All Entries in the "Civil Rights" Category
Colbert Destroys R.I. Governor For Denying Gay Couples Death Rights (VIDEO)
Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri vetoed legislation last week that would give same-sex couples the rights to claim the bodies of and make funeral arrangements for their deceased partners. He said such legislation was a “disturbing trend” signifying the erosion of traditional marriage.
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Full Story Colbert Destroys R.I. Governor For Denying Gay Couples Death Rights (VIDEO).
Ten-year-old refuses to recite pledge until gays allowed to marry
Ten-year-old Will Phillips may have just become the new cause célèbre of the gay rights movement.
It all started when he refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in a West Fork, Arkansas elementary school.
Speaking to CNN’s John Roberts on Monday, Will said he remained seated four straight days while his classmates repeated the words, “with liberty and justice for all.”
“I was analyzing the meanings of it, because I want to be a lawyer,” he said. “… There isn’t really liberty and justice for all. There’s … Gays and lesbians can’t marry. There’s still a lot of racism and sexism in the world. Yeah.”
Eventually, the substitute teacher started giving Will “grief” over his refusal to repeat the words. “What did you say to that teacher?” Roberts asked.
via Ten-year-old refuses to recite pledge until gays allowed to marry | Raw Story.
Retired Military Chaplains Announce Support For Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Military veterans call for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't TellLast week, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) revealed the legislative timeline for a repeal of the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. “Military issues are always done as part of the overall authorization bill,” Frank told the Advocate. “’Don’t ask, don’t tell’ was always going to be part of the military authorization.”
Now, the movement to repeal the ban on gay men and women from serving openly in the military has gained even more momentum. Three former military chaplains are announcing today that they support a full repeal of the DADT. In a Q&A released by VoteVets, the three men, Charles D. Camp, Chaplain (Colonel), USA (Ret.), John F. Gundlach, CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret.), and Jerry Rhyne, Chaplain (Colonel), USAF (Ret.), also addressed implementation concerns regarding a repeal:
What would be the impact of changing the current law on unit cohesion and morale?
The 2009 Joint Forces Quarterly article states clearly, “After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly.” A 1993 RAND Corp. report concludes the same, as do several other military-commissioned reports. In addition, 68 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan troops said, according to a 2006 Zogby poll, they either knew for certain (23%) or suspected (45%) there were gays in their own unit. That means there are tens of thousands of known gay service members currently working and fighting alongside their straight peers, and there is no demonstrable negative impact on unit morale, cohesion or combat readiness. In fact, 73% of troops in the poll said they were “comfortable” in the presence of gay peers. [...]
via Think Progress » Retired Military Chaplains Announce Support For Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Free Speech Under Assault by Police Chief in Brooksville, Florida
The video here involving the simple effort to use a PA system for an event that I organized to allow Veterans the opportunity to present their side (unfiltered) to the public was squelched by City officials. There is no free speech if one side’s speech is allowed to be heard and another’s is not.
In April of 2008, the County Parks Director, Mr. Fagan gave us permission to use a PA system in the same location where we see Mr. Sagar speaking here this past Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.
Full Story YouTube – Free Speech Under Assault by Police Chief in Brooksville, Florida.
The Price of Health Reform: Abortion Rights?
Why Bart Stupak’s last-minute amendment to the health care bill is even more radical than you think.
Will health care reform come at the expense of abortion rights? The Democrats’ historic health care bill squeaked through the House on Saturday only after pro-life forces scored a major victory. Despite months of wrangling over the public option and the price tag, in the end the legislation’s fate turned on an eleventh-hour push by conservative Democrats to broaden the bill’s existing limits on government funding of abortion, in the form of an amendment authored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). Here’s what happened and what it means:
The Stupak amendment mandates that no federal funds can be used to pay for an abortion or “cover any part of any health plan” that includes coverage of an abortion, except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger or the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.
The first part of the amendment isn’t new. The 1976 Hyde Amendment already prevents the use of federal dollars to pay for most abortions. Where pro-lifers won big was on the second part, which could significantly limit the availability of private insurance plans that cover the procedure.
Full Story The Price of Health Reform: Abortion Rights? | Mother Jones.
