Politicians and After The Fact Apologies

"The quality of mercy is not strained, 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:"

        ~William Shakespeare....The Merchant of Venice

At least so saith the poet...

Forgiveness is an incredible force for healing as well as human progress that many often write off as a weakness. Yet, without mercy and its close cousin, forgiveness, we would fight blood feuds without end...and in my opinion the world is filled with enough examples of that. So it is with some internal conflict that I read this week that Bill Clinton is kinda-sorta non-apologizing for signing DOMA into law and urging the Supreme Court to strike it down. I mean, the man signed it into law, so I should be jumping up and down in celebration that he is going public condemning it....right?. Well, given the spate of politicians that have recently come out to support abolishing DOMA and prop 8 who previously supported enacting those laws when they were in power...my feelings about Clinton's actions are mixed and anything but poetic.

Going For The Ride...Scotus Takes Marriage Equality

As probably everyone has already heard, the United States Supreme Court finally announced which marriage equality cases it will hear and their choices where interesting ones. When the Scotus Blog yesterday finally updated that the high court had decided to take the cased of Eddie Windsor and Prop 8 I had to step back and take a double take. Really?....the Prop 8 case? Nearly everyone had expected that one to be kicked back out of hand. But there is was, in digital print staring me in the face. After months of waiting, watching federal circuit court battles...and more waiting, we finally had an answer.  Immediately the internet lit up like a storm as word spread from blog and news outlets, to facebook and beyond. I even woke to find it the headline of my local newspaper this morning. It seemed everyone was pleased with the outcome.

And to be fair...I know it's important that this happens but as I absorbed the news, more questions began to present themselves and the reality set in that this could have a major impact not only on the rights of the gay community as a whole...but also on my marriage. I began to have that feeling in my stomach that you get while cresting a hill on a rollercoaster....that slow ratcheting ascent until that awefull pause at the top before you drop. As I sit here, feeling the subtle tilt of gravity beneath me, I cant help but have a few questions and wonder where all this will end up.

Perry V. Schwarzenneger: Upcoming Live Broadcast of Ca Supreme Court

Today the California Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the next round of testimony in the ongoing battle over Proposition 8. Today's hearing will held to answer the question of whether or not Protectmarriage.com and backers of Prop. 8 have the legal standing to defend the law in court if authorized state representatives decline to do so. For those who may recall, this question was previously put before the Ninth Circuit Federal Court who found that they simply didn't have enough precedent to answer the question on their own and thus sent the matter back to the State Supreme Court to verify before the federal trial could continue.....and so here we are today.

Todays session will be held at 10:00 a.m. pst on the California Channel and will also be broadcast on their website at :

www.calchannel.com

If I find an embeddable broadcast, I will be sure to attach it to this post at the day progresses. Stay Tuned! 

On Loving...

I'm not sure that many of us were aware that the 41rst anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark case that ruled it unconstitutional to ban interracial marriage, passed just days ago on the 12th of this month. For Mildred and Richard Loving I'm sure that day must have felt like it was a long time in coming. Authorities had broken into their home and arrested them for the crime of merely being of different races and wanting to be married to each other...the year was 1958. After being tried and convicted of breaking Virginia law...again, merely for being married. They were sentenced to 25 years in jail, a sentence that would be postponed if the Lovings agreed to leave the state and leave they did. They returned to the District of Columbia, where they had been married, and began a lawsuit that would change the face of marriage for the entire nation. It took nine long years of court battles that took the long road from state courts to the U.S. Supreme Court...but they won.

In California, everyone expected marriage equality to be a no brainer and yet it has turned into a national courtroom drama that doesn't appear to have any end in sight. Yesterday a federal court gave its decision on whether or not Judge Vaughn Walkers decision on Prop 8 should be invalidated because Judge Walker happens to be gay. In a rather sharply worded decision from Judge James Ware, that answer was "no". However, the very fact that we had to endure yet another trial about a trail (and one that again attacks the integrity of gay men and women), makes think how long the road can seem when you can't see it's end....and how nine years must have felt for Richard and Mildred Loving.

