Tag Archives: civil rights

“Religious” quote of the day

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This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.

– Pope Benedict, contending that same-sex marriage could destroy humanity. This coming from the head of an organization that has horribly abused helpless and trusting children for decades. Why does he have any credibility on such issues?

Bonus: Here is the kind of entertainment that this Pope most enjoys.

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Civil liberties quote of the day

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Clint Eastwood ("Letters from Iwo Jima&qu...

These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage? I don’t give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of … Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want.

– Clint Eastwood, via Quotation of the Day Mailing List.

Foo Fighters v Westboro Baptist

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The Foo Fighters have produced a counter-protest to the anti-gay bigots at Westboro Baptist Church.

Here is a lovely little quote from the “church’s” website:

“The entertainment industry is a microcosm of the people in this doomed nation: hard-hearted, hell-bound, and hedonistic,” leader Fred Phelps wrote on the church’s website. “These people have a platform and should be using it to encourage obedience to God; instead they teach every person who will listen all things contrary to him: fornication, adultery, idolatry, fags.”

Here is the NSFW version of the song called “Hot Buns” (which may require a Youtube login to view):

And here is video of their counter-protest itself:

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Cultural quote of the day

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Marriage is, and always has been, a constantly evolving tradition that never fails to incorporate the latest shifts in culture and climate, changing social habits, fashions and even fads. (Because, seriously, that chicken dance is not in the Bible.)

– Jeff Goode, from “Traditional Marriage Perverts the Tradition of Marriage,” via The Quotation of the Day Mailing List.

Fundamentalist quote of the day

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I think we need to remember the term sodomy came from a town known as Sodom and Sodom was destroyed by God Almighty and the thing that they practiced was homosexual activity and even they tried to rape angels who came down there, so that’s the kind of people they were. But beyond that, Jesus when He spoke of Sodom He didn’t say anything about the homosexuality he talked about just the fact that business was as usual until God decided to destroy it. And He sent an angel down there and He said to Lot and his family, ‘get out now because I’m gonna destroy this whole area.’ That’s where sodomy came from, we use the term sodomy and it means Sodom. What’s it like? We’re heading that way as a nation. In history there’s never been a civilization ever in history that has embraced homosexuality and turned away from traditional fidelity, traditional marriage, traditional child-rearing, and has survived. There isn’t one single civilization that has survived that openly embraced homosexuality. So you say, “what’s going to happen to America?” Well if history is any guide, the same thing’s going to happen to us.

–  Pat Robertson, preacher of hate, faith healer and former presidential candidate

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The in-audacity of hope

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President Obama, speaking at the LGBT Gala in New York last week, again refused to endorse same-sex marriage. Such refusal came as New York, lead by Andrew M. Cuomo, was legalizing same sex marriage in the state. Why Obama cannot bring himself to openly support a freedom that the majority of citizens now supports is beyond confusing. His failure to support same-sex marriage is a betrayal of his promises of equal rights for all.

This is yet another in a long string of disappointments for those of us who voted for him, expecting that he would alter the policies of the Bush administration. We are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guantanamo remains open. The DOJ has refused to investigate credible claims that we tortured prisoners in the so-called war on terror using the cover of wrong-headed opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel. Our civil liberties continue to be eroded by the extension of the Patriot Act and new spying tools claimed by the FBI. We are fighting a third war in Libya, without Congressional approval, despite Administration claims that we are not involved in hostilities. The big banks have been bailed out but not homeowners who owe billions to the banks as a result of abusive loan tactics.  No officials of the banks have been convicted for wrongdoing.

Change? Hope? Nope. Not from Obama.

The right to same sex marriage

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Cato Institute

Yesterday, at the Cato Institute, a symposium was held on the right to same sex marriage. The panel included Ted Olson, former Solicitor General under George W. Bush, Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan administration, and one of the founders of the Federalist Society, as well as David Boies, who among other things, lead the anti-trust prosecution of Microsoft. Both men orchestrated the Federal District Court decision in California that overturned Proposition 8, which amended the California State Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage.

