GLAA Forum

Capehart stands up to Christie's bullying

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I'd have posted this earlier if I hadn't been busy with GLAA's Elections Project, but the above video from the Feb. 23 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe includes a confrontation between Jonathan Capehart and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on the subject of marriage equality. The discussion of Christie's veto of the New Jersey marriage equality bill begins at about 8:42 in the clip, with a wisecrack from Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough about the alleged alliance between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney in the previous evening's GOP presidential debate. Capehart enters the discussion at 13:09.

The argument centers on the false but widely repeated assertion that President Obama has the same position on marriage as Christie because both have opposed marriage equality while supporting civil unions. But as Capehart and others point out, Obama (A) applauded New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signing of his state's marriage equality bill; (B) has opposed statewide referenda on the issue; and (C) has declared DOMA unconstitutional and refused to defend it in court. Christie did his best to obfuscate this point by his bullying, but Capehart was not intimidated and, thanks to Scarborough, was given the last word. Capehart personalized it, saying that if he and his partner married and raised children, he would want them to enjoy the same legal protections that Scarborough's children enjoyed because Scarborough was able to marry.

Thanks and congrats to Jonathan for standing up in this way. It was one of his finest moments.

Seth & Amy on mandatory trans-vaginal probes

SNL looks at the Republican war on women. Amy says don't get her wrong, Trans Vaginal is her favorite airline.

Santorum Backer Friess suggests "aspirin between their knees" as contraception

I was watching Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC today when Foster Friess, the big-bucks backer of the Super PAC supporting Rick Santorum, said, "You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly."

Wow. Really? Yes, he really said that. Mitchell was momentarily speechless. Politico reports. Essentially, Friess called any woman who uses contraception a whore. What planet are these people on? What century are they living in? I can tell you one thing: the America they would impose on us is not the country I know and love. Don't forget to vote.

NJ Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg on marriage equality

The clip above shows the leader of the New Jersey state senate during debate on that state's marriage equality bill before it passed in that body. Today, the Star Ledger reports that the New Jersey General Assembly today passed the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act on a 42-33 vote.

Congrats to our friends in New Jersey on this victory, notwithstanding Gov. Christie's veto threat. The bill's supporters have nearly two years to gather enough votes in the legislature to override Christie's veto.

Winning a marriage initiative -- it'll happen soon

Gov. Christine Gregoire's signature on Washington state's marriage equality law today marked another victory in the growing movement for the protection of all our families. It also, inevitably, will set off a drive by our opponents for a ballot measure to overturn the law. Voting trends over the past dozen years or so, however, have shown a shrinking margin of victory for the anti-gay forces. Sooner or later the pro-equality forces are going to win one. This may be it. A well-run campaign (translation: NOT TIMID) and a strong voter-turnout effort will be crucial. Let's do it.

Thanks to Gov. Gregoire and the bill's supporters in the state legislature, and congrats to our fellow marriage equality activists in the other Washington.

Ted Olson on Rachel Maddow

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9th Circuit rules #Prop8 unconstitutional

This just in from Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry:

Moments ago the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. This is a huge win for freedom to marry supporters in California and continues the growing momentum for the freedom to marry nationwide.

We congratulate our colleagues at the American Foundation for Equal Rights, who filed this lawsuit. With this case and others possibly making their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, we must create the climate that empowers judges and politicians to do the right thing, maximizing our chances of winning.

Will you join Freedom to Marry in doubling down on the work?

http://freedomtomarry.org/Prop8Decision

The clock is ticking, and each day we must work to grow the majority for marriage, win more states, and end federal discrimination -- the Roadmap to Victory. With your help, Freedom to Marry will make as strong a case in the court of public opinion as our legal advocates are making in the courts of law.

Join us in making the case by making a contribution today of $250, $100, $50 or $25. Your investment in our campaign is clearly making a difference -- to families, to our communities and to our country.

Donate now to help Freedom to Marry end marriage discrimination nationwide once and for all....

Thanks for all you do,

Evan Wolfson
Founder and President, Freedom to Marry

Click on the AFER link above for their latest updates (as I am writing this, they have not yet posted a news release).

This is a great day. The battle in court continues, of course, as this ruling will likely be stayed pending appeal. Congrats to AFER and all involved. As Evan points out, we have much work ahead of us. But as Frank Kameny said, the tide of history is with us.

Update: Greg Sargent has an interesting discussion at WaPo of the implications for President Obama and his evolution on marriage equality.

