Thethe face of MAC: Dame Edna

Dame Edna is touting the virtues of MAC this season with lilac shades covered in Dame Edna signatures.

Brad Pitt is a Gay Marriage Advocate

"People who are against gay marriage do not understand the very freedoms that they themselves are enjoying. What if someone said, ‘Sorry, no Christianity here? No Judaism. Certainly no Mormons.’ No one would stand for that, and I wouldn’t allow anyone to say that either. I’d fight them in the same way." — Brad Pitt

State supreme courts to rule in gay marriage cases

Supreme courts this year will rule on cases involving same-sex marriage in Iowa and California.

The Iowa case involves the constitutionality of limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, while the one in California centers around Proposition 8, the voter-approved amendment to the state constitution that bars same-sex marriage.

In May, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state could not prevent same-sex couples from marrying. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples tied the knot, but opponents of same-sex marriage collected enough signatures for a ballot initiative to place the issue on the ballot.

In November the measure, known as Proposition 8, was approved by a slim majority of voters. Following the election, three challenges to the vote were filed by gay rights groups.

All three cases claim the measure abridges the civil rights of a vulnerable minority group. They argue that voters alone did not have the authority to enact such a significant constitutional change.

The justices said in addition to hearing arguments on the validity of the vote they want to address what effect, if any, a ruling upholding the amendment would have on the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that were sanctioned in California before Election Day.

In a surprise move, California Attorney General Jerry Brown told the Court in a brief that it should invalidate Proposition 8, the voter approved amendment to the state constitution that bans same-sex marriage.

It was widely expected that Brown would defend Prop 8.

In its brief to the court, Brown’s office said the measure should be invalidated because it deprives people of the right to marry—an aspect of liberty that the Supreme Court has concluded is guaranteed by the California Constitution.

Supporters of Prop 8 have hired attorney Ken Starr, who led the inquiry into President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica L. Lewinsky. They argue that the court should uphold Prop 8 and invalidate the 18,000 marriages as well.

In papers submitted to the state Supreme Court, Starr argues that Brown had “invented an entirely new theory” by asking the justices to trump the electorate, which approved Proposition 8 to amend the state Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.

“We will not mince words. The attorney general is inviting this court to declare a constitutional revolution,” the brief reads.

Lawyers for San Francisco and five other counties, as well as for gay couples who married during the four-month window, asked the court Monday to let stand the existing marriages even if it upholds Proposition 8.

They argued that nothing in the language of Proposition 8, nor the ballot arguments submitted by Protect Marriage, made it clear the gay marriage ban was designed to apply retroactively.

The court is expected to hear oral arguments in March. A decision is not likely for several months.

The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments last month in a challenge to the state ban on same-sex marriage.

In 2007, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson struck down the state Defense of Marriage law, declaring it to be unconstitutional. Later the same day, Hanson stayed the ruling pending an appeal.

Arguing before the high court last month, Assistant Polk County Attorney Roger Kuhle told the justices that Hanson had overstepped his authority.

Kuhle also said that state support of same-sex marriage would damage traditional marriage, arguing that it would indicate to future generations that marriage is no longer about procreation.

Lambda Legal attorney Camilla Taylor, representing the six couples who are challenging the ban on gay marriage, told the court that the law violates Iowa’s constitution.

Taylor said that the constitution protects gay people’s rights to due process and equal protection.

The court is expected to issue its decision later this year.

Federal court asks California to weigh in on Boy Scouts case

A federal appeals court has asked for a legal opinion from the California Supreme Court in a lawsuit over whether San Diego acted illegally in granting leases to the Boy Scouts of America.

At issue is whether the BSA is a religious organization, and if the leases violate the California constitution which ban governments from favoring religious groups.

The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to ask for a legal opinion from a state high court in a federal case is rare, but not unheard of.

The 9th Circuit is considering an appeal of a 2003 ruling that voided the Scouts’ leases based on the state rule.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued San Diego and the Boy Scouts of America over the leases on behalf of a lesbian couple and an agnostic couple, each with scouting-age sons.

The Boy Scouts has been the target of preferential treatment lawsuits since the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2000 ruled that the organization has a constitutional right to exclude openly gay men from serving as troop leaders and because it compels members to swear an oath of duty to God.

U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. ruled in July 2003 that San Diego acted improperly when it leased 18 acres of Balboa Park camp space to the Scouts. The judge ruled that the group is a religious organization and the lease violated the federal establishment clause that prohibits the government promotion of religion.

