Marriage Equality
Marriage Equality as a Small Business Innovator
Published September 21, 2009 @ 10:55AM PT
What's the best small business idea in the country right now? Well, if you judge that question by the number of folks who voted at social entrepreneurship Web site Ideablob, it's a group that's pushing for marriage equality throughout the United States.
The National Marriage Boycott (NMB) won Ideablob's August 2009 contest for "Best Small Business Idea," and in turn received $10,000 to help them get their organization off the ground. The NMB, which started at Stanford University shortly after the passage of Proposition 8 last November, is now poised to perhaps become the largest student-drive movement for marriage equality in the country. Their mission? To get people to say no to marriage until everyone has access to marriage rights under the law.
Sarah Masimore, the NMB's Chief Operating Officer, said that the money will accelerate the growth of NMB, bringing the campaign to hundreds of college and high school campuses. "Today we are in ten states. In a year we plan to be in every state, demonstrating that Americans care about equal rights regardless of where you live or whom you love."
And the best part? Ideablob announced that NMB won this award the same week that Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Coincidence? Probably. But together the two pieces of news make for some good marriage equality karma.
Gay Marriage Poll Numbers in Iowa and Maine
Published September 21, 2009 @ 03:02AM PT
There are new poll numbers out in Iowa and Maine gauging support for same-sex marriage. Both states have legalized marriage equality, and both states are seeing a flurry of activity by opponents of LGBT rights to repeal marriage.
Let's look at Maine first, since anti-LGBT forces (led by Maine's Roman Catholic Church and outside groups like the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family) have organized to place a measure on the November ballot that could repeal same-sex marriage if approved. As Kos reported last week, it's a pretty darn tight race, and if you take into account the margin of error, it's essentially a tie score in Maine. About 49 percent of folks would vote today to repeal marriage rights, while 47 percent would vote to keep marriage rights for same-sex couples. Those numbers show that we've got our work cut out for us in Maine -- which is why it's ever-so-crucial to support the efforts of the No on 1 campaign up there, which is fighting hard to preserve marriage equality.
Iowa has no ballot measure, but in the wake of the state's Supreme Court decision earlier this year recognizing marriage equality, nearly every anti-LGBT politician in the state has come out like gangbusters to bash LGBT folks. Given the number of Republican candidates running for governor who continue to blast gay marriage, as well as the National Organization for Marriage's money dump into the state to support a (losing) right-wing politician, one might assume that there's a populist rebellion on the horizon leading scores of Iowans pissed off that their state Supreme Court recognized some rights for LGBT people. Far from it.
The Des Moines Register released a new poll that shows 41 percent of folks oppose same-sex marriage, while 40 percent favor it. Call me an optimist, but given that there's no ballot campaign in the works, and a torrent of hateful rhetoric from the anti-gay right, those poll numbers are pretty damn good.
Even more heartening is the fact that 92 percent of Iowans say that legalizing gay marriage has had no direct impact on their lives. That certainly deflates a talking point of the anti-LGBT crowd that says same-sex marriage would threaten families or kids.
Of course, it would be great to see these numbers reversed. Better yet, it would be great to see marriage equality winning in these polls by a landslide. For Maine, the poll is a wake-up call that while the campaign to preserve marriage equality is close, there's much work to be done to take this from a "tie" to an outright win for equality.
In Iowa, these polls reaffirm that while the state is split, it's not a state that's becoming readily accessible to anti-gay, fringe messaging.
These are good numbers. But there's still much work to be done.
Charlize Theron Won't Get Married Until All Her Gay Friends Can, Too
Published September 17, 2009 @ 05:56PM PT
Looks like the latest Hollywood trend is to pledge not to get married until all people -- straight folks and gays and lesbians -- have the right to do so. Earlier this week, True Blood actor Mechad Brooks said he wouldn't tie the knot until same-sex marriage was legal, and now Charlize Theron adds her name to the list of celebs who'd rather not walk down the aisle until the aisle is inclusive of everyone.
Theron has long been a supporter of marriage equality, famously saying last year that laws like Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, reminded her of South African apartheid. Discriminatory laws are discriminatory laws, according to Theron, whether they're on the books in 1980s South Africa or 2009 America.
Theron made her marriage equality comments on The View, where she was promoting her new movie, The Burning Plain.
"I don't want to get married because right now the institution of marriage feels very one-sided, and I want to live in a country where we all have equal rights," Theron said. She's been dating actor Stuart Townsend for more than eight years.
At eight years, you're already practically married, right? Still, making it official while so many folks aren't given access to marriage rights goes beyond Charlize's sense of decency.
"I think it would be exactly the same if we were married, but for me to go through that kind of ceremony, because I have so many friends who are gays and lesbians who would so badly want to get married, that I wouldn't be able to sleep with myself," Theron said.
Lack of sleep -- reason #419 to sign the National Marriage Boycott.
Principled and heartfelt stances -- reason #120 to love Charlize Theron. Video of her appearance on The View below.
Gay Marriage Doesn't Harm Kids. But Lies Do.
Published September 16, 2009 @ 08:50AM PT
Opponents of marriage equality in Maine took to the airwaves yesterday with an advertisement that said LGBT people (specifically, in their words, "homosexual marriage") would be a threat to children and taught in schools. The advertisement is dishonest, plays up on fears, and distorts the truth about Maine's same-sex marriage law. So what's an activist to do?
