According to the Sioux City Journal, by the end of this week Iowa governor Terry Branstad will fill three vacancies on the Iowa Supreme Court. The vacancies are the result of November's election, when the people of Iowa made history by voting to oust all three of the Iowa Supreme Court justices who were up for retention. That vote was highly publicized and represented a broad-based public repudiation of the court’s freewheeling liberal judicial activism on everything from gay marriage to civil justice issues.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
NRO: Iowa Judicial Vacancies Hang in the Balance
February 22, 2011 – 6:04 pm
Maryland Catholics confront their lawmakers on same-sex marriage
February 22, 2011 – 5:16 pm
- Parishioners of St. Michael the Archangel in Overlea and St. Ursula in Parkville meet with Maryland State Senator Katherine Klausmeier (left) during Lobby Night in Annapolis Feb. 21. (CR Staff/Owen Sweeney III)
From the Catholic Review in Baltimore:
Karen Wingard had never lobbied her lawmakers before, but hearing that Maryland was on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage provoked her.
“It’s the reason I’m here today,” said Wingard, a parishioner of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley who joined more than 500 Catholics from across the state at the 27th annual Lobby Night Feb. 21 in Annapolis.
“Marriage is so foundational to society,” said Wingard, speaking moments before visiting her lawmakers and asking them to vote against same-sex marriage. [source - please scroll down]
New Study: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait to Have Sex Until Marriage
February 22, 2011 – 2:29 pm
Brigham Young University has found a correlation between delaying sex and a longer-lasting marriage:
"… researchers surveyed more than 2,000 couples, ranging in age from 19 to 71 years, and found that communication, sexual quality, perceived stability and relationship satisfaction were better for those couples who had waited until after marriage to consummate their relationship.
The bottom line from the study seems to be that if you want to give marriage the best chance of survival, it’s best to make each other wait. The academics who pioneered the study did so because of a lack of empirical data on how the timing of sex between a couple impacts on the longevity of a marriage." [source]
Ethicist: "When granny gives birth to her grandson, there’s something wrong"
February 22, 2011 – 2:26 pm
Margaret Somerville, a distinguished ethicist, writes for the Globe and Mail in Canada:
The bottom line, regarding surrogate motherhood, and all uses of reproductive technologies, should be that when adults’ claims to use these technologies clash with the rights or “best interests” of the resulting children, the latter must prevail. So far, our decisions have been mainly based on the opposite priority. If we examine past decisions using this new basis, in some cases we might change our minds about what is and is not ethical. [source]
Gay Marriage in Maryland: Why Not?
February 22, 2011 – 10:40 am
Legislation to redefine marriage could get a vote in the Maryland Senate next week, which would change the definition of marriage from a man and a woman to “any two persons.”
... What’s wrong with same-sex marriage? [Continue reading]
After SSM: What Next? In Massachusetts, gender-bending...
February 22, 2011 – 10:18 am
In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick just signed an executive order (#506) requiring affirmative action based on "gender identity and expression" within state government, and for everyone who does business with the state of Massachusetts:
Section 4. All programs, activities, and services provided, performed, licensed, chartered, funded, regulated, or contracted for by the state shall be conducted without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, veteran’s status (including Vietnam-era veterans), or background. Equal opportunity and diversity shall be protected and affirmatively promoted in all state, state-assisted, and state-regulated programs, activities, and services. Non-compliance shall subject violators to such disciplinary or remedial actions as permitted by law. This provision applies, but is not limited to, the use and operation of facilities owned, leased, funded or subject to control by the Commonwealth; the sale, lease, rental, financing, construction, or development of housing; state-licensed or chartered health care facilities, educational institutions, and businesses; education, counseling, and training programs; and public schools.
After SSM: What Next? In San Fran, banning circumcision...
February 22, 2011 – 9:59 am
The next big idea out of San Francisco: ban circumcision.
That's really the next big idea for liberals? No Jews allowed?
NOM Weekend Roundup
February 21, 2011 – 4:35 pm
We know weekends are busy, so here are some of our recent, thought-provoking posts for you to peruse when you get a chance:
- Dr. Pat Fagan's 2011 Family Trends Report
- After SSM: What Next?
- Dr. Morse: Privatizing Marriage is Never the Answer
Did you see the poll we released at the end of last week? A Majority of Maryland Voters Believe Marriage is Only One Man-One Woman! And now, a quick tour around the states:
- Maggie Gallagher testified at a SSM-repeal hearing in New Hampshire - we've posted audio of it
- After a civil unions bill passed in Hawaii, a gay activists admits the schools are next
- The Wyoming Senate voted to void out-of-state SSM recognition
- A California bill would force their Attorney General to "his duty"
This article published in the "Modern Love" section of the New York Times stopped us in our tracks: "Perfect, with Childbearing Hips." That's it for this week's Weekend Roundup!
