Prop H8te Overturned, but the Fight Will Continue

On Wednesday, August 4, 2010 in an incredibly awesome decision, Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco overturned Prop. 8, California's same-sex marriage ban. With that, the right wing immediately went wild claiming that Walker's own homosexuality was an open secret in SF and he should've recused himself. Whether he is or isn't, is irrelevant. He followed the law. Are they actually implying only a straight white male could've made an unbiased decision about the civil rights of gay people? Does that also mean that the 3 women on the Supreme Court should not have a vote if Roe v Wade is ever contested? What I find very interesting about these howls of foul play is that these very people were high-fiving when the conservative Republican and GHWB appointee was selected to hear this case. Many of those same knuckle draggers screaming about how one judge invalidated the votes of the 7 million Californians who supported Proposition 8 were comfortable with the SCOTUS stopping the Florida recount in 2000. Remember when they selected arguably the worst (definitely the most inept) president ever in George W. Bush while ignoring 51 million voters nationwide? Here's the problem, if you let a majority vote on the civil rights of a minority the minority will never win. Certain people are fine with tyranny as long as it just oppresses minorities. It makes them feel superior. Walker's ruling was based in large part on the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. Proponents of Prop. 8 failed to support their claim that same-sex marriages undermine the institution of marriage or are harmful to children. He asserted. "Moral disapproval" of homosexuality is not a sufficient basis for such discrimination. Good on him. As for the other complaint about the ruling - that judges should not force social change on a culture that is not ready for it - remember: It was the federal judiciary, invoking the Constitution, that desegregated schools and ended bans on interracial marriage. Discomfort with a minority group, whether based on skin color or sexual orientation, does not justify the denial of basic rights. 

I love the claim, "a culture that is not ready for it." Don't these people also claim that the U.S. is the greatest, most free country in the entire world? That we're leaders? How can we be leaders when we have a bunch of bible-thumping cowards and rednecks spending all their energy worrying about what total strangers may or may not be doing in their bedooms? I would suggest that the real sexual deviants are the one's obsessed with other people's "relationships"! My gosh, Mexico allows gay marriage! Our other neighbor, Canada allows it. The amount of countries who allow gay marriage or legal recognition is staggering. We are way behind the civilized world...way behind. More Info 

And it has been noted from various places how quiet the Republican Party has been about this ruling. While my go-to-gal Rachel Maddow mentioned the silence as deafening, she offered no suspicions as to what they may be up to. Here's my thought about their silence on this issue. I believe the whole "repeal the 14th Amendment" brouhaha has very little to do with illegal immigration or "anchor babies." Republicans like Graham, Kyl and McCain and whoever else has jumped on the bandwagon would like you to believe that the "Citizenship Clause" was the entire amendment, where children born here are legal U.S. citizens regardless of the status of childs parents. They're telling us that they must destroy the 14 Amendment so that the children of immigrants who have entered the country illegally will not be considered Americans, thereby "anchoring" the parents to the nation. Guess what else is in the 14th Amendment? The Due Process Clause which prohibits state and local governments from depriving people of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken. Also, the Equal Protection Clause which requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction. This is how Section 1 of the 14th Amendment actually reads:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

See that? Get rid of that pesky little section and you can kill several birds with one stone. With it's removal, not only will undocumented immigrants be out of luck, gay folks will be forced back into the closet, women will be pushed backwards, and heck why not segregate schools again. Party like it's 1868!

My last point is, keeping the population arguing about social issues is also a way to keep attention off of the fact that corporate owned politicians are fleecing us to a dramatic tune --- with our wealth being distributed up! The top 5% have more than 50% of the wealth, but let's keep worring about, "Adam & Steve" or "Abby & Eve." Let's step in and force a 14 year old who was raped by her step-father to carry that demons spawn for 9 months. If the president has dark skin, let's make sure we have the long form version of his birth certificate. How about we get a grip before our ignorance slips us any further into irrelevance?

