We've come too far to turn back now

It wasn't so long ago that Republicans won an election by fearmongering about gays destroying "traditional marriage." So it's rather stunning that we've evolved so quickly to this level of public acceptance of equal marriage rights for gays.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court member to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony Saturday when she officiates at the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser.

The gala wedding of Kaiser and economist John Roberts at the performing arts center brings together the nation’s highest court and the capital’s high society and will mark a new milepost in the recognition of same-sex unions.

I imagine it will make the society pages. Wonder if Sally Quinn will be there.

SCOTUS deals big blow to DOMA

Good day to be a liberal. I''m not one to drink the bitter tears of my opponents, but admit I'm enjoying the moment and wallowing in the joy exploding all over my internets. SCOTUS delivered two big victories for gay rights this morning.

The two cases, both decided on 5-4 votes, concerned the constitutionality of a key part of a federal law, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), that denied benefits to same-sex married couples, and a voter-approved California state law enacted in 2008, called Proposition 8, that banned gay marriage.

The Court struck down the use of the theocrats' strict definition of marriage as a criteria for federal benefits as unconstiutional and weaseled out of the PropH8 decision by denying standing to the plaintiffs, which allows the lower court decision that found California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional to stand.

Doubt this will be the end of it, nothing is forever in the law, but good to see the attack on equal rights thwarted for now. [photo via]

Heckling is not helping - Updated

Lots of people talking about the heckler who rudely interupted Michelle Obama yesterday during the First Lady's speech at a private fundraiser. The heckler was said to be a 56 year old lesbian activist who demanded our FLOTUS get the President to immeditaely sign an executive order on gay rights in the workplace. I'm seeing Michelle's response being called confrontational, but we can't know for sure since there's no video. I imagine in reality the FLOTUS was polite but firm, though clearly she wasn't going to ignore it.

“One of the things that I don’t do well is this,” she said to applause from most of the guests, according to a White House transcript. “Do you understand?”

A pool report from a reporter in the room said Obama “left the lectern and moved over to the protester.” The pool report quoted Obama as saying: “Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.”

The heckler spun it like this:

“Basically, I was asked by the first lady to be quiet, and I can’t be quiet any longer,” Sturtz told the Huffington Post. “I was surprised by how negative the crowd seemed to be. It was actually a little unsettling and disturbing.”

Well actually FLOTUS told her to stop rudely interupting while it was her turn to talk, not that the Ms. Self-Important Heckler should shut up about the issue altogether. And the heckler was surprised the crowd wasn't applauding her disrupting the event and clamoring for her to take the mic instead? Maybe she should consider they paid their $500 bucks or more to hear Michelle Obama speak and heckler woman was abridging their right to do so.

I love and support activists. I strongly believe in standing up and fighting for causes you believe in, but this isn't activism. It's selfish attention seeking that smacks of nothing so much as a bid for 15 minutes of media fame. Who walked out of the event feeling enlightened on gay rights policy I wonder. I'd guess no one. More likely they were disgusted by inappropriate tactics and far less likely to support the heckler's cause.

So to answer Charlie's question, no, not only is it not helping, it's counterproductive. Her conduct reinforced every negative stereotype about harsh, in your face lesbians. It far more likely to validate the conservative argument that "those people" don't deserve special rights at all.

Adding, the really ridiculous thing is, no one has done more for gay rights than Barack Obama. The gay activist community's relentless demands to get everything, all at once, even at the expense of other equally deserving communities -- thinking here of threats to blow up the immigration bill because it doesn't address gays -- makes them look pretty damn selfish besides. That's no way to win hearts and minds over to their side. And I say that as life long supporter of their cause. [image via]

Update: Jake Tapper at his new gig The Lead comes up with some sketchy video of the encounter. Clearly Michelle was polite about it under the circumstances. Jake also retweets this from an attendee:

@atidman: @jaketapper @TheLeadCNN I was there and I agree with Jay Carney @PressSec that she handled it brilliantly!

And Laura tweets that the heckler claims she hadn't planned in advance. But Laura links to the heckler's tweets from May 30 that suggest otherwise.

Just do it!

