SCOTUS and DOMA, etc

So the Supreme Court is hearing cases on California’s Proposition 8 (you know, the one that holds that the public are allowed to take away rights granted to people), and the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. At stake is the future for same-sex marriage in this country. If the justices rule one way, we likely still have the current situation, with nothing really changing. If they rule the other way, we likely still have the current situation with nothing really changing. At least in the short run.

See, I don’t think this is going to be another Loving v Virginia case, or even another Lawrence v Texas. I expect that in the Prop 8 case, the court will make a very narrow ruling that applies only to California and says that the people can’t take away rights previously granted to a minority.

The DOMA case is a bit trickier. There’s no real Constitutional ground for DOMA. It’s 100% about discrimination and everyone knows it. I expect the court will overturn it, requiring that the federal government recognize gay marriages legally performed. I don’t expect that they will, at least at this point, take the next logical step and require that states recognize any legal marriage, even if they don’t perform those sorts of marriages themselves.

This case has been a long time coming, and sadly I’ve spent the last couple days buried under allergies, so I haven’t been able to pay as much attention as I’d like. Still, I think this is going to, in the short run, end up being a positive thing for gay marriage, and in the long run, it will set the stage for major, massive reforms.

Parsing the Election III: The Other Elections

Among the various bits of voting that happened last night, it’s important to remember that more than just control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate were on the line. There were also several ballot initiatives and local and statewide elections that need to be remembered. All of these are at least somewhat interesting, but there’s a few that really caught my eye.

First off, voters in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington state all voted in favor of gay marriage. In the case of Minnesota this was, as I understand it, voting against an amendment that would have outlawed it, but I do believe that in Maine, Maryland and Washington, the vote was to make gay marriage legal.

The importance of this cannot be understated. The majority agreed, however reluctantly in some cases, that the minority should be granted very basic human rights. This was the first time this happened in the case of gay marriage, and I’m glad that it finally did. Now we just move on to the inevitable court challenges which I predict will end in the Supreme Court saying that states don’t have to perform gay marriages, but they do have to recognize them when performed legally elsewhere, thus basically invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act.

We should take a moment to understand that Obama saying he supports gay marriage likely helped this issue considerably. He really is the best President we’ve ever had on gay rights, though given that the second best, Clinton, was the one who gave us Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and DOMA, that isn’t saying much. Tell me McCain would have been as good on gay rights and I’ll call you a lair to your face.

The other major thing to notice form last night is marijuana seems to have basically gone mainstream. Some states legalized medical marijuana, but that’s nothing new and not terribly interesting to me. No, the real interesting thing is that Washington state and Colorado both voted to make recreational use of marijuana legal.

Now that’s an important thing. In the case of Washington, what will happen is that, eventually, marijuana will be sold in various state-run stores, rather like liquor already is (or at least it was when I lived up there). You would be allowed to possess up to an ounce at a time, which is…I don’t know. A lot? A little? I have no idea, because I don’t use the stuff. But I’m sure it’s something that will greatly please those who do.

Of course the federal government isn’t big on this whole thing, so you can look forward to many challenges. For the Republicans out there, this brings up an interesting question. Isn’t this a states’ rights issue? The people of Washington state have decided they want to give up on the drug war and let people have their weed. Doesn’t Republican ideology mean that you have to support them in this? If there’s any intellectual consistency, of course it does, but when we’re talking about the GOP, perhaps “intellectual” is not a word that should be used.

There were many other state and local elections last night, but those were the ones that really caught my attention. I’m done, at least for now, covering what happened in election. I think I’m going to go take a nap.

Obama Supports Gay Marriage

There you go. About time, too. I wasn’t entirely surprised at today’s announcement from ABC news. The polling for the last few years has moved more and more toward the tipping point on gay marriage, and given the events of last week, where Biden and SecEd Duncan talked about it, I think this was kind of inevitable. I wish he had campaigned on it in 2008, but I’ll take what I can get. At least this will likely help get out the youth vote in November, as well as shoring up the gay vote.

