Howard Dean weighs in on the NY Court of Appeals decision:
"As Democrats, we believe that every American has a right to equal protection under the law and to live in dignity. And we must respect the right of every family to live in dignity with equal rights, responsibilities and protections under the law. Today's decision by the New York Court of Appeals, which relies on outdated and bigoted notions about families, is deeply disappointing, but it does not end the effort to achieve this goal.
"As that essential process moves forward, it is up to the State legislature to act to protect the equal rights of every New Yorker and for the debate on how to ensure those rights to proceed without the rancor and divisiveness that too often surrounds this issue."
Pam asks "What is the goal?" More specifically, will the Democrats EVER demonstrate real leadership in LGBT civil rights, including marriage?
The New York Court of Appeals ruled 4-2 that the state constitution does not guarantee the right to marry, but that the extension of marriage to include same sex couples must be undertaken by the Legislature. (PageOneQ)
"The court?s archaic reasoning is rooted in ignorance and completely contradicted by the facts of today," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
I'm sitting in a cramped waiting room in Oakland so I'll have to save my commentary for later ....
Bob Casey's campaign cashed the check. You know, the contribution directed by advice columnist extraordinaire Dan Savage from the proceeds of his latest little amusing adventure - Impeach The MotherF***er Already (ITMFA). I presume you don't need a lot of explanation about that one ...
Revenue from the ITMFA merchandise is being donated to a range of progressive causes. Bob was one of the first beneficiaries in recognition of his effort to unseat frequent Savage tauntee Ricky Sanctimonious.
Savage - who is one of the most awesome people ever for his never ceasing sex-positive writing and his uber-homo lovin' outness - has this perspective on Casey's anti-choice stance:
It's true: Bob Casey is opposed to abortion. But electing Casey we would take out Rick ?Frothy Mix? Santorum, a much more rabidly anti-choice senator. Frothy Mix doesn?t think you should be able to choose masturbation, for crying out loud. Moreover, electing Casey could help Dems take back the Senate, which will go a long way toward protecting choice, abortion rights, and other sexual freedoms, despite Casey?s stance on choice. So casting a vote for Casey, or sending a contribution to Casey, is a pragmatic, progressive, pro-choice bankshot. Electing or two pro-life Dems is the price we?re going to have to pay to put reliably pro-choice Dems in positions of power all over the Senate.
To "balance out the karma" of supporting Casey, Dan made a huge donation to Planned Parenthood from the next chunk of ITMFA profits. Now see that's something productive to do in lieu of simply wringing your hands about the fate of Chuck Pennachio. Suck it up, get Casey elected and go put some extra time and energy working for Planned Parenthood, NARAL, etc. Then everybody wins ...
Savage's column runs weekly here in The City Paper. You can also catch it online.
PS: Yes, I do recognize that the same advice applies to my previous whining about Casey's lack of LGBT outreach. Suck it up, get him elected and go put some time and energy into working for a progressive LGBT political group ... or blog! :-)
Here's some lovely and not so lovely news from those who would drag us back into the good old days ...courtesy of Feministing.
Grooms for Life matches anti-choice bachelors willing to marry and become a father to the feti of unwed pregnant women. Marry the women I mean. Ick Ick Ick.
Will the state soon gain custody of abandoned embryos? Mother Jones had this story.
Should the term Pro-Choice be retired? Feministe has this take ...
And finally in the most f*cked up situation of the week, the loonies at Operation Rescue have purchased the building housing a Wichita health center which performed abortions. Guess who got evicted? Makes me glad we have a pathetic twerp running the local rescue group. They can't even keep their blog updated ....
The New York State Court of Appeals is exptected to hand down its decision on gay marriage this week.
Albuquerque police raided a men's bathhouse ... wearing bullet proof vests and carrying semi-automatic weapons. Why? Because the club was selling alcohol without a license.
The FBI is joining the investigation of a cross burning on the front lawn of the home of a Tennessee gay man. They want to determine if its a hate crime. Apparently, in Tennessee crosses just plant themselves in people's yard and spontaneously combust. Pesky flaming crosses.
Anti-gay activists believes playground squabble involving his 7 year old son was a hate crime.
And Northern Ireland is now permitting same sex couples to jointly adopt children.
A press release from the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights indicates that the Pennsylvania General Assembly has recessed for the summer without passing the anti-gay marriage amendment. Differing versions of the legislation passed in each chamber -- the House including civil unions in the ban, the Senate excluding them. Because they could not pass concurring legislation in both chambers, the measure fails and our opponents will have to start over again from scratch if they want to revisit the issue.
?We are pleased that the Pennsylvania legislature chose to not advance legislation which would have written discrimination into the state constitution. The Value All Families Coalition appreciates the efforts and leadership of many legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, who understood that this legislation was unnecessary, divisive and dangerous,? said Stacey Sobel, Executive Director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights.
Larry Frankel, Legislative Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said, ?Over the last six months, Pennsylvania?s legislators learned a great deal about this state?s non-traditional families. The bill?s failure is due in large part to our lawmakers? better understanding of how this amendment could have adversely impacted thousands of Pennsylvanians.?
According to Marriage Equality USA, 17 states have amendment their constitution to ban gay marriage (AK, AR, GA, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, MT, NB, ND, NV, OH, OK, OR, TX, UT ). Five more states have the issue on the ballot for this year (AL, AZ, CA, TN, WI).