Perry vs. Schwarzenegger..Ninth Circuit Appeal...Day one

Today is the day...In just a few short minutes C-SPAN will begin live coverage of the Ninth circuit appeal of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, challenging the constitution of California's Prop 8 state constiturional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

I haven't found any embeddable live feeds yet but C-SPAN does offer livestreaming on their website found..here.

The Courage Campaign is also running a live thread and chat on their Trial Tracker that can be found at prop8trialtracker.com.

Good luck everyone.

*(update)* livestream via goodasyou.org...much thanks to them for the feed.

Why Marriage?

Why do we have marriage? What purpose does it serve to us as human beings both on a social and emotional level that we have invested so much of ourselves in this institution? Indeed, it has become a key piece of contested ground in the "culture war" being waged here in America. But what is Marriage? What does it do for us? What does it mean to us on an emotional level and why is it so important to fight for it? Why should gays and lesbians be excluded from it? Is it a civil right? These are questions that those of us on both sides of the issue have struggled to clearly define in order to establish our views on the issue. It is also a queestion posed in a posting on the National Organisation for Marriage's blog, in concert with the familyscholars.org, offering  the opinion of average person...a waitress in Ohio...."Why do we have marriage?" Her answer?...

An Excellent Prop 8 Analysis

Hello everyone,

Much has been said about Judge Walkers Prop 8 ruling. The Blogs are STILL full of posts from legal analysts, pundits, and talking heads giving their opinions about the rulling and making forcasts for the future of the case, but none has been as concise as this one from ProfMTH on Youtube. Although I don't see eye to eye with the Prof on everything he posts, I have to hand it to him on this set of videos...they are well put together and easy to understand. Watch them and you will feel like you have become a Perry v. Schwarzenegger expert....enjoy!

Revolutions...Backlash...and Prop 8

Hello everyone...before we get started, I have just one thing to get off my chest. Judge Vuaghn Walker lifted the stay on his prop 8 decision effective on the 18th of this month....so, from a couple who made it in on the last window of opportunity...

CONGRATULATIONS TO CALIFORNIA SAME-SEX COUPLES!!..SAME-SEX MARRIAGES CAN RESUME!!

Get in there and make it happen people. We never know when that door is gonna slam shut again.

But this little nugget of joy actually brings us to the subject of todays post....revolution. Its a word that gets thrown around alot these days and usually means that something is not going the way the user hopes. Judge Walkers ruling has stirred alot of pots....anger and not-so veiled threats of violence are becoming increasingly commonplace sentiments expressed by those who appose gay marriage. And of course, those feelings are whipped into a frenzy by irresponsible pundits seeing a chance to gather the dissaffected to themselves.

Originally, I wanted to write this post in the week following Judge Walkers ruling...but...because I wanted to focus on the positive aspects of the rulling, and because I don't think its good to give too much weight to the crazy extremist end of the spectrum, I let it go. After all, the things I was seeing in the news were just isolated incidents...or so I thought. Then, Maggie Gallagher, her anti-gay matrimonial majesty, came along with her own call to revolution that has reinvigorated the idea that such extreme thoughts are the only way to preserve their vision of society. But first...the background...

When Paper Tigers Roar

Today I woke up to my local paper running a front page story featuring California Attorney General Jerry Brown and our Governerator...Arnold Schwarzenegger calling on Judge Vaughn Walker to cancel the stay on his Prop 8 ruling and allow same-sex marriages to resume. The headline runs like this:

Schwarzenegger: Let Same-Sex Weddings Resume

My first thought was...cool, its nice to see such vocal support from our state leaders. The story also runs in just about every blog today in some form and the comments are all by and large expressions of appreciation for our Governor and Attorney General. They are lauded as stand up figures putting it on the line for the gay community. But thats when a sneaky second thought hit me...

