89 years ago today: Supreme Court defends women's voting rights

Share |

Feb 27, 1922:

In Washington, D.C., the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for female suffrage, is unanimously declared constitutional by the eight members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 19th Amendment, which stated that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex," was the product of over seven decades of meetings, petitions, and protests by women suffragists and their supporters.

I wonder how many years will pass before the right of citizens of the United States to marry will not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of gendar?

As with all struggles for basic human rights, the opposers consistantly end up on the wrong side of history.

Stephen Colbert Nails The Rightwing Hysteria Over Prop 8 Reversal

Share |

Colbert has way too much fun with California's controversial Prop 8, the ban on same sex marriage that has just been overturned.

Rachel Maddow: Victorious Attorneys Olsen & Bois On Prop 8 Struck Down

Share |

Attorneys David Bois and Ted Olsen appeared on TMRS tonight following Judge Walkers ruling. Maddow asked if they got everything they wanted from Judge Walkers ruling. Olsen said:

"We feel very very grateful by Judge Walkers ruling. It was a 138 page analysis of all of the evidence in the case on both sides. It thoroughly dismantled the evidence presented by the other side. It analyzed all of the legal issues, the pros and cons from every conceivable standpoint and came out on the side of the gay and lesbian couples that we represented in every respect. We are very, very grateful."

Reversal of Prop 8. Draws Homophobic Comments At Fox News.Com Like Moths To A Flame

Share |

The homophobes are flocking to FoxNews.Com to leave their comments about the reversal of California's controversial Proposition 8. It used to be a ban on "same-sex" marriage, but now it's
just unconstitutional.


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/04/federal-judge-overturns-californias-sex-marriage-ban/#content

Picketers Against Upholding Of Prop 8

Share |

About 18,000 married same-sex couples took a collective sigh of relief Tuesday. Then they promptly grabbed their picket signs, took to the streets and took a collective stand against the Supreme Court ruling to uphold Proposition 8. The court ruled Tuesday the proposition was a valid one, making gay marriage illegal in California. But the ruling also upheld the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place prior to the ban.

For John Lewallen, the decision wasn't a bittersweet mix of victory and defeat. He was relieved that his August marriage to longtime partner, Robert Lewis, was legal. But the validation of Proposition 8 still angers him. Most of the committed gay and lesbian couples he knows got married last year while gay marriage was legal, Lewallen said. He called the decision a "no-brainer."

"They really feared this was a window of opportunity and they got married," he said.
He said he empathizes for friends who will not have the opportunity to marry the partner of their choosing.

"I am really just as depressed as if they overturned the marriages too," the Glendora resident said. "It is a sad, sad day for all of California."

The fight will continue and while that can be uplifting, Lewallen said it is also unbelievable it has gone on this long.

"It really does equate to the battle for interracial marriage, people deciding what kind of life other people can have," Lewallen said. "It is so basic I don't know why people don't get it. I don't believe what their beliefs are, but I would defend their right to believe that."
Lewallen planned to attend a demonstration against the decision in Claremont on Tuesday night.

For Julie Tinney, who married her partner in October, Tuesday's decision solidified a victory for discrimination. "How can you have 18,000 couples that are allowed to marry and others that are not allowed to (marry)?" asked Tinney, an Alhambra resident. "I think the worst part of it is that it sends the message that the majority was right. That we are second-class citizens."

But the couple plans to continue to fight, even though they believe it has already been too costly. "Obviously we didn't make a good enough argument to the Supreme Court," said Tinney. "We will get it validated, it is just going to take a little time ... and a lot of money. You shouldn't have to spend money just to get equal rights."

Final Hours To California Supreme Court Ruling On Prop 8

Share |

In this file photo from Dec. 19, 2008, Ryan Kerian listens to a group

In the final hours that the California Supreme Court has left to rule whether or not to uphold Prop 8, those on either side of the issue anxiously await the verdict. The homophobic driven ballot measure has been a hot button here in my home state.

What mystifies me is that Prop 8 is not really a gay / straight issue, but rather a homophobic / everybody else issue. So why then did this happen. Unless there are more homophobes then there are everybody else’s? I hope not.

Based on regulations that require the justices to rule within 90 days of oral arguments in a case, the Supreme Court's decision in the legal challenge to Proposition 8 now will fall on one of three remaining days: next Tuesday or Thursday, or June 1. The high court only rules on Mondays and Thursdays, but will issue rulings next Tuesday because of the Memorial Day holiday.

Anti-Gay Prop 8 Donor Names To Be Made Public Monday

Share |

A federal judge denied a request Thursday to keep secret the names of donors to California's anti-gay marriage initiative, saying the publichas a right to know who gave money to the state ballot measure.
Supporters of the Proposition 8 initiative, which overturned a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed gay marriage, had sought a preliminaryinjunction to remove the identities of those who contributed to their campaign from the secretary of state's website. The initiative was approved by voters in November.
They also asked U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. to block the Monday release of every financial donor to the homophobic cause.

Why Gay Marriage Is Wrong?

Share |

I stumbled across this kids video on You Tube about why gay marriage is wrong and for the first few seconds, I thought that it was real. However, you quickly realize that it's satire and he sure does do a great job. It's frightening to realize that there are millions of people who actually feel this way. I voted no on Prop 8. because it's just flat out discrimination. I read an article in the Tribune today from a West Covina, California resident named Mike Rawlings. His reasoning for claiming that Prop 8. is not discriminatory is because it provides an equal right for all people to marry anyone they choose of the opposit sex. Gee! - I wonder how many heterosexual men and women will be adversely affected by the passage of Prop 8 now that nobody has the right to marry a person of the same sex. Now having said that, there is a law on the books in the California State Constitution that gives same-sex couples the right to a "civil union" which entitles them to all of the same rights and privilages of marriage. However, I think that the only way to be fair for all people would be to purpose another ballot initative to remove the word "marriage" form the State Constitution and insert the word "civil union" and apply it to everyone.

I also think that Mayor Gavin Newsome's "Weather you like it or not!" sound bite may have changed the outcome of the election by pissing off undecided voters and turning them into decided voters. Either way, it's just a matter of time before the disillusioned take off the bigotry blinders and see how wrong this is.

WATCH VIDEO