SPLC sues to overturn DOMA

The Souther Poverty Law Center has filed a lawsuit agains the Department of Veteran's Affairs challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.

<via JoeMyGod)

HUD's Donovan announces final housing nondiscrimination rule at Creating Change

(HUD Sec. Shaun Donovan at Creating Change. Photo by Chris Geidner.)

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly reports from the Creating Change conference in Baltimore:

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today told those LGBT advocates gathered for the Creating Change conference taking place in Baltimore, Md., "HUD has been a leader in the fight ... for equality." As part of that, he announced that the federal housing program anti-discrimination regulation announced in January 2011 has been finalized and will be published in the Federal Register on this coming week and go into effect 30 days later.

"Today, I am proud to announce a new equal access to housing rule that says clearly and unequivocally that LGBT indivduals and couples have the right to live where they choose," he told the audience, which rose to its feet with applause.

Donovan detailed that the rule, saying that it includes a new equal access provision that prohibits discrimination in HUD-backed housing programs. It also, he said, guarantees that LGBT individuals are eligible for HUD's public housing programs and states that discrimination is prohibited on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in all Fair Housing Administration-backed loans -- which Donovan said constituted 40 percent of all loans for Americans who bought a home last year.

Waiting for the right to show their true colors by screaming bloody murder. Also waiting for the all-or-nothing gay left to dismiss this as "crumbs."

Booker: "We should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote"

Newark Mayor Cory Booker responds to NJ Gov. Chris Christie's proposal to put marriage equality on the ballot. Thank you, Mayor Booker.

Gov. Christie thinks civil rights in 1960s should have been handled by referenda

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the incredible historical ignorance of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who thinks that gay people's marriage rights should be decided by referendum, just as black people's civil rights should have been back in the 1960s.

Keep talking, troglodytes.

Barney Frank to marry Jim Ready

Metro Weekly and the Blade report. Congrats to Jim and Barney.

Gov. O'Malley announces marriage equality bill in Maryland

The State of Maryland has issued this video with the following description:

Governor O'Malley joined by advocates from a broad coalition of supporters discusses the Civil Marriage Protection Act of 2012. Marylanders of all walks of life want their children to live in a loving, stable, committed home -- protected under the law. The marriage equality bill balances equal protection of the law for every individual with free exercise of religion without government interference.

Metro Weekly reports here. the Blade reports here.

NJ Senate Democrats respond to Gov. Christie on marriage equality

Here is the description accompanying this YouTube video from New Jersey Democrats:

In this video, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, and Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, the prime sponsors of S-1, legislation to guarantee marriage equality for all couples, respond to Governor Chris Christie's suggestion that marriage equality should be decided at the ballot box, not by the Legislature.

Capitol moment

President Obama, on his way to the podium of the House Chamber to deliver the 2012 State of the Union address, hugs Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Giffords steps down this week to continue her recovery from the brain injury she suffered when a crazed gunman shot her on January 8, 2011.

(Photo courtesy Progress Florida via Beth Corbin)

Gov. Christie: Let the people vote (on your rights)

I guess NJ Gov. Chris Christie just couldn't nominate an openly gay man to the state supreme court without balancing it out with something anti-gay. Now he's calling for a referendum on whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, and says he'll veto a marriage equality bill if it reaches his desk.

Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution guarantees a republican (representative) form of government. It says nothing about the right to hold a plebiscite whenever people don't like what their elected legislators do. Marriage is a fundamental human right. Rights are not proper subjects for referenda. Shame on you, Governor.

Gov. Christie nominates black gay man, Asian to NJ Supreme Court

NYT reports:

Gov. Chris Christie moved to diversify the state's all-white Supreme Court on Monday with two firsts: the nominations of an openly gay black man and a Korean-born prosecutor to fill two vacancies.

If confirmed, Bruce A. Harris would become New Jersey's first openly gay justice, and Phillip H. Kwon would become its first Asian representative and the first justice born outside the United States.

Christie, a Republican, said he had "extreme confidence" in the records and intellects of his nominees, neither of whom has been a judge.

The Blade reports here. Metro Weekly reports here.