"Wait a minute! What do these men really stand to lose by coming out now after its all but said and done?"....

oh dam you second thoughts...Don't go raining on my otherwise positive parade. But he was not to be dismissed. I kept coming back to it and to the words of our fierce advocate and President in the wake of the Prop 8 trial results. After all some of these people have publically claimed to be advocates for the gay community or at a minimum...not supportive of discrimination. But where exactly is the meat in this bologna sandwich?

Wahoo!....Prop 8 Overturned!

Plaintiffs have demonstrated by overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 violates their due process and equal protection rights and that they will continue to suffer these constitutional violations until state officials cease enforcement of Proposition 8. California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as it has already issued 18,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples and has not suffered any demonstrated harm as a result,see FF 64-66; moreover, California officials have chosen not to defend Proposition 8 in these proceedings.


Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; prohibiting the official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and directing the official defendants that all persons under their control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8. The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment without bond in favor of plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors and against defendants and defendant-intervenors pursuant to FRCP 58.

IT IS SO ORDERED."

And so it is....with a well thought out and delivered judgement, Judge vaughn Walker has overturned Proposition 8 and affirmed that it violates both due process and the equal protection clause of the constitution[CNN]. In his ruling he pointed out that same-sex couples are not seeking new or "special" rights, but only equal opportunity...equal treatment under the law. He also made a point that domestic partnerships do not fulfill the obligation to allow same-sex couples the equal opportunity to marry. He also affirmed the equal value of same-sex couples to opposite sex couples in the raising of children and that denying same-sex couples marriage does not encourage or affirm opposite sex marriage in any way.

the text of Judge Walkers ruling points out, show without a shadow of a doubt, how well the legal team of Olsen and Bioes made their case as it reads like a synopsis of their arguments. More to the point, these arguments posess their own weight and deniability...it just took someone to go to bat for them.

As of now Judge Walker has issued a two day stay on his ruling in order for opposing legal council to respond. After that point, if no appeal was pending, the changes to California's constitution banning same-sex marriage would be nullified, leaving the Supreme Courts ruling upholding of same-sex marriage in effect. Marriages could resume. However,...it is fully expected that the opposition will appeal and the case will advance to the 9th district court of appeals. If we won in that court it would apply to all states under its jurisdiction...and so the momentum would continue, snowballing on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

the opposition is already going into full martyr mode. Pick your anti-gay group and their websight will be dripping with bile and loaded with accusations of judicial bias...like NOM for example:

"Never in the history of America has a federal judge ruled that there is a federal constitutional right to same sex marriage. The reason for this is simple – there isn’t!” added Brown.


“The ‘trial’ in San Francisco in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case is a unique, and disturbing, episode in American jurisprudence. Here we have an openly gay (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) federal judge substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who I promise you would be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in our Constitution. We call on the Supreme Court and Congress to protect the people’s right to vote for marriage,” stated Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board of NOM.

Putting trial in quotes doesn't make it any less legal Maggie...nor was Judge Walker open about his sexuality until you made an issue of it during the opening of the trial...and as for the founding fathers...none of them could have foreseen where the future was going to take this country and I'm quite sure they knew that too...which is why they built failsafe protections into the constitution..because they knew that events may occur that they could not foresee and that the people would need protections....today their forsight is vindicated....even if only till the next round.

But tonight we party! Get out and celebrate in whatever way you can. Raise a glass and toast to equality...toast to love...then get ready to get out there and fight again because we are nowhere near done with this thing. Congratulations everyone!

Read Judge Walkers full ruling and a listing of celebration rallies below the fold:

Connections: NOM...The LDS Church and Lies

The National Organization for Marriage is back in the news (is it ever not?). This time for heading up a tour around the U.S. in a bus covered in stock photos of opposite sex families and American flags. The same great people that brought you the Prop 8 Trial Tracker now give us the NOM Tour Tracker. So far the "Summer for Marriage Tour" has been and unqualified failure marked by low turn outs. I guess without a marriage initiative to scare the pants off of people its hard to get your message out....but then, Nom had to get its face out there somehow.

