The Gay Thing: Gay Marriage Comes to Kansas; Ban Struck Down in South Carolina

When the 6th Circuit Court (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee) decided to uphold the bans on same-sex marriage in their jurisdiction, anti-gay forces got a rare boost. Except for two or three outlier decisions in the last two years, marriage equality has racked up dozens of wins, culminating with four Circuit Courts ruling in their favor, and the Supreme Court electing to leave it that way. Then came the 6th. While many, if not most of the court watchers on both sides figured a Circuit split would happen, it didn't stop the sting on one side and the jubilation on the other.

Image from source, Yahoo!

But it turns out, the 6th hasn't changed things in other marriage equality cases. Gay couples can now marry in Kansas. And in South Carolina--barring an extraordinary occurrence--will have it soon. We are soon to be left with the Deep South (which somehow has spread upward all the way past Ohio to Michigan), the Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska and Texas. And some of those could topple at any time.

The smart money is on the Supreme Court taking the 6th Circuit cases (though some say they'll send it back to an en banc review), with some sort of decision by the end of June, 2015. Meanwhile, some of these individual states will go into the "win" column, and at least one other Circuit could rule, probably siding with the 6th. But by the time that happens, the Supremes may very well have ruled. Just about everyone I've read seems to think our chances are good at SCOTUS, though not assured. With over 2/3 of the states now experience marriage equality, it is difficult to imagine that SCOTUS will shut it down. Especially since it was their actions that gave us a large chunk of those states.

[Excerpt]

Gay marriage advocates get victories in Kansas, South Carolina
 
Gay marriage advocates won another two victories on Wednesday as the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Kansas to become the 33rd U.S. state where same-sex couples can wed and a federal judge struck down South Carolina's ban. . .

Read more at: Yahoo! News

The Gay Thing: Marriage Equality Comes to Missouri (and Maybe Kansas)

With the gigantic Republican swing in the Senate and House, many gay people like myself immediately bristled: "what are they going to try to do?" The marriage equality wave has been bigger and more sustained than even this Republican wave (which, let's face it, was powered by a combination of overly-motivated conservatives, and under-motivated liberals). Up until now, there has been a lot of squawking by conservatives about gay marriage, and futile efforts at slowing it down, but it keeps coming, state-by-state, and even the Supreme Court seems to not care about slowing it down.

April Dawn Breeden & Crystal Peirs at their St. Louis wedding.
Image from source, St. Louis Tribune.

So, I figured we were finally a dead issue. But with their new position, who can be sure what Republicans will do? Will they take this bullshit issue about "sincerely held religious beliefs," couple it with the Hobby Lobby decision, and come up with religious exemptions to civil rights laws? Will they push for a "Federal Marriage Amendment?" Will they come up with something we haven't thought of yet, to demonize gay people, or otherwise try to keep us at second-class status? They might. They might do a lot of crazy stuff. Or, just maybe, they'll be so busy trying to repeal ObamaCare, and with trying to impeach the President over something (anything will likely do), they'll decide we're not worth the trouble.

In any event, it was some consolation to the dismal election returns, to find good news on the marriage equality front in both Kansas and Missouri! Neither is all the way over the finish line, though Missouri will be soon, and Kansas quick to follow. 2/3 of the states now have equal marriage. At this rate, regardless of what they throw at us, we'll get to 50 before they gather a strategy. I hope...

[Excerpt]

Judge overturns Missouri ban on gay marriage

A state judge overturned Missouri’s constitutional ban on gay marriage Wednesday in a ruling that immediately set off a rush among some same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses. St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison said in a written ruling that Missouri’s measure recognizing marriage only between a man and woman violates the due process and equal protection rights of the U.S. Constitution. The decision mirrored ones handed down recently in several other states. . .

Read more at: St. Louis Tribune


[Excerpt]

Kansas ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional: judge
 
Same-sex couples may soon be able to marry in Kansas following a federal judge's ruling on Tuesday that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree granted a preliminary injunction stopping Kansas from enforcing its ban on gay marriage and put the ruling on hold until Nov. 11 to give Kansas an opportunity to appeal. . .