OPS: Keep in mind that Stupak is a member of “The Family”
Meet the Senators in the Creepy Right-Wing Cult Trying to Defeat Health Care Reform
A Petition Establishing Health Care as a Civil Right
Dennis Kucinich
Whereas, Universal Health Care was proposed by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1912; and
Whereas today, nearly 100 years later, 47 million Americans are uninsured and another 50 million are underinsured bringing great social and economic harm to the American family; and
Whereas, HR 676, authored by Congressmen John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich provides for Medicare for All, a universal, single payer, not-for-profit health care system which means the end of premiums, copays and deductibles; and
Whereas we are already paying for a universal standard of care but are not getting it because one of every three dollars in the health care system goes to the activities of the for-profit insurance system; and
Whereas HR676 firmly establishes health care as a Civil Right, consistent with the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which defines a purpose of government “to promote the General Welfare,” now therefore,
I HEREBY EXPRESS MY STRONG SUPPORT FOR HR676, SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE, AND THE PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR WHICH IT STANDS:
Full Story kucinich.us – A Petition Establishing Health Care as a Civil Right.
Gay-Marriage Fight Heads to New Jersey
The battle over gay rights will move to New Jersey and the federal government, advocates said, after Tuesday’s narrow rejection of same-sex marriage by Maine voters in a hard-fought contest.
The Democrat-controlled legislature in New Jersey, which currently recognizes same-sex couples in civil unions, is under pressure to pass a bill authorizing gay marriage before Gov. Jon Corzine ends his term in mid-January.
Mr. Corzine, a Democrat unseated in Tuesday’s election, said he would sign such a bill. His successor, Republican Chris Christie, opposes same-sex marriages.
Full Story Gay-Marriage Fight Heads to New Jersey – WSJ.com.
Maine voters reject gay-marriage law
Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.
Gay marriage has now lost in every single state – 31 in all – in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine – known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate – and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.
With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the votes.
“The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation,” declared Frank Schubert, chief organizer for the winning side.
Full Story Maine voters reject gay-marriage law.
Louisiana justice who refused marriage license to interracial couple resigns.
Louisiana justice who refused marriage license to interracial couple resigns.
Last month, Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell stirred controversy when he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because he believes that such marriages don’t usually last very long. “I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. Now, the Louisiana secretary of state’s office says that Bardwell has resigned:
A Louisiana justice of the peace who drew criticism for refusing to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple has resigned, the secretary of state’s office said Tuesday.
Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, was widely criticized after he refused to grant a marriage license to Beth McKay and Terence McKay, an interracial couple who ultimately got a marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish.
The McKays hired an attorney and protested the justice’s actions.
Full Story Think Progress » Louisiana justice who refused marriage license to interracial couple resigns..
Obama to Sign Hate Crimes Bill Wednesday
Eleven years after Matthew Shepard’s death, President Obama will sign the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill into law during a White House signing ceremony Wednesday afternoon, White House officials confirm.
The long-sought hate crimes provision is part of the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill and will extend federal hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
Matthew Shepard a gay twenty-one year old college student was brutally. killed in 1998 Some of the Shepard family will be in attendance at the White House signing on Wednesday. Afterward there will be a reception with gay rights groups as well as civil rights leader to commemorate the occasion.
via Obama to Sign Hate Crimes Bill Wednesday – Political Punch.
Colbert Eviscerates Gay Marriage Opponents (VIDEO)
Stephen Colbert returned to air last night after a week off with a particularly funny and diverse episode, tackling everything from George Will’s sartorial hypocrisy to gay rights. The latter segment focused on recent legislation passed in the state of Washington called “Everything But Marriage” which expanded the state’s domestic partnership law to offer same-sex couples the same rights as straight married people.
This legislation was met with deep dismay by Protect Marriage Washington, an anti-gay marriage group which collected signatures to get a referendum on the ballot to overturn the law, but refuses to produce the list of those who signed the petition to prove its validity to detractors. Enter Stephen Colbert. The host used rhetoric usually reserved to discuss the rights of homosexuals to turn the whole debate on its head and expose the inherent hilarity:
“I don’t believe it is a choice, I believe you’re born thinking gays don’t have the right to get married or even be joined in union. And folks, the gays have no right to out those people.”
WATCH:
via Colbert Eviscerates Gay Marriage Opponents (VIDEO).
Federal Bill Would Penalize States for their Anti-Gay Adoption Laws
U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) has introduced a new bill to the House called the Every Child Deserves a Family Act. It is designed to restrict a state or adoption agency’s federal funding if they discriminate on the basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status of the prospective parents.
What Would the Every Child Deserves a Family Act Do?
