Tag Archives: Gay Marriage

Equality, Politics

BIG: Utah Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down in Appeals Court

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Some very big news today out of Denver, as the state of Utah is dealt another huge blow to its ban on same-sex marriage in an unusually broad ruling.  Here’s the scoop from LGBTQnation…

 A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that states must allow gay couples to marry, finding the Constitution protects same-sex relationships and putting a remarkable legal winning streak across the country one step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel in Denver ruled 2-1 that states cannot deprive people of the fundamental right to marry simply because they want to be wedded to someone of the same sex.

The judges added they don’t want to brand as intolerant those who oppose gay marriage, but they said there is no reasonable objection to the practice.

“It is wholly illogical to believe that state recognition of love and commitment of same-sex couples will alter the most intimate and personal decisions of opposite-sex couples,” the judges wrote, addressing arguments that the ruling could undermine traditional marriage.

The decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a lower court ruling that struck down Utah’s gay marriage ban. It becomes law in the six states covered by the 10th Circuit: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. But the panel immediately put the ruling on hold pending an appeal.

The Utah attorney general’s office will appeal the decision but is still assessing whether it will go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask the entire 10th Circuit to review the ruling, spokeswoman Missy Larsen said.

So why is this ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals the strongest yet to favor nation-wide marriage equality?  Well for one thing, it affects the court’s entire jurisdiction.  If that temporary hold were to be lifted, same-sex marriages could immediately commence in each state.  The other big thing the 10th Circuit did in their ruling?  They drew battle lines between religious recognition of marriages, and the obligation of states to treat their citizens equally.  Even in the 2013 Supreme Court ruling striking down California’s ban, the Justices still tried desperately to skirt around this particular issue.

The 10th Circuit Court also threw down “the gauntlet”, finally posing marriage and family as a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.  If as expected, this ruling is then appealed up to the Supreme Court, they will be forced to make a final decision on which is more important… the rights of the state, or the rights of the individual?

With similar cases heading to other Circuit courts, it will be very interesting to see how long the Supreme Court can hold off on the issue.  Make no mistake, marriage equality is winning, and fast.  This ruling, more than any one’s we’ve seen yet since 2013, is sure to have major national implications.

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Let’s not ban gay marriage… Let’s DESTROY it

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If you’re reading this post, it’s quite possible that you know who the author is. You may have actually seen my face, or met me in person. Maybe you’ve heard me speak, or even sing before.

It’s also possible (perhaps more likely) that you don’t know me at all. You may have encountered my blog on the Internet, and the words on your screen are the only encounter you’ve ever had with me. If that’s the case, then it’s time for me to come clean about something to you.

I’m a darky. I was born one actually… No make-up or blackface here. Just my God-given skin. Yep, I’m a darky just like Oprah, Beyonce or MLK. We’re all darkies actually. That’s me, and that is my defining concept.

Or well, maybe it would have been in the 19th century. But actually, not even then.

My point with the concept is that the term “darky” used to be quite common in the United States, but now, it’s virtually extinct. Any clue why we lost “darky” from the lexicon? It was replaced by the term HUMAN. Race has become less important as a method of defining people… It is now less important than being a person. Make no mistake, I’m still a person of a certain race, but the most important descriptor of me is that I am a person.

Ok now let’s climb out of the 19th century and enter the 20th. This week, if you’re like me, you probably heard the term “interracial marriage” more in the last 48 hours than you’ve heard it used in the last 5 years. There is a reason for that… “Interracial” marriage is a THING OF THE PAST. People just get married. Those people may be white, or black or brown or any mixture thereof, but when they get married, they don’t define themselves by being interracially married anymore. They are just married. Most of the country has evolved beyond this being an issue. We’ve also evolved from the notion that these interracials produce children that are inherently evil, or they don’t have a soul. We just look at bi-racial and multi-racial people as… well… PEOPLE. Anyone asked Mariah Carey or President Obama if they have a soul lately?