By Capt. Fogg

Perhaps Fred Phelps Jr. is getting slow, or perhaps he has to type with one hand because he's so exited at God's wrath being inflicted on Moore, Oklahoma.  The very thought of little children being crushed or torn to pieces as they scream in terror must excite him past the point of self control. It took him hours to inform us that this disaster was the result of Oklahoma City Thunder basketball star Kevin Durant’s public support for gay basketball player Jason Collins.  God works in mysterious ways, but there's nothing mysterious about Fred unless you're interested in the chemistry of foul smells.

But there's light at the end of the drain and maybe a suggestion for people like Fred with more demons than synapses in their skulls. Dominique Venner is billed in the press as a right-wing historian, although some may prefer to call him a hate-filled pervert obsessed with other people's sexual preferences,  or an ultra nationalist militiaman because of his past involvement with a paramilitary Secret Army Organisation which fought against France giving up colonial rights in Algeria. A gay hating enemy of human rights and freedom, in short. Mr. Venner walked into Notre Dame de Paris Monday, placed a letter on the altar and then blew his brains out with an illegally owned pistol.

The famous Cathedral has been the site of many demonstrations and protests over the issue of gay marriage which became legal last week. Catholic conservative Venner certainly made his point to the horror of the tour groups present and one has to wonder about the dedication of lesser nobles like Phelps for not martyring himself for his ridiculous cause.  I presume God has to wonder too.

So what about it Fred?  I mean you don't need to go to Paris or even to bloody up someone elses Church, you've got one of your own. Take your dad along, make it a father and son thing, or take the whole flock along, but Just do it!

Gay guys can jump

Don't really follow any sports except baseball and by follow baseball I mean, I check the standings regularly and cheer for my favorite teams. I don't know from stats and half the time I don't remember the players names. So I have no idea who this guy is or which team he plays for but the internets tell me Jason Collins did a brave thing:

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. — I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation.

I'm told he's the first major team sport player to admit it. My only reaction is, (and not to diminish his courage in any way), think it's rather sad that in 2013, this is still such a big deal.

All the dope on DOMA

Day two of marriage equality at SCOTUS. Today my Senator Kay Hagan came out in support for equality. I appreciate her courage. Even given my longstanding belief that red state Dems should act like real Democrats and forget the Blue Dog GOP lite positions, it was just less than a year ago an anti-equality measure passed in this state. Don't blame her for hestitating.

Other than that, I don't have much to say about today's arguments. For one thing I'm superstitious about predictions and as I said before, think it's pointless to even try. SCOTUS has surprised me more often than not. But there's loads of earnest analysis on the internets if you go for that sort of thing. Me, I'll just leave you with my hopes and Tom Toles perfect toon.



And one last side note, Greg Sargent reminds us Boehner's Congress is spending big bucks on defending DOMA. Funny you don't hear any complaints from the austerity crowd about that wasteful spending. Last I heard House Republicans sank well over a million bucks into this dopey case. No surprise they don't want to talk about it at all.

Of course, when they hired the guy to defend DOMA, the GOPers were feeling all powerful and mandated by some illusionary silent majority. Which leaves them in something of a quandry now. How do they convince everyone else they really care about "teh ghey" after all and placate their crackpot base who want a theocracy and want it now dammit at the same time?

As John McCain might say, "You can't do it my friends."

SCOTUS fever

The most amusing thing about every time SCOTUS gets to oral arguments is, everybody is either an expert on the case law or has discovered their inner mindreader and is certain they know what the Justice's questions really mean.

Me, I stopped trying to divine the future years ago. We won't know for a few more months how it all shakes out. What is most interesting about this particular round is how many politicians have been inspired to come out in favor of equal marriage rights. Clearly they're opportunists for the most part, but I welcome them all. Even if they're "coming out" for the wrong reasons, every voice raised in support helps move the public mood towards tolerance. That can only be a good thing.

Everything changes for same sex marriage

Everything changes. Always. In the case of equal marriage rights for same gender couples, support for gay marriage has grown almost miraculously quickly.

Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed.

That number has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority for the first time only two years ago, and now up again to a significant majority for the first time.

