The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to consider the rights of same-sex parents in a setback for two gay men who wanted both of their names listed on their adopted son's birth certificate.
In a case closely watched by gay rights advocates, the high court rejected without comment an appeal by Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith, who sued to be listed as parents on a Louisiana birth certificate of the infant they adopted.
The justices let stand a ruling by a U.S. [5th Circuit] appeals court that a Louisiana registrar's decision not to list both men does not violate the child's right to equal protection under the law and does not deny legal recognition of the New York adoption.
SCOTUS: On Same-Sex Adoptive Parents Case, 5th Circuit Ruling Stands
October 12, 2011 at 10:00 am
Gov. Perdue's Jobs Plan for NC: Vote No on Marriage Amendment
October 12, 2011 at 9:30 am
This meme shows up again:
“My top priority is creating jobs. Too many people are out of work and I’ve heard from several business leaders who’ve told me that the proposed constitutional amendment will harm our state’s business climate and make it harder to grow jobs here..." -- Gov. Bev Perdue
Rep. McKeon: No Defense Bill Without DOMA
October 12, 2011 at 9:00 am
Josh Gerstein at Politico:
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said Friday he'd rather see Congress fail to pass a defense authorization bill for the first time in half a century than give ground on contentious provisions that seek to direct suspected terrorists into military custody and to [authorize] gay marriages by military chaplains.
McKeon made the comments in a "C-SPAN Newsmakers" interview with POLITICO's Charles Hoskinson and John Donnelly of Congressional Quarterly. (Video posted here.)
Asked whether his convictions on both issues are so strong that he would rather not have a defense authorization bill than strip out the gay-marriage and detainee language, McKeon replied firmly on each point, "Yes."
"I'd like to see the Senate move on the bill," McKeon said. "We passed the bill months ago. We're waiting on the Senate."
Ros-Lehtinen’s Constituents Unhappy With Her Flip-Flop on Marriage
October 12, 2011 at 8:00 am
[Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Christian Family Coalition in Miami-Dade County] said Ros-Lehtinen’s conservative constituents are not happy. “When they voted for Ros-Lehtinen, this isn’t what they signed up for,” he said.
... Ros-Lehtinen was among 342 “yes” votes for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Now, she has become the 124th co-sponsor of the bill to repeal it.
... During the summer of 2008, Ros-Lehtinen told Miami gay Republicans that she opposed Florida’s Amendment 2, which passed the following November and banned gay marriages, civil unions and state-recognized domestic partnerships.
Later, she learned that daughter Amanda had come out as a transgender man named Rodrigo.
Related on NOM blog: Will Pro-Gay Marriage Millionaires Divide and Conquer the GOP?
Cornerstone/FRC Values Bus Host Rally to Support Restoring Marriage in New Hampshire
October 12, 2011 at 12:33 am
From their action alert:
The Family Research Council Values Voter Bus will host a Marriage Rally in light of the pending legislation to restore the natural definition of marriage in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire rally will take place in front of the Holiday Inn in Concord at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, October 12. Tony Perkins and the FRC will be joined by some special guests: Representative Michele Bachmann and former US Senator Rick Santorum.
Matthew Franck's Hypothetical Showing Why Judge Walker Ought To Have Recused
October 11, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Matthew Franck writes at NRO's Bench Memos blog:
I have caught up with the appellants’ brief to the Ninth Circuit in Perry v. Brown (the Prop 8 case), filed on Monday by Charles Cooper, and noted here on Tuesday by Ed Whelan. It’s a brilliantly argued brief, building an irrefutable case that Judge Vaughn Walker flagrantly violated a duty either to disclose his longstanding same-sex relationship with a partner over the last decade, or to recuse himself quietly by instructing the clerk of the district court to transfer the case to another judge. The brief also explodes, point by point, the excuses made for Judge Walker by Judge Ware, chief judge of the district court, who seems to get everything wrong about the ethics of recusal.
Try this out as a hypothetically parallel case: Imagine a judge in a tort case, asked to sit in judgment on a bench trial of whether General Motors should be required to pay, in a class action, damages to all owners of Cadillacs between 5 and 10 years old, on demand of the owner. Unbeknownst to the parties in the case, the judge has a 2004 Cadillac sitting in his garage. Deciding the case against GM, he then retires, and discloses his ownership of the relevant Cadillac, but says that during the trial it never crossed his mind whether he might, in the event of GM’s losing, claim his own damages as a member of the class. As of this writing he’s still thinking it over . . .
Who would not say that the judge had violated a duty to disclose and to recuse? Who would say it is an outrageous intrusion into the judge’s personal affairs even to raise the issue?
NOM Rejects Efforts To Divide Values Voters By Religion
October 11, 2011 at 12:59 pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 11, 2011
CONTACT: Mary Beth Hutchins or Elizabeth Ray (703-683-5004)
“We cannot let presidential politics divide or distract us from the task of building a winning majority of people with shared values” -- Brian Brown, President of NOM
WASHINGTON – In response to the controversy surrounding religious differences at the Values Voters Summit, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), released this statement:
"We can not let presidential politics divide us or distract us from the task of building a winning majority of people with shared values. In particular, members of the LDS church should not be attacked or made to feel unwelcome for their faith by the left or the right,” said Brown. “People of all faiths, and no faith, are welcome to join us to fight to protect marriage as the union of husband and wife-- Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews, LDS, Eastern Orthodox, African-Americans, Whites, Hispanics, we are the true diverse rainbow coalition: fighting for the rights of all Americans to vote for marriage."
