DISQUS

txiconoclast · 2 months ago

Dallas Judge Approves Gay Divorce Challenging Texas Gay Marriage Ban

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/9407/dal...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/new...

Benhem612 · 2 months ago

Yahoo and Reuters have picked up the topic as well. It is a great step. I love the judge's rationale that the men were legally married elsewhere and that they meet the residency and citizenship requirements to file divore proceedings in texas. It is sad that their marriage did not work out but it would be great at least if it paved the way for striking down laws that quite obviously cannot work.

Chino_Blanco · 2 months ago

3-2!!!! Maine Ethics Commission just voted in favor of pursuing an investigation into NOM!!!!!!

Fred and Danielle rocked today!!

rand503 · 2 months ago

I debate same sex marriage on another blog quite a bit. It's a libertarian site (www.volokh.com) and so it brings all sorts there -- both pro-gay and anti-gay. I have found that with the anti-gay crowd, they simply are not swayed by any argument. (It's not just me that makes arguments). But the only thing that shuts them up are two arguments: What harm of any sort can you say has come from any place that has legalize SSM, like Massachusetts, Canada, Vermont, Belgium, Spain, S. AFrica, Denmark or the Netherlands. They have all had SSM for several years, and if there have been any problems, we should have seen some by now.
The other argument is that thousands of gay couples now have children. Shouldn't the children deserve the same rights and benefits of having married parents as straight parents. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, if you care about the children, then surely the children deserve at least this.
I have found these are the two strongest arguments for SSM as no one has any reasonable response to them. These are two arguments that should be trumpeted in ads in Maine and elsewhere.

Chino_Blanco · 2 months ago

Based on their last couple of ads, I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll end up seeing the No on 1 campaign do a good job of making that second argument.

btw, the new permathread is a nice feature.

John Aravosis · 2 months ago

Good! I wasn't sure folks would use. But it appears, a few of you are so far... :-)

John Aravosis · 2 months ago

Those are good points, and you're right. It's impossible for anyone to explain an actual harm. Or how specifically gay marriage has harmed their straight marriage.

trinu · 3 months ago

Not really political, but I was wondering what everyone thought about about parental control software companies offering things like "gay and lesbian issues" among the list of blockable categories. It's not unexpected, but still it's dissappointing because of the ease with which it would allow homophobic parents to keep their gay kids from using the internet as a resource.

John Aravosis · 2 months ago

It's something I've worried about for years. Especially when libraries, or airports, get a hold of this software and don't realize what kind of things are blocked in the fine print (like "breast cancer").

John Aravosis · 3 months ago

Welcome, and have at it!

jimkhm · 3 months ago

WOOO HOOO! Those GD traitor Democrat. More like Democans. SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW! SINGLE PAYER NOW!

Chino_Blanco · 2 months ago

Just took a look at NOM's 2008 tax return. Brian Brown's making a comfortable living. They didn't end the year with much cash in hand, which would suggest that the bulk of their spending in New England and Iowa came from funds raised specifically to influence those contests, rather than from their general treasury.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20465927/NOM2008Form990

Chino_Blanco · 2 months ago

As we enter the final month of the Maine contest (and NOM's relevance), I'd like to propose that we drop all references to "Maggie Gallagher" in our posts and adopt a consistent usage of the more Biblically correct Margaret Srivastav.

Just as we try to avoid adopting our opponents' framing, we should likewise reject their bogus naming.

Besides, Margaret would probably find it annoying, and that's always a good thing.

http://indiana.bilerico.com/2009/09/maggie_gall...

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2009/10/sp...

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/10/02/15141

Dennis · 2 months ago

I was discriminated against by a gay group at the Gay Community Center in New York City this year.

I was a member of SAGE of South Florida until I moved to New York in March of 2009. In SAGE of South Florida, I participated in a lot of activities: SAGE lunches, discussion groups, movies, etc.

About a month after I moved to New York, I went to the SAGE New York program office in the Gay Community Center in Manhattan. I told the woman working there I wanted to become a member. After a lot of questioning about why I wanted to join SAGE New York, she allowed me to fill out a membership application and then took my $35 membership fee. Then she showed me a list of their upcoming events and told me, "YOU CANNOT GO TO ANY OF THESE."