In 2004 same gender marriage was one of the biggest wedge issues. Social conservatives showed up in droves to make it illegal in their states. Arguably, it was this single wedge issue that pushed George Bush over the top in 2004 and allowed him inflict four more miserable years of his administration on us.

One might speculate the reason Democrats did better than expected in 2012 is at least partly because they took the opposite tack. That's definitely a change for the better.

I come not to mock Rob Portman

This is the big news of the morning. Republican Senator Rob Portman now supports gay marriage because he found out his own son is teh ghey.

Portman, an Ohio Republican, made the stunning revelation just a week before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on a 1996 federal law asserting that gay marriage is not legal, a measure that Portman co-sponsored as a member of the U.S. House.

This, of course, unleashed a tsunami of snark on the intertoobz. Me, I'm not willing to give the man any huge huzzahs for coming out as it were because I agree the timing is just a little too convenient. Also, it's not exactly a full-throated endorsement for equal marriage rights:

But like former President Bill Clinton, who signed the law, Portman now wants Congress to invalidate the law’s declaration that marriage is between a man and a woman. Instead, Portman said he would prefer that it be left to the states to decide the definition of marriage.

Sure leaving it up to the states now run by crackpot conservatives is going to be a big game changer.

Nonetheless, I'm not willing to criticize him too much because it does help over the long term. This is how society changes. I remember when it was absolutely scandalous for a man and woman to cohabitate outside of holy matrimony. Still recall the first couple I heard about who did it. It was spoken of in whispers, only among the closest family and friends. It was a huge deal that they put both their names on the mailbox. Even divorce was a big taboo only 50 years ago.

Took a generation or two before these things became socially acceptable. It happens in exactly this way. One preachy moralist at a time finding a path to tolerance. And that first step is almost always taken because it happens in the family. So, while I don't feel much like lauding Portman, neither will I mock him. No matter what his motivation, it's not an easy thing for him to do and every little bit really does help over time.

Barely safe for work anti-gay political ad

Ye Gods! Not sure this is really anti-gay at all. If you didn't know this was an anti-gay political ad, you might think it was an ad for a gay dating site.

There is still time, but a mailer first reported by Politico and prepared in the name of “The Committee To Save The Erie County Republican Party” in New York has set a mighty low bar. Republican state Sen. Mark Grisanti voted for the state's marriage equality bill in 2011 and faces a primary challenge from Kevin Stocker on Thursday.

A mailer? As in comes in the mail where anybody might open it? Even "the children." I don't find it at all offensive myself, but I won't post the photos because they're too erotic and I don't do that here. I have a feeling this candidate may well rue the day this came out.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

That's how we deal with it around here folks

Mother of God. This guy doesn't live all that far from my home. This is what my local "independent conservatives" consider to be civil disagreement.



But, you know, it's the gay people who are the threat...

A couple of my neighbors have this sign on their lawn too. I have a nodding acquaintance with them, but I'm pretty sure most of my neighbors wouldn't find this over the top. I'm sure you can see why I haven't made a whole lot of friends in this state.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Tripping the gay fantastic

Kind of a good news, bad news day for equal rights today. Maryland passed their bill allowing same-sex marriage. The governor promises to sign it. However, the vote was close and in the horse trading, there are provisions included that make it likely the opponents will try to put it to a voters' referendum in November. Not exactly a resounding victory, but progress. So there's that.

Meanwhile, in California a federal court judge ruled "the U.S. government's ban on same-sex marriage benefits unconstitutional." This brought the opponents crawling out from under their slimy rocks. Congressional GOPers are already appealing to the 9th Circuit, apparently as part of their larger strategy to enforce DOMA on us.

The story fails to mention the half milllion Boehner pledged to fight for DOMA. And you know it will cost much more than that by the time all these cases run through the courts. So where are the deficit concern trolls, one wonders? Oh wait. That's right. Spending is okay if it jibes with their agenda. Especially if it pisses off liberals.

What a world...

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Doing my shopping at J.C. Penney

Just catching up on this soc-con outrage, but way to stand up to bigotry J.C. Penny.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres said she was "proud and happy" that retail store J.C. Penney had stood by her in the face of a conservative anti-gay campaign, and said there was no such thing as a "pro-gay bandwagon."

