Discrimination marches forwards in Virginia

MoonHowler

The House of Delegates passed the bill making it legal to discriminate for religious reasons.

According to the Washington Post:

The Virginia House passed a bill Tuesday that would block state agencies from punishing discrimination against people who are in same-sex marriages, transgender or have sex outside marriage.

Supporters say the Government Nondiscrimination Act is needed to protect what they call religious freedom in the face of shifting cultural attitudes toward gay rights and the legalization of gay marriage. Opponents say it amounts to a license to discriminate, with broad-reaching consequences.

The bill passed the Republican-controlled chamber 56 to 41, with seven Republican members voting “no,” two not voting and one absent. Although the vote is a win for the socially conservative wing of the party, the fact that some Republicans voted against it reflects a divide within the Republican Party in Virginia and the nation.

Read More

General Assembly: Virginia is NOT for Lovers

MoonHowler

marriage.p

Washingtonpost.com:

RICHMOND — A House panel on Thursday advanced a bill that would allow any individual, business or organization to discriminate against someone for having sex outside of marriage.

The bill says state agencies cannot punish discrimination against anyone who is in a same-sex marriage, is transgender or has sex outside of wedlock.

The legislation advanced 13 to 7 along party lines in the GOP-controlled committee, except for Del. Joseph R. Yost (R-Giles), who voted no. The provision about sex outside of marriage was added to the bill minutes before lawmakers voted.

It is headed for likely passage by the full House next week; Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Read More

Lower court upholds same sex marriage ban in 4 states

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

A federal appeals court panel upheld bans on same-sex marriage in four states Thursday, a break with other federal courts that makes it almost certain the Supreme Court must take up the issue of whether gay couples have a constitutional right to marry.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati ruled 2 to 1 that although same-sex marriage across the nation is practically inevitable, in the words of U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, it should be settled through the democratic process and not the judicial one.

The decision overturned lower-court rulings in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky and makes the 6th Circuit the first appeals court to uphold state bans since the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.

The Supreme Court began its term last month by declining to hear appeals of decisions that had gone the other way, and that move to let the rulings stand greatly expanded the number of states in which same-sex couples may marry.

The court did not explain its reasoning at the time, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said in interviews that there was no reason for the court to jump in to settle a controversy unless there was disagreement among the lower courts.

 

Read More

Flip Benham harasses gay weddings in NC

MoonHowler

flip benham

Rightwingwatch.org:

 

With gay marriage now legal in North Carolina, it was only a matter of time before Flip Benham of Operation Save America started crashing wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. The North Carolina-based pastor, who is the father of Religious Right activists David and Jason Benham, reportedly disrupted several weddings at the Mecklenburg County and Courts Office in Charlotte last week. Benham’s group, which in July disrupted a memorial service at a Unitarian Universalist congregation in New Orleans, “interrupted several couples’ weddings as supporters held up a large rainbow flag to block his view,” according to the North Carolina LGBT publication Q Notes. “Another protester waved a bible in the air as he screamed several profanities and vulgarities.”

 

Read More

Prop 8 Declared Unconstitutional (and Jon Stewart at the end)

MoonHowler

“Moral disapproval is an improper basis for denying rights to gay men and lesbians and that the evidence shows consclusively Prop 8 enacts without reason a private moral view that same sex couples are inferior.”

Vaughn Walker, Chief Judge,

 U.S. District Court

Northern District of CA

As with a stroke of a pen….the opposition to gay marriage in California was kaput. 

Judge Walkerwas appointed to the Court by Ronald Reagan.  His confirmation was difficult because he was seen as being too conservative.  This case has had some very strange twists and turns.   The Prop 8 winning attorneys are 2 old enemies who suited up and joined forces:  David Boies and Ted Olson.  Boies was the Gore lawyer and Olson was the Bush lawyer back in 2000.  Politics does make very strange bedfellows indeed! 

Read More

Should Same-Sex Marriage Become Legal in D.C.?

MoonHowler

Monday the D.C. Council will begin the final debate on whether to legalize same sex marriage in the District of Columbia. According to the Washington Post:

After months of strategizing, the debate over whether the District should legalize same-sex marriage is entering its final stages as a council committee takes up the issue Monday. Hundreds have signed up to testify, setting the stage for one of the largest council hearings ever, officials said. Another hearing Monday is scheduled before the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, which must decide whether to allow a ballot initiative on whether marriage in the District should be restricted to unions involving one man and one woman.

To get an initiative on the ballot, its supporters must convince the elections board that their proposal would not discriminate against gay men and lesbians. Most legal observers expect the board will deny the request. This summer, the board rejected a referendum proposal to block the city from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Protestors and supporters of same sex marriage have signed up to speak. The Council is expected to approve same sex marriage before Christmas.

Because of the location and uniqueness of Washington, D.C., whatever happens will very much affect Virginia, Maryland, and other near-by states. Much of what the Council will consider involves protection of churches and clergymen who oppose same-sex marriage.

Some of the testimony will center on whether the bill, which is sponsored by council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), goes far enough in exempting religious groups and affiliated organizations from having to participate in same-sex weddings.

Under the draft before the committee, churches and religious officials would not have to marry same-sex couples. Religious organizations could also deny reception space and other services to same-sex couples “unless the entity makes such services, accommodations, or goods available for purchase, rental, or use to members of the general public.”

Other than symbolism, how does same-sex marriage change anything? Since D.C. is not a state, can the federal government impose any sort of sanctions on what they might be getting ready to do? Would only those same-sex couples who reside in D.C. be able to actually benefit from marriage?

Should the legislation pass making same-sex marriage legal in D.C., should same-sex couples be entitled to everything traditional married couples  are    entitled to?  If someone doesn’t approve of inter-racial marriage, are they allowed to opt out?  Can’t ministers refuse to marry people without giving a reason?

How would this legislation affect same sex couples who live in Virginia?  While Virginia does not recognize same sex marriage, could the couple be arrested?  Would they be able to file a joint federal tax return and not a joint state return?  Just how would all of this work? 

The Virginia Marriage Amendment

(And then those after thought questions:  will I be sorry I posted these question?)