Tag: prop 8

Day Without…

Sadly I am not participating…but today is:

daywithoutgay.gif

For more info and events check here.

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Special Comment: Gay Marriage is a question of love

(read text of the comment here)

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From the West LA Prop 8 Protests:

***This is not me…just a repost from elsewhere (since that wasn’t clear to everyone)***

Posted by panasonicyouth on Buzznet:

My experience at the ‘Reverse Prop 8’ Rally in West Los Angeles yesterday

Yesterday
afternoon, I attended the rally outside the Mormon temple on Santa
Monica Blvd and Overland, in order to protest the Mormon church’s
involvement in helping to pass Proposition 8 here in California. My
co-worker, Richard Flores, biked with me from the Buzznet office in
Hollywood to the rally in West LA.

In the interest of avoiding
any legal implications (since I do not have or have not seen a lawyer),
I am not going to describe the events leading up to my arrest.  Please watch the arrest video for that; I think it speaks for itself. I think it is more important to describe what happened afterwards.

Read the rest on Buzznet

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/from-the-west-la-prop-8-protests/

Shame on You California

I’m reposting this post from LAist by Jimmy Bramlett:

No on 8
Protesting the passage of Proposition 8. AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian

Shame on you Californians.

With the passing of Proposition 8, you have relegated me and my queer brothers and sisters (and everything in between) to the margins of society while reaping all the benefits we bestow upon you.

In one fell swoop you told us that we are not fit in your eyes as deserving the same rights as you. Even though we wouldn’t have gotten the same Federal rights thanks to Clinton’s signing of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, you could have allowed us to take one step closer to that ever elusive goal of equality.

The campaign supporting Proposition 8 bemoaned the sanctity of marriage. How is marriage sacred anymore with divorce rates being what they are? It’s pretty unnerving that it is you heterosexuals who have made a mockery of marriage jumping in and out of it like last year’s cashmere sweater set. And now you are claiming that we will destroy the institution of marriage?

And the children. Oh God THE CHILDREN! Well never mind the Catholic Church has done more to harm children what with their priests and all. And the Mormons? Well just ask those teenage brides.

Do you really believe that children learning about gay people will convert them into card-carrying depraved homosexuals? If that were true all of my cousins would be gay. Hell, all of my neighbor’s kids would be gay.

In the end you chose to impose your beliefs on me. You think it’s wrong that I have relationships with other men, so you chose to exclude me. But to keep up appearances you let us have “domestic partnerships” that sound more like a maid’s union more than anything else.

We’re not asking for all that much. All we’re asking for is the right to be able to have the same rights when we decide to share our lives with that special person. We’re not demanding the Catholic church, the Mormon church, the Synagogues, the local preacher to marry us. We just want equal rights, not that other water fountain.

So as happy as I was Tuesday night that America has voted in the first black man as President, part of me is very disappointed that us queers are still not afforded the same rights as everyone else as proscribed by the Constitution.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/shame-on-you-california/

Prop 8 Challenges

The first legal challenge to Prop 8 will be announced later today:

Here’s the first press release of the morning regarding the passage
of Proposition 8, the ban on same sex marriages in California. It comes
from the law offices of Gloria Allred:

Attorney Gloria Allred and her clients, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson,
will hold a news conference today November 5, 2008 at 12:00 noon at
6300 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1500 L.A. to announce a new lawsuit against
Prop. 8. Prop. 8 intended to ban same gender marriages in California.

Ms. Allred and her law firm represented the couple in their victory
before the California Supreme Court. Her clients became the first to
marry in Los Angeles County in June.

Ms. Allred will file the new lawsuit today with the California
Supreme Court on behalf of the couple.  The new lawsuit will contain a
new and controversial legal argument as to why Prop. 8 is
unconstitutional.

Copies of the lawsuit will be provided to the press at the news conference.