I sent a complaint to the SAGE New York board. They had one of their board members call me to verbally abuse me. He was almost shouting at me about how if they allowed me to attend a SAGE NY lunch or walk in the park, then other SAGE NY members would stop coming.

New York City is the most anti-gay city I have lived. Austin, Texas, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida are so much more gay friendly. New York City's gay community is run by hypocrites and bigots. I'm glad I got out of New York City as fast as I could. That was the worst place I have ever lived.

Keith & Dustin · 2 months ago

Their logic makes no sense. Any self respecting gay person wouldn't want to be a part of an organization like that anyway. You should have asked for your $35 back and then told them to go fuck themselves lol.

Chino_Blanco · 2 months ago

This just pisses me off. Especially because I tend to be civil and strive for honesty. This Mormon blogger (Angela Rockwood aka "Beetle Blogger") thinks she can edit and delete my comments with no explanation:

http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/sta...

Blech.

john02657 · 2 months ago

After this last week's debacle on the part of the HRC, I am finished with them. I was wondering if anyone might provide the names of two or three good, vibrant, and aggressive gay advocacy groups that would be deserving of support? Preferably groups that are more interested in rolling up their shirt-sleeves and working for GLBT issues, rather than putting on the french cuffs and rubbing elbows with the "A-List Gays," politicians, and celebrities. Thanks.

Larry · 2 months ago

I am from Missouri. I was appalled to see an add from the Republican Party of Missouri attacking Robin Carnahan on this site!

trinu · 2 months ago

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
A man, was convicted of misdemeanor assault, not manslaughter and not murder for killing a gay man in DC because that was the most serious charge the prosecutor decided to pursue. The killer was sentenced to six months.
The assistant US attorney in charge of the case made a rather pathetic excuse saying he "could not prove manslaughter took place" despite the sheer weight of the medical evidence that said the gay man's death was caused by injuries he sustained as the result of the beating (and there was enough evidence to get a conviction on the beating).

I'm not a lawyer, but this sounds more like a prosecutor who doesn't think killing a fag is a very serious crime than a case of a lack of evidence. As much as Obama's been a huge disappointment, even with the DOMA brief, I didn't expect bullsh!t like this coming out of his Justice Department.

Ed Thomas · 2 months ago

I know it's still hard to believe, but the ONLY argument that phobic bigots still cling to that has not been addressed directly enough is that homosexuality is NOT A CHOICE. You hear "lifestyle choices" and other "choice" references by these morons all the time (Palin used it when referring to a gay friend of hers).

This point should be hammered home in every rights argument, every time. We are who we are because we're wired that way, like being left-handed (which was discriminated against, irrationally, until not that many years ago).

I know this is an obvious point, and we all know it's true, but THEY don't and need to be informed.

Keith & Dustin · 1 month ago

Anytime I hear that I baffle them with their own logic. I say since it's a choice, they must choose to be straight. Which means they are attracted to the same sex and therefore gay. So they are living a lie lol

Butch1 · 3 weeks ago

I agree, we shouldn't let them get away with dispensing the disinformation and they need to be corrected each and every time. I'm surprised the media is still ignorant of this obvious fact and still continues to let them get away with it.

Benhem612 · 1 month ago

*I posted this on the other speaker's corner but it fits here as well*

This is for all those who rail against the boycott and talk about giving president Obama time. Please do a find and replace on the quote below:

Find: City Replace: Presidential
Find: Birmingham Replace: Nation
Find: Mayor Replace: President
Find: Albert Boutwell Replace: Barrack Obama
Find: Mr. Conner Replace: George Bush

"One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights." ---MLK Excerpted from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

Civil Rights are not about compromise, they are about civil rights. They will not be obtained without pressure. The question: "Well is 10 months enough time to show support?" is the WRONG question.

The right question: "Have civil rights been obtained?"
Answer: "NO they have not. Period. End of discussion"