Listening to the Supreme Court hearings this week, I became very upset by the continued assertion that somehow “gay” marriage is this great unknown. The justices referred to it as “uncharted territory” and “newer than cell phones or the internet.” But for us to even suggest that there’s anything new about either marriage, or being homosexual? It’s one of most ignorant arguments I’ve ever heard. As though somehow gay people didn’t want to be married before the year 2000, when the first contemporary marriages (as defined by the court) were recognized? In every moment of human history, homosexuality has existed. And in every moment of homosexuality, homosexual unions have existed, regardless of whether they were married on a government file or not. It seems that the judges and solicitors need to educate themselves on the reality of GLBT history. I recommend John Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe as a start to unlock the church’s homosexual history. Or for an even quicker lesson, read the poetry of Amy Lowell or listen to the musical works of Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti… a testament to their relationship. All were Americans, and all were gay.

So here’s my suggestion… We need to not only ban the notions of “gay” marriage and “same-sex” marriage, we need to destroy them completely. Like “darky” and “interracial”, these terms will soon be relics of the past. Every time those in support of equality even acknowledge that there is somehow a “gay marriage” or “same-sex marriage” we lose the argument. Marriage is a union of people… It’s a merger. Two independent persons take an action together, and choose to combine their lives in various ways. As is said at virtually all wedding ceremonies, “marriage unites two families, and creates a new one.”

But even within this basic understanding of a marriage, no two of them are alike. Some married couples live together. Some don’t. Some have children. Some don’t. Some are monogamous for the entirety of their lives together. Some are not. But as a greater society, we honor all of these differences and recognize these people as being in a marriage… Mostly because they say they are.

So it’s time to ask ourselves… How is the action of marriage any different between two heterosexual people and two homosexual people? Do they create a new family? Does that family live together? Spend time together? Love each other? Do those families go out of their way to help each other? Do they stay together for the rest of their lives?

The answers are the same for gay and straight couples… and there’s not one perfect answer. It’s time for us to get rid of gay marriage. People meet, they fall in love, they get married. They commit their lives to each other, and it’s DONE.

Let’s stop living in the past people. The only way to truly achieve equality is to demand equality, and nothing less. So let’s do that… Say goodbye to gay marriage.

Marriage is marriage.

Houston Politics

Gay is Ok… whether you like it or not.

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Let’s just say, it’s been a tough year for the Anti-Gay movement in the United States. So far this year, Washington state and Maryland have both joined the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and the District of Columbia that officially recognize same sex marriage. Those states represent 50 million Americans… almost one sixth of our country. In just 4 short years since Prop 8 was defeated in California, same-sex marriage is legal and rapidly becoming more common among significant segments of our population.

LEGAL. As in REAL. Real husbands, real wives, real children.

As we recall from last year, a majority of Americans now support legal gay marriage, and try as they may, the Anti-Gay marriage movement is losing traction at every turn. Perhaps one of the toughest jabs at the Anti-Gay movement comes from a shocking reversal of science itself. For many years, it was believed that being gay is a “choice” and that gay people can simply choose to change themselves into straight people. This belief was held together by the work of one respected scientist, Dr. Robert Spitzer. He has now disavowed his study, and even goes so far to offer a full-scale apology to the gay community. What was now a central citation of all Ex-gay therapy, religious evidence, and even argued at the Supreme Court to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is now no longer a credible study against the equality movement. Shocking indeed.

So the naysayers will have to come to a conclusion that they are WRONG. The future of our country will be one where men marry men, and women marry women. Where homosexual couples raise children, attend soccer games and PTA events, change diapers and do all of the things that heterosexual parents do. As gay marriage and families led by gay couples becomes a normal occurrence in our lives, eventually we are going to have to stand up and let our children know that it is ok to be gay. A gifted young musician named Adair Lion is taking the lead in the rap world (BTW I strongly suggest you check out his music). How can YOU contribute?