The city’s action was an implicit endorsement of the Scouts’ “inherently religious programs and practices,” Jones ruled.

The same judge later ruled that the Scouts’ lease with the city for a separate aquatics center at Fiesta Island in Mission Bay Park also was illegal.

Jones said the city has shown preferential treatment to the Boy Scouts, “an admittedly religious, albeit nonsectarian, and discriminatory organization,” because it had negotiated exclusively with the Scouts for the lease of the aquatics center.

The Scouts had leased the half-acre Fiesta Island property since 1987 at no charge. The group spent $2 million to build the aquatics center and provided for its maintenance.

The Balboa Park camp was developed by the Scouts after World War II and in 1957 the group signed a 50-year lease with the city. The lawsuit was brought after the City Council voted to extend the lease for 25 years.

In 2006, the Scouts appealed to the 9th Circuit and a three judge panel in a split decision ruled to asked the California Supreme Court for an opinion.

The Scouts then asked for a review by the full 9th Circuit court. The full court declined to hear the case until the California justice weigh in. The high court has not indicated when it will issue a legal opinion in the case.

Prop. 8 Exit Polling of African-Americans Way Off, Experts Say

A new study on California’s Proposition 8 voting trends released Tuesday found that far fewer African-Americans voted to pass the gay marriage ban than the 70% suggested by exit polling and concluded that race was not the most significant factor affecting people’s vote for or against marriage equality.

After conducting in-depth analysis of election returns from five key California counties and using census data to estimate the racial makeup of the voters in those counties, researchers found that between 57% and 59% of African-Americans voted in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage.

"This is a far cry from the [National Exit Poll] estimate,” said Kenneth Sherrill of Hunter College, one of the lead authors of the study.

Sherrill also noted that four pre-election polls put black support for the antigay ballot initiative anywhere between 41% and 58%. “While that’s quite a range, none venture above 58%,” he said. “On this basis alone, the NEP estimate of 70% would appear to be an outlier.”

A comparison of the Prop. 8 data with that of polling after the Knight Initiative, a 2000 measure that prohibited gay marriage in California by statute (rather than constitutional amendment), showed overall movement toward support of marriage equality across almost every demographic group “with the only holdouts being Republicans, conservatives, and those born before World War II,” said Patrick Egan of New York University, another lead author of the report. “Although Proposition 8 was victorious, I think the real story is that California voters have nevertheless shifted dramatically toward support for same-sex marriage.” In fact, the study found support for marriage equality increasing in nearly every demographic group by about one percent each year since 2000.

Egan and Sherrill also concluded that age, religiosity, party identification, and ideology had more of an effect on whether voters backed Prop. 8 than any other factors. For instance, the rate of support for the initiative among African Americans and whites was nearly the same for those who attended church services regularly.

Perhaps surprisingly, the study also revealed that partisanship and ideology trumped the fact of knowing someone who is openly LGBT. About two-thirds of the state’s self-identified conservatives knew someone who was gay and about 4 out of five of them voted for the measure – the same exact ratio of conservatives who voted for Prop. 8 but didn’t know an openly LGBT person.

Republicans demonstrated a similar pattern, with about four out of five of them voting to pass the ban regardless of whether they knew anyone who was out or not.

“This leads us to the conclusion that at least in terms of marriage equality, opposition to our rights isn’t personal, it’s ideological and partisan,” Sherrill said. Though he called the resistance among Republicans and conservatives "implacable," Sherrill added, "Mitigating that opposition is the fact that California is becoming less Republican and less conservative. In fact, hard-core opposition to such things as gay marriage may be costing Republicans the support of younger voters."

Oregon Church: Marrying Only Straight Couples "Discrimination"

Clergy of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Oregon have been instructed to not sign heterosexual marriage licenses until gay marriage is legal in the state, saying that to do otherwise would be discriminatory.

Rev. Pam Shepherd, seeing the act of signing marriage licenses for heterosexual couples as a form of discrimination against gays and lesbians, decided that in the name of fairness no licenses should be dignified with the signature of the church’s clergy until all families receive equal treatment under the law.

"The Rev. Pam Shepherd came up with the idea after realizing she was inadvertently contributing to discrimination against gay and lesbian couples, she said. 'I've been for civil rights for gay and lesbian people for a long, long time, but I never thought, 'I'm helping the discrimination every time I sign a license,'' she said. 'Every time I sign a license, it's like I'm saying, 'OK,' but it's not OK.'"

