
In a continuation of rapid social change, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds 58 percent of Americans now support same-sex marriage. That is up sharply from only 9 years ago (2004) when only 32 percent thought gays and lesbians should be able to legally marry.
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March 15, 2013
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman Says He Now Supports Same-Sex Marriage
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman has reversed his longstanding position against same-sex marriage. Portman said his stance evolved two years ago when his own son came out as gay to he and his wife. “It allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective,” said Portman ” “[O]f a Dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have — to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years.”
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February 26, 2013
Some Republicans Come Out In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage
As if we needed further evidence that the mainstream Republican Party is out-of-touch with the majority of America, a number of prominent Republicans have signed a legal brief in support of same-sex marriage, denouncing the official party platform. The brief will be used in a case heading to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against California’s Proposition 8, a ballot-initiative that made same-sex marriage illegal in the state.
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May 9, 2012
President Obama Announces Support For Same-Sex Marriage
A couple of days ago I started the new poll question, “When will President Obama publicly support same-sex marriage?” The choices were “Before election”, “Second term (if elected)” and “Never”. When I started the poll I never imagined we’d have the answer so soon. I just closed the poll after only five votes because President Obama announced today that he now supports same-sex marriage. Out of five votes, nobody chose “Before election”.
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