Introduced on Oct. 15, the act (H.R. 3827) aims to stop discrimination in adoption and foster care placements based on the sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status of the prospective adoptive/foster parent in question.
Why is this an issue? Currently, several states have restrictions on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples adopting. Such states include Florida and Mississippi. In Rep. Stark’s introduction to the bill, he contends that this bias is damaging to the children that are waiting to be adopted or fostered:
Full Story: Federal Bill Would Penalize States for their Anti-Gay Adoption Laws.
Hate Crimes Bill Approved By Congress, Extends Protection To Gays
Physical attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in a major expansion of the civil rights-era law Congress approved Thursday and sent to President Barack Obama.
A priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that had been on the congressional agenda for a decade, the measure expands current law to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The measure is named for Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student murdered 11 years ago.
To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Senate approved 68-29. The House passed the defense bill earlier this month.
Many Republicans, normally staunch supporters of defense bills, voted against the bill because of the hate crimes provision. All the no votes were Republicans except for Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who supported the hate crimes provision but opposes what he says is the open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan.
Full Story: Hate Crimes Bill Approved By Congress, Extends Protection To Gays.
Keith Bardwell Explains Refusal To Perform Interracial Marriage (VIDEO)
The Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to perform an interracial marriage was interviewed on CBS News Monday morning and tried to explain his actions.
Bartlett explained that he had seen “countless” interracial couples where the children were rejected by family members, and he didn’t want to see that happen again. He defended himself by pointing out that he did not prevent the couple from getting married; he merely would not do it himself. Asked if he would refuse to perform a marriage for any other reason, he said no, but then corrected himself.
“One of them is intoxicated or seems to be or on drugs or whatever, yeah, I can recuse myself and make them come back when they’re in a sober state,” he added.
At the end of the segment, Bartlett asked to say one more thing.
“I’m sorry that I offended the couple, but I did help them and tell them who to go to,” he said. “And they went and got married, and they should be happily married and I don’t see what the problem is now.”
Full Story: Keith Bardwell Explains Refusal To Perform Interracial Marriage (VIDEO).
Louisiana justice of the peace denied marriage license to interracial couple, worried they might have children.
Louisiana justice of the peace denied marriage license to interracial couple, worried they might have children.
The AP reports that Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell has refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because he believes that such marriages don’t usually last very long:
“I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house,” Bardwell said. “My main concern is for the children.”
Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.
Schwarzenegger signs gay rights bills
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two gay rights bills, one honoring late activist Harvey Milk and another recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.
In the last of hundreds of bill actions taken before midnight Sunday, Schwarzenegger approved the two bills by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.
The governor last year vetoed the measure declaring May 22 a state day of recognition for Milk, suggesting that the former San Francisco supervisor be honored locally. But he subsequently named him to the California Hall of Fame.
Full Story: Schwarzenegger signs gay rights bills – Latest News – sacbee.com.
New Oklahoma abortion law being challenged
Feminists For Choice » – As if women didn’t have enough threats to their right to choose in this country, Oklahoma is doing its part to make sure women slowly but surely are demonized and criminalized for their right to choose to have an abortion.
If you live in Oklahoma, i officially extend my condolences.
H.B 1595 is a new provision on Oklahoma abortion laws that now requires, among other restrictions and requirements, an official record and reporting system of all abortions occuring within the state. This report will be available for anyone in the world to view, as it will be made public on a website as of March 1st. The Dept of Health, who among others has supported these new provisions, has declared that since the name and “personal information” will not be reported, there is no cause for concern or protest in regards to privacy issues. However, in reviewing the actual text of the law, the first 8 questions that will be asked and reported could easily be used to identify any member of a smaller community.
- Date of abortion
- County in which abortion performed
- Age of mother
- Marital status of mother (married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married)
- Race of mother
- Years of education of mother (specify highest year completed)
- State or foreign country of residence of mother
- Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother
Live Births
Miscarriages
Induced Abortions
Full Story: Feminists For Choice » New Oklahoma abortion law being challenged.
Gay Marriage D.C.: Same-Sex Marriage Bill In Washington Seems Unstoppable
A bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the nation’s capital was introduced Tuesday, a measure that even opponents acknowledged seems almost unstoppable.
The bill was nearly certain to pass the D.C. city council, but whether it becomes law is more complicated because Congress gets an opportunity to review D.C. legislation before it takes effect. Still, even challengers in Congress acknowledged the bill was likely to become law.
The city began in July recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Congress had a chance to act on that legislation but didn’t.