Hit back with an advertisement that completely disarms the negativity and misrepresentations championed by people who hate on same-sex marriage. That's what the No on 1 Campaign did today, with a new ad that tells the truth about same-sex marriage, and what will and won't be taught in Maine's public schools.
The ad features Maine teacher Sherri Gould, who has been teaching in Maine since 1983. According to Gould, what's taught in the classroom is fairness and decency. "We teach respect and Maine values. That will never change."
That's right. Respect. Fairness. Decency. Those are the things that are taught in Maine public schools. It's too bad that opponents of marriage equality in Maine can't go back and take a few classes themselves on these subjects. Instead they rely on tired and false innuendo to suggest that gays and lesbians pose a public threat. That's not decent or fair. It's downright manipulative. And Maine voters will know the difference.
Check out the No on 1 ad below:
The Defense of Marriage Act Was the Worst Vote of His Political Career
Published September 16, 2009 @ 05:47AM PT
Yesterday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Respect for Marriage Act -- with the support of 90 members of Congress -- to effectively repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and send the message that the federal government shouldn't be in the business of defining marriage. Finally, for the first time since DOMA passed in 1996, efforts have begun in Congress to repeal it.
While Rep. Nadler is one of the leaders of the DOMA repeal efforts, there are two voices bringing a whole bunch of gravitas to the argument over eliminating DOMA. Voices like Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), pictured above, who voted for DOMA back in the day. His take on DOMA now?
It was the worst vote of his entire political career.
We'll second that, and say that it was probably the worst vote for all 342 U.S. house members who voted for the act, as well as the 85 U.S. Senators who signed onto it.
"[My] vote fed the bigotry," Rep. Blumenauer writes. "Once Congress had put its imprimatur on DOMA, it was a logical step for the homophobes and political cynics to intensify their efforts and make permanent a ban on gay marriage in both the U.S. and state constitutions -- spawning many state initiatives and intensifying the assault."
DOMA was bad law in 1996, and it's bad law in 2009. Even former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA into law, and former Congressman Bob Barr, who authored the text of DOMA, have called for its repeal.
You can, too, by clicking here and sending a message to your Congress members to support the Respect for Marriage Act. Repealing DOMA is certainly going to take more than 90 U.S. House members. So the work on this begins, but it's work that's well worth the undertaking.
Oh, and if you want to thank Rep. Blumenauer for admitting his mistake in voting for DOMA thirteen years ago, feel free to send him a message on Twitter - @RepBlumenauer. Might we suggest, "@RepBlumenauer thanks for switching your position on the Defense of Marriage Act and working to end discrimination."
A True Blood Celebrity for Marriage Equality
Published September 15, 2009 @ 04:12AM PT
Mechad Brooks, also known as Benedict "Eggs" Talley from the HBO show True Blood, is taking a page out of the Brad Pitt book when it comes to the issue of marriage. For Brooks, he'd rather wait until every person -- gay or straight -- has access to marriage before getting hitched himself.
Huh, does that make him a good candidate for the National Marriage Boycott?
Sure sounds like it. Brooks told Honeymag.com that he was offended by Proposition 8 last year in California, and the destruction that the initiative caused in the lives of so many gays and lesbians. As a sign of solidarity, he'd rather not take any vows until laws like Prop 8 are overturned and buried (to use another HBO reference) six feet under.
"I haven’t even gotten that far (thinking about settling down). But yeah, I want a wife, I want kids. The whole thing. But I’m also not even concerned with marrying somebody until it’s legal for everybody to get married. And what I mean by that is the whole Prop 8 thing. I find it really offensive," said Brooks. "I just find it really problematic when you start throwing people’s rights away. Until we get our gay brothers and sisters back into a realm of consciousness that everyone else is in, it’s just not right. A woman who’s getting married — it’s probably going to be a gay man who made her dress, and a gay man who’s doing her hair and makeup, but he can’t get married. How messed up is that?"
Pretty damn messed up. Just ask the folks in Maine who are living through their own version of Prop 8 right now, in the form of Question 1. Bigoted ballot measures know no state borders.
Canadians Love Their Gay Marriage
Published September 14, 2009 @ 10:36AM PT
A new survey shows that Canadian citizens overwhelmingly support same-sex marriage, showing up both the United States and Great Britain on the issue of equal rights. Perhaps that's not surprising, given that Canada is one of the largest countries in the world that has legalized same-sex marriage. But still, when it comes to a commitment to equality, Canada is leading the way.
The survey, conducted by polling firm Angus Reid, found that young people are leading the way when it comes to the issue of marriage equality. In Canada, a whopping 73 percent of people ages 18-34 support same-sex marriage, while only 7 percent oppose it. That's huge! We're guessing that not even cuddly puppies or chocolate receive that high of an approval rating.
That number jives with polling on the U.S., too, which shows overwhelming support for marriage equality among people under 40. In this particular survey, only 42 percent of folks ages 18-34 said they supported marriage equality. But other studies, like this one discussed over at FiveThirtyEight, show that young people in the U.S. support marriage equality by upwards of 50 percent.
Either way, more young people support marriage equality than are against it. Which goes to show that we're on the trajectory toward equal rights -- it's just going to take some time to get there. Alas, someday the U.S. will be Canada...
(Photo courtesy of publicdomainarts' photostream on Flickr.)