GLAA testifies Tuesday against Prostitution Free Zone Amendment Act

GLAA will testify against Bill 19-567, the Prostitution Free Zone Amendment Act of 2011, at a hearing today, January 24, before the D.C. Council Judiciary Committee. Our testimony is here. The text of the bill, introduced by Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander, is here. The hearing notice is here. Also testifying against the bill will be the local ACLU, DC Trans Coalition, The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, Best Practices Policy Project, and Human Rights Watch. Thanks to my colleagues who reviewed GLAA's testimony, especially GLAA President Miguel Tuason who helped with the research.

Sign our petition against PFZs here.

MD Gov. O'Malley to roll out marriage equality bill on Tuesday

WaPo reports that Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will tout his marriage equality bill on Tuesday, January 24 after hosting a breakfast with same-sex couples.

In related news, Maryland Delegate Heather Mizeur, with her wife in the gallery, tells opponents of the bill, "You can't stop us."

Hutcherson to WA legislators: "You think you know better than God"

Over in the other Washington, anti-gay pastor Ken Hutcherson rants rather incoherently against marriage equality. Basically, he expects the civil government to act as an extension of his church. Other than introducing him to the First Amendment, I want to tell him: Dear Ken, please get over it. There's a spot waiting for you over at Silver Daddies.

Please sign petition opposing Prostitution Free Zones

Friends,

As you may know, the D.C. Council's Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 24) on Yvette Alexander's Bill 19-567 to allow the police chief to make so-called Prostitution Free Zones permanent. As I will testify on behalf of GLAA, those zones violate the U.S. Constitution and in any case do not solve problems associated with street prostitution, because such police tactics merely chase the activity to other streetcorners. And giving criminal records to people who are engaged in commercial sex in order to survive only makes it harder for them to escape the streets.

Our discussion of this issue in GLAA's "Agenda: 2012" is here. We will post our testimony for the Jan. 24 hearing on GLAA's website on that morning.

Our friends Darby Hickey and Sonya Mendoza have placed a petition on change.org and tumblr.com about PFZs. Please use one of these links to add your voice to ours.

http://nopfzs.tumblr.com/

https://www.change.org/petitions/council-member-vote-against-making-dcs-prostitution-free-zones-permanent

Thanks,

Rick Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance

LGBT Asylum News roundup

Here are the latest stories from LGBT Asylum News:

• Video: In US, another gay bi-national couple faces deportation

• New research on mental health of LGBT refugees

• Israel refuses citizenship for Israeli man's husband

• Torture killing of another trans person in Mexico

• Video: Brave LGBT Russians protest in Red Square

• Honduras is test of new American policy on gay rights

• Report: Who are the refugees 'lost' at Europe's borders?

• Asylum seekers tunnel to freedom in Indonesia

• Report: Trans woman killed by Cuban police

• Finnish court stops removal of gay Iranian

• Video: Persecution of gay people in Sri Lanka

• Swiss violated asylum law in ignoring thousands of Iraqi applicants

• Ugandan ambassador: 'Kill gays' bill dead, 'no persecution'

Note: Do not trust any Ugandan official. The "Kill the Gays" bill is being pushed by associates of President Yoweri Museveni's wife. Eternal vigilance is especially required in that country.

Activists skeptical about Hunter’s marriage views

The Blade has the latest on the Ward 5 special election, which has been set for May 15.

GLAA's ratings in the 2010 Ward 5 Council race can be found here. (Scroll down.)

80 mayors join campaign for marriage equality

I am proud to note that D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is a signatory to this statement. (Of course, he also helped enact marriage equality in the nation's capital.) Thanks and congrats to our friends at Freedom to Marry.

Maynard Institute: How the Media Wrongly Cast Blacks as Villains in the Struggle for Marriage Equality

A perceptive article by the Maynard Institute.

Christie hedges on NJ marriage equality bill

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is noncommittal on whether he would sign or veto a marriage equality bill were it to reach his desk — and for him, this represents an advance.

Minister at Midnight

My column this week addresses anti-gay minister Rev. Anthony Evans, one of the people we defeated in enacting marriage equality in D.C. two years ago. He claims to head a vast network of black churches, and frequently emails me about his plans. I wrote him on January 15. Here's a portion:

You and your cohorts tried to provoke an African American backlash by sowing discord in the name of religion. You sought to render black gay couples and their families and affirming clergy invisible. You failed at every turn, including at the voting booth. The new generation is leaving you far behind.

I have recently been advising several students at a public charter high school, all of them African American, who chose marriage equality as their thesis topic. All took the pro-gay side before I arrived; not all are gay. Most of their peers agree with them. Your name hasn't come up, but your arguments have. Their teacher insists, quite properly, that they examine both sides. They have studied the federal court case Perry v. Brown (formerly Perry v. Schwarzenegger), and have looked at its parallels to Loving v. Virginia, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state laws against interracial marriage in 1967.