“Streaming video from the Internet and other means of direct digital delivery are going to put optical formats out of business entirely over the next few years.”

ROGER KAY, U.S consultant, predicting that the increasing availability of HD movies and TV programs online will make DVD and Blu-ray video discs obsolete

Attack on Marriage is Coming!

This, an apparent mockup of Paul Revere's famous ride, is an actual, undoctored photo that the Family Research Council just put up on their site:



How historically nutty! Apparently the Boston Tea Party was too complicated, both in terms of aesthetics and figuring out how one could possibly spin the "no taxation without representation" imagery in a way that put the side of anti-gay tyranny in the favorable light.

But hey, we do totally get why they'd have such a strong need to put up this particular image. If we spent our work hours hurting and demonizing good and decent LGBT people, by the end of the day we too would probably feel like a horse's ass.

Ohio Supreme Court limits impact of gay marriage ban

The Ohio Supreme Court has let stand an appeals court ruling that said the state’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage cannot be used to terminate a child custody agreement between partners.

“The Court has expressly shut down arguments that Ohio’s antigay amendment impacts parenting and child custody relationships, rights, and responsibilities,” said Lambda Legal attorney Camilla Taylor.

Lambda represented Therese Leach in her fight to uphold a court-approved joint custody agreement signed by both her and her former partner, Denise Fairchild, the child’s birth mother.
The dispute over custody began in 2005 after the women ended their relationship.

After their son was born in 1996, both women parented him. In order to ensure that Leach had a protected legal relationship with the child, the two women signed a joint custody agreement. Such agreements were approved by the Ohio Supreme Court in 2001.

That same year, an Ohio court approved the joint custody agreement stating they would share custody.

After Leach and Fairchild broke up, Fairchild sought to terminate the custody agreement, citing the 2004 amendment to the Ohio constitution limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

In addition to banning same-sex marriage the amendment, known as Issue 1, says the state “and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage.”

Lawyers for Fairchild argued that the amendment extends to adoption.

The appeals court not only dismissed the case, it also said that Fairchild should never have been permitted to attack the enforceability of a shared custody agreement with Leach.

“The Court correctly declined an invitation to treat gay and lesbian Ohio parents differently from other families, and to deprive the children of these families of the protections and support other children receive,” said Taylor.

In upholding the appeals court ruling the state Supreme Court decision is the final word on the matter.

Jerry Brown’s Argument to Void Prop. 8 Under Attack

Same-sex marriage opponents filed legal briefs Monday suggesting California attorney general Jerry Brown “invented an entirely new theory,” one that “fails at every level,” in his attempt to invalidate Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state when it passed at the polls in November.

"The people have the final word on what the California Constitution says," lawyers for the Protect Marriage Coalition wrote. "The practical result of the attorney general's theory is that the people can never amend the Constitution to overrule judicial interpretations of inalienable rights."

Whitewater prosecutor and Pepperdine Law School dean Kenneth Starr cowrote the filing in response to a brief filed two weeks ago by Brown.

In his brief the attorney general said Prop. 8 is in and of itself unconstitutional because it “deprives a minority group of a fundamental right.”

"It became evident that the Article 1 provision guaranteeing basic liberty, which includes the right to marry, took precedence over the initiative," he said in an interview shortly after filing the brief. "Based on my duty to defend the law and the entire constitution, I concluded the court should protect the right to marry even in the face of the 52% vote."

Starr argues that Brown’s theory is "utterly without foundation in this court's case law" and "is not only unprecedented but contradicts the most basic understanding of the role of the judiciary in a constitutional democracy."

Brown’s promise to fight to overturn Prop. 8 came as something of a shock. Though Brown has said he is personally supportive of same-sex marriage, his job as attorney general is to uphold state law.

Prior to filing the brief, he had pledged to defend Prop. 8 after gay rights activists and California cities filed suits challenging it the day after the election.

Equality Matters: The First Online March for Equality | Inauguration Week

The first VIRTUAL protest for LGBT Equality to educate Americans about what marriage rights mean to LGBT: tax fairness, hospital visitation, medical decision-making, exemption from estate taxes, immigration, government benefits & more.

Starting January 18: The idea is simple, but powerful: create a VIRTUAL protest during Inauguration Week. The goal is to educate American about the importance of marriage rights (and all equal rights for that matter) to LGBT Americans. There are more than 1138 rights and responsibilities afforded married couples by federal law including:

-- ability to file joint taxes

-- job security

-- hospital visitation

-- medical decision-making

-- exemption from estate taxes

-- spousal immigration

-- government benefits (social security, pensions, veterans...)