More info from the LA Times

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Despair

This makes me incredibly sad.  It even passed in LA County.  I cannot believe we are writing discrimination into the state constitution (along with Arizona and Florida in this election cycle).  I just cannot understand how two people who love each other threaten your “marriage.”  For me, these kind of laws and amendments do more to destroy the sanctity of marriage than anything else.  It makes me ashamed to be a Christian and even remotely be associated with this kind of discrimination (as the majority of the funding for Prop 8 came from the Catholic and Mormon churches).  I cannot imagine a God (or Jesus) not embracing us all…Black, White, Hispanic and yes, gay or straight.  So yes, while I’m extremely hopeful with the election of Barack Obama as President, I’m extremely disappointed about the results of Prop 8.  I for one will be praying that this can be changed soon.

prop 8.PNG

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Hey Mr. IRS Man…

More news on the Prop 8 front…

Prop 8 LetterPerhaps its time to look into the political activism of the Mormon Church here in Southern California.  This post on LAist, talks about a letter received by blogger John Remy at Mind on Fire.  He states that the only reason he got the letter is because he is still on the official ward roster (though he’s trying to get removed).  In another post, he talks about what he’s hearing from friends around Orange County about the issue:

“From what my friends in Orange County wards tell me, this campaign is being reinforced every week in leadership councils as well as in Sacrament, Sunday School and Priesthood and Relief Society meetings. It sounds like similar pressure is being applied to members of Catholic and many evangelical communities as well (I’m mostly familiar with the LDS situation-if you have any information on other denominations, please let me know).”

You would think that this is a much more blatant case of political posturing from the pulpit, than the anti-war sermon preached at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.  Perhaps its time to do some investigations into at least this Orange County LDS Ward.

So where are you now Mr. IRS Man? (or Woman)

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/hey-mr-irs-man/

Propostition 8

Well it’s a big election year, and perhaps one of the most hard fought ballot measures on the November ballot in California will be Proposition 8.

Because of the recent court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in California, the text of the Proposition changed.  Prior to the ruling the proposition would have modified the state constitution to say that marriage is only between a man and a woman.  Now the text of the Proposition is as follows:

Proposition 8. Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.

Changes California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.  Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California.  Fiscal Impact: Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in serveal tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments.  In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.

Of course the proponents of Prop 8 fought hard to have the original language placed on the ballot.  Because people are more likely to vote against something that “eliminates the right” of someone.  Here is the original language:

Proposition 8. Limit on Marriage.

Amends the California Constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: The measure would have no fiscal effect on state or local governments. This is because there would be no change to the manner in which marriages are currently recognized by the state.

While the LA Times’ Editorial Board, was deliberating on their official position on the ballot measure, they invited folks from each side of the measure to hear what they had to say.  In the final editorial they left out some interesting comments made by the Pro-Prop 8 group.  The supporters of Prop 8 generally try to present it as a “Defense of Marriage,” and that they are not anti-gay (“in fact some of their good friends are gay”).  However, what the LA Times’ Editorial Board found during their session doesn’t seem to hold up that argument:

“At one point, the conversation turned to the “activist judges” whose May ruling opened the door to same-sex marriage, and how similar this case was to the 1948 case that declared bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional. According to one of the Prop. 8 reps, that 1948 ruling was OK because people are born to their race and thus are in need of constitutional protection, while gays and lesbians choose their homosexuality. So much for the expert opinions of the American Psychological Assn. and the American Academy of Pediatrics that people cannot choose their sexuality. Oh, those activist doctor types.

In any case, one Prop. 8 supporter said, gay rights are not as important as children’s rights, and it’s obvious that same-sex couples who married would “recruit” their children toward homosexuality because otherwise, unable to procreate themselves, they would have no way to replenish their numbers. Even editorial writers can be left momentarily speechless, and this was one of those moments. Aside from this notion of a homosexual recruitment plot — making it understandable where the word “homophobia” came from — this made no logical sense at all. Same-sex couples. whether married or not, already have children. Marriage wouldn’t change a thing about this picture except, perhaps, to model for children that parents tend to be married.”

It amazes me that so many people put so much energy in “defending the sacred right of marriage.”  In the context of governmental oversight, which is what all these measures are, marriage is just a civil contract.  One that can be (and is) broken rather easily.  Our idea of marriage as an institution has constantly evolved throughout history.  Even the idea that we “marry for love” is a relatively new one.  Throughout much of history, marriages were arranged in order to expand the influence of the family’s status or class.

What I have the hardest time understanding is how a same-sex couple being able to marry threatens a marriage between a mixed-gender couple.  As a straight man, I’m not likely to date (or marry) a gay man.  Likewise, a woman who is interested in dating women, is likely not going to want to marry me anyway.

For all those folks that claim they want “government to stay out of their business,” legislating marriage sure seems to be right up in our grills.

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