Prop H8te on Trial...finally

On Monday, those opposed to gay marriage won a temporary halt of the planned video coverage of the San Francisco trial of California's Proposition 8. The trial is over the constitutionality of the proposition, which banned same-sex marriage in California during the November 4, 2008 elections. Are they all of a sudden afraid of having their hateful ignorant faces all over You Tube? Are they also afraid that many people will look at the gay couples testifying sympathetically, and realize they’re just like them? Evidently the justices became concerned that witnesses opposed to gay marriage could face harassment if they were shown on YouTube. I guess harassment of bigots is something the court takes seriously, harassment of gay folks? Not so much.
Ted Olson who is leading the challenge to Proposition 8, urged the justices to stay clear of the dispute. He noted that Charles Cooper (who is leading the defense of Proposition 8) and his paid witnesses had stepped forward on their own to appear at the trial. In the end, the high court issued a brief order overruling U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's (a Republican, believe it or not) order and barring, at least for now, any outside video coverage of the trial. It's a sad day when judges have concerns of harrassment for the bigots who have probably done some harrassing at times, when the people on the other side, who have been harassed their entire lives in some cases were willing to put their face with their stories for all to see. I dare the defense to present a legitimate argument, not based in religious beliefs that same-sex marriage will destroy hetero-marriages. The proposition was placed on the ballot with millions of dollars in funding from the Morman Church and put up for vote by CA citizens. So much for seperation of church and state. It’s also ridiculous to let the majority vote on the rights of a minority. If that was the case, you’d still have slavery; you wouldn’t have inter-racial marriages; in essence no one except white males would have any rights, just the way Pat Buchanan wants it.
Same-sex marriage has legal recognition in 7 countries, all but one of them have a very peaceful nature: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. Twenty others have civil unions and registered partnerships, and five others are performed in some jurisdictions. In the U.S., we have a few evolved states: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Recently the territory known as the District of Columbia joined the group. Funny, God’s supposed wrath hasn’t struck any of those areas. He seems to be taking out his anger in the "Bible Belt" if you believe in that kind of stuff.  If your soul is so weak, your ignorance so strong, your education so poor, your hatred so deep, that you feel the need to deny a minority their equal rights to propel your own self-worth, you deserve pity not praise.  Let’s hope when this trial ends, there will be true equality for all Americans in California and beyond.  Get religion out of government as it has never belonged there, and do it now!

UPDATE: A little more than an hour after I posted my article, Rachel Maddow had guest attorneys, David Boies and Ted Olson on her program.  They are best known as adversaries from the Bush v Gore debacle, but have now joined forces to oppose the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage.




Since Sarah Palin is making her debut tonight on Bill O'Reilly's Fear Factor, I thought I'd share the following "interview" with "the Quitter" from my friend DallasDon over at HuffingtonPost. Posting someone else's work is not something I will normally do, but I found it amusing and I hope you will as well...and also, too!
(Reprinted with permission and encouragement)

DD:  How long does it take you to watch "60 Minutes"?
SP:  An hour and a half?
DD:  Have you seen "20/20"?
SP:  Oh no Honey. I wear glasses. See? Alrighty then. And also too!
DD:  What are your thoughts on euthanasia?
SP:  I like kids everywhere, youth in Asia are our future.
DD:  What about the controversy with the Mexican border?
SP:  Just like renters everywhere, the Mexican boarder has to pay rent also. And too.
DD:  What are your thoughts on abstinence programs?
SP:  They work. Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers.
DD:  Your feelings toward Barrack Obama?
SP:  I wish him and all Kenyans a happy and safe New Year.
DD:  And for the American people?
SP:  It's baby Jesus's birthday you know. Malaki 2:3 says, "Behold I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces." You betcha!”
DD:  Okay. I think we're done here. Come on fellas, let's get outta here.
SP:  Hey! Merry New Year to all y'all "NOT" "REAL" Americans! I'm a maverick goin' rogue here! Buy my book, y'all hear now! Alrighty then.