These students' views contrast with your image of a monolithic Black Church. They see no difference between Loving and Perry. They can quote your favorite biblical passages, but they can also quote the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment and the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th. I lent them my expertise, but they brought their own gifts of intellectual curiosity and comfort with a diverse society.

I am perplexed by your plan to excommunicate black church members who disagree with you. It reminds me of the parody website LandoverBaptist.org. People don't require permission to pray. Your stunts have no more chance of turning back the tide of history than speaking in tongues has of being mistaken for anything but gibberish. Kindly spare gay people your professions of love for our souls and try to raise your understanding at least to the level of those 17-year-olds.

Read the whole thing here. The title, incidentally, alludes to a quote from Dr. King that I use near the end of the piece.

Uganda's push back against "Kill the Gays" bill criticism

Check out this story from BTB.

D.C. Council limits medical marijuana cultivation center sites

DCist reports:

The D.C. Council voted today to limit the number of medical marijuana cultivation centers in Ward 5 to six, possibly throwing another wrench in the works of a program that has already been slow to get off the ground.

The vote came at the behest of Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large), who initially proposed that no more than five cultivation centers be allowed in Ward 5. During the debate, though, he agreed to an amendment put forth by Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) increasing the limit to six per any ward and limiting the number of dispensaries to one for any ward that has five or more cultivation centers.

Orange pushed the new limits after hearing a number of complaints at a community hearing in Ward 5 last week; before he resigned, Harry Thomas, Jr. had said that he was planning on some sort of new limits on cultivation centers and dispensaries in his ward. Since initial applications for cultivation centers were found to have clustered largely in Ward 5, residents have complained loudly that they are again being used as a dumping ground for things that no one else in the city wants.

In a letter to the council, Mayor Vince Gray expressed his opposition to any new limits on cultivation centers and dispensaries, saying that it would "further delay implementation of this important program which is necessary to assist individuals who suffer with chronic debilitating pain." During the council debate, Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) similarly expressed concerns that any further restrictions would make the broader medical marijuana program unworkable.

Moving forward, it is unclear how the council's move will affect the status of applications for licenses to run both cultivation centers and dispensaries.

I am not happy. As Mayor Gray and Phil Mendelson mentioned, there are already heavy restrictions in D.C.'s law. This is the basest sort of pandering. I expect that David Catania struck the best compromise that he could. He and the other council members who were defending the law deserve due credit for doing their best to fend off the irrationality surrounding this. But the fact that it might have been worse is cold comfort to the patients who need medical marijuana.

GLAA's position on this from "Agenda: 2012" is here.

Money Flows to G.O.P. Backers of Gay Marriage

NYT reports:

ALBANY — Gay rights advocates from Wall Street to Hollywood poured donations into the coffers of four little-known Republican state senators after the lawmakers provided the decisive votes for same-sex marriage in New York last June, according to new campaign finance filings released on Tuesday.

The support for the four senators, whose votes broke ranks with their party, is seen by gay rights leaders as symbolically important for their movement nationally, because in many states same-sex marriage could become law only with support from Republicans, as well as conservative Democrats. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington State are expected to consider same-sex marriage legislation this year.

The four New York Republicans had been threatened with political retribution by the state’s Conservative Party, and now face possible challenges from both the left and the right, but same-sex marriage supporters had promised to help them politically if they supported the issue.

“It was essential to send a clear signal around the country that we will support those who support equality, irrespective of party,” said Brian Ellner, a senior strategist for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. “We were able to win marriage in New York with a bipartisan coalition of fair-minded elected officials. We need to replicate that if we are to keep winning.”

Exactly.

Full disclosure: On June 27, a few days after the marriage bill was signed by Gov. Cuomo, I used links provided by Log Cabin Republicans to donate $50 each (I'm no moneybags) to the four Republican state senators whose support made the difference between victory and defeat for marriage equality in New York: Roy J. McDonald, Stephen M. Saland, Mark Grisanti, and James S. Alesi. That is a roll of honor. I am a Democrat, and I would love to see my party retake control of the New York State Senate, but not at the expense of these four brave men. I also give praise to New York Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R), who allowed the bill to come up for a vote. Mitch McConnell, needless to say, would not have acted similarly were he in such a position. (BTW, it ought to be obvious, but I am expressing my personal opinion here. That is what makes this blog different from GLAA's main website. Here we air our personal views. GLAA itself is nonpartisan in its advocacy, and there is extensive evidence to prove it.)

