Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Inappropriate Prayer: Alabama hasn't figured out the separation of church and state
A July 17 meeting held by the Alabama Public Service Commission, a state government agency, began with a prayer from a Baptist minister who was introduced as a friend of Commission President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh.
The minister, John Jordan of East Memorial Baptist Church in Prattville, Ala., who is also a member of the Alabama Tea Party, began his prayer by polling those present to see who believed in God. Then he went on to pray for a number of things, including forgiveness from God for the "sins" of gay marriage.
"We've taken you [God] out of our schools and out of our prayers," Jordan intoned. "We've said it's okay to have same-sex marriage. We have sinned and we ask once again that you forgive us for our sins."
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Congressman Uses Ridiculous Immigrant/Dog Analogy
On Thursday's "Report," Stephen Colbert took a moment to talk about Congressman Steve King of Iowa, who seems to keep making headlines for his tone-deaf comments on immigrants.
NBC OLYMPICS COVERAGE FACING CONTROVERSY OVER RUSSIAN ANTI-GAY LAWS
Russia's newly-adopted anti-gay laws are already the subject of worldwide controversy. The laws have already been used to justify police brutality against Russian LGBT activists, as well as the imprisonment of advocates from inside their borders and beyond. LGBT advocates have called for the boycott of many Russian goods as a result. Many others have turned their sights to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which will be taking place in the Russian city of Sochi.The International Olympic Committee has already told press that it will "work to ensure" that LGBT athletes from around the globe will be able to compete freely in the games without fear of any legal trouble. Many LGBT athletes have expressed their apprehension anyway. Other athletes and advocates have called for a boycott of the games by the United States and the IOC, including the likes of Harvey Fierstein and Dan Savage.
On other news: The SPI Group, which owns Stolichnaya Vodka, responds to a recent boycott promoted by Dan Savage and other LGBT activists.
Members of the LGBT community are urging a boycott of products manufactured in Russia, following the national adoption of a ban on so-called homosexual propaganda, the refusal to allow gay and lesbian international citizens to adopt orphaned Russian children, and a series of violent demonstrations against the country’s LGBT community in recent months.
Stolichnaya, the popular vodka brand, has been a focus of attacks by activists, who are promoting the hashtags “#DumpStoli” and “#DumpRussianVodka” on Twitter.
“[T]here is something we can do right here, right now, in Seattle and other U.S. cities to show our solidarity with Russian queers and their allies," wrote Savage on Wednesday. "And to help to draw international attention to the persecution of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, and straight allies in Putin's increasingly fascistic Russia: DUMP RUSSIAN VODKA.”
The SPI Group, which owns Stolichnaya Vodka, contacted The Advocate today to release an open letter to the LGBT community. The statement stressed that Stoli “firmly opposes such attitude and actions” committed by the Russian government and continues to be a “fervent supporter and friend” of the community, pointing to past endorsements of Pride events and LGBT organizations.
The statement claimed that the Luxembourg-based company is not affiliated with the Russian government, and that the vodka's production is divided between Russia and Latvia.
“We fully support and endorse your objectives to fight against prejudice in Russia,” wrote Val Mendeleev, the CEO of SPI. “In the past decade, SPI has been actively advocating in favor of freedom, tolerance and openness in society, standing very passionately on the side of the LGBT community and will continue to support any effective initiative in that direction.”
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
N.Y. to issue refunds to married same-sex spouses forced to pay estate tax
Same-sex spouses forced to pay high New York estate taxes upon the death of their partner will get refunds from the state.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the refunds are being issued as a result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA.
Harry Styles Responds as Westboro Baptist Church Pickets One Direction Concert
Harry Styles was unfazed by members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketing outside One Direction's Missouri concert Friday night. Instead of reacting harshly to the group's messages of hate, he used the moment to speak out on behalf of equal rights.
Last month, the Westboro Baptist Church first threatened to protest One Direction's Kansas City, Mo., concert on July 19. They called the five bandmates "perverted" representations of the "sin-chasing, fag-enabling, God-hating, Christ-rejecting" United Kingdom.
California Supreme Court Rejects Bid To Stop Gay Marriages
California's highest court refused Tuesday to block the state from sanctioning same-sex marriages while it considers a petition arguing that a voter-approved gay marriage ban remains valid in all but two counties.
Without comment, the California Supreme Court rejected a request from the elected government official in charge of issuing marriage licenses in San Diego County for an order halting gay marriages, which resumed in the state last month for the first time since the ban passed in November 2008.
County clerk Ernest Dronenburg Jr. sought the stay on Friday. He also asked the seven-member court to consider his legal argument that same-sex marriages still are illegal in most of California, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision widely regarded as having authorized them and the state attorney general's assertion that clerks throughout the state must issue licenses to gay couples.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages to return to the nation's most populous state last month when it ruled that the sponsors of Proposition 8 lacked authority to appeal a federal trial judge's decision that the ban violated the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian Californians.
Pennsylvania gay couples issued marriage licenses as county defies ban
Two women were wed in a religious ceremony Wednesday morning after getting a marriage license from county officials who defied a Pennsylvania law banning same-sex unions.
NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL WILL NOT DEFEND STATE'S GAY MARRIAGE BAN
Following a lawsuit filed in June by a gay couple in New Mexico challenging the state's ambiguous law that seemed to ban gay marriage, state Attorney General Gary King has said the state Supreme Court should allow gay couples to marry, The Miami Herald reports:
"King, a Democrat who plans to run for governor next year against Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, said New Mexico law effectively doesn't allow gay marriages although there's no statutory provision that specifically prohibits, or authorizes, gay couples to be married.
"New Mexico's guarantee of equal protection to its citizens demands that same-sex couples be permitted to enjoy the benefits of marriage in the same way and to the same extent as other New Mexico citizens," King said in the filing."
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
San Diego County clerk seeks end to Calif. gay marriages
A San Diego County government official in charge of issuing marriage licenses asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to stop gay marriages.
Ernest Dronenburg Jr. urged the state high court to immediately halt same-sex weddings while it considers his legal arguments that gay marriages remain illegal in California despite a U.S. Supreme Court’s decision widely regarded as authorizing gay weddings.
Ernest Dronenburg Jr.
Dronenburg asked for the halt Friday while the state Supreme Court considers his petition, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court decision applies only to the two couples named in the original federal lawsuit, and to the clerks in Alameda and Los Angeles counties where the couples applied for marriage licenses.
Dronenburg also argues that county clerks aren’t bound by orders from the governor, the state attorney general and other state officials to marry gay couples.
“County clerks carry out their duties, including the issuances of marriage licenses, without supervision or control of the governor or attorney general,” Dronenburg wrote in his petition. “Indeed, no statute requires county clerks to report to the governor or attorney general.”
The state Supreme Court on Monday refused a similar request to immediately stop gay weddings made by backers of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state when passed by voters in 2008.
The supporters have made the same legal arguments as Dronenburg.
Va. couple files federal lawsuit challenging state’s ban on gay marriage
A Virginia couple on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Tony London, 54, and Timothy Bostic, 48, filed the suit after being denied a marriage license earlier this month, reported The Virginian-Pilot.
The lawsuit is the first such legal challenge filed in Virginia, and comes just one week after Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia announced plans to file their own lawsuit.
The couple, who have been together since 1989, had considered getting married in another state, but eventually decided against it, according to Robert Ruloff, an attorney for London, a Norfolk real estate agent, and Bostic, an Old Dominion University assistant professor of English.
“They are Virginians and they want to be married in Virginia,” he said.
In 2006, Virginia voters approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent.
But attorneys for the ACLU and Lambda Legal said Virginia’s ban and three underlying statutes violate the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.
The lawsuit is the first such legal challenge filed in Virginia, and comes just one week after Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia announced plans to file their own lawsuit.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Rainbow Connection
Kermit the Frog comes out with a funny song about marriage equality and divorce rights. Someday we'll ALL get the Rainbow Connection!
“In a World Like This”
“The concept of the video is based on the song, which tells a story of how love conquers all and ‘in a world like this’ that we live in, with all the craziness and negative energy that can go around, with real love you can overcome anything." explains, band member A.J. McLean.
The Backstreet Boys have released a socially-conscious music video for their new single “In a World Like This” which offers a pro-gay marriage. Toward the end of the clip a lesbian couple is seen taking each other’s hands overjoyed watching a television report on the overturning of Prop. 8.
The Backstreet Boys have released a socially-conscious music video for their new single “In a World Like This” which offers a pro-gay marriage. Toward the end of the clip a lesbian couple is seen taking each other’s hands overjoyed watching a television report on the overturning of Prop. 8.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Gay rights activists arrested after Calif. city rescinds pride month proclamation
Three gay rights activists are facing charges Wednesday morning after protesting a city council vote to reject a proclamation passed by the mayor last month that declared June as LGBT Pride month in Porterville.
Observers said the protestors — members of the activist group Get Equal — stage a peaceful civil disobedience, and were quickly arrested and detained by police who refuse to cooperate and allow for the peaceful protest when approached by the demonstrators prior.
Most law enforcement agencies work with protestors before an event, to discover what attendees plan, and to explain arrest procedures, reported the Visalia Times-Delta.
But Porterville police refused discussions before the event, and booked those arrested at county facilities. Most other jurisdictions cite arrestees to appear at court, and release them after processing.
It was reported that police dragged people out of the council chambers in a scene was referred to as “almost like a brawl.”
Oh, the Porterville City Council was the only city government in the state to support Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Britain Legalizes Gay Marriage
Britain has legalized gay marriage after Queen Elizabeth II gave her royal stamp of approval.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow told lawmakers that the royal assent had been given Wednesday – the day after the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in England and Wales cleared Parliament.
The queen's approval was a formality. It clears the way for the first gay marriages next summer.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
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