In California and Maine, Nom's profile had been inescapable. They were THE driving force behind the anti-marriage equality movement. Commercials like the "Gathering Storm" set the tone for Noms tactic of scaring people into believing that gay marriage would somehow result catastrophic consequences. At the time of prop 8 in California, it was also known that the Mormon Church was also a big backer of the movement, donating vast amounts of money and..."volunteers"(wink)... to the cause. We saw the same plays repeated with success in Maine, leading most of us to gape in wonder that it could happen a second time with the same lies. Everywhere you went...Nom was there...Maggie Gallagher becoming the ever present face of discrimination against gays in America second only to Anita Bryant. But where did NOM itself come from?

While watching 8 The Mormon Proposition, I learned the answer to that and an interesting fact that was not apparent to me in the campaign against Prop 8. read on...

Bill Moyers Hosts David Boies and Ted Olson

In a recent edition of Bill  Moyers Journal, Moyers sat down with David Boies and Ted Olson attorneys representing two gay couples in the federal lawsuit against the constitutionality of Prop 8. Since no cameras have been allowed in the courtroom for the trial and in all likelyhood will continue to be banned for the closing arguments, its nice to see Olson and Boies and to hear their opinions on the status of the trail in person. Both attorneys seem very positive about succeeding, even at the Federal Supreme Court, an attitude that I find astounding as well as encouraging. So far there case has been very sharp so I have no doubt that they know their stuff.

PBS does not allow their player to be embedded in other sites so I had to find a little taste  of the interview to share with you. Below you will find a Youtube synopsis of the interview but to see it in its entirety visit PBS . The full interview is well worth the watch so I hope you will go to the PBS site and check it out.

Prop 8 Trial Reenactment...Day 1 Chapter 2

Federal Prop 8 Trial Reenactment..Day 1 Chapter 1

Well here it is...much later than I expected, but better late than never. I will post more as they become available.

Perry vs. Governator day 12...The Reckoning!

Well Almost....While this is the last day of testimony, it is not, technically, the last day of the trial. After court lets out today there will well be a recess until March...thats right...March. As if waiting for the California State Supreme Court decision wasn't bad enough, now we have to wait again for closing arguments and Judge Walker's decision.

We at Gay Family Values would like to take the time to thank the people who Livebloged and tweeted their fingers off to bring us this information. Without you we would all be in the dark and I look forward to the day when full transcripts of the trial are released. We would also like to thank the legal team of Olsen and Boies for putting together such a solid case and for putting the spot light on a subject that is long overdue to be faced. We would like to thank all the Plaintiff's witnesses who were so unflappable on the stand. Finally...last but not least we would like to thank two very special witnesses, who we think made the case for  the discrimination that gays and lesbians go through better, than if the entire Gay Mens Chorus sang it in Union Square...

Thanks alot everyone...we couln't have done it without you!

Dr. William Tam!

Dr. Tam tried his best to get out of being associated with Prop 8. and attempted to have himself removed as an intervenor on the basis that he would undergo harrasment because of his stance on Prop 8. Judge Walker denied his request...much to the chagrin of Prop. 8 defense attorneys who knew they now had to own him. While taking the stand Dr. Tam had to take responsibility for Prop. 8 documents in which he claimed that, after legalizing marriage, gays and lesbians will attempt to legalize having sex with children and prostitution....among a whole host of other batshittery.

Thank you Dr. Tam for demonstrating that the majority of arguments that are used against same-sex marriage are based in tragically destructive stereotypes...kinda like people used to believe about asians....and religious bias.

David Blankenhorn!

