Gay Judge's Ruling on Prop. 8 Upheld

 via The Christian Post

A federal judge ruled Tuesday to uphold Judge Vaughn Walker's decision to strike down California's same-sex marriage ban.

Proponents of Proposition 8 – which defines marriage as between a man and a woman – had asked that Walker's 2010 ruling be vacated, given that he has been in a same-sex relationship and thus had something to gain from the case. But Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware rejected that bid.

"The sole fact that a federal judge shares the same circumstances or personal characteristics with other members of the general public, and that the judge could be affected by the outcome of a proceeding in the same way that other members of the general public would be affected, is not a basis for either recusal or disqualification," Ware concluded.

Read more.

California Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Questioned Because Proposition 8 Judge Was Gay

via Huffpost Politics by Lisa Leff

San Francisco-A federal judge is deciding whether a gay judge's ruling to strike down California's same-sex marriage ban should be overturned because he failed to divulge his own marital intentions before throwing out the voter-approved measure.

Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware said he would issue a decision within 24 hours after a hearing Monday in which lawyers trying to salvage the ban posed an unprecedented legal argument questioning Judge Vaughn Walker's impartiality when he issued last year's landmark ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.

The lawyers insisted that Walker, who was chief judge of the Northern District of California at the time, should have recused himself or disclosed his relationship because he and his partner stood to personally benefit from the verdict.

"It now appears that Judge Walker, at the time the complaint was filed and throughout this litigation, occupied precisely those same shoes as the plaintiffs," attorney Charles Cooper said.

Ware, who inherited the Proposition 8 case from the now-retired Walker, asked why Cooper assumed Walker had any intention of getting married, just because he was in a decade-old relationship.

Read more.

The Ball Moves Forward - Angels in America

[love Frank Rich so much]

To appreciate how much and how unexpectedly our country can change, look no further than the life and times of Judith Dunnington Peabody, who died on July 25 at 80 in her apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York. 

Excerpt:

None of this means that full equality for gay Americans is a done deal. Even if it were, that would be scant consolation to the latest minority groups to enter the pantheon of American scapegoats, Hispanic immigrants and Muslims. We are still a young, imperfect, unfinished country. As a young black man working as a nurse in a 1980s AIDS clinic memorably says in Tony Kushner’s epic drama “Angels in America”: “The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word ‘free’ to a note so high nobody can reach it.” 

Read the rest.

Giving up choice in the name of marriage

by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
Read more LifeLube musings from Lorenzo here

Now underway - a 2 – 3 week hearing on the constitutionality of Prop 8.

I am hopeful that this step will take us closer to a Supreme Court hearing that might lead to a sweeping demise of marriage inequality in the country. However, we might be paying a high price for such a victory.

In reading what the judge has asked both sides to speak to, I saw the opening for the exploration as to whether gayness is a choice.

I haven’t a clue what scientific, psychological or sociological arguments will be presented. Although, in 2010 I imagine the argument as to whether sexual orientation is a matter of choice or biology will be answered rather easily. With a number of respected and well-regarded associations, institutions, organizations and experts agreeing that sexual orientation is not a disease or a result of a series of unfortunate circumstances, the question might be answered with some ease.

My concerns do not stem from the argument of biology versus lack-of-a-father-figure. I am concerned, however, with basing an argument about sexual orientation on biological predetermination and removing any semblance of choice, preference (god forbid) or desire (yikes!).

I understand the strategic argument for god (the Christian god, of course) and/or biology making us this way. After all, if I were born this way it would be unconscionable to deny me the basic rights that others (born the other way) have. While I get this, I don’t get how being a "biological error" (to quote Dr. Laura) or "blessing" (to quote queer revolutionaries) should be the primary reason(s) why I must be afforded the right to marry, to access health care or to stay alive.

I am not naïve; I know what country I live in, what decade I am in and what generation I was born into. Still, I can’t help but mourn the fact that I deserve these fundamental rights, not because I was born a certain way, but because I was born, period. I would much prefer to witness the realization of rights based on my humanity and not on the possibility that some divine being or mix matching of chromosomes or elongated index fingers “made me this way.”

