Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What’s most striking about the ruling is this: Whether or not the judge’s legal arguments hold up, the 136-page document lays bare the irrational prejudice behind Prop. 8. It is telling that the judge did not agree with a single legal or factual point made by same-sex-marriage opponents. Prop. 8 defenders might say this is [...]
Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama has told the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would not allow hospitals to deny visitation privileges to gay and lesbian partners. The president’s memo Thursday notes that “There are few moments in our lives that call for great compassion and companionship that when [...]
Saturday, February 13, 2010
“This is a policy,” Hutson continued, that was “devised primarily by men who, like me, were born in the ‘40s and grew up in the ‘50s, but was being imposed on people who were at that time born in the ‘70s and grew up in the ‘80s. Now it’s born in the ‘80s and grew [...]
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation’s top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law he helped shepherd in. “In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t [...]
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6uZ7RgmUM[/youtube] John McCain in 2006: “And I understand the opposition to it, and I’ve had these debates and discussions, but the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the [...]
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Also tagged Carl Levin, Civil Rights, Credibility, DADT, Homophobia, Hypocrisy, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Judgment, Military, Republicans, Saxby Chambliss, Senate, Tattoos
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, speaks in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee in support of President Obama and Sec. Robert Gates‘ review of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, saying, “It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.” [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X83IdnqOSdk[/youtube] There is [...]
ProPublica has interviewed or obtained complaints from 85 current and former air marshals in nearly every one of the agency’s 21 field offices over the past year and half. They all told similar stories of being treated unfairly in promotions, assignments or discipline by supervisors who target those who speak up or don’t fit a [...]
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Also tagged Air Marshals, Chicago, Cincinnati, Courts, Denver, Discrimination, EEOC, Homophobia, Las Vegas, Law, Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Racism, Sexism, TSA, Veterans
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Cindy McCain, the wife of 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and their daughter Meghan have posed for photos endorsing pro-gay marriage forces in California. Mrs. McCain appears with silver duct tape across her mouth and “NOH8″ written on one cheek in a photo posted Wednesday to the Web site of NOH8, a gay rights [...]
The Pentagon is stepping up internal discussions on how gay men and lesbians might be able to serve openly in the armed services, military officials said on Thursday, in anticipation of fulfilling President Obama’s campaign pledge to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law. The discussions, centered in a small group assembled by Adm. Mike [...]
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Together with my good friend and occasional courtroom adversary David Boies, I am attempting to persuade a federal court to invalidate California’s Proposition 8—the voter-approved measure that overturned California’s constitutional right to marry a person of the same sex. [...] Some have suggested that we have brought this case too soon, and that neither the [...]
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Also tagged Conservatives, Constitution, Courts, David Boies, Discrimination, Law, Marriage Equality, Perry v Schwarzenegger, Same-sex Marriage, SCOTUS, Ted Olson
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Judge Walker has ruled that things like TV advertisements, press releases and campaign workers’ statements are also relevant evidence of what the voters intended. The judge went so far as to order the Proposition 8 campaign to disclose private internal communications about messages that were considered for public use but never actually used. He has [...]
Saturday, January 9, 2010
On January 11th, a remarkable legal case opens in a San Francisco courtroom—on its way, it seems almost certain, to the Supreme Court. Perry v. Schwarzenegger challenges the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the California referendum that, in November, 2008, overturned a state Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex couples to marry. Its lead lawyers are unlikely allies: Theodore [...]
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Obama administration refused Friday to follow a federal judge’s order to provide insurance benefits to the wife of a lesbian court employee in San Francisco and said its hands were tied by a discriminatory law. “This issue shows exactly why Congress needs to repeal” the law, which prohibits federal benefits to same-sex couples, government [...]
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Perry v. Schwarzenegger indeed asks the “ultimate question” of whether gays have a federal right to marry, but because the case is alleging that Prop. 8 violated the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, the federal court decision will have implications for gay Americans in nearly every arena of public life, from housing to parenting [...]
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Also tagged California, Civil Rights, Constitution, Courts, David Boies, Human Rights, Law, Marriage Equality, Perry v Schwarzenegger, Proposition 8, SCOTUS, Ted Olson, Vaughn Walker
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
In the wake of the passage of the House health-reform bill and its attached anti-choice Stupak-Pitts Amendment, the conversation happening among progressive women was viscerally angry and palpably fearful. The broader liberal conversation was very different — one in which the amendment was regrettable but unavoidable in the interest of the greater good. It is [...]
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Senate has passed a bill that would, among other things, expand the federal hate crimes law to protect people targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender. It’s now headed to President Obama’s desk; he’s expected to sign it. via War Room – Salon.com.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two gay-rights bills before midnight on Sunday, one recognizing Harvey Milk and another recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. via Schwarzenegger Signs Two Gay Rights Bills — Politics Daily. That lets plenty of air out of Proposition Hate (8).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmmslNqEZXo[/youtube]
New Rule: Everyone deserves equal rights. That’s why they’re called “equal” and “rights.” Tomorrow night President Obama will speak before a gay rights group, and on Sunday there will be a massive gay rally in Washington, or as I call it, the Million Mo March. Which makes this weekend the perfect time for Obama to [...]
Thursday, October 1, 2009
President Obama has said that he supports the repeal of the military’s ban on gay soldiers. He hasn’t, however, used his executive authority to suspend the policy, as gay rights activists have called on him to do. More than two hundred gay servicemembers have been expelled from the military since Obama took office in January. [...]
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Joint Force Quarterly article highlights many of the painful consequences of a discriminatory and ineffective policy [Don't Ask, Don't Tell], most notably the fact that it undermines unit cohesion, though it was intended to do the opposite. “In an attempt to allow homosexual service members to serve quietly, a law was created that forces [...]
Thursday, October 1, 2009
“I didn’t want to burn this guy. On the other hand, I didn’t necessarily want to profit from it,” she says, noting that Aspen was one of three Colorado cities whose charters had provided protections the state law stripped away. “So what I decided to do was take the money and buy billboards that spoke [...]
Monday, September 21, 2009
To be sure, great strides have been made by many groups in the United States. But when it comes to the issue of who are the most discriminated groups in America in 2009, the survey says: LGBT people and Muslims. via Who is the Most Discriminated Group in America? (Gay Rights – Change.org).
Listening To