This is especially poignant given what happened in North Carolina yesterday with their barbaric new law. It also reflects a more global change to the issue of gay marriage, where David Cameron’s Conservative government in the UK said recently that they want gay marriage legal there in 2015.

It’s sad to realize that this will still be a whipping point for the GOP during the rest of this year. There will, I promise you, be many, many people campaigning on the idea that if you vote for Democrats, you’ll end up with gays marrying your children. The good news is that this election cycle, and possibly 2014, will likely be the last time it will be a viable attack position.

Know hope, eh?

Prop 8: The Final Round?

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a darling among those of us who enjoy the Constitution, has overturned California’s horrible Proposition 8. This means that, in theory, gay marriages are on again in the state. Realistically, they’ll probably be on hold while an appeal is filed with the Supreme Court. Jeffery Toobin, legal analyst for CNN, expects that, given the narrow wording of the ruling, the court probably won’t take the case. If they don’t, that’s fine. But I do look forward to the day they rule that states don’t have to allow gay marriage, but do have to recognize any marriages legally performed in other states.

And Soon, Washington State

Well, it sounds very much like gay marriage is about to become a reality in Washington State. The Senate has passed a bill approving it, and sent it to the House where it’s expected to pass there, too. The governor has already said she’ll sign it.

This is of course an excellent thing and long overdue. Washington will join a handful of other states, plus DC, in granting equality to all its citizens. Of course, once those citizens leave and go to other states, their marriage may not count, which is why I look forward to a Supreme Court ruling in the next few years that will basically say that states don’t have to allow gay marriage, but do have to recognize it if it’s performed in another state.

This does also raise within my mind the question of when Arizona will get around to legalizing it. My answer is: not any time soon. While Phoenix is a bit more liberal than some people might think, the state as a whole is a weird mishmash of the worst of Republican and Libertarian politics, so while I do think it will eventually happen, it probably won’t be for at least ten years or so, by which it might be moot.

Gays and Foreign Aid

President Obama, who continues to enshrine himself as the greatest friend in the White House that gays have had since the days of James Buchanan, and Clinton (Hillary), have decided to tie certain kinds of foreign aid into certain gay rights issues.

In a memorandum issued by President Obama in Washington and in a speech by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton here, the administration vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize homosexual conduct, abuse gay men, lesbians, bisexuals or transgendered people, or ignore abuse against them.

“Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and distinct,” Mrs. Clinton said at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, “but in fact they are one and the same.”

Well, this is great! I have absolutely no problem with this, aside from the faint whiff of hypocrisy that I always smell when something like this comes along. After all, until 2003, gay sex was illegal in many, many states in the USA. Gays still aren’t allowed to marry in most states, and there’s several states where gay adoption isn’t allowed.

Like with so many civil rights issues, it might take the USA a while to get on board, but once we are, we are fully. Consider that segregation was the law of the land in many places when my mom was a child. By the time I was in my teens, we were calling for sanctions against South Africa for the way blacks were treated there.

Of course, some people just can’t be happy about these things.

One Republican candidate, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, said: “President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”

Only a moron would say that us telling other nations they can’t kill people for being gay and expect foreign aid is the same as our “endorsing” gay lifestyles. Then again, Rick Perry is a moron, as I think we’ve all come to learn over the last few months. I also laugh at this comment from him, given that I’m sure he was all in favor of our threats to cut off foreign aid for family planning if abortion was so much as mentioned.

The interesting thing is what this is going to do for some of our long-term allies, like Saudi Arabia, who certainly aren’t keen on the gays. While I think this is mostly targeted at nations like Uganda, I do look forward to seeing what other countries do in response.

