Sad news: A hate crime in Loudoun

I had hoped that I would not have to post an announcement like this. I had hoped that the campaign against our community in Virginia would not descend into the kind of ugliness we saw in Oregon 14 years ago. Those of you who saw the film “Ballot Measure 9” will know what I am […]

What if Virginia judges were elected?

This is embarrassing…
ChangeServant has posted a link to a 2006 candidate questionnaire for judges (who are elected in Georgia), distributed by the Georgia Christian Coalition.
The survey provides this definition: “Judicial activism occurs when a judge interjects his or her own personal beliefs and policy views to achieve a desired outcome by failing to adhere closely […]

New Polling results on Marshall-Newman Amendment

Breaking news from the Commonwealth Coalition…
This does not mean defeating the amendment will be a cakewalk, folks. What it does mean is that if we educate the voters and get them to read the whole thing, we can win. Given the stakes - and it’s now clear we can’t rely on the courts to protect […]

Please, don’t stereotype

Almost everyone I’ve talked to who has worked on a campaign to defeat an anti-gay ballot initiative, or to pass a positive one, has remarked on how their own stereotypes have been challenged in the process. Sometimes the last people we expect to support us, based on appearance, location, or whatever cues cause us to […]

The abstract model of gender bipolarity

A version of this article is cross-posted at Bacon’s Rebellion.
Virginia bloggers who are fighting to amend our Bill of Rights to make marriage the exclusive path to creating legal rights within families have recently generated some excellent discussion of the beliefs underlying their position.
Because much of the harm to gay families is done through denying […]

The Nanny State

Update: Broken WaPo link fixed.
What do Maggie Gallagher of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values, and Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America have in common? Besides leading organizations dedicated to maintaining gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as second-class citizens, they all explain their activism through […]

Get your anti-gay laws off our children

So says Lambda Legal, who report that they have “been fighting to stem the tide of antigay litigation unleashed by Proposition One, Ohio’s constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples, ever since the law passed.”
For proof that the real intent behind the proposed Marshall-Newman amendment in Virginia is to undermine and ultimately eliminate the ability […]

Is this a breakthrough?

There was a small kerfuffle a few days ago over some remarks by Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean about the New York Court of Appeals ruling that the prohibition of same sex marriage doesn’t violate the state’s Constitution. According to Dean:
“As Democrats, we believe that every American has a right to equal protection under the […]

The “oops” argument

Update: Maggie Gallagher is discussing this rationale over at marriagedebate.
With a 53% majority in New York supporting full marriage equality for same sex couples, it shouldn’t be very long before the current discriminatory marriage law is addressed by the legislature - as this week’s Court of Appeals decision suggests is appropriate.
Although the Court has made […]

So much for “judicial activism”

The New York Court of Appeals yesterday issued a 4-2 decision upholding the state prohibition of same sex marriage.
Let’s be clear on what we’re talking about here. The unequivocally liberal New York Court of Appeals has stated that the issue of marriage equality is best left to the legislature.

Ironically, this is not the outcome hoped […]

keep looking »