Founder and president of the Institute for American Values. Blankenhorn, who was brought in as a marriage expert....actually has no background in same-sex marriages at all. His degrees aren't even related to psychology or sociology and his only qualifications was having read a couple of studies by other doctors. His arguments were soley based on his own opinions and biases with absolutely zero facts to back them up.

Under David Boies examination all of Blankenhorns arguments blew away like dust in the wind and at several points he even irritated the judge by his resistance to answering the questions. Blankenhorn eventually ended up admitting that we would be "more American" if we allowed same-sex marriage. The end result being that a combative witness for the defense, under examination, ended up making the case for us that marriage equality is a GOOD thing....thanks David!

The Usual Suspects:

Good As You Twitter Feed

Pam's House Blend Twitter Feed

The Advocates Twitter Feed

Courage Campaigns Liveblog ( The Trial Tracker )

Firedog Lake's Liveblog

Slippery slopes

This is a term that those who oppose gay marriage attempt to use when they want to portray themselves as having a "rational basis" for their resistance to allowing marriage equality. The line of argument goes that if we allow gays and lesbians to marry, then that paves the way for polygamy, incest, and bestiality. Does this sound absurd to you? Well...here is a quote taken from Proposition 8 documents as they are being entered into evidence, as reported by the Courage Campaign Liveblog:

Lion of Judah Church of Boston, says, “Polygamists are waiting in the wings! If we have same sex marriage, we’ll have polygamy next.”

 Yes..they are just lining up and waiting for their turn to have their lives and loves subjected to a federal trial eh?.....somehow, I don't think so...

So lets take this one apart Shall we?

Perry vs. Governator...Attack of the Cloned Campaigns

Today Prop 8 gets to call the tune and the witnesses but since we haven't heard what their game plan is we will just have to tune in and see. I for one will be donning my tinfoil hat for this event as I'm sure theit attempt to twist logic into their favor has a good chance of ripping a hole in space and time. Good luck to us all...

The usual suspects:

Good As You Twitter Feed

Pam's House Blend Twitter Feed

The Advocates Twitter Feed

Courage Campaign Liveblog (The Trial Tracker)

Firedog Lake's Liveblog

Perry vs. Governator Day 9......Plaintiffs Wrap Up

Day nine of thr trial and it has been raining great buckets here for almost as many days. While yesterday saw Tam's testimony in spite of heavy resistance by defendants. Today will see the last of the Plaintiffs witnesses take the stand. Up today is Gregory M. Herek Ph.D. A professor of Psychology at the University of California Davis. His testimony will cover the nature of sexuality and the effects of stereotypes and stigmas against gays and lesbians....should be good...if not too surprising stuff.

The Usual Suspects:

Good As You Twitter Feed

Pam's House Blend Twitter Feed

The Advocates Twitter Feed

Courage Campaign Liveblog (The Trial Tracker)

Firedog Lake Liveblog

Calling Prejudice To the Stand

Yesterdays testimonies in the Perry vs. Schwarzenegger were absolutely explosive! So much so, that I felt they were worthy of their own post rather than tacking them onto one of my Trial Link posts. The quality of witnesses that Olsen and Boies have called have been stellar. We even picked up some awsome testimony from witnesses originally signed to the Defendants (support 8's) side. It was a day of emotional revelations and bombshells...check it out with me...

Perry vs. Governator Day 8...The Wrath of Teh Gays!

Wow...day 8....where does the time go. Yesterdays testimony was action packed, what with Ryan Kendalls testimony about his family and experiences being forced to attend reparative therapy. This was followed up by some pretty damning evidence about the LDS church...but all that will be in my following regular post for the day. For now...enjoy the preview for the Trial reenactiment I have been promising and keep a close watch on this trial...

The Usual suspects:

Good As You Twitter Feed

Pam's House Blend Twitter Feed

The Advocates Twitter Feed

Courage Campaign Liveblog (The Trial Tracker)

Firedog Lakes Liveblog

This is only the teaser trailer...more to come as they are posted: