Month: June 2013

After a 56 Month Hiatus, Marriage Equality Returns to California

Jon Ponder

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In May 2008, a court ruling made California the third state in which same-sex marriage was legal. (It is often forgotten but this ruling came after the California Legislature passed legislation legalizing gay marriage twice, only to have both bills vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — who was at that very time hiding the fact that he had conducted an extramarital affair with his family’s housekeeper.)

In November that year, thanks primarily to a propaganda campaign laced with lies that was sponsored by anti-gay groups and paid for by rank-and-file Mormons in Utah, Proposition 8 passed, making gay marriage illegal in California.

Now, 56 months later, marriage equality has returned to California, making it both the third and thirteenth state to legalize gay marriage.

North Carolina Republicans to State’s Unemployed: Drop Dead

Jon Ponder

McCrory
Raw Story:

A new law taking effect in North Carolina over the weekend will cut unemployment benefits for new claims and disqualify the state from receiving federal funds for the long-term jobless.

According the The Associated Press, lawmakers passed the bill in February to accelerate the repayment of $2.5 billion federal debt by cutting jobless benefits and increasing taxes on businesses. Because the bill cuts benefits to those who are newly unemployed, the state also disqualified itself from receiving federally funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC).

The U.S. Labor Department has estimated that about 170,000 out-of-work North Carolinians stand to lose $700 million in EUC payments.

Rick Perry is Unclear on the Concept of Democracy

Trish

Rick Perry’s remarks are incredibly condescending and insulting to women. This is exactly why the vast majority of Texans believe that politicians shouldn’t be involved in a woman’s personal health care decisions. Women are perfectly capable of deciding whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child, and they don’t need Rick Perry’s help making that decision.

— Celine Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, commenting on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) criticism of state Sen. Wendy Davis, whose 11-hour speech on the floor of the legislature postponed a vote on an anti-abortion bill. Perry told Right to Life members at a national conference, “I’m all about honest, open debate…But what we witnessed Tuesday was nothing more than the hijacking of the Democratic process.” Davis spoke on topic, without food or water, in pink running shoes, and was not allowed to touch furniture during the vigil.

Pelosi Reacts to Bachmann on Rainbow Rulings

Jon Ponder

Who cares?

– Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reacting to Minnesota Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann reacting to the Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Prop 8 by saying, “Marriage was created by the hand of God. No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted.”

Rally in West Hollywood Celebrates Supreme Court Decisions on DOMA, Prop 8

Jon Ponder

Proposition 8 lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson, along with their clients and West Hollywood and Los Angeles city officials and a crowd of thousands, rallied in West Hollywood last night to celebrate the Supreme Court’s rulings yesterday that overturned the federal Defense of Marriage Act and a finding on Prop 8 that could lead to the resumption of same-sex marriage in California.

Unfortunately, the demise of Prop 8 may not be a slam dunk. The foes of marriage equality are not done and the grindingly slow processes of the federal courts may give them a window of opportunity in which to delay the reinstatement of marriage rights in California. The 9th Circuit Court has already announced that due to procedural technicalities there will be at least a 25-day delay before marriage licenses can be issued to same-sex couples in the state — an announcement that essentially countermanded state Attorney General Kamala Harris’ order to county clerks to begin issuing the licenses within two days after the ruling.

Marriage-rights opponents will almost undoubtedly use the delay to litigate against overturning Prop 8:

[…]

Republican, Determined to Ignore the World as It Is, Introducing DOMA-Like Constitutional Amendment

Trish

A majority of Americans don’t like President Obama as president, but he’s still the president. What did not happen is what the court and then the folks pushing for [DOMA repeal] hoped would happen: that it would end the debate. The debate is not over.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), showing there are at least two ways he’s delusional. A majority of Americans do approve of Pres. Obama, and the debate on marriage equality died a natural death within the past few years, as more states have granted it. Huelskamp is wasting time and effort by introducing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that can’t possibly pass.

Court Sticks A Knife in DOMA

Trish

CNN:

In its divided ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the high court said legally married same-sex couples must receive the same benefits provided to heterosexual couples. The act had defined marriage as only between a man and a woman, but the court said the law violated the rights of same-sex couples by demoting their marriages to second-class status when compared to their heterosexual peers.

The court said law wrongly “instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy than the marriages of others.”
Now, the federal government recognizes the marriage of those same-sex couples who are legally married in their states.