Artist Tim Miller gets the gay ‘Lay of the Land’

Performance artist and gay activist Tim Miller likes to think of himself as a “flag monitor” who uses his art to keep tabs on acts of bigotry and discrimination perpetrated in the name of the country to which he pledges allegiance.
Miller comes to Tallahassee this weekend to deliver a State of the Union address — make that a State of the Queer American Union address — in the form of his solo piece, “Lay of the Land,” at the Mickee Faust Clubhouse in Railroad Square Art Park.
He arrives days after New Hampshire became the sixth state to sanction same-sex unions. It ought to add an extra fillip of irony to his performances of “Lay of the Land,” which references Florida’s Amendment 2 and Proposition 8 (from Miller’s home state of California), which aim to prohibit gay marriage.
It’ll be his first visit to Tallahassee, but Miller has done his homework.
“Florida and California have such a weird and complicated link in the national imagination,” Miller said in a phone interview. “There’s the image of the sun and orange trees and the veneer that both states have of free thinking and loving nature — and exporting homophobia.” See Artist gets the gay ‘Lay of the Land’
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Groups to ‘out’ those who sign petition against same-sex unions

A group called WhoSigned.org says it will publicize the names of people signing petitions for Referendum 71, which seeks a public vote to overturn a new expansion of Washington’s same-sex partnerships.

WhoSigned.org says it’s partnering with the gay rights group KnowThyNeighbor.org to put the names online.

See Groups to ‘out’ those who sign petition against same-sex unions Seattle Times

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Illinois gay union legislation stresses the civil aspect

Rev. Frank Senn of Evanston wouldn’t mind if Illinois became the sixth state to recognize same-sex civil unions as binding commitments in the eyes of the law.

But the Evangelical Lutheran pastor would object if his church became the next Protestant denomination to bless same-sex unions as binding commitments in the eyes of God.

“There’s a difference between what is ordered in civil society and what the church can do under the Gospel,” said the pastor, whose son married another man in California before same-sex marriages were banned by the Proposition 8 referendum in November. “I think civil society has its own authority to make whatever social accommodations that seem good to society. We can only act on the authority of the word of God.”

Both decisions hang in the balance. This weekend, Illinois legislators could vote on a bill that would legalize same-sex civil unions and give same-sex couples the same “basic rights” as married couples. See Illinois gay union legislation stresses the civil aspect Chicago Tribune * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

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Same-Sex Unions Supplant Abortion As Social Priority for Conservatives In Fight Over High Court Pick

As President Obama prepares to name his first Supreme Court justice, conservatives in Washington are making clear that his nominee will face plenty of questions during the confirmation process on the legal underpinnings of same-sex marriage.

In addition to shedding more light on the nation’s most contentious unfolding social drama and legal frontier, Senate Republicans say the debate could provide a road map to an Obama nominee’s judicial philosophy.

“It may reflect the degree to which they think that they’re not bound by the classical meaning of the Constitution, and that they may want to let a personal agenda go beyond what the law said,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Questions on social issues in confirmation hearings have tended for the past 30 years to focus squarely on abortion, with partisans from both sides poring over a nominee’s writings and rulings and presidents typically denying that any “litmus test” was employed in the selection.

Same-sex marriage carries the same freighted potential to dominate a hearing, conservatives say.

“It is now the flash point where politics and law meet. That flash point used to be abortion. I don’t think anybody thinks that’s going to be the flash point in this nomination,” said William A. Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor and conservative blogger.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), another GOP member of the Judiciary Committee, said conservatives are particularly eager to avoid a Supreme Court ruling akin to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide and has divided the country ever since. “I don’t think members of the court, or any of us, ever want to see a decision like that again,” Hatch said. Obama assured the senator in a recent meeting that he will not pick a “radical” to replace Souter, but Hatch added: “Presidents always say that. That’s why we have the hearing process.”

Same-sex marriage gained national resonance in the wake of last month’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized the practice in that state. And in the two weeks since Justice David H. Souter announced his retirement, Maine also legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the fifth state to do so; the New Hampshire legislature sent a marriage-equality bill to the governor; the New York State Assembly approved gay-marriage legislation; and the District of Columbia voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

Those actions, in so short a time, have outstripped the ability of Democrats in Washington to stake out their public position on the issue. MORE at Washington Post

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US Lawmakers Say Census Should Count Married Gay Couples

Gay U.S. representatives Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, and Jared Polis of Colorado along with 48 other congressional members sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag asking that the 2010 Census count same-sex married couples rather than altering their status.
Last year, the Bush administration — citing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions — announced that lawfully married same-sex couples who marked “married” on their census forms would have their status changed to “unmarried partners” in the final count. Now, congressional members are calling on Orszag to reverse course.
“We are deeply concerned about the implications of this policy for same-sex couples and for the integrity of the Census as a whole and firmly believe the [Census] Bureau’s primary objective should be to collect data and report it, not collect data and alter it,” the members said in their letter. See US Lawmakers Say Census Should Count Married Gay Couples
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‘This Is a Question of Fairness’ – NY Times Editorial