"We welcome Pastor Jeffress’ acknowledgement that Romney is a “good and moral man” and that he would support Romney if he were the GOP nominee,” added Brown.
To schedule an interview with Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, please contact Mary Beth Hutchins, [email protected], x.105 or Elizabeth Ray, [email protected], x.130 at 703-683-5004.
###
Gay? What Gay? Marriage? What Marriage?
October 11, 2011 at 12:22 pm
North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue opposes the upcoming marriage amendment on the grounds it might hurt opposite sex cohabiting couples.
Not a gay person or a marriage in sight:
"...I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman: That’s why I voted for the law in 1996 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and that’s why I continue to support that law today. But I’m going to vote against the amendment because I cannot in good conscience look an unemployed man or woman in the eye and tell them that this amendment is more important than finding them a job. In addition, a number of legal experts have argued that this amendment, if passed, could eliminate legal protections for all unmarried couples in our state, regardless of sexual orientation..."
Turmoil: Leader of Equality CA Leaving After Only a Few Months
October 11, 2011 at 11:16 am
The leader of California's largest gay rights group is leaving his post after only a few months on the job.
Equality California announced Monday that Executive Director Roland Palencia will step down on Friday.
Palencia's decision comes less than a week after the group said it would not lead a campaign in 2012 to overturn Proposition 8, the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages.
Equality CA's former executive director resigned in March of this year.
Speaker Boehner Knocks White House Over Abandoning DOMA
October 11, 2011 at 10:34 am
Speaker John Boehner [...] tore into the White House over its decision to no longer defend an anti-gay marriage law, vowing to continue his efforts to provide legal support for the law.
Speaking at the 2011 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., the Ohio Republican condemned the Obama administration's decision to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court.
Boehner told the gathering of conservative activists that, "If the Justice Department isn't going to defend this act passed by Congress, then we will."
Related on NOM blog: Anti-Marriage Radicals Attack Speaker Boehner on DOMA--Take Action Now!
CBS: In 2012 All GOP Candidates Social Conservatives
October 10, 2011 at 2:00 pm
In a year like this, social conservatives may be worried that the issues that matter to them will fall to the wayside as the economy dominates the presidential contest. But this year's Values Voter Summit in Washington proved two things: Republicans are far from close to choosing their 2012 presidential candidate, but they can rest assured all the viable candidates represent their social vales.
... in his speech Saturday, [Mitt Romney] promised to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood and said it is critical to "preserve traditional marriage, the joining together of one man and one woman." Romney has promised to work to advance all of the National Organization for Marriage's key goals, including supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
... Chris Balkema of Channahon, Illinois [...] is dedicated to the cause of the conference. He's attended the Values Voter Summit for four years in a row and said an important issue for him is the defense of marriage.
Gay Marriage an Issue in Iowa Senate-18
October 10, 2011 at 1:00 pm
From a Democratic perspective, the Iowa Senate majority is preventing Republican action on a host of social issues ranging from abortion to same-sex marriage.
The GOP-controlled House earlier this year passed a resolution to put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the ballot. Although it appears there may be enough votes in the Senate to pass the resolution, Gronstal has promised to block any action. That would be harder to do i[f] Golding wins and he loses his 26-24 majority.
One Iowa’s Price worries some groups will attempt to make the race about same-sex marriage.
... “There has been a clamoring across the state to just have a voice,” Golding said. “And I think, you know, whichever way it goes, the people ought to decide.”
Seattle-based gay rights organizer Joe Mirabella recently blogged at the Huffington Post that “rarely is so much at stake for a local election.”
Ros-Lehtinen Constituents Not Happy: She Ran as DOMA Supporter, Then Flip-Flopped
October 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm
A Christian group has chastised U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, as “an arrogant, anti-family, homosexualist extremist” for becoming the first Republican in Congress to co-sponsor legislation to repeal the federal ban on gay marriage.
“We’re putting her and all other Republicans on notice that if they’re going to represent themselves as Republicans, they’ve got to respect the party platform,” said Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Christian Family Coalition in Miami-Dade County.
... Verdugo said Ros-Lehtinen’s conservative constituents are not happy. “When they voted for Ros-Lehtinen, this isn’t what they signed up for,” he said.
Ros-Lehtinen was among 342 “yes” votes for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Now, she has become the 124th co-sponsor of the bill to repeal it.
Equality California Opts Not to Pursue Prop 8 Repeal
October 10, 2011 at 11:00 am
The latest from the Bay Area Reporter:
Equality California has opted not to pursue a repeal of Proposition 8 in 2012, the statewide lobbying group announced this week.
... [a spokeswoman] said public opinion on marriage equality has shifted more in favor of such unions, but "it's just not enough yet to launch an initiative campaign without assuming a tremendous amount of risk."
... Asked about the possibility of trying to repeal Prop 8 at the ballot box in 2012 before EQCA's decision was announced, many LGBT leaders expressed reluctance.
Lorri Jean, CEO of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, said trying to repeal Prop 8 in 2012 would be "a terrible idea."
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Admits She's Ambivalent About SSM
October 10, 2011 at 10:00 am
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter:
SHE'S AMBIVALENT ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE
Maddow and girlfriend Susan Mikula have been together since 1999, but they have no immediate wedding plans. "We know a lot of people who have gotten married but I don't think we feel any urgency about it." Later she admits she's actually ambivalent about the cultural impact of gay marriage. "I feel that gay people not being able to get married for generations, forever, meant that we came up with alternative ways of recognizing relationships," she explains. "And I worry that if everybody has access to the same institutions that we lose the creativity of subcultures having to make it on their own. And I like gay culture."
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