Signing off until Monday

I'm signing off until Monday.  Come back and visit then!

Gay marriage ban starts rolling in Indiana

According to The Journal Gazette, the GOP-led Senate voted Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in Indiana.  The vote was 38-10. 
The bill now goes to the House of Representatives.  The resolution must be approved again in 2011 before voters could make the final decision in a 2012 statewide referendum.

“Marriage is one of the foundations of our society and one I firmly believe needs to be protected,” said Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury.

Indiana already has a state law defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and it was upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals in 2005.

How many times do these legislators feel like they have to slam the door?

Super Bowl ad controversy

A few years ago, CBS turned down a Super Bowl ad for a gay-accepting church, calling it too political.  Here's a clip of that ad:



No comes word that the network has okayed a ad by an anti-abortion group, with a former quarterback as its spokesperson, for Super Bowl 2010.   I wouldn't argue against the right of this group to buy ad time, but what's with the double standard?  When did abortion stop being a political issue?  And when did opening up the doors of a church become so political that the ad was banned?

A tricky question in Tampa

The day after President Obama's State of the Union Address, he talked to a crowd in Tampa, Florida.  A student asked him a question about same-sex marriage.  President Obama's response, I think, highlights how much of a hot potato this issue has become for the Democrats.  (H/T firedoglake.com)

Anti-gay rumblings in New Hampshire

Here's a great quote from a David Bates, a Republican state representative in New Hampshire about the passage of a same sex marriage bill -- signed by the governor -- that went into effect on January 1: “For there to be peace in our society, we need to decide this issue once and for all."

Translation: the issue needs to be decided the way I want it to be decided.  The legislature has already decided the issue.  Once and for all.

That hasn't stopped some anti-equality folks from getting non-binding referenda in the ballots of their cities and towns.  The results won't mean a thing.  They'll just let LGBT people know that a percentage of the population in certain towns consider them second class citizens.

 And people wonder why we call it hate.

Reactions to President Obama's reference to Don't Ask, Don't Tell in his State of the Union Speech

"President Obama's call to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell' marks the beginning of a new era of equality and justice in America. The military's 'don't ask, don't tell policy' is an unfair, outdated measure." — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

"President Obama asked Congress to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. ... At a time when our Armed Forces are fighting and sacrificing on the battlefield, now is not the time to abandon the policy." — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz

"That's certainly a step beyond saying it in front of a bunch of gay donors...My concern has been all year that the president is dithering - that's a political mistake and an operational mistake...People of bad faith can exploit the opening and turn this into a culture war battle," he said, "and make no mistake, they can win this if people of good faith think they can coast along or show up every once in a while with a vague reiteration." -- Nathaniel Frank, author of Unfriendly Fire (a book about DADT) and a senior fellow at the Palm Center on the President's reference to DADT

Forcing soldiers to cohabit with people who view them as sexual objects would
inevitably lead to increased sexual tension, sexual harassment, and even sexual assault. America's military exists to fight and win wars --not to engage in radical social engineering.

I was out last night celebrating my birthday with my husband, so I didn't see the speech.  I did read it this morning.  These quotes are fairly representative of what seem to be four camps: (1)  Folks who believe that DADT is over and that last night's speech was the death knell; (2) The policy is working and we shouldn't change it; (3) President Obama has said nothing new, although the forum was the most significant in which he expressed his opposition to DADT (4) the far right alarmists that use words like "radical social engineering" to scare Americans into believing this as horrible an idea as gay marriage.

My question is this: if the administration opposes DADT, why not take McCain's argument and actually use it to our advantage?  It is BECAUSE we are at war that we need to change the policy.  We need every person we can get right now.  This is exactly what Bush Sr. said when he suspended the ban during the Gulf War, to almost no opposition.

He prayed away the gay

Ted Haggard was recently on Oprah with his wife to say once and for all that he has put the abominable gay lifestyle choice behind him.  Here's singer Roy Zimmerman's song of a few years ago when Ted assured us yet again that he was straight.  (H/T Joe.My.God)