It is by no means a fast and easy path, but the cause of same-sex marriage is moving forward — proof that justice can triumph over wedge politics and prejudice. It happened this week in Maine and New Hampshire, where both states’ legislatures voted to legalize same-sex marriage and promptly put the final say to their governors.
In New Hampshire, Gov. John Lynch — who previously defined marriage as strictly between a man and a woman — promised his “best decision” after consulting lawmakers and constituents. Mr. Lynch would be wise also to consult his neighbor in Maine, Gov. John Baldacci, who signed his state’s same-sex marriage bill. He previously had opposed the idea, with the familiar hedge of supporting the half-step of civil unions.
Mr. Baldacci described his change of heart — and what we hope is the changing sentiment of many other American politicians. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage,” he said. Precisely.
Maine was the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage. We urge Mr. Lynch to make New Hampshire the sixth. Similar proposals are pending in other states, with a major debate expected in the New York Legislature.
This week, the City Council of the District of Columbia took a preliminary step, voting 12 to 1, to recognize marriages between gay people certified in other states. A fuller debate is anticipated on a proposal to legalize same-sex unions. Unfortunately, there already are calls for Congress to once more tread on home rule and block this progress in the nation’s capital.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is right to caution against such grandstanding. Governor Baldacci heard the people speak. Congress should listen. See ‘This Is a Question of Fairness’
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Dems see opportunity in gay marriage

(Washington) Gay marriage legalization in several states and the public’s growing acceptance of same-sex unions have Democrats sensing political opportunity and some Republicans re-evaluating their party’s hard-line opposition to an issue that long has rallied its base.

In recent weeks, Vermont and Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage, while New York, Maine …

Methodist Court Rejects Gay Marriage, OKs Bush Library

The United Methodist Church’s highest court has ruled that clergy may not officiate at same-sex unions, even in states where such marriages are legal, and gave the final OK for the George W. Bush Library to be built at Southern Methodist University.

The church’s nine-member Judicial Council rejected separate resolutions passed by the California-Nevada and California-Pacific Conferences that voiced support for clergy who officiate at such unions.

Last year, the 8.3 million-member church upheld rules in its Book of Discipline, or constitution, that Methodist churches cannot be used to host same-sex unions and clergy are prohibited from officiating at them.

The latest court ruling rejected a California-Nevada resolution that supported retired clergy who volunteered to conduct gay weddings, and a California-Pacific resolution upholding the “pastoral need and prophetic authority” of clergy to do so.

Between May and November, 2008, California allowed same-sex couples to marry until voters banned the practiced with a constitutional amendment.

“An annual conference may not legally negate, ignore or violate provisions of the Discipline with which they disagree, even when the disagreements are based on conscientious objections to the provisions,” the court ruled, according to United Methodist News Service.

In a separate case, the court said it found no reason to halt construction of the planned George W. Bush Presidential Center at the church-owned school in Dallas.

Critics contend the library complex and affiliated policy center will promote policies that the United Methodist Church officially opposed, including the Iraq War. The former president and his wife, Laura, are both United Methodists.

See Methodist Court Rejects Moves to Support Gay Marriage, OKs Bush …

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WATCH: Alicia Silverstone, Lance Bass Star In “Gathering Gay Storm” Spoof

The “gathering storm” ad made by the National Organization for Marriage, which preaches against same-sex unions, has spawned many parodies in its short life. As Stephen Colbert said before introducing his version of it, “It is like watching the 700 Club and the Weather Channel at the same time.”

Our own Lizz Winstead offered her version that shows the ridiculous leaps the ad makes in conflating the restriction of personal rights with granting marriage rights to homosexuals.

Now Funny or Die is getting in on the fun with a star-studded version that boasts Alicia Silverstone, Lance Bass, George Takei, and Sarah Chalke. The ad offers an answer to the gay marriage issue: a giant gay-repellent umbrella that will shield god-fearing Americans from the storm.

See WATCH: Alicia Silverstone, Lance Bass Star In “Gathering Gay Storm” Spoof

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Advocates Say Paterson Falls Short On Gay Marriage Issue

Governor David Paterson is under fire from some Democrats who say he has not done enough to help legalize gay marriage in New York. NY1′s Grace Rauh filed the following report.

Governor David Paterson has been a longtime supporter of gay marriage, and has even ordering state agencies to recognize same-sex unions performed outside New York.

But in the fight to legalize gay marriage in his own state, some lawmakers charge that Paterson isn’t doing his part.

“Say what you will about former Governor [Eliot] Spitzer, a blessing and a curse. However, working with him, we would have gotten this bill passed by now,” said Democratic Manhattan Senator Tom Duane. “We absolutely would have gotten this bill passed and we would have had a strategy. And we would have worked together and we would have made sure it became a reality.”

But there is new momentum behind the issue, in the wake of Iowa and Vermont’s recent moves to legalize same-sex marriage.

Paterson says he will introduce a gay marriage bill in the State Senate, but deeply angered supporters this week by arguing that the bill should move to the floor even if it doesn’t have the votes to pass.

See Advocates Say Paterson Falls Short On Gay Marriage Issue NY1