Missouri Fail: Why it Matters

So, a policeman in Missouri was killed in the line of duty.  What happened to his family?

On Christmas Day 2009, Missouri State Trooper, Corporal Dennis Engelhard was hit and killed in the line of duty when a car hit an icy patch and veered out of control. He left behind his partner of 15 years, Kelly Glossip, and Kelly’s son who they were jointly raising. 

The Police and Fireman’s Fund held a fundraiser for the parents, at which they ignored Engelhard’s spouse and child. The State Troopers issued an obituary stating that Engelhard was ‘single’ and the Governor asked people to pray for his family, who who “lost a beloved son and brother.” 

And, naturally, claiming that Glossip was just “a boyfriend”, the state refused to provide him with the survivor benefits to which any spouse is entitled and which are intended to help the family go on after an officer is killed. 

Glossip sued. And today the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that Glossip had no rights. Not because of his orientation, oh no of course not, but because of the gay yarmulke, marriage laws. Although they had exchanged rings, they weren’t a family. (OzarksFirst)

So, let's get this logic straight.

Glossip gets no benefits because they weren't married.

The state won't let them marry.

But this isn't because he's gay, it's because he's not married.  After all, if Glossip were a woman, she wouldn't get benefits.

REALLY?  if Glossip were a woman, she could have married Engelhard!  And not to marry would have been a CHOICE.

It seems to me that to avoid this, any gay couple who wants any chance at protections has to travel to a state that allows marriage.  We saw this in Ohio, which doesn't allow same sex marriages, but where a judge ruled in favor of the recognition of a couple married out of state on a death certificate.  That's the only wedge.  Otherwise, they can continue to treat couples like this.

#proudtolove (video Sunday)

Voting = gay (video)

Too short for a video Sunday!

The Constitution and equality

Lyle Denniston considers the unusual situation that brought equality to New Jersey and cautions,

The political reality at the moment – and one must stress that the reality might well change – is that full marriage equality will not come into being until the national Constitution recognizes it – either by court interpretation, or by formal amendment. In the near term, it is hard to predict that the end of this reality is in sight. 

That kind of approach can only work in states where politics or court rulings have already established some foundation of equality for gay and lesbian couples, and the number of states that have done that is not a lengthy list. So, in the states where that foundation does not yet exist, marriage equality will only come about through either a bold new court declaration, a change of heart in the state legislature, or a new wave of popular support that can carry the day in a voter referendum. 

There is, of course, one other way: the U.S. Supreme Court could be asked, in the quite-near future, to rule that same-sex couples do have a constitutional right to marriage equality. The Justices may be presented with that fundamental question sooner than some have expected. When that test does arise, as it will, what has been happening in the states may well help to shape the Justices’ reaction, but there is no guarantee of the outcome.

Will Oregon be next?

Effective immediately, the state of Oregon will recognize marriages of same-sex couples from marriage equality states.

The Oregon Department of Justice issued the ruling last week, noting Oregon has historically recognized marriages from other states and countries that would not have been legal to enter into in the state of Oregon. The ruling says same-sex marriages should be no different. ...

Although Oregon passed “Measure 36″, a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, in 2004, opponents from Oregon United For Marriage hope to overturn it with a ballot measure next year. They have earmarked $12 million toward that effort.
...
Oregon United for Marriage is looking for volunteers to help collect signatures to get a repeal of Oregon’s “Measure 36″ on the ballot in 2014. If you can help, you can sign up here.

(source)

And New Jersey makes 14....

Marriages begin today in New Jersey.

Dear Straight People.... (Video Sunday)

Voices of Faith Speak out: Bishop Gene Robinson on the streets of NY (video Sunday)

Bishop Gene Robinson's Sermon on Gay Pride Day from Auburn Seminary on Vimeo.

And she keeps me warm (video Sunday)

Have you seen Macklemore and Lewis' video "Same love"?  If you liked the "hook" in that ("She keeps me warm"), here's the full length version

Governor of PA compares same sex marriage to incest.

This was to apologize for comparing same sex marriages to marriages between children.

Best response comes from openly gay PA state senator Brian Sims:

No one, not even his own party, would argue that he’s an intellectual heavyweight or even a particularly thoughtful person. ...

Our job isn’t just to be frustrated with the homophobia coming from the Governor’s Mansion, it’s to do everything we can to ensure that his chapter in Pennsylvania’s political history is as sad and short as his record on schools, economic development and civil rights. 