"Perfect, With Childbearing Hips"
February 21, 2011 – 3:00 pm
Andrea Askowitz, author of "My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy” writes in the NYT's "Modern Love" section:
The nurse came in and showed Victoria the vial of my donor’s sperm. She gave us the sperm’s stats: fast and abundant. Victoria confirmed the donor number.
“Can I do the insemination?” I asked.
Before the nurse answered, Victoria said, “I don’t think you can do that.”
I felt clubbed in the head.
MY moment was now and the woman I loved — my woman with childbearing hips — was thwarting my destiny. [source]
Gay hotels investigated for breaching UK equality laws
February 21, 2011 – 2:30 pm
Gay guesthouses accused of discriminating:
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is examining whether "gay-only" guesthouses breach new laws designed to prevent people being treated unfairly in the provision of goods or services.
... The watchdog has also said it spent £15,320 of taxpayers' money on projects to ensure hotels run by Christians are complying with the law and has written to warn them over their treatment of homosexuals.
Hoteliers who run same-sex guesthouses fear they could be put out of business if they are forced to open their doors to heterosexual couples as it will make their core market feel more self-conscious. [Source]
"What did you vow?"
February 21, 2011 – 2:00 pm
From a SFChronicle profile:
"I really feel married," Page McBee says. On the eve of her 30th birthday, she's off for a weeklong honeymoon in the Yucatan. Michael Braithwaite, 31, her spouse since September, a former skeptic about marriage - "a patriarchal institution on its way down in flames," she says - finds her current state amusing and authentic (and, ironically, not legally sanctioned).
What did you vow?
Page: "To be myself, and to support Michael to be herself."
Michael: "To be true, and let the relationship grow."
[source]
After HI civil unions passes, activist admits schools are next
February 21, 2011 – 1:41 pm
From the Honolulu Star Advertiser:
In response to opponents who are worried that same-sex lifestyles would be taught to public school students with no option for parents to remove their child, Earhart [President of Dignity USA-Honolulu] said homosexuality should be part of sex education because some don't see where they fit into a largely heterosexual society.
"It's not going to be one or the other. Now there's only heterosexual relationships (taught). At least 10 percent of us are being left out. It's making us feel bad because it leaves us out of the equation." [source]
Breaking: WY Senate voids out-of-state SSM recognition
February 21, 2011 – 1:37 pm
"The Wyoming Senate narrowly voted Friday to stop recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions from outside the state." [source]
Maryland resident asks "Who's demonizing who?"
February 21, 2011 – 1:10 pm
Robert Nelson of Gaithersburg, MD, in a letter to the editor published by the Washington Post:
When I devoted an entire day to come to Annapolis and engage in a civil debate on the same-sex marriage bill on Feb. 8, I never envisioned receiving such an insensitive and denigrating response from any elected official as the one I received from Sen. James Brochin. Brochin mischaracterized everyone who spoke in opposition to the bill by saying, “witness after witness demonized homosexuals, vilified the gay community, and described gays and lesbians as pedophiles,” a quote The Post has now repeated in its Feb. 17 editorial, “Make Maryland a Free State.”
What I saw, however, were people from various walks of life showing compassion for the children of Maryland and defending the faith tradition of marriage that has built our society. I heard from people who have done extensive research in marriage make convincing arguments that the traditional family is the best environment for nurturing our next generation. I witnessed those in the African American community taking offense at the use of the term “civil rights” in reference to this bill, as they had endured severe oppression that gay men and lesbians have never experienced.
It is unfortunate that The Post has spread inflammatory rhetoric against opponents. This is serving to agitate many Maryland citizens who may already feel that their elected officials are not listening to them. In more than 30 states where there has been a vote on same-sex marriage, the people have consistently rejected it. These Maryland citizens are more than ready to sign a petition to get this issue on the ballot.
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
Dr. Pat Fagan's 2011 Family Trends Report
February 21, 2011 – 10:23 am
Dr. Patrick Fagan and the Marriage and Religion Research Institute have released their 2011 report which tracks the behaviors of the American Family in the five major institutions of society (family, church, school, marketplace and government).
This chart, which shows the declining marriage rate in the U.S., is one of dozens featured in the 200+ page report:
Source: Marriage and Religion Resource Institute (www.marri.frc.org)
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