Bob Barr, Author of the Defense of Marriage Act, Says The Law Has To Go

Remember Bob Barr, the U.S. Georgia Representative that somehow became the Libertarian Party's nominee despite the fact that at one time he was a wacky southern peach conservative who fought against abortion, for the war on drugs and is the author of the Defense of Marriage Act?

Well, it turns out his conversion to libertarianism wasn't just an election year stunt, as his op-ed in the L.A. Times today states:

"In 2006, when then-Sen. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he said, "Decisions about marriage should be left to the states." He was right then; and as I have come to realize, he is right now in concluding that DOMA has to go. If one truly believes in federalism and the primacy of state government over the federal, DOMA is simply incompatible with those notions."

British Soccer Stars to Blast Homophobia

Hoping to battle antigay sentiment in the world's most popular sport, the governing body of British soccer has agreed to fund a video featuring high-profile players blasting homophobia.

"After years of lobbying, the Football Association has agreed to approach top footballers to make an MTV-style video against homophobia," said Peter Tatchell of the gay rights group OutRage! Tatchell and his group have been pushing the association to take measures against homophobia among European soccer fans.

The association is now searching for an advertising agency to write a script and produce the antihomophobia video. Tatchell said his wish list of participating soccer stars includes David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"We're pressing the FA to get this video broadcast on TV and at matches on the giant stadium screens," Tatchell said. "We also want the FA to put it on YouTube and distribute copies to every school in the country."

The pressure for the association to do something about homophobia heated up last year after player Sol Campbell -- rumored by some to be gay -- was subjected to a torrent of homophobic abuse at games. And player Ashley Cole was repeatedly tormented by gay-baiters at games throughout 2006.

Ouch! Sales of Hybrid Cars Down 42.8% in December

10% for 2008
Hybrid cars have suffered from a power 1-2 combo punch in recent months. First, the global economic meltdown (housing bubble bursting, credit crunch, etc) sharply reduce car sales overall, and then oil prices fell like a rock, reducing the pain at the pump. This resulted in a year with a 10% drop in hybrid vehicle sales, and a staggering -42.8% in December compared to last year.

Traditional Marriage...

CA Supreme Court Tells Anti-Gay Episcopal Churches "You Can't Take It With You"

Three California Episcopal Churches decided to break-off from the gay-friendly American church over the it's ordination of gays and lesbians, but the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that while they're welcome to pack up their crucifix and leave metaphorically, in practice the crucifix, plus the building it's housed in and all related property, belong to the mother church.

The AP reports that:

"In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the property belongs to the Episcopal church because the parishes agreed to abide by the mother church's rules, which includes specific language about property ownership.

St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million member national Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership.

Since 2003, four dioceses and dozens of individual churches have split, setting off bitter legal feuds over division of property."

Credit Crunch Drives Increase in Backyard Flocks

According to The Guardian, the number of small scale chicken keepers has mushroomed in the UK in the past year. Kirsten Halley, of seed manufacturer Allen and Page, says the phone has been ringing off the hook:

“In the last year to 18 months we have had people on the phone every day... I think there are a few factors that have come together. The credit crunch is a driver. The cost per egg of having your own hens is a fraction of what you would pay in the supermarket. And many people remember their grandparents having allotments, the fun of doing that and the social benefits, living off your own produce. In the current climate it is a lot more economical.”

What Threat to Family?

Countries and States with Gay Marriage Have Low Divorce Rates

Not only have gay rights had no effect on constantly expanding population rates, but they've had no effect on traditional marriage in those European countries where they have the most extensive legal protections.

Similarly, the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts hasn't changed a relevant fact: Massachusetts has one of the lowest divorce rates in the United States. This is relevant because divorce is the real threat to American families, having broken up more than fifty percent of all marriages since it achieved widespread acceptance.

Also, unlike gay sex, divorce is forbidden by Jesus himself: "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." The focus on gay marriage is turning out to be a dangerous distraction from the real problem.

Palm Springs for New Years

We headed out to Palm Springs for New Years. It was cold in Los Angeles for Christmas, but warm in Palm Springs.

The snow-capped mountains surrounding the valley.

On New Year's day, we donned out high-heeled shoes for our annual stroll down Palm Canyon.

And stopped for lunch.