On the bright side, Massachusetts has legalized marriage, Connecticut and Vermont have civil unions and California, Hawaii, New Jersey and Maine offer some sort of domestic partnerships.
So what's next for the PA issue? It could be reintroduced at a later date which would mean it might be on the ballot for 2010. The thing to do now is to pay attention to what your state rep and senator are doing. Stay connected and continue to make them aware of the fact that they have progressive constituents who do not support bigotry and hatred. Watch their votes on immigration which will be the next big target of repressed Republican wrath. And get involved --- take a few extra steps to support candidates who actually reflect your values, not just those who aren't so bad.
Avoiding a vote is not at all the same thing as promoting and respecting diverse families. Don't let them spin you --- there is a world of difference between Rep. Dan Frankel who stood up to bigotry and Senator Jay Costa who stood behind a political maneuver. I'd rather choke on my own vomit than thank someone for not being too much of a bigot. This little article about Rep Tony DeLuca is a classic example of the slippery slope Western PA Democrats seem to be heading down.
And I'm sure our troll will post more anonymous little hissy slaps at me for failing to blindly adhere to the guidance and reasoning of self-styled gay leaders who have our best interests at heart ....wouldn't want the lesbians, bis and trannies to start thinking on their own now would we?
Penn Hill State Representative Tony DeLuca seems to be slowly peeling away the thin veneer of Democrat in which he's been encased for the past umpteen years. In addition to having voted in favor of the legislation to protect marriage from homosexuals, DeLuca is now moving deeper into Rick Santorum territory by persecuting employers for hiring immigrants. The legal kind (PG).
DeLuca is upset with the Fox Chapel Golf Club for hiring six men who immigrated from Mexico to tend their grounds. Its all legal with taxes being paid and everything.
DeLuca has his second-generation knickers in a wad because those jobs should go to college students.
"I have no problem with immigrants. I find it ironic that an affluent country club has to go and bring H-2B visas in here to cut grass when we've got college kids trying to earn a buck to pay their tuitions," Mr. DeLuca said yesterday. "You mean to tell me we're short of people cutting grass now in this country?"
In a letter released through his office, DeLuca also chides the Golf Club for providing housing. Note the phrase "supposedly legal"
"It is of concern that the immigrants, who are supposedly legal, are being provided with adequate housing and they only have to provide a small portion of their salaries to pay for lodging," Mr. DeLuca writes. "The country club has certainly devised a sweet deal for non-American workers."
The Golf Club contends that it did advertise the job and received exactly zero applications. What's a haven for rich mighty whites supposed to do when the not so mighty whites refuse to do manual labor?
Adding to the bigotry, Thoms Smith, Mayor of Blawnox, contends that it is a matter of public safety that he see verification that the immigrants are legal. DeLuca apparently likes that approach and will introduce legislation making it mandatory that employers provide the information so the good townspeople can rest easy at night.
Do you think this will include European immigrants or just those who aren't white?
Declare cheesesteaks the official Blawnox sandwich and be done with it!
How are these people Democrats? Could someone explain that to me?
Aside from the myriad of letters disputing the PG's review of An Inconvenient Truth and those from the stalwart "Great Americans" defending the Cheesesteak Bigot, a few homosexual themed letters appear ...
First, Martha Perego of Oakland wants to give us homos our very own second class status word or term to describe our unions. Her rational? No one objects to the usage of fraternity or sorority. No one? Huh. Cause I do. Of course, I'm more concerned about the elitism, snobbery, hazing, alcohol poisoning, date raping, exclusivity ...oh and that "frat boy" mentality that pervades adult life like stink on a dog.
Bless her two-tiered little heart, she's willing to permit us the same social and financial benefits. I'm not sure Martha has been reading up on all the latest homo-hitchin' up news b/c what she's describing is called a civil union. And our good friends over at the AFA of PA are onto that approach.
Next up is Bob Poropatich of Stanton Heights writing in response to the Post-Gazette's critique of the Pride Theate Festival. (This is the prancing queens part of the post). Bob takes affront at the PG's implication that the festival is too straight and minus the prancing queens. He compares the lack of drag queens and lisping homos to Fiddler on the Roof:
To match her ignorance one could say that if you go to see "Fiddler on the Roof," you won't see any jewelers, lawyers or Park Avenue doctors either.
This is what the Post-Gazette actually said:
But for a festival that purportedly spotlights GLBT themes, the plays are pretty, well, straight. You'd think there might be a few theatrical conventions challenged, but there aren't, and bisexual and transsexual/gender characters are conspicuously absent.
I didn't attend the festival so I cannot comment. But the lack of bisexual and transgendered characters is a common motif in most mainstream gay events, organizations, issues, causes, etc. And the further we strive to demonstrate how normal we are (not necessarily a bad thing) the more likely we are to turn our backs on those who don't fit in quite so easily. The Post-Gazette may have picked up on that.
The trick, Bob, is that we get caught up in normalizing our community to a heterosexual ideal. Perhaps we should focus our time, talent and art on how HUMAN we are regardless of where we fall in the alphabet soup acronyms.
Aside from the myriad of letters disputing the PG's review of An Inconvenient Truth and those from the stalwart "Great Americans" defending the 