Speakin’ of the Gays

There’s something seriously wrong with the Republican Party in this country. The fact that I think that will come as no surprise. Of the many things that are wrong with them, I think their stance on gay rights is the most egregious. They’ll spout off all sorts of anti-gay marriage rhetoric, for example, on the basis of states’ rights (something that was used to decry civil rights for blacks), and they’ll use a fear of gay marriage to get votes. This isn’t even going into things like gay adoption or today’s end to DADT. It’s really quite sad.

Compare and contrast with the Conservative Party over in the UK. That party, led by David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is backing gay marriage. They’re doing it on the basis of conservative arguments, like supporting families and stabilizing relationships. They’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do.

It’s fascinating to me to see what a real “conservative” party is like, and how unlike the Republican Party they really are. The UK Conservatives recognize reality and deal with the world in realistic terms, understanding the art of compromise. The Republican Party, by contrast, lives in a fantasy land where dogma is always more important than dealing with the real world.

I hope the Conservatives win the day on this one. Good luck, UK!

A Happy Surprise

President Obama has asked the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA, the “Defense of Marriage Act”. That’s an “act” designed to “defend” so-called traditional “marriage” from the creeping threat of t3h geyhs, who we all know really want to destroy marriage somehow. It was a great stain on Clinton’s legacy and a monstrous piece of legislation that should never have been passed.

This is excellent, but it creates an interesting situation. In some states, courts have already ruled that the law is un-Constitutional. That means it cannot be enforced in those states. As a practical matter this, in theory, means the federal government must recognize gay marriages in those various states. That means joint filings with the IRS, protection for international marriages and access to the same benefits that straight couples enjoy. This won’t happen anytime soon in those states, but it will happen at some point.

It becomes more and more clear that Obama is actually in favor of gay marriage at this point, but lacks the political ability to come out, as it were, and admit as much. This is progress, and I hope that by the time the 2012 presidential campaign really kicks into high gear he will have come out fully in support.

As Ever, it Must Suck to Live in Uganda

I’ve written before about an anti-gay bill in Uganda that would call for the murder of anyone who is gay. It’s a charming little notion, and I see, at least some people in Uganda have decided to get a head-start on it. A gay rights activist was recently beaten to death. This same activist’s picture was published by a Ugandan magazine a while back. It was there with several other activist photos and the caption “Hang them”. Charming.

Ugandans, I want you to listen up. Yous a barbaric, backward nation that won’t advance forward anytime soon unless you cast aside this evil, stupid nonsense. You can and should be doing way better than this.

As for anyone who is gay and living in Uganda, if you have the means, get the hell out! Get to South Africa if you can. There gays enjoy probably the best lifestyle in Africa and gay marriage is legal (thus making South Africa more progressive on civil rights than most of the world, including America). If you can’t escape, then please be careful. Even one death is too many.

An Early Christmas Present – UPDATED

So it goes… the Senate has finally voted to end debate and allow voting on a bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Finally.

This comes after John McCain stood before the Senate and basically said that allowing gays to serve openly would result in soldiers having their legs blown off. I don’t imagine that legs are what would be getting blown, but it’s good to see that Old Man Bitter hasn’t given up the fight yet. I hope everyone who is gay and voted for him back in November, particularly a friend of mine, feel suitably betrayed by this jackass.

Sadly the Senate did not move forward on the so-called DREAM Act, which would allow illegal aliens brought here as kids by their parents a chance to contribute and have their status normalized. The bill would have required them to serve in the military or go to college. It’s not a perfect bill (I think they should just be allowed to stay regardless of school or the military), but it’s better than what we have now. The Senate also has yet to move forward on START, for reasons that baffle me.

But still. We have progress on DADT. Finally.

*** UPDATE ***

The Senate will vote on a full repeal at 3pm EST today. Special congratulations and thanks to the Republicans who voted in favor of ending the debate: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and George Voinovich of Ohio.

*** UPDATE 2 ***

It’s done. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, will be a thing of the past once Obama signs off on it.

About fucking time.