We look a trip to Joshua Tree National Park for a short hike.

The park is beautiful and there were rock climbers everywhere.

We took a hike through Hidden Canyon. The rock formations were incredible!

It is hard to resist not climbing up the rocks.

Sean, Greg and Alex are on the trail. You can't see Nick - he is climbing the rock wall.

FDA approves new HIV blood test

Federal regulators have approved a new HIV test that screens for two, less common forms of the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration said the TaqScreen MPX Test is the first to simultaneously detect HIV-2 and HIV-1 Group O strains. Both types of HIV are mainly found among patients in Africa, but the FDA said they have recently been detected in the U.S.

The test, which is made by a division of Swiss drugmaker Roche, also screens for the most common forms of HIV and hepatitis.

The MPX test is designed to screen for infectious diseases in human blood and tissue samples from donors.

“Blood donor testing laboratories will be able to use nucleic acid technology to screen for additional HIV strains, further assuring that donated blood and tissue are free from infection,” FDA division chief Jesse Goodman said in a statement.

Normalizing Homosexuality Simply Too Much for the Vatican

You already know the Vatican doesn't see gays in favorable light, refusing to join the European countries in signing a United Nations resolution to decriminalize homosexuality. And while the Pope is already an independent city-state, they're now taking their fight to go it alone to a new level: The Vatican will no longer automatically adopt Italian law as its own … beginning tomorrow.

The Vatican will no longer automatically adopt Italian laws as its own when a new statute comes into effect on Thursday, according to Vatican daily Osservatore Romano.

Jose' Maria Serrano Ruiz, president of the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Vatican Law, said the move was motivated by the "exorbitant number" of Italian laws, as well as their "instability" and frequent contrast with "the irreversible principles of the Church".

Although the Vatican is an independent city-state, its residents are largely recognised as Italian citizens.

Under the current statute signed by Pope Piux XI in 1929, Italian laws are accepted by the Holy See except in cases where there is "radical incompatibility" with the basic principles of canon law, Ruiz said.

But the new statute signed by Pope Benedict XVI will mean all Italian laws will have to be examined by Vatican authorities before they are adopted as part of the city-state's own legislation.

Clerics push to ban homosexuality in Ethiopia

Ethiopian clerics want ban on homosexuality enshrined in constitution:

"Religious leaders in Ethiopia on Monday urged lawmakers to amend the country's constitution to ban homosexuality in a move they argue could further strengthen existing codes. At a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, nearly a dozen religious figures, including heads of Ethiopia's Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, adopted a resolution against homosexuality, which they termed as 'the pinnacle of immorality.'"

Rick Warren Does the Gay Rights Shuffle

In the wake of gay rights activists taking President-elect Barack Obama to task for including Yes on 8 mouthpiece Rick Warren in his inauguration, the Saddleback Community Church pastor has taken to the web to explain his position on gay rights.

Warren said in a video to his church that he does not equate gay relationships with incest or pedophilia, but opposes redefining marriage just as any conservative Christian would.

He said the invitation to the inauguration was intended to show that people with opposing views don’t have to demonize each other. He also said that just because he opposes redefining marriage doesn’t mean that he is anti-gay.

"I have in no way ever taught that homosexuality is the same thing as a forced relationship between an adult and a child, or between siblings," Warren said. "I was trying to point out I'm not opposed to gays having their partnership. I'm opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship."

The video replaced a brief article on the Bible and homosexuality that was posted on Saddlebackfamily.com. That church article had said that gays "unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted" as members.

In response to calls from the gay community that Warren be removed from the inauguration, Obama said that he remains a “fierce advocate” of equal rights for the LGBT community.

Caroline Kennedy supports gay marriage

US Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy says she supports the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Kennedy is seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton who has been nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to be Secretary of State.

Kennedy is one of several people seeking the seat. NY Gov. David Paterson has not indicated when he will make his selection.

Kennedy’s position on same-sex marriage puts her to the left of both Clinton and Obama, who have said they believe marriage should be limited to opposite-sex couples but that they support civil unions for gay couples.

It does, however, put her on a par with Paterson, who supports legislation in New York state to allow same-sex marriage. Kennedy’s position was contained in a policy statement released by her spokesperson after The Buffalo News sent her inquiries involving several policy areas.

“Caroline supports full equality and marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples,” Kennedy spokesman Stefan Friedman said.

[This is by no means an endorsement … I just like that she likes the gays.]

Happy New Year