(There’s a handy list of relevant US court cases from one of the commenters at the end of the piece)
Karlan notes hopefully that she “cannot think of a contentious social issue on which public opinion has shifted more rapidly.”, which she says is essential if equality is to be achieved because the US Supreme Court tends to be a reflection rather than a cause of progressive social change.
“We have moved in roughly a generation from a nation in which no state provided legal recognition to same-sex couples to one in which two in five Americans live in states that do: eight states and the District of Columbia now either issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Without that change, the Supreme Court would not even consider legal protections for same-sex couples.”
Fascinating New Yorker article here, one I’ve been meaning to blog about since returning from holiday. About how Hollywood high-flyer and Oscar winner Haggis abandoned the organisation he now calls a cult, over their refusal to disown Proposition 8 and treat his gay daughters as equals.
I often find a big reaction to a string of gay marriage new events in the US – a reaction that often generates more heat than light. And while the US is by far the most organised gay marriage movement, it also the most self-obsessed. So, I try not to report everything in up to the minute dramatic style. To be useful to my global audience, it helps to rest up for a couple of days and then reflect on what has really changed!
This week quite a lot did happen, as this Village Voice summary by Steven Thrasher explains. You need to get up to date with progress in
in Washington DC, Maryland, Hawaii, New York, California and more. The predictions about what it all means for the 2012 Presidential election are also coming in thick and fast and full of contradiction.
Tomorrow, I will give my thoughts on what difference the Obama Administration intervention will really make and why/
1. Prop 8
2. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
3. New Hampshire drama on the horizon
PROP 8 NEWS
A pro-equality Governor (Jerry Brown) and a pro-equality Attorney-General (Kamala Harris) were elected in November in California. So far, so good. The Californian Government will not be defeding Prop 8 in court.
That doesn’t mean the court appeal will go away: it’s before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco from December 6.
This is an appeal against U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s Aug. 4 2010 ruling that Prop 8 is constitutional. In the first hour, the parties will address the question of whether any entity has legal standing to appeal Walker’s ruling, seeing as the Californian govt and country clerks refuse to do so.
If the random appellants do not achieve ‘standing’ the case is over and Walker’s ruling will take effect. Or the parties could appeal the standing issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
2. DON’T ASK DON’T TELL Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, round 2, starts Dec. 2 in the U.S. Senate when Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. They will discuss the Pentagon’s massive survey of troops, which is to be released tomorrow, Nov. 30.
3. NEW HAMPSHIRE
Are you about to go back to inequality in New Hampshire just a year after the leap forward? Yes - if some Republican legislators get their way. Republicans now control both state Houses of Parliament. Bills already have been filed to repeal the marriage-equality law and to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.
“Republicans now have a veto-proof majority in the Legislature, and the newly elected House speaker, state Rep. Bill O’Brien, is a staunch opponent of marriage equality,” said Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. “But we know there are many New Hampshire Republicans who support marriage equality and we’re looking forward to working with them.” Thanks to Rex Wockner for pointing me to this info.
One from the archives. I have a thing about how short-term our memories are now. We struggle with so much information these days that it seems we so easily forget important lessons and examples.
So here’s one from the week after Obama’s election. When the world had so much hope for him, and when gays and lesbians in the United States and elsewhere were mourning the passing of Proposition 8.
OMG … so there won’t be gay marriages on Wednesday in California after all.
See the Court order below – the appeal is speeded up, but still will not be heard until 6 December! The Court does at least specifically order the Prop 8 proponents to show why this case should not be dismissed for lack of standing.
I’ve never given much thought to Tori Spelling’s world philosophy. But after reading about the Beverly Hills 90210 star’s views on marriage today, I am sorry I didn’t give her time or credit earlier:
‘The good news is that things are changing, generationally. My kids will grow up in a house knowing that it’s perfectly normal for two men to be in love, it’s perfectly normal for two women to be in love.
‘My kids will grow up knowing it’s all about love. It doesn’t matter who you’re with and everyone should have that experience.’
U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker has lifted his stay on his finding overturning Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. The California dreamin’ is about to become California wedding action.
The gays will be walking down the aisle from next Wednesday 18th. Read the ruling here.
Opponents are unlikely to get a further stay from higher courts.
P.S. am I the only one who thinks Vaughn Walker looks like Colonel Sanders?
This is an American-focused article, but it is interesting for all, and reflects just how long this debate has been going on in gay and lesbian circles, particularly in the United States.
Incorporated in 1952, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives is the oldest ongoing LGBT organization in North America. See www.onearchives.org .