I’m a little old school when it comes to sex and gender. I am an adamant believer in the fundamental right and necessity for choice. When I hold my partner in my arms, I am reminded not of how my mother’s womb made me gay, but how from the deep, sacred and evolving parts of my humanity I have come to desire, adore and build a life with another brown man. In the end, choice might be the one thing that keeps me queer.

I bow my hat to those working tirelessly to make marriage equality a reality. I only hope that our trade-off does not send us so far back that we cease to be queer and become normal.

NOW can we Dump Gay Marriage as a Cause?

Prop 8 is a Distraction, or: NOW can we Dump Gay Marriage as a Cause?

via The Bilerico Project, by Yasmin Nair

Today's decision by the California Supreme Court will, no doubt, cause gays and lesbians to gather to express their anger over the recent decision. But in the midst of all the emotional outbursts, a lot of us are left to silently wonder how and why either Prop 8 or marriage became the raging issues of the so-called gay movement. The recent ruling will re-energize gay marriage advocates, but I suggest that we use it as an opportunity to drastically alter our course: Dump marriage now.

Let's be clear: Prop 8 was a measure that should never have passed. Today, the California Supreme Court has ruled that the measure itself will stand, but that the 18,000 or so marriages that took place in the meantime will remain legal.

I'd like to suggest that we end this drain on resources that we call gay marriage. The fact that the measure is wrong does not mean that the fight for gay marriage is the cause we should be battling for. There are, believe it or not, many, many gays and lesbians, and yes, a lot of queers and straight people, who don't feel the need to marry. They resolutely object to the idea that marital status should determine whether or not they get health care or validation from society.

Read the rest.

Prop. 8 upheld by California Supreme Court

So much for trend-setting California! BOOOOOOO!


via Los Angeles Times

The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law.

Read the rest.

Monday Morning Perk-Up: Colbert's ANTI Anti-Gay Ad

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Can we find common ground with Warren?

Rick Warren clarifies and confuses, via Citizen Crain

...Given the proliferation of "bad cops" who have made hay out of this controversy, including gay leaders trying to change the subject from Prop 8, now is the time for "good cops" to reach out to Warren and see whether he would throw his specific support around some level of legal recognition, or perhaps even federal civil unions.

Read the whole post.

Warren - What Matters?

Rick Warren's inaugural prayer is the central front in the struggle for marriage equality in the same way that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was the central front in the War on Terror.

Focus.

- David Quigg, Huffington Post blogger from Seattle
Read the rest of the column.

Embrace What You Have In Common With Rick Warren

Embrace What You Have In Common With Rick Warren

by Lee Stranahan on the Huffington Post

We want to cram Obama into our old, divisive, two toned ideological and political frame and if he doesn't fit, we'll attack him too. Attacking is what we're used to doing.

Apparently, Barack Obama meant what he said about our politics being too small for our problems.

With job layoffs and new miserable financial statistics being announced every day, how else can we explain the press and some Republicans being endlessly fascinated with the non-connection between between Obama and Blagojevich? How else does one explain the thrashing about of some progressives over the idea of Pastor Rick Warren saying a few minutes of prayer at Obama's inauguration?

The answer is simple; we currently practice a mighty small politics in the United States.

You might not like the idea of Prop 8 supporter Rick Warren anywhere near Washington on January 20th. None of my friends do. This isn't hype; the people who are so bent out of shape about Warren are literally all my friends or people I admire.

Like my comrades, I think Warren is dead wrong on same sex marriage. But the reality is that at the end of 2008, a majority of voters in California agreed with him. A majority of Americans agree with Warren about same sex marriage and many more states have made marriage equality unconstitutional than have ratified it.

Read the rest on the Huffington Post.

Pissed about Rick Warren?

Check out the Project Postcard action
on civil rights front.

Dear President-elect Obama,

Rick Warren should not deliver the inaugural invocation. He is a proponent of legislation that is discriminatory towards the LGBT community. Please choose someone who will speak to all Americans.

Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]

Read more, and Stand Up, Speak Out, and Stay Strong.

VIDEO: Stewart Talks Gay Marriage with Huckleberry

"Semantics are cold comfort when it comes to humanity."
- Jon Stewart, whom we continue to adore


Check it out via The Mad Professah

NYT: Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists

Outraged by California voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of advocates, shaken out of a generational apathy, have pushed to the forefront of the gay rights movement, using freshly minted grass-roots groups and embracing not only new technologies but also old-school methods like sit-ins and sickouts.

Matt Palazzolo, 23, a self-described “video artist-actor turned gay activist,” founded one group, Equal Roots Coalition, with a group of friends about 10 days ago. “I’d been focused on other things in my life,” Mr. Palazzolo said. “Then Nov. 4 happened, and it woke me up.”

Often young and politically inexperienced, the new campaigners include an unlikely set of leaders, among them a San Francisco chess teacher, a search-engine marketer from Seattle and a former contestant on “American Gladiators,” who jokingly suggested that he had become involved in the movement as a way of making up for his poor performance on the show.

“We’re a gay couple in West Hollywood, neither of us involved in activism, but we just wanted to help,” said Sean Hetherington, 30, a stand-up comic who was the first openly gay contestant ever to do battle, however briefly, in the Gladiator Arena. “And we were amazed at what happened.”

Mr. Hetherington and his companion were among several people surprised by the strength of positive reaction after starting Web sites geared toward a demonstration planned for Wednesday, “Day Without a Gay.” Its organizers are asking gay rights supporters to avoid going to work by “calling in gay” and volunteering in the movement instead.

Many grass-roots leaders say the emergence of new faces, and acceptance of tactics that are more confrontational, amount to an implicit rejection of the measured approach of established gay rights groups, a course that, some gay men and lesbians maintain, allowed passage of the ban, Proposition 8.

“I think we are demanding as a community that we democratize our processes and ensure we all have a voice,” said Molly McKay, media director of the volunteer group Marriage Equality USA. “Because we are not a campaign. We are a movement.”

The executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell, a member of the No on 8 campaign’s executive committee, said the criticism was understood.

“Even from my vantage point, I would have a wish list of things I would have done differently,” Ms. Kendell said, adding that she would have preferred “to give our community a greater level of engagement.”

Read the rest on the New York Times.

Monday Morning Perk-Up: Prop 8 the Musical

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

This video is all over the internet, but in case you haven't seen it, take a look - it's awesome. Behold a three-minute musical with John C. Reilly, Margaret Cho, Doogie Howser, Andy Richter, and Jack Black as Jesus.

NY Times: Make Same-Sex Marriage a Health Issue

Charles Blow at the New York Times has an interesting article on how to win support for same-sex marriage in the African-American community: make it a health issue. According to exit polls, African-American women were the strongest supporters of Prop. 8. If the gays can win the argument with this group, they can overturn Prop 8., and the sexual-health crisis in the African-American community may be the way to do it.

Blow's reasoning is quite sound:

For instance, most blacks find premarital sex unacceptable, according to the Gallup data. But, according to data from a study by the Guttmacher Institute, blacks are 26 percent more likely than any other race to have had premarital sex by age 18, and the pregnancy rate for black teens is twice that of white teens. They still have premarital sex, but they do so uninformed and unprotected.

That leads to a bigger problem. According to a 2004 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women have an abortion rate that is three times that of white women.

More specifically, blacks overwhelmingly say that homosexuality isn’t morally acceptable. So many black men hide their sexual orientations and engage in risky behavior. This has resulted in large part in black women’s becoming the fastest-growing group of people with H.I.V. In a 2003 study of H.I.V.-infected people, 34 percent of infected black men said they had sex with both men and women, while only 6 percent of infected black women thought their partners were bisexual. Tragic. (In contrast, only 13 percent of the white men in the study said they had sex with both men and women, while 14 percent of the white women said that they knew their partners were bisexual.)

You can read the rest of the piece here.