Update: Charlie Watson, in the comments, calls the situation a win-win. If these Republican state senators are defeated in their primaries, it will be by candidates to their right. That will make their seats more winnable in the general election by Democrats, who are likelier to by pro-equality (not a high bar, since these senators are being targeted by NOM and others precisely because they voted for marriage equality).

Protecting the Internet

Think of the various networks in your life.  Some of the older ones are natural gas, electric, telephone and broadcase (radio and television) networks.  Each took a long time to develolp but make much of modern industrial life possible.  The network of roads and interstate highways also plays a big role in society.  In more recent years cable television, mobile telephone, WiFi and the Internet have become prominant.  Each was a distruptive technoology when it appeared.  The internet is particularly disruptive for a wide swath of media empires.

Government necessarily plays a role in the development of all networks.  Members of Congress regularly complain that it shouldn't pick the winners or losers in business but that rather the free market should guide development.  But now Congress wants to intrude with the Stop On-line Piracy Act.  Mashable has a synopsis of some of the problems with this bill.  Many companies have failed to understand the Internet.  They are often locked into protecting their existing products and cannot exploit the opportunities that the Internet offers.  So they turn to Congress to protect them.  They are asking Congress for the right to kill their competition.  They may benefit for a short time but in the long run this means that technical innovation will leave the US for countries that foster innovation.

The war against women

Think Progress reports:

On Thursday, Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall (R) spoke at a press conference against state funding for Planned Parenthood. He blasted the organization for supporting a women’s right to choose, saying that God punishes women who have had abortions by giving them disabled children....

Scary stuff. Which prompts an observation and a question: The other side votes. Do you?

(Hat tip: Brandon Fitzgerald. Photo of Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall)

The (whitewashed) gay rights movement

I hate to dump on filmmaker Ryan James Yezak, the maker of this highly effective video, but it must be pointed out that something is glaringly absent from it: racial diversity. There are three gay people of color in this video: Lt. Dan Choi, actor George Takei (blink and you'll miss him), and CNN anchor Don Lemon. In the case of Lemon, his inclusion is in the context of his reporting. I encountered more gay people of color on my way to breakfast this morning (granted, I live in D.C. and not Iowa).

The tendency to "whitewash" media portrayals of gay folk is a longstanding problem that should have gotten better by now. But it does not get better by itself. Here in D.C., even with the affectionate nickname "Chocolate City," our marriage equality coalition required a careful media strategy to ensure that the countless black faces of our local struggle were not passed over.

Clearly, further efforts are needed to raise awareness on our own side of this continuing problem of rendering a significant portion of our own community invisible. I say community, but how can we even regard ourselves as part of a community with people we refuse even to see? I sincerely believe that our diversity is our strength, but that is only true if we rise to the challenges posed by that diversity. As Maya Angelou said 19 years ago this week, "Look into your sister's eyes, look into your brother's face, and say simply, very simply, with hope, good morning." Ya gotta start somewhere.

Yezak's video was an assemblage of news clips. Whether the problem here is a dearth of news clips featuring gay people of color, or overlooking the ones that are out there, this is something that needs to be rectified.

(Hat tip: Michael Crawford)

WAMU: D.C. Cracks Down On Prostitution

WAMU has an excellent story on the city's use of "prostitution free zones" and their unintended effects. Here's a portion:

Just before midnight, three people in their late teens or early twenties load a Honda minivan with supplies. This might sound like the beginning of a zany road trip, but it's not. The minivan belongs to a group called HIPS, which stands for Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive. One of the supplies they're loading is a giant box of condoms.

HIPS's mission is to make the lives of D.C.'s prostitutes safer and easier. Three nights a week, the group's staffers and volunteers drive the van to places where sex workers work, often in some of the most dangerous parts of town....

There's a reason why sex workers have been feeling more police pressure, says Cyndee Clay, executive director of HIPS. Five years ago, the D.C. Council passed a law allowing the police to designate certain streets or neighborhoods "prostitution-free zones." In these zones, officers can make arrests with a lower burden of proof. So far, most of the prostitution-free zones have been downtown, and Clay says that's had some surprising effects....