Breaking her silence on the furor, DeGeneres, one of America's best known gay celebrities, also poked fun at the One Million Moms group who had urged J.C. Penney to drop her as a spokeswoman because she is a lesbian and said they would boycott the store.

Oddly, I hadn't been to the store in years but bought some shirts there a few weeks ago. Think it was their store brand. Impressed with the quality of the workmanship. Got a good price on sale and they're holding up well. Now I'm doubly glad I spent my money there.

Haven't seen any ads with Ellen but those new screechy commercials seem to be on a continuous loop on the TV. Those have really got to go.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

That Vatican Rag

By Capt. Fogg

People have argued that Science is just another kind of faith, or at least another but equally valid way of telling truth from fiction; establishing fact from a confusing universe. I suppose that Pope Benedict would be suggesting such a 'fair and balanced' approach by suggesting that same sex marriage would be a "threat to the future of humanity itself."

I would argue that science is the best method we have of keeping our beliefs honest by constant examination of the data -- and that data as concerns the cohabitation of couples, or triples for that matter does not in any way suggest that the Holy Father's predictions are based on what happens in this world when such things are not prohibited by law or even custom.

“This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself,”

he said to some 180 diplomats at the Vatican yesterday. The education of children needs proper “settings” and “pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman.” I'm not quite sure that personal pride in being traditional and obedient to dogma constitutes justification for regulating private life in a free society, but then a free society is the definition of a heretical society and it wasn't long ago that Catholics were threatened with excommunication for voting for political leaders. I'm sure the rationalization for that was much the same farrago of gold embroidered, incense scented rubbish as was the persecution of Galileo and the scientists of the Renaissance -- to cite the less egregious examples.

The fact is, that children raised by gay couples can't be shown to have turned out as Benedict predicts and since gay people have been around since the dawn of humanity and a bit before -- and long before the shaman, that oldest of professions, told them they were evil -- we can assume that human dignity hasn't been much affected. The indignities of the Crusades and Inquisitions and centuries of war and tyranny might have done some harm, but I won't go into that here.

As I said, science rejects propositions, predictions and proclamations that do not produce the results claimed. I might suggest Mein Herr, that there's a bit of egg on your face and blood on your robes from trying to stifle that heresy with force of arms, torture and murder, but so far, nothing you or your predecessors have predicted has ever been demonstrated to be the truth. So how long caro padre, will you go on predicting that if we do A, then B will happen, because we've been doing A for a hell of a long time and there's no sign of you being right so far.

Quick bytes

Hey that's my friend and old boss William C. Newman narrating this spot for the ACLUM CivilLibertiesMinute: "Out At the Inn"

I adore stuff like this. Amazing long exposure photos taken from the fronts of Tokyo trains.

And if you love hobbits, this is the must click of the day. My dream house. Built in a few months and cost just $3000 dollars in Wales currency. I could happily live in this house for the rest of my life.

You say you want an evolution -Updated

These's a lesson for actvists of all causes here. Attitudes evolve over time and society eventually reflects those changes. This was all over the internets but it's so rare to hear a Republican stand up like this, it's worth archiving and deserves quote of the week:

“You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, f—- it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.” ~ Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga)

He's talking about a bill to authorize same-sex marriage that went on to pass by quite a hefty margin in the New York State Senate. Sen. McDonald bravely changed his vote from no to yes.

I'd also remind impatient progressives that it was only as far back as 2004 when Bush successfully managed to squeak out a second term in large part because the GOPers were able to use fear of gay marriage as a wedge issue.

Update: I swear I read somewhere that this bill already passed but now I'm seeing lots of reports that it's still in the negotiation phase. Last I heard, GOPers were trying to keep it off the floor altogether. But still -- progress.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Shakeup on DOMA defense

I usually leave the commentary on gay rights issues to the many fine bloggers who specialize in the genre, but this is worth archiving in general. By now you know that our oh so fiscally concerned Speaker Boehner commited half a million taxpayer dollars to defending the atrocious DOMA law because the White House decided not to defend it. The defense was to be led by a former Bush era official, Paul Clement, at a high priced DC firm.

Today it was announced the firm is withdrawing its representation and Clement resigned from the firm. However he'll still be working for Boehner on the case.

