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Tag Archives: Prop 8
Stephen Saban
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Dateline California: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will decide today whether to review the three-judge panel that overturned Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage in California. You’ll remember that the panel ruled 2 to 1 against the voter-approved marriage ban on the grounds it was unconstitutional and served no purpose other than to “lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians.” The sponsors of the Proposition appealed and asked for a larger panel to review the case. Now, if the court agrees to review the ruling, a panel of 11 judges would convene and could take more than a year to announce a new ruling. Meanwhile, if the 9th Court decides against a new ruling, expect the sponsors of Prop 8 to plead before the Supreme Court. Will we ever be able to relax?
UPDATE: Good news. Dealing yet another blow to California’s Proposition 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today declined a request for an en blanc hearing by a larger panel of judges. (See story here)
WOW Staff
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The contributing editor of Americablog, Joe Sudbay, has a great article on Huffingtonpost entitled “Mr. President, It’s Been 500 Days… Evolve Already!” Sudbay was the reporter whose interview with President Obama first mentioned that the president’s views on marriage equality would “evolve.” And unlike Obama, Sudbay wastes no time in taking the president to task over Obama’s failure to do just that. He also reports that the president’s stated views are once again being used by anti-gay Republicans to negate accusations of bigotry against them.
Longtime gay rights activist David Mixner has also spoken to this same concern and recalls how Obama’s views were used against the gay community in the Prop 8 battle and how history now seems to be repeating itself with the battle for marriage equality in Maryland. “It is essential that he [President Obama] makes clear to the voters of Maryland, without any caveats, that if he were a resident of the state, he would vote against repeal,” Mixner said. “We can’t afford to have his statement be ambiguous so the other side can claim that he’s on their side.” Mixner stated in an interview with The Washington Post. Yet, as usual, the president remained silent.
There are lots of things I could say about Obama’s continued cowardly silence, but I think the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a true “fierce advocate,” says it best: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
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Yesterday was a big day. Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional and nearly everyone was talking about it – almost everyone that is. LGBT advocacy organizations sang the praises of the 9th Circuit Court while anti-gay groups and some Republican presidential candidates decried the ruling as judicial overreach. But what did our so-called “fierce advocate” have to say about it? – Nothing much at all. Obama is still “evolving” on the issue and seems quite content to remain far removed from the fray.
This cowardice should come as no surprise. This is the same man who ignored the entire Prop 8 protest movement that spread across the country shortly after the election. It’s the same man who refused to even file an amicus brief in support of the case against Prop 8; the same man who spent nearly the first two years of his presidency DEFENDING the DOMA policy (by equating gay marriages to incest). It’s the same TIRED PATHETIC BULLSHIT that we always get from this farce of a “fierce advocate.”
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httpv://youtu.be/wxREtZGYdfE By a 2-to-1 vote, the 9th Circuit Court has upheld District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s previous decision and ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Regarding the decision, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote, ”We consider whether that amendment violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We conclude that it does.” I’m posting a video that I took on November 12, 2008, of the protest against Prop 8 in New York City. This outrage has gone on far too long, and though it’s not completely over yet, the days of Prop 8 are numbered. I’ll post more details on the ruling as they become available.
Update: As expected a stay will remain in place for now (meaning same-sex marriages won’t be allowed to resume immediately).
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Rallies will be held in San Francisco and Los Angeles tomorrow to respond to the ruling the Ninth Circuit Court will issue on Proposition 8. Metroweekly has a detailed breakdown on the ruling which is expected to be announced tomorrow around 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern. (via JoeMyGod)
