(Mount Laurel, NJ) The state-to-state march to legalize gay marriage across the left-leaning Northeast has lost more momentum since a major setback three weeks ago at the ballot box in Maine.
Since then, legislatures in New York and New Jersey have failed to schedule long-expected votes on bills to recognize the …
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LOS ANGELES — Discouraged by stubborn poll numbers and pessimistic political consultants, major financial backers of same-sex marriage are cautioning gay rights groups to delay a campaign to overturn California’s ban on such unions until at least 2012.
Earlier this year, many supporters of same-sex marriage seemed eager to mount a 2010 campaign to overturn Proposition 8, which was passed by California voters in November and defined marriage as “between a man and a woman.”
But the timing of another campaign has since been questioned by several of the movement’s big donors, including David Bohnett, a millionaire philanthropist and technology entrepreneur who gave more than $1 million to the unsuccessful campaign to defeat Proposition 8.
“In conversations with a number of my fellow major No on 8 donors,” Mr. Bohnett said in an e-mail message, “I find that they share my sentiment: namely, that we will step up to the plate — with resources and talent — when the time is right.”
“The only thing worse than losing in 2008,” he added, “would be to lose again in 2010.”
The issue of when to go back to the polls was also the central topic at a contentious “leadership summit” held Saturday at a church in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles, where about 200 gay rights advocates gathered to discuss their next step. It was the second large meeting of gay leaders since late May when the California Supreme Court ruled against a legal challenge to Proposition 8, which passed with 52 percent of the vote.
Shortly after the court’s decision, officials at Equality California, one of the largest gay rights groups in California, issued an online plea for donations for a possible 2010 campaign, citing a need to capitalize on anger over the decision and on the seeming momentum from the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in several other states.
But that thinking has apparently evolved.
Marc Solomon, marriage director for Equality California, said he spent June and early July asking the opinions of nearly two dozen California political consultants and pollsters and had been surprised by the almost unanimous opinion that a 2010 race was a bad idea.
“I expected having watched the protests and the real pain that the L.G.B.T. community had experienced that there would be some real measurable remorse in the electorate,” Mr. Solomon said, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “But if you look at the poll numbers since November, they really haven’t moved at all.”
A major factor in any California balloting, of course, is money; campaigns here are remarkably expensive, with a number of costly media markets. The Proposition 8 campaign, for example, cost more than $80 million, with opponents spending some $43 million.
Sarah Callahan, ch
See Backers of Gay Marriage Rethink California Push
New York Times
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island seems almost certain to remain the only New England state that does not recognize gay marriage after measures legalizing same-sex unions stalled just before the part-time General Assembly ended the bulk of its annual work.
None of the bills legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island advanced to a floor vote this session, continuing a trend begun in 1997.
The lack of State House action on gay unions means that Rhode Island is unlikely to allow same-sex marriage anytime soon, despite decisions this year by lawmakers in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont to join Connecticut and Massachusetts in legalizing marriage equality.
“I was hoping the momentum that was going around New England and the support we had in the House would get enough representatives to ask for it,” said Rep. Frank Ferri (D-Warwick), who is gay and sponsored same-sex marriage legislation. He and his partner wed in Canada.
Equally disappointed were marriage equality opponents, who wanted voters to be able to decide whether the state constitution should be changed to ban gay marriage.
“I think that if you put it to the voters on a statewide basis, gay marriage would fail,” said Rep. Jon Brien, D-Woonsocket.
See Gay marriage stalls as RI lawmakers wrap up
Bay Windows
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SANTA BARBARA, CA — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called on President Obama to sign an executive order suspending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, according to the Advocate magazine.
Referring to the repeal of the ban, Reid told Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld that, “My hope is that it can be done administratively.” Eleveld added that, “A Democratic aide later clarified that Reid was speaking about the possibility of using an executive order to suspend discharges or perhaps halting enforcement of the policy by changing departmental regulations within the Department of Defense.”
As well, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has called on President Obama to sign an executive order. In a letter to the New York Times yesterday, SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis wrote that, “President Obama should consider all viable options he can take on his own to get rid of this discriminatory law, including issuing a ‘stop-loss’ order.” For more than a decade, SLDN has been the largest and most influential group in the country working on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The idea of ending the ban by executive order gained momentum after the release last month of a Palm Center study showing that the president has the authority to suspend “don’t ask, don’t tell” via a stroke of the pen. Before that time, many argued that only Congress or the courts could lift the ban on service by openly gay troops.
Others calling for the President to sign an executive order include the New York Times editorial page, the Human Rights Campaign, Knights Out, an organization of gay and lesbian alumni of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean, and former Clinton White House official Richard Socarides.
Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin said that awareness of the executive option has changed the conversation about “don’t ask, don’t tell” substantially. “Obama used to duck the issue by blaming Congress for the inertia. Now it’s clear that he has unilateral authority to fulfill his campaign promise.”
The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu.
Updated: 05/29/2009 09:09:52 PM MDT
There is no denying that the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8 is a setback for gay families and anyone who supports marriage equality. But the reversal is temporary.
One day in the not-too-distant future — years maybe, but not decades — Prop. 8 will be seen as the swan song of the old order. California’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage garnered 52 percent of the vote in November, but it was the last gasp of an atavistic and deeply negative conception of homosexuality whose grip on the American psyche will soon be broken for good (and good riddance).
Gay marriage is coming to America.
The speed at which gay marriage went from a wedge issue that Republicans used during the 2004 election to roust religiously conservative voters to the polls, to its wide acceptance today, is nothing short of a political tsunami. Five states have now legalized same-sex marriage either by statute or court order: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine. The last three did so in the few months since California’s Prop. 8 case was argued. With the momentum building throughout the Northeast, measures legalizing gay marriage are considered viable in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
The polls are reflecting this rapid shift in the cultural landscape.
See Blumner: Gay marriage will come Salt Lake Tribune
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After a lot of years of devastating setbacks in the fight for marriage equality, it seems like we’re finally moving in the right direction. With marriage legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine, and the fights going strong in New Hampshire, New York and California, this movement is gaining more momentum every day, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Thanks!
With momentum from individual states, and many younger Americans, favoring marriage equality, it’s more a question of when and not if same-sex couples will gain the right to marry nationwide, writes Matt Bai. However, unlike other civil rights battles over the past 50 years, the marriage movement lacks a politician from a major party as its champion, according to Bai. The New York Times Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Military Law Experts Chart Course to End 16-Year Ban
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A study released today by a team of military law experts shows that the president has the legal authority to end gay discharges with a single order. The idea of ending the ban by executive order has gained momentum in the wake of news that mission-critical personnel, including Arabic language speaker Dan Choi, continue to be fired under the Obama administration because they’re gay. Congressman Rush Holt endorsed an executive order to end the ban on Saturday and National Security Adviser James Jones was asked about it by George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning. The report, “How to End Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: A Roadmap of Political, Legal, Regulatory, and Organizational Steps to Equal Treatment,” is sponsored by the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Many have argued that only Congress can lift the ban on service by openly gay troops. But according to the study, Congressional approval is not needed. Dr. Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center and a study co-author, said “The administration does not want to move forward on this issue because of conservative opposition from both parties in Congress, and Congress does not want to move forward without a signal from the White House. This study provides a recipe for breaking through the political deadlock, as well as a roadmap for military leaders once the civilians give the green light.”
There are three legal bases to the president’s authority, the report says. First, Congress has already granted to the Commander in Chief the statutory authority to halt military separations under 10 U.S.C. 12305, a law which Congress titled, “Authority of President to suspend certain laws relating to promotion, retirement, and separation.” Under the law, the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States during a “period of national emergency.” The statute specifically defines a “national emergency” as a time when “members of a reserve component are serving involuntarily on active duty.”
The second and third bases of presidential authority are contained within the “don’t ask, don’t tell” legislation itself. The law grants to the Defense Department authority to determine the process by which discharges will be carried out, saying they will proceed “under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, in accordance with procedures set forth in such regulation.” Finally, the law calls for the discharge of service members if a finding of homosexuality is made, but it does not require that such a finding ever be made. According to the study, these provisions mean that the Pentagon, not Congress, has the “authority to devise and implement the procedures under which those findings may be made.”
Diane H. Mazur, Professor of Law at the University of Florida College of Law and another study co-author, said the presidential authority to stop firing gay troops, known as “stop-loss,” is different from the highly unpopular stop-loss policy that the Army recently announced it would phase out. “That use of stop-loss forcibly extends service by those who wish to leave the military,” she said, “whereas suspending discharges for homosexuality would do the opposite: allow ongoing service by those who wish to remain in uniform.” The study says the provisions of the stop-loss law, which are granted by Congress, are “sensible because they give the President authority to suspend laws relating to separation when a national emergency has strained personnel requirements.”
The other four authors of the study in addition to Mazur and Belkin are Dr. Nathaniel Frank, a Palm researcher and author of “Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America”; Dr. Gregory M. Herek, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis; Dr. Elizabeth L. Hillman, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law; and Bridget J. Wilson, who practices law at Rosenstein Wilson & Dean in San Diego. The report will also be published in a forthcoming book, “Department of Defense Social Policy Perspectives 2010,” edited by James Parco, David Levy and Fred Blass.
The Palm Center is a research institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Center uses rigorous social science to inform public discussions of controversial social issues, enabling policy outcomes to be informed more by evidence than by emotion. Its data-driven approach is premised on the notion that the public makes wise choices on social issues when high-quality information is available. For more information, visit www.palmcenter.ucsb.edu * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
Marriage equality “a matter of time,” ACLU chief says
There is momentum nationally for marriage equality, according to Anthony Romero, the out executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s just a matter of time,” he said before an appearance in Philadelphia. However, Pennsylvania is considered unlikely to enact marriage equality without a court order, according to advocates in the Keystone State. The Philadelphia Inquirer * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
The Rev. Jo Hudson of Dallas’ Cathedral of Hope will be part of a high-profile team of pastors visiting Congress to lobby for gay rights. Details below:
This is a critical time for the LGBT movement. Today, the U.S. House is marking-up the federal hate crimes bill, an important step before the bill moves to a vote. Federal legislation is necessary to ensure all citizens are safe from hate violence. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity. Twenty states have hate crimes laws that cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.
The Clergy Call for Justice and Equality is organized by the HRC Foundation’s Religion & Faith Program, lead by Harry Knox, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama to the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. To check out this year’s program visit: www.HRC.org/ClergyCall.
Confirmed speakers: Read their bios: http://www.hrc.org/issues/religion/12294.htm
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, NH
Bishop Yvette Flunder, San Francisco, CA
Rev. John H. Thomas , Cleveland, OH
Rev. Dr. Anthony Campolo, St. Davids, PA
Father Richard Estrada, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson, Dallas, TX
Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Love, Abilene, TX
Rev. Manish Mishra, St. Petersburg, FL
Rev. Drew Phoenix, Anchorage, AK
Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Charlotte, NC
Joe Solmonese, Washington, DC
Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, Madison, NJ
Updates in the movement of faith and LGBT equality:
The unanimous ruling of the seven-member Iowa Supreme Court, written by Mark Cady, a Republican appointee, explained that a state’s legalization of same-sex marriage has no effect on marriage as practiced by religions. “The only difference,” the judge wrote, is that “civil marriage will now take on a new meaning that reflects a more complete understanding of equal protection of the law.
The McCain-Palin 2008 campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, urged his party last week to join him in endorsing same-sex marriage.
Jon Huntsman Jr., the governor of Utah, who in February endorsed civil unions for gay couples, a position seemingly indistinguishable from Obama’s. Huntsman is a Mormon presiding over what Gallup ranks as the reddest state in the country.
Rev. Rick Warren, the hugely popular megachurch leader who endorsed Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, dropped in on Larry King to declare that he had “never” been and “never will be” an “anti-gay-marriage activist.” But, it apparently didn’t thrill his base and he cancelled on ABC’s George Stephanolopous, minutes before taking to the air on the nationally televised “This Week.” Warren’s sudden reverse remains controversial in the LGBT community: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/10284/rick-warren-lies-about-his-homobigotry-on-larry-king-live
Faith leaders are building momentum and making clear that they support full equality for LGBT people under the law. America’s clergy are transforming our nation one congregation at a time and making it easier for Members of Congress to stand for equality. The theme for Clergy Call 2009, “Moving from Acceptance to Advocacy,” reflects the vision of a faith-based movement for LGBT equality built from the ground up: in local churches, synagogues, mosques.
See Dallas pastor to join team lobbying Congress for gay rights
Dallas Morning News
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