Clay says the prostitution-free zone law didn't get rid of prostitution in the District. The law simply moved it from downtown to the outskirts of the city. The Metropolitan Police Department refused to grant an interview for this story, but an analysis of the District's crime data shows that Clay is right....

"It's bad public health, it's bad social policy," says Clay. "It's not even effective judicial policy because we're not giving people the tools that they need to change their life or to make a change. We're just re-incarcerating the same people over and over again for the same thing." ...

HIPS keeps track of every sex worker it encounters, and the group is seeing roughly the same number of sex workers on the streets now as there was a decade ago. The difference is now they're more likely to get a criminal record and more likely to be working in a violent area. The sex workers are more isolated and more at risk. But they're less visible.

I will be testifying at a D.C. Council hearing on the Prostitution Free Zones on January 24. Getting our city's officials to see how counterproductive the PFZs are is going to be difficult. I am sure that GLAA's position on them is unpopular even in segments of the gay community. But no one said activism was easy. A constitutionally questionable policy that only chases sex workers into more distant and unsafe neighborhoods is no solution; and giving them criminal records only makes it harder for them to get better jobs. Thanks to WAMU for shining a light on this.

Tennessee state GOP rep pushes anti-trans bathroom bill

Joe Jervis summarizes: "Something something horses cats dogs."

I thank the Goddess that I live in D.C. I think my head would explode from this nonsense if I lived in this guy's district. It's bad enough for trans people here, but here the challenge is to make our city comply with its model human rights law, not overcome troglodyte lawmakers.

Marriage dissolution bill passes D.C. Council Judiciary Committee

The Washington Examiner reports on Tuesday's committee markup of Bill 19-526, the Civil Marriage Dissolution Equality Amendment Act of 2011. As I explained to the reporter (who quoted me at greater length in the print version), this is a housekeeping bill to fill a legal gap for same-sex couples who marry in D.C. and whose marriage subsequently fails after they've returned home to another state that does not recognize same-sex marriages. As long as there are conflicts among the marriage laws of the fifty states and the District, measures like this will be necessary to make the best of an inequitable situation. Any breakup is sad enough without the couple being left in a legal limbo by an inability to get a divorce.

Phil Mendelson, the committee chair who introduced the bill, has eight co-sponsors (well, seven now, since one of them resigned last week). This is not a controversial bill, and it was approved by the committee without any problem. My testimony on the bill is here. Bob Summersgill's testimony is here.

Harry Jackson's latest chat with the Heavenly Father

Right Wing Watch shares the latest from Bishop Harry Jackson, whom we defeated in the fight for D.C. marriage equality. When I watch this video, I can't help thinking: didn't I see this guy at Bear Central?

Yeah, that could happen

Jimmy Kimmel explains how the Pope could be right in saying that same-sex marriage threatens the survival of humanity.

Delano Hunter: 'I respect the Marriage Equality Act'

Delano Hunter, the NOM-backed candidate who was crushed by Harry Thomas Jr. in the 2010 Ward 5 D.C. Council race — and who has indicated he will run in the special election to replace the prison-bound Thomas — tells the Blade that he now respects the marriage equality law that he previously denounced.

Bully for him; but as Peter Rosenstein comments below the article:

I would like him to not only say he won’t overturn it but to say he supports it – and pledge to not work to have the Catholic Church or other entities try to get around it in any way. He should also state that he will not seek or take support from homophobic groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) if we are truly to believe this conversion in his beliefs. This is a matter that is too important to so many people in the District of Columbia for him to not be specific on this issue of basic civil and human rights.

I’m glad that Mr. Hunter recognizes that our marriage equality law is settled; but as Peter notes, that leaves a number of questions unanswered. Years ago, another local homophobe, Rev. Anthony Evans, told me, “I don’t think you should be killed.” I appreciated the sentiment as far as it went, but I’m happy to say that the bar is set a bit higher here.

NJ marriage equality bill to be introduced

New Jersey Democratic leaders are announcing today that they will introduce a marriage equality bill as the first bill in both houses of the state legislature.

The bill, if passed, faces a likely veto from Gov. Chris Christie, who opposes allowing same-sex couples to marry and favors civil unions, which the state already allows. As the Star-Ledger notes, the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006 "ruled that same-sex couples were constitutionally entitled to all rights and benefits heterosexual couples get through civil marriage, but did not stipulate that these unions were 'marriages.'" Gay couples are in court claiming that civil unions do not provide equal rights and benefits.