When I heard that last year’s Libertarian Presidential candidate, Bob Barr, had reversed himself on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) I was stunned. He wrote this abomination when he was in Congress. However, his reversal has nothing to do with a change in his views regarding gay marriage. Rather, Barr believes now that DOMA is an indefensible violation of state’s rights. He is right about that - but I wish he would let go of his lingering Republicanism and embrace gay marriage too.
Barr wrote “I can sympathize with the incoming commander in chief. And, after long and careful consideration, I have come to agree with him that the law should be repealed,” in an editorial in the L.A. Times today. Read more…
Be sure to click the “Read More” link below in order to vote for YOUR pick to be California’s next Governor!
“California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to invalidate the voter-approved ban on gay marriage, declaring that “the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification,” according to the L.A. Times.
I think Brown’s stance is awesome, but how will this affect his gubernatorial prospects? I think Gavin Newsom is already toast. And L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa really damaged himself when he dumped his wife. So does Brown have an edge on them? Or not? Read more…
As we are all aware California voters passed Proposition 8 and in doing so chose to deny equal rights to all of our citizens. The passage of Proposition 8, which garnered most of its financial support from social conservatives, the Mormon Church and Catholic groups such as the Knights of Columbus, has created a “blowback” from its opponents and some conservatives don’t like it one bit.
In response to denying equal rights to our gay brothers and sisters opponents of Proposition 8 have organized boycotts of businesses that contributed financially to its passage. Art Pedroza documented one of the boycotts in his recent post about the El Coyote Mexican Cafe. It is clear from some of the comments on his post that conservative activists don’t like it now that the shoe is on the other foot.
Red County blogger and Republican activist Matt “Jubal” Cunningham went so far as to call folks supporting the boycotts “brownshirts”. Really Matt? Are you really playing the Nazi card? Kind of ironic seeing as how the Nazi’s were as tolorent of homosexuals as many of the groups that you support and allign yourself with. Read more…
“Log Cabin Republicans is the nation’s only organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” according to their website.
The California Republican Party and their allies in the Mormon Church declared war on California’s gay community with Prop. 8. Isn’t it time for ALL remaining gay Republicans in California to quit the GOP? If so, why keep the Log Cabin Club’s doors open? Read more…
My girlfriend and I usually won’t pay $10.25 to see a movie, but on a rare occasion we do. Last night was one of those occasion’s and both of us were quite pleased with our decision to do so. The movie we chose to splurge on was “Milk” starring Sean Penn and I would encourage everyone to see it.
The film is based on the real life story of Harvey Milk, the nations first openly gay elected official, who served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until he was assasinated along with Mayor George Moscone by fellow Supervisor Dan White. Penn gives perhaps the finest performance of his career in the title role. I am quite certain that at minimum Penn’s portrayal of Harvey Milk will garner him an Academy Award nomination.
The film documents Milk’s rise to power in a short time. He went from community organizer and civic activist to perhaps the most powerful gay political figure in American history. Time Magazine named Milk one of its “100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century”. That’s certainly a long way from when he was referred to as the “Mayor of Castro Street”. Read more…
It is one thing to vote for something you believe in, but when you donate to a ballot measure campaign, you would have to be an idiot to think that said donation would not crop up somewhere. Yet Margie Christoffersen, the owner of the El Coyote Mexican Cafe, on Beverly Blvd., is surprised today at the animosity the local gay community is showing her - even though she donated $100 to the Yes on Prop. 8 campaign, which made gay marriage illegal.
“A boycott was organized on the Internet, with activists trashing El Coyote on restaurant review sites. Then came throngs of protesters, some of them shouting “shame on you” at customers. The police arrived in riot gear one night to quell the angry mob,” wrote Steve Lopez, at the L.A. Times.
Now El Coyote appears to be sinking fast. Christoffersen is losing business, laying off people, and crying about her plight. Apparently she gave money to the Yes on 8 campaign because she is a Mormon - even though she KNEW she had gay clients and gay workers. Read more…
What if it turns out that gay people can’t help being the way they are - that they don’t choose their orientation but are mostly born with it? Wouldn’t that change the way many of us look at Prop. 8? Well guess what?“Researchers are finding common biological traits among gay men, feeding a growing consensus that sexual orientation is an inborn combination of genetic and environmental factors that largely decide a person’s sexual attractions before they are born,” according to the Mercury News. Read more…
The startling and horrible attack on Mumbai this week reminded us again that there are people in this world who regularly seek to imprint their religion on the rest of us - and they are willing to use bullets and bombs when all else fails.
But how is that different from those that propagated Prop. 8 this year here in California? Whether you use the ballot box or a bomb, if your intention is to make YOUR religious beliefs the rule of law, then the means by which you achieve that is immaterial. The mindset behind the attack on Mumbai is not much different from the beliefs that underlie Prop. 8. Read more…
It was something else again, wasn’t it, that Last Gasp of Hate? It was the GOP’s last stand in California, it was the Mormon Church’s big play for political relevance, and it was tragic to see it succeed even if only temporarily - a bare majority of voters in such a progressive state, amending their own Constitution to actually TAKE away rights from a popular minority.
But, like all things based on lies, distortions and misconceptions, this victory is proving a castle built on sand. A new Pew Poll shows that 8% of folks who had voted Yes on 8 have already changed their minds about it, meaning that it would fail now by about the same margin it succeeded four weeks ago. And 59% of all respondents believe that the same-sex marriages that have taken place here since May should remain valid - certainly counter to the intent of Prop 8.
Maybe Art and I were wrong about the protests being counter-productive Mulligan demands, maybe they ARE educating people and changing minds. We certainly didn’t manage to educate folks before the election, between the inept No on 8 leadership and the nonstop barrage of malevolent falsehoods spewing on a daily basis from Schubert-Flint. But when people know the truth, their support just slips away like the morning dew. Especially when they’re disabused of this particular common misconception:
This Thursday as we all know is Thanksgiving and as we all know there is much that we should all be thankful for. However there are still a great many things that we should be disappointed with, none great than the inequality in rights regarding to our homosexual brothers and sisters as a result of Prop 8’s passage.
I just received an email from Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the A.C.L.U., that I would like to share with you all: Read more…
lse again, wasn’t it, that Last Gasp of Hate? It was the GOP’s last stand in California, it was the Mormon Church’s big play for political relevance, and it was tragic to see it succeed even if only temporarily - a bare majority of voters in such a progressive state, amending their own Constitution to actually TAKE away rights from a popular minority.
A new 