Read more at: Reuters

The Rev. Fred Phelps is Finally Dead. Good.

And they say evil never dies. Image from source, Advocate.

Yeah, I've already run a piece on the previously pending death of Topeka's ironically demonic Reverend Fred Phelps, but now that the bastard is dead, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Phelps has been antagonizing gay people for a very long time, seemingly forever. He and his cultish family church would protest just about anything gay-related, wielding signs carrying slogans that were even over-the-top in the less-enlightened 80s. Emblazoned with words that I refuse to type here (but which are still seen in arch-right-wing armpits of the internet like FreeRepublic.com), Fred and his family were fearless in their disregard and slander of an entire group of Americans.

Remember, this was during some of the worst of the AIDS crisis, so not only was the LGBT community still reeling from that, they then had to go on defense against these hateful people. Called The Westboro Baptist Church (but disowned by actual Baptists), this demented group owned a block of homes and a plain (ugly, really) church in Topeka, Kansas. I drove by it about 10 years ago when on business in the city, and recall the dumpy neighborhood, cramped one-way street, and on the church, a banner that read GodHatesAmerica.com

I have no idea which Phelps this is, but
helloooo, sister! Image from Huffington Post.

See, after the Phelps family got tired of picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, they branched out. America in total was their new target, because of tolerance for abortion (occasionally) and gay people. So, they started protesting at the drop of a hat, barely even trying to tie a logical thread between the protest and the protestee. They'd release extremely low-tech press releases that looked like third- or fourth-generation mimeographs of bad copies of bad faxes. Their website--which, again, I refuse to type--had the look of absolute insanity, but without the artistic flair you'd expect from the insane.

But it wasn't until they started regularly protesting soldiers' funerals that mainstream America stood up and took notice. Suddenly, these vile people were attacking people who "mattered." Even Right Wing World began to call WBC and the Phelpses out for their wicked, hateful behavior. Of course, the right can't help but point out that Fred himself was at least one time a Democrat, which is almost as relevant to his behavior as the fact that he used to fight Jim Crow laws. Both facts actually go counter to his behavior, especially in the past 25 years or so.

But the most important thing is, this nasty fucker is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Oddly, most mainstream gay organizations, blogs and celebrity types are urging calm, respectful, quiet responses, if any. And they're of course free to do whatever they want. But not me. This man didn't deserve respect, reverence, politeness, or anything resembling common courtesy. He's dead. Good.

Here's hoping that his demented family--minus their lighting-rod patriarch--eventually tires of their pointless hate carnival, and the WBC just peters out. Until then, I hold this cult in exactly the same regard that I hold their former leader.

[Excerpt]
 
Westboro Baptist Church Founder Fred Phelps Dead at 84

. . .The 84-year-old preacher and disbarred lawyer built a hateful name for himself by establishing the WBC in the 1950s, and rose to prominence picketing the funerals of people who died of AIDS complications, then gained international attention when the church picketed slain gay college student Matthew Shepard's funeral in 1998. Under the leadership of Phelps, Sr., his children and grandchildren who comprise the vast majority of the church's congregation made a habit of picketing the funerals of military veterans, carrying inflammatory signs with messages like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," and claiming that the death of American troops was God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. The WBC regularly picketed funerals and events which they believed were sinful, often "thanking God" for natural disasters, violent massacres, and even the attacks on September 11, 2001. . .

Read more at: The Advocate

The Gay Thing: Anti-Gay Laws on the Horizon? It's Getting Ridiculous

News for gay people has been--for lack of a better description--a bit bi-polar of late. Marriage equality is racking up wins left and right, small and large. There are multiple lawsuits against discriminatory state constitutional amendments in multiple states, all seemingly on track to success. Little by little (and sometimes bigger by bigger), the movement is in a really good place.