Corbett is running for re-election. Keep talking, Governor.

What has happened in MA since the gays got married?

Not much.  From Think Progress, we learn that 85% of MA voters say, no big deal.

[Marriage equality has not turned society inside out, nor has the promised parade of horribles has not come to pass. Massachusetts now has the lowest divorce rate in the nation, same-sex families now enjoy full legal protections, and the Boston Red Sox have the best record in Major League Baseball. 

And even 66 percent of Massachusetts Republicans concede marriage equality has had no negative effect on them. According to the PPP poll, Massachusetts voters now support same-sex marriage by an overwhelming 60 to 29 percent margin.

So, we do know what happens when Teh Gayz marry.

Gays marry.

End.

Dream Team Boies and Olson to take on Virginia

I have often called Virginia the "State of Hate" because they not only ban marriages between same-sex couples, they also ban civil unions, recognition of any marriages, and indeed, any civil efforts to provide relationship protection like employer-benefits, etc. 

"A civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges and obligations of marriage is prohibited." It goes on to add that any such union, contract or arrangement entered into in any other state, "and any contractual rights created thereby," are "void and unenforceable in Virginia." (Source)

The Prop8-AFER dream team of powerhouse attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies are going to take on Virginia.  Although they won their Prop 8 case, it was on a technicality that only applied to California.  Their goal is to achieve marriage equality nation wide.  From the WaPo:

Olson said AFER was invited to join the case by attorneys for the plaintiffs, Norfolk residents Timothy Bostic and Tony London, whose marriage application was turned down, and Carol Schall and Mary Townley, who have a 15-year-old daughter and whose marriage in California is not recognized by the commonwealth. 

Virginia is an “attractive target,” said Olson, who lives in the state, because its rejection of same-sex marriage and civil unions is so complete. 

“The more unfairly people are being treated, the more obvious it is that it’s unconstitutional,” Olson said.

Of course, there is a risk.

But some supporters of same-sex marriage fear the suits are coming too fast. The justices turned down the chance to find a constitutional right to marry only months ago, and Kennedy’s opinion in Windsor also contained his caution that “history and tradition” give states the right to define marriage. 

After giving the victories, the slim Supreme Court majority might favor letting the political process, rather than the judicial, take the lead. 

Olson is unmoved by that theory. 

“I’m not going to get into the justices and what they each said and what Justice Scalia said,” Olson said. “Given what was said in DOMA [decision] and given the record we made in California and given what we’re going to establish in Virginia, we’re going to be able to persuade a majority of the court that this is the right thing.”

Let us remember that George Bush senior recently was a witness at a same sex marriage, and Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg has officiated at two weddings.  Slowly, surely.....

News from New Jersey

From ThinkProgress

A New Jersey judge ruled Friday that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the state constitution, ordering marriage equality will take effect on October 21, 2013 — assuming the decision is not stayed. The decisiondoes not overturn the civil unions law, but asserts that same-sex couples must also have the right to marriage, including all the federal benefits now associated with it post-Defense of Marriage Act.

Because separate is not equal.

Go, Garden State!

Voices of Faith: the viral video (video Sunday)

This video for the NALT project (Christians are not all like that)  has gone viral and been viewed more than 100,000 times.  Go ahead and share it!

 

Getting rich from marriage inequality

Several times on this blog, I've reflected on the lucrative business model of opponents of marriage equality. (I've grouped the posts under the label of "follow the money"). From the now-discredited George Rekers, who testified for $$$$, to NOM's Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown, who have various shell groups that pay them generously, the business of opposing marriage rights generates quite a lot of cash.

Over at JoeMyGod, Joe frequently points at the money-begging emails from another distasteful anti-gay activist, a Virginia county supervisor named Eugene Delgaudio.

And I'm sure Frank Schubert, the "mastermind" behind the Prop8 campaign and most of the other ones state campaigns, is doing very nicely based on this business model.  (Although we wonder if his business will drop off since he hasn't been so successful lately.)

Now, ThinkProgress has done some digging into the finances of Gary Bauer, and shows that his various PACS and action committees pay him VERY generously for....  what exactly?  He's a consultant, apparently.  Here's an example:

So far, Americans United to Preserve Marriage has paid Bauer more than $260,000 — and between 2009 and 2012, Bauer received more than half of the committee’s total spending.