The symposium was an hour and half long, and you can watch it here. I have set the video to play the last few remarks by Ted Olson which are a very moving explanation of the rights involved, but you can rewind to watch the full presentation, which I recommend.

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June 28, 1969

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On June 28, 1969, the New York Police raided a mafia-run gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. The raid triggered a powerful upraising of gay people for the first time in the United States. The uprising changed the tide of civil rights in the US.

Now American Experience on PBS, has produced a history of the events leading up to the uprising and its results. If you care about civili liberties in our country, you need to watch this program.

When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.

Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.

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It gets better

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Sex advice columnist, journalist, and newspape...

Dan Savage

The “It Gets Better Project” is an effort to comfort LGBT kids and teens who face abuse and fear over their sexual orientation. Some are so tormented by cultural norms that they try (and succeed) in committing suicide. It Gets Better videos help encourage them to believe that the distress does get better. Dan Savage was the driving force behind this effort.

The Project has just released some beautiful and moving videos from employees of tech companies, including Apple and Adobe.

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American hate

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It doesn’t get much more scary than this. Here some video shot outside a charity event hosted my a Muslim group in Orange County, California. Listen to the invective shouted at families, including children, attending the event. Various politicians applauded this vicious outpouring. Yes, it is a five minute video clip. But watch.

This sort of hatred is likely to lead to violence, and it undercuts everything the US stands for. We should be a shelter for the weak, and open to all who embrace peace. Instead, we have become filled with hatred, based on fear of the “other” encouraged by our own leaders. Silence in the face of such hatred (and, I think it is fair to say, ignorance) is extremely dangerous. By all means speak your mind, but do so with civility. And don’t, directly or indirectly, advocate violence.

Summarizing the above video and the growing tide of hate, Glenn Greenwald notes:

Next week, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-NY) will convene a Congressional hearing to investigate the loyalty and “radicalization” of American Muslims.  Earlier this week in Tennessee, a bill was proposed to make it a felony to follow sharia law — which would essentially criminalize the practice of Islam in that state.  Last year, mosques in Tennessee, Oregon and Georgia were targeted with apparent arson.  The case against the Park51 community center — including from mainstream TV journalists — was grounded in the warped premise that Muslims generally bore guilt for the 9/11 attacks.   All of these sentiments are regularly bolstered by a deranged cult-leader/TV personality followed by millions.

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Obama comes through

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Finally.

The Obama administration will no longer defend in court the provisions of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act that prohibits the Federal government from recognizing same sex marriages.  The administration believes that such provisions are unconstitutional.

President Obama believes that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and will no longer defend the 15-year-old law in federal court, the Justice Department announced today.

The decision, which stunned and delighted gay-rights activists, means that the administration will withdraw its defense of ongoing suits in two federal Appeals Courts and will leave it to Congress to defend the law, known as DOMA, against those challenges. It will remain a party to the lawsuits. The law itself remains in effect.

DOMA, signed by President Clinton in 1996, allows states not to recognize same-sex marriages preformed in other states and provides a federal definition for “marriage” that excludes same-sex couples.

In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the president has concluded that, given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny.”

He said that Obama also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, which defines “spouse” as a member of the opposite sex, “fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the president has instructed the depart

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Political quote of the day (updated)

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Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that that’s what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don’t need a constitution to keep things up-to-date.

– US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, explaining that discrimination against women is not prohibited by the US Constitution.

Perhaps he should re-read Section 1 of the 14th Amendment and its requirement of equal protection in regards to government actions:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Update: Check out this New York Times editorial on the Justice’s remarks.

No less dismaying is his notion that women, gays and other emerging minorities should be left at the mercy of the prevailing political majority when it comes to ensuring fair treatment. It is an “originalist” approach wholly antithetical to the framers’ understanding that vital questions of people’s rights should not be left solely to the political process. It also disrespects the wording of the Equal Protection Clause, which is intentionally broad, and its purpose of ensuring a fairer society.

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