Liberty and Justice for All!

Be clear, I support the ability of a gay couple to sign the same contract that a heterosexual couple can sign.

Today a federal judge overturned  the federal gay marriage ban, in part, because it interferes with the right* of a state to define marriage.

Now, the end result is good for couples in Massachusetts who (if the ruling survives any appeals) will be able to get benefits from their same sex spouses. However, it could be bad for couples in California who are fighting for their right to marry the people that they love. If that ruling holds, how would Prop 8 be overturned?

Now, a ruling in another case stated that the “Defense of Marriage Act” is also unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

So in one hand, one judge ruled that states have the right* to define marriage and in the other hand the same judge ruled that gay marriage bans violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. The judge could have made the argument for the latter in both cases. So at the moment, these rulings seem to be contradictory. However, I will hope that it is the latter argument that wins out so couples who happen to be of the same gender can finally stop being treated as second class citizens.

* States do not have rights, they have powers. Read the 10th amendment.

The State of Maine is currently one of the few states that allows for equality in marriage by allowing same sex couples to obtain civil marriage contracts. However, if the religious right has their way (as they did in California with prop 8) that will all come to an end.

So I am calling on everyone to do what they can to help the “vote no on 1” group get their message spread so they can fight the idea that we as a nation should treat people who are gay as second class citizens. If you live outside of Maine you can make contributions or volunteer to make calls to get out the vote. Just spreading the word is helpful.

And if you are a straight person who supports equality for your fellow humans who happen to be gay, consider buying this shirt to help spread the word.

A common chant in LGBT pride rallies is “We’re Here, We’re Queer, Get Used to It!”. Well, I was thinking about what a straight person might shout at a rally in support of LGBT rights. I quickly came up with an answer!

“I’m straight! It’s Great! I dont hate or discriminate!”

Someone else liked it so much that he wished someone would make a bumper sticker. I did him one better. I made a bumper sticker and a t-shirt and they are available at the LJ4a Store now!

In a video on YouTube, I had discussed my shock that any black person would support the discriminatory legislation that was prop 8. Apparently someone has gotten all their friends together and have decided to try and brand me a racist. They use as “proof” that I spend so much time dealing with black voters who supported prop 8 (even though the video was just over 2 minutes and only takes up 13% of my total YouTube time spent discussing prop and that I first chose to scapegoat black voters (when I clearly uploaded 2 other videos unrelated to the black vote prior to uploading this one).

So I am asking all my blogger friends to please go check out my video and leave comments in support of what I have said, rate my video positively, and rate their comments negatively.

Vermont is now the 4th state to approve gay marriage and the first to do so with their legislature. And not only did the ban pass their legislature, they also overturned the veto of their Governor to make it happen!

This gives me hope that one day we will have a government that actually treats all people as equal.

Gay marriage is now legal in Iowa because the ban on safe sex marriages was overturned by their Supreme Court.

Hurray for equal rights!

Update: The Supreme Court of Iowa said:

“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective… The Legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification.”

Exactly!

Supporters of Proposition 8 wanted to keep the list of donors to their cause public because they were afraid that they might be harassed for their views. However, their quest to keep their names secret failedand we can all know who contributed to this campaign (as we all know who contributes to every campaign).

Who do these people think they are? Do they think that they are above the law?  Why are they such cowards? I mean, one would think that if they truly believed in what they are saying that they would be proud to declare their support for proposition 8.

Here is a hint to those pro-prop 8 people. If you don’t have the integrity to stand up and declare your support publicly for an issue, then perhaps you have other things to worry about other than preventing gay people from signing a civil marriage contract.

The pick of Pastor Rick Warren has caused an uproar amongst Obama supporters, especially gay rights activists, because of Warren’s extremist conservative views on gay marriage and abortion. Ironically, Warren is also getting blasted for his participation in the Obama inauguration ceremony.

The problem here is this. As an Obama supporter I knew that Obama was not perfect and had flaws. One of those flaws was his view on gay marriage (a flaw that all major Democratic candidates shared).  Unfortunately, many Obama supporters got so caught up in the idea of Obama and getting rid of Bush and Republican rule of our nation that they failed to come to terms with the difference that Obama has with them.

Take for example Joe Cutbirth who says in I voted (twice) for Obama and Apparently I Lost:

Rick Warren’s selection is a thumb in the eye of every lesbian and gay citizen of this country, and an insult to kind and decent Americans who believed that Obama’s presidency was the beginning of a new era in our history.

I am as loyal a Democrat as they come, but I am saying right now, today, publicly, on the record, that this is so troubling to me - and frankly to a lot of other people, gay and straight - that I will not vote for Obama in 2012, if I do not have the right that day in whatever state I am living in this country to marry the person I choose.

Forgive my bluntness but this is just dumb. Imagine if Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin gets the GOP nod in 2012. Is Cutbirth really saying that he would vote for either of those two extremists over Obama? Or is he saying that he would just stay home or vote third party, helping Jindal or Palin get elected? Again, this is another example of some Democrats and their willingness to cut their noses off to spite their faces.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am vehemently against proposition 8 and support true equal rights for homosexuals, including them getting the same label to their civilly recognized unions that heterosexual couples have. And I am not saying that people should not be critical of Obama. I will be one of the first to be critical of Obama when he is wrong (and I am openly critical about his stance on gay rights).

What I am saying is that instead of being so darned emotional about your candidates, that some people really need to stop, breathe, and think about this issue for a moment. What effect does Obama picking Warren have on policy? The answer is nothing. Barack Obama has made an overture to people that he disagrees with (something he promised to do in his campaign, if Mr. Cutbirth paid attention to that) and he did so without having to sacrifice anything relating to policy. The more Obama reaches out on symbolic issues to the religious right, the less he has to do so on policy issues while still looking bipartisan.

And perhaps, just perhaps, if Obama shows a willingness to listen to the other side… maybe some people on the other side will return the favor. Imagine that.

Update:  After an email exchange with Mr. Cutbirth I feel rather secure that he would not support either Jindal or Palin for President. And he just wants to see the leadership support the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment (understandable). The one thing I just don’t understand is that he seems to want to hold Obama to supporting gay marriage as a condition for him supporting Obama in the future. However, Obama never promised to support gay marriage so holding him responsible for doing something he didn’t say he would support seems a bit odd. This just goes to show you that even people who agree on many issues can still have major disagreements.

While each and every person who voted against gay marriage on election day should be ashamed of themselves, the 70% of Black Voters in California who voted against gay marriage should be doubly ashamed.

Many pundits have said that the reason the black voters voted the way they did is because those who supported the “vote No on Prop 8″ position did not take the time to do some outreach in the black community. I disagree with that idea wholeheartedly. If there is any group that should not need to be told that voting to discriminate a group because they are different is wrong, it is the black community. No black person should ever have to be told “discriminating against someone who is in the minority is a bad thing”.

They voted for Proposition 2, a bill that gives chickens and pigs better living conditions.

However, the also voted for Proposition 8, a bill banning gay marriage in California.

So let me get this straight. It was the position of the California voters this year that chickens and pigs deserve more rights, but gay people deserve less rights? Am I getting that right? Isn’t there something completely wrong with this picture?

Anyone who voted for Prop 8 in California should be ashamed of themselves.