But the backlash has begun. Well, to be fair, it's been coming since forever, but it's got a new face. A really stupid, really odd, really hateful face. The new line of attack from the religious right is the concept of "religious freedom." Or, rather, the new concept of religious freedom that doesn't track logically, but somehow has found traction in Right Wing World. It goes like this: if you're selling a product or a service, and you're quite religious, you shouldn't have to sell to people who live their lives in a way that contradicts your religion.

Well, it's tighter than that. Specifically, if you're gay, they shouldn't have to accommodate you. Not divorced, or an adulterer, or any of a lengthy list of sins. Just The Gay Thing. The religious freedom of the customer doesn't matter, only the business owner, salesperson, or other employee offering the goods or service. This is--to say the least--a very peculiar and specific definition of religious freedom. And it breaks many current public accommodations laws.

Solution! Make new laws! Carve out exemptions for religious people (read: born again Christians) who don't want to sell stuff to "sinners" (read: gay people). Now, when this sort of thing was done prior to the civil rights awareness of the 1960s, it was called "Jim Crow." But the current crop of anti-gay politicos don't see it that way. And they aren't limiting their ire to participating in "gay marriage." In fact, in several of the cases that have made it to court, there wasn't any legal gay marriage in the states in questions. No, some of these hateful, nasty laws are going even further, into much more serious territory. Like emergency response. Medicine. Surgery.

Yes, these "good Christians" wish to be able to be as mean as they want to this select group of people, and have it codified into law. Does that sound "Christian" to you? It certainly doesn't sound constitutional.

[Excerpt]

Idaho bill would allow doctors or cops to refuse service to LGBT people on religious grounds

An Idaho Republican can’t think of anyone in his state who has been forced to render aid to a gay or lesbian person against their will, and he’d like to keep it that way. Rep. Lynn Luker outlined a proposal Tuesday backed by his conservative Christian allies to shield religious people from the threat of losing their professional licenses for refusing service or employment to anyone they conclude violates their religious beliefs. “This is pre-emptive,” said Luker, a Boise Republican. “The issue is coming, whether it’s 10 years, or 15 years, or two years. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story


[Excerpt]

Anti-gay marriage bill wins Kan. House's approval

Gay-rights advocates lashed out Wednesday at the Kansas House's leading Democrat, saying he showed only tepid opposition to a bill protecting people who, based on their religious beliefs, discriminate against gays and lesbians. Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat who's also running for governor, voted against the measure, which the House passed 72-49 on Wednesday, sending it to the state Senate. . .

Read more at: Houston Chronicle

Rachel Maddow's Bizarre Interview with Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Post-SOTU

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) was interviewed by Rachel Maddow after the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. At issue was a tweet by the Congressman criticizing President Obama's recognition of a wounded serviceman. Huelskamp puts the tweet in context as a tit-for-tat with the White House. . .and then wanders all over the place, from talking point to talking point. While being insulting to Maddow, confusing in general, and just. . .well, watch for yourself.
 

"Rainbow House" Owner Takes on Westboro Baptist Church

You've probably seen that guy Aaron Jackson, who bought a house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church, the hate group run by Rev. Fred Phelps. Jackson runs a charity, and in this case is focusing on anti-bullying, and helping at-risk kids. The charity's new Topeka, Kansas headquarters will be in that house, which Jackson had painted to resemble the gay pride rainbow flag.
It's only fair when you consider that Phelps regularly displays banners that say charming things like "God Hates America," and "God Hates Fags" for all the neighborhood to have to see.

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President Obama's Still Gives Great Speech

On Tuesday in Kansas, Barack Obama gave one of his best speeches in recent memory. If I didn't know better, I'd think they stole my idea of hiring Aaron Sorkin to write his speeches. It's the kind of thing we've been wanting to hear for a very long time. And when you realize that he's harkening back to some of the very things Teddy Roosevelt--a Republican, remember--was talking about a hundred years ago, you realize how far today's GOP is from its roots.