Saturday, December 28, 2013

"Duck Dynasty: Hollywood, Go Screw Yourself"

The relative acceptance of homophobia is part and parcel of the relative acceptance of racism, which has been allowed to again rear its ugly head. When we fight against discrimination of one minority group, we are fighting against discrimination of all minority groups. Therefore, it is in everybody's interests to fight against homophobia and racism, and boycott businesses and media outlets that in any way support such discrimination.

Too many people are dismissing the action of A&E at reinstating Phil Robertson so soon after suspending him from Duck Dynasty. It's just a TV show, they say, and we have all of these wins on marriage equality -- and look at Utah! But this is not about, "Oh, we're 'winning,' so who cares about Duck Dynasty? As long as our so-called "friends" in Hollywood promote and tolerate this kind of hate for money, we've not won much. Tomorrow they'll throw an AIDS benefit to assuage their guilt, or come out and say some wonderful things about LGBT people, while making millions of dollars by promoting hate against us, shrouded in religious beliefs, and raising America's kids on hate. And the racism they're promoting with Phil Robertson, who posited that blacks were happier under Jim Crow, while they claim to be so inclusive and anti-racist, is appalling, and shows the height of Hollywood hypocrisy.

 [For the full article, see here.]
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Saturday, December 21, 2013

"UTAH MAY BE THE 18TH MARRIAGE EQUALITY STATE"

This turn of events is particularly compelling, given that this ruling is applicable to Utah, the home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints which, along with the Roman Catholic Church, are the largest homophobic religious organizations that have put out tremendous amounts of money in seeking to defeat marriage equality.

Utah may be the 18th marriage equality state, although it is becoming difficult to figure out how to number them.  Today, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby granted an injunction to the plaintiffs in Kitchen v. Herbert, a federal constitutional challenge to Utah’s statutory and state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.  Shelby, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, ruled that the right of same-sex couples to marry is a “fundamental right” under the 14th Amendment, and that the state had shown no rational basis to deny this right to same-sex couples.  Shelby did not stay his order, and the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples shortly after the decision was announced, although the state might still file an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Two Utah lawyers, Peggy Tomsic and James E. Magleby, filed suit on behalf of three same-sex couples, two of which had been denied marriage licenses by county clerks, while the third couple was married in Iowa and is seeking recognition of their marriage in their domicile state of Utah.  The case moved quickly to summary judgment, the cross-motions being argued just weeks ago.  Judge Shelby’s opinion may be the first ruling to reference yesterday’s marriage equality ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court, in a footnote listing the states that have adopted marriage equality through court decisions.  It is definitely the first federal court ruling since the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor to hold that same-sex couples have a federal constitutional right to marry, guaranteed by the 14th Amendment’s due process and equal protection clauses.


[To read the full article, see here.]  This article is worth reading in full.

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