So, you donate money to this group and half of it goes to Bauer.  Hmmm.  And then this:

The Campaign for Working Families PAC, a traditional political action committee first created in 1996, began 2013 with nearly $1 million left in the bank. The committee, which calls itself “the leading pro-family, pro-life political action committee in America,” claims to exist “solely to raise funds to support or oppose candidates based upon their political views.” But starting in March, Bauer began paying himself $13,750 a month for “political and admin” consulting — $68,750 over the past five months, and several times more than the $8,250 the committee has given, total, to federal political candidates so far this year.

The "Great Gay Menace" drives donations to these groups, which use those donations to pay the leaders large amounts of money. So, being anti-equality is big business, and they are getting rich on it.  It may also explain why people like Brian Brown are getting increasingly shrill and more anti-gay, not limiting his remarks to marriage.  Because slowly but surely, his marks are realizing that marriage equality is inevitable.  He's got to yell and instill fear if his big business model is going to keep going.

But do they really want to win?  They'd be out of a job, if they did....

Illinois can't wait; Why it matters (video Sunday)

Illinois is dragging its feet on equality. Here's a story of how that delay has tragic effects.

Will equal marriage eliminate the cash cow of the Religious Right?

Joseph R. Murray, II is a civil rights attorney who used to work for the anti-gay American Family association. He now is a supporter of equality and of the NALT Christians campaign.  He writes,

After the Christian Right tapped out the pro-life issue, the captains of Christian industry needed a new sales pitch to keep the coffers filled. These folks thought they saw the light in 2003 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court declared a fundamental right to same-sex marriage.... 

[T]he Christian Right had invested heavily in a propaganda machine that specialized in promulgating unjust stereotypes. Instead of letting the flock see gay couples as the neighbors next door, the Christian Right made it a point to portray all gays with the wildest pictures they could find from the Castro. 

It was a brilliant strategy, for if groups like AFA could scare the faithful with pictures that portrayed the gay community in the worst light, it could frame the debate as one of deviancy versus decency. There were two problems with this strategy, though: 

First, in order for the campaign to succeed the Right had to forsake the very Christian principles it claimed to be protecting. In typical fashion, a few Ben Franklins made it much easier for them to put profit over principle. 

Second, the strategy would only work if the Christian Right could force gays, as well as those Christians that supported them, into the closet. It was the second problem that would result in the demise of the Christian right.

...Look at the lunacy pouring out of the Christian right. Don Wildmon claims to defend marriage, but endorses twice divorced, three times married Newt Gingrich for president. Mat Staver and Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel are out there invoking Jerry Sandusky to support the medieval notion that you can “pray the gay away.”

And, of course, Bryan Fischer is like a drunken uncle at a wedding who must continually be outrageous in hopes that someone will pay attention.

Why is this happening? Because the Christian right doubled down on gay discrimination and lost. 

NALT, however, will be a devastating blow the Christian Right. Frankly, all the videos pouring into NALT re-affirm one basic fact –- the Christian Right no longer can claim to have a monopoly on morality.

REvised Prop8 timeline

You can also find this on its own permanent page, here.

Comprehensive look at the rest of the states

Are you curious about other states?  Think Progress has an "Equality Roundup" showing us where all the other states are, when it comes to equality.

You can't be unfair, yet kind

From Slacktivist: 

I read this self-serving attempt to be the “nice” bigot by Halee Gray Scott at Christianity Today’sher•meneutics blog, “I Am Not Charles Worley: The Plea of a Christian Who Opposes Gay Marriage.” 

Scott wants you to understand that she’s not at all like the infamous homophobic preacher Worley. She’s totally different. 

Worley wants to deny LGBT people their basic civil rights and legal equality because he hates them. Scott wants to deny LGBT people their basic civil rights and legal equality for other reasons. 

See? See how very different they are? Same result. Same vote. Same fundamental discrimination enshrined in law. But Worley is mean. Scott is nice. 

And Scott has had it up to here with people not recognizing the extreme importance of that distinction....
....
Look, here’s the deal: It doesn’t matter if you think you’re a nice person. And it doesn’t matter if your tone, attitude, sentiments and facial expressions are all very sweet, kindly and sympathetic-seeming. If you’re opposing legal equality, then you don’t get to be nice. Opposing legal equality is not nice and it cannot be done nicely. ....

Scott wants to carve out a space in which she can be unfair, but still kind. Such a space does not exist and cannot exist.