Spring Break
Protect Your Children: The Gays are Marryin'
Issue date: 10/29/09
I'm a little ashamed of Maine and Washington State right now.
Next week's elections will see two major civil rights battles in two distant corners of our country. In Maine, Proposition One looks to repeal a state law which granted gay couples the right to marry. In Washington, Referendum 71 could lead to a repeal of the "everything-but-marriage" law which gave gay couples all of the rights and benefits associated with marriage without the word itself.
The last two years have seen an immense amount of activity in the area of civil marriage. Several states, suddenly aware of the existence of the 14th Amendment, have realized that they may not "deny any person within [their] jurisdiction equal protection of the law" nor "make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." There have been highs and lows for the gay rights movement, but the trends have generally been in their favor. Yet now, as Obama continues to delay action on controversial policies like Don't Ask Don't Tell, activists are beginning to feel some pressure.
Polls in Maine are currently showing a small lead in the support for gay rights, but as California showed in 2008, anything can happen come November. The 'Yes on One' campaign that looking to repeal equal marriage rights is funded primarily by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Catholic Church (I have yet to receive a response to my letter asking how the $529,666 they donated to the campaign will ultimately be used to clothe the naked or care for the sick - Matthew 25:36-40). The campaign has aired commercials over the past several months warning parents that gay marriage will lead to the repeal of their church's tax exempt status, the legal requirement that their religion marry homosexuals and mandatory lessons about homosexuality in second grade public school classrooms. Boston College Law Professor Scott Fitzgibbon predicts a, "flood of lawsuits against individuals, small businesses and religious groups." His evidence? Certainly not his home state of Massachusetts, where the Massachusetts Discrimination Law Reporter has identified zero cases of the nature he describes since 2004, the year civil marriage was granted to homosexuals in the state.
Next week's elections will see two major civil rights battles in two distant corners of our country. In Maine, Proposition One looks to repeal a state law which granted gay couples the right to marry. In Washington, Referendum 71 could lead to a repeal of the "everything-but-marriage" law which gave gay couples all of the rights and benefits associated with marriage without the word itself.
The last two years have seen an immense amount of activity in the area of civil marriage. Several states, suddenly aware of the existence of the 14th Amendment, have realized that they may not "deny any person within [their] jurisdiction equal protection of the law" nor "make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." There have been highs and lows for the gay rights movement, but the trends have generally been in their favor. Yet now, as Obama continues to delay action on controversial policies like Don't Ask Don't Tell, activists are beginning to feel some pressure.
Polls in Maine are currently showing a small lead in the support for gay rights, but as California showed in 2008, anything can happen come November. The 'Yes on One' campaign that looking to repeal equal marriage rights is funded primarily by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Catholic Church (I have yet to receive a response to my letter asking how the $529,666 they donated to the campaign will ultimately be used to clothe the naked or care for the sick - Matthew 25:36-40). The campaign has aired commercials over the past several months warning parents that gay marriage will lead to the repeal of their church's tax exempt status, the legal requirement that their religion marry homosexuals and mandatory lessons about homosexuality in second grade public school classrooms. Boston College Law Professor Scott Fitzgibbon predicts a, "flood of lawsuits against individuals, small businesses and religious groups." His evidence? Certainly not his home state of Massachusetts, where the Massachusetts Discrimination Law Reporter has identified zero cases of the nature he describes since 2004, the year civil marriage was granted to homosexuals in the state.
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ChuckG
posted 10/31/09 @ 12:12 AM EST
I have been working hard and donating dollars to the "Vote NO on 1" campaign in Maine. I have a web crawler that provides me with links to News stories on the issue. (Continued…)
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