Clement will be joining Bancroft PLLC, according to a press release from the firm, which is led by former Bush administration officials. Viet Dinh, who was an assistant attorney general from 2001-2003, is a founding partner, and H. Christopher Bartolomucci, who served as an associate counsel to President Bush between 2001-2003, is a partner.

"Paul has argued 53 Supreme Court cases and knocked them out of the park," said Dinh. "He earned the respect of all the Justices and wowed the bar. Clients trust Paul and Bancroft with their biggest cases and toughest problems. Paul is a perfect fit with Bancroft, where we are building the next great law firm."

Clement said that he has known the Bancroft partners for more than 20 years.

"They put clients first and deliver results," he said in the statement. "Bancroft offers its clients premier talent, without all the baggage of a mega firm. We are shaking up the D.C. legal establishment.”

Shaking up or shaking down? Hard to tell the difference with that crew. Think Progress has more.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

DADT is history - Updated

I'm celebrating along with all supporters of repeal that the Senate voted to end DADT today on a vote of "65-31, with eight Republicans crossing the aisle to support the measure." And this was a pleasant surprise:

The eight Republicans who voted for the repeal were Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Richard Burr of North Carolina, John Ensign of Nevada, George Voinovich of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine.

The "yes" votes from Burr and Ensign were something of a surprise, since they had not voted earlier in the day to limit debate.

Seriously. The last crossover I expected was from my usually useless Senator Burr.

However, I admit I'm finding it a little sad we're celebrating the end of a legalized discrimination that never should have been enacted in the first place and we had to fight so hard to win this one. But hey, I'm willing to credit good behavior, so thanks Mr. Burr for doing the right thing and Joe Liberman for corralling the GOP votes. And good job to President Obama and Harry Reid. Feels like that eleventy chess thing again.

This is how society evolves and it's good to see "teh gay" becoming diminished as wedge issue. One can only hope this signals equal marriage rights for the LGBT community in the near future.

Update: Much as I hate to link to Politico, this statement by Burr about his vote is remarkable enough to make an exception to my embargo:

Given the generational transition that has taken place in our nation, I feel that this policy is outdated and repeal is inevitable. However, I remain convinced that the timing of this change is wrong, and making such a shift in policy at a time when we have troops deployed in active combat areas does not take into consideration the seriousness of the situation on the ground. But, the vote this morning to invoke cloture on this bill indicated that the broader Senate was prepared to move forward with a change, and despite my concerns over timing, my conclusion is that repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is the right thing to do.

Lame Duck quackery on DADT - Updated

It doesn't get any lamer than this for the upcoming Lame Duck session. The Wall Street Journal tells me Carl Levin and McCain are scheming to derail DADT by stripping it out of the military appropriations bill. I really hope this is just another badly informed WSJ report. I can't think of anything more sucidal for the Dems than to cave on this issue.

Adam Serwer expresses my "awe":

Look, if Democrats can't repeal a policy more than two thirds of the American people, including a majority of conservatives want gone then they can't expect people to vote for them. Preserving DADT is rank absurdity, even in 1993 the RAND study commissioned by the government showed that combat effectiveness would not be harmed by allowing openly gay servicemembers to serve, and the fact that DADT investigations are sometimes delayed when servicemembers are deployed undermines the notion that openly gay servicemembers harm the war effort.

If this is true, then I give up myself. There isn't a safer victory they could go for than DADT. And yeah, I've heard that a lot of the LGBT voted for Republicans. (No, I don't understand why either but John Cole already has the ultimate rant about it.) But surely the Dems can't be so clueless to think they did it because they wanted to kill the policy.

Update: The good news is it appears to be shoddy reporting at WSJ. No evidence that Dem leadership is on board with Levin and:

[UPDATE @ 7:25 PM: Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director, said in a statement on Monday evening, "The White House opposes any effort to strip 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' from the National Defense Authorization Act."]

Brilliant

Got this from my Facebook friend Red Fulton this morning. This deserves to go viral. One simple question that explodes the shallow arguments of the anti-gay bigots.



Strikes me as the perfect response to every argument made against equal rights for the LGBT community.

[Much thanks to Brian Fairbanks at Nerve for the link and passing on the video.]