U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah who said he would work to defeat the new bill, anticipates that will happen again with the proposal. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believed it was a matter for D.C. to decide.
Full Story: Gay Marriage D.C.: Same-Sex Marriage Bill In Washington Seems Unstoppable.
Stewart Pummels Obama For Not Repealing ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ (VIDEO)
Comedians have made no bones about their frustration with President Obama of late. Bill Maher, referring to the health care debate, pleaded with the president to
“stand up for the 70% of Americans who aren’t crazy.” SNL ran a skit Saturday saying Obama has done “nothing, nada” since taking office. And Jon Stewart has taken on the president for not staying on message, and failing to get a public option passed.
Stewart continued on this trend tonight, taking on Obama and his administration for not repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” despite many promises to do so on the campaign trail. The president and his team have said he still plans to do so, but that he has too much on his plate. Stewart’s response? “It’s f**king chow time, brother.”
WATCH:
Full Story: Stewart Pummels Obama For Not Repealing ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ (VIDEO).
D.C. Council to Introduce Bill Allowing Same-Sex Marriage
Measure Is Expected to Pass Congress, but Its Viability May Depend on Tilt of Future Chambers
Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill said it appears unlikely that Congress will block a bill to be introduced Tuesday that would allow same-sex marriages in the District.
D.C. Council leaders have vowed to expedite the bill and said they hope to put it to a final vote before Christmas. But even if same-sex couples start marrying next year, the long-term survival of the practice would be in doubt for years, depending on the makeup of the House and Senate, congressional officials said.
“I hate to say this, but I think this is going to be rough sledding,” said Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.). “I don’t think [conservatives] are going to give us a pass. . . . I don’t think we can always escape this issue coming to the floor.”
Full Story: D.C. Council to Introduce Bill Allowing Same-Sex Marriage – washingtonpost.com.
Texas Battle on Gay Marriage Looms
- NYTimes.com – A judge in Texas paved the way for a court battle over the state’s ban on same-sex marriage when she ruled this week that two men married in another state can get divorced in Dallas.
The state attorney general said Friday that he would appeal the decision, even as gay rights advocates applauded the judge, Tena Callahan of Family District Court, for declaring that the state’s four-year-old ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions violated the right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
The case highlights a subtle way gay men and lesbians often face complications when it comes to marriage: gay couples who have managed to marry in the few states where it is legal have trouble divorcing and dividing their property if they move to a state where it is not.
Full Story: Texas Battle on Gay Marriage Looms – NYTimes.com.
Military lawyer says Defense Department ignored calls for war crimes investigation
| Raw Story - The military lawyer that represents an Afghan youth who spent roughly seven years in U.S. custody says the Defense Department has repeatedly ignored his requests for a war crimes investigation into the detainee’s treatment.
Air Force Maj. David Frakt, the attorney for former detainee Mohammed Jawad, says over the past 16 months he sent multiple memos to Defense Department and military leaders asking them to account for what a military judge called “abusive conduct and cruel and inhuman treatment” of his client. Jawad, who was arrested when he says he was 12 years old for allegedly tossing a grenade at U.S. military, was moved from cell to cell 112 times during a 14-day period to disrupt his sleep patterns, according to military documents. Frakt said he believes the treatment constituted torture, violated the Geneva Convention, war crime laws and Defense Department regulations.
Full Story: Military lawyer says Defense Department ignored calls for war crimes investigation | Raw Story.
Poll: 92 percent of Iowans say legalizing same-sex marriage has had no impact on their lives.
Think Progress » Poll: 92 percent of Iowans say legalizing same-sex marriage has had no impact on their lives.
One of the most common arguments advocates use against marriage equality is that it will threaten the institution of traditional marriage. In April, Iowa’s Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage, which the far right decried as an undemocratic decision anathema to the views held by the majority of America. But a new Des Moines Register poll finds that despite the histrionics from conservatives, 92 percent of Iowans “say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives.” The poll also shows that residents are evenly split in their views toward same-sex marriage.
Full Story: Think Progress » Poll: 92 percent of Iowans say legalizing same-sex marriage has had no impact on their lives..
The Harding Affair: Evidence of Racism Rising
By JOHN W. DEAN
This is the first in a two-part series of columns on the Harding affair and letters.—Ed.
Typically, I have little interest in book reviews. But I am interested in the reviews that have greeted a new book for which I have written a foreword. The book was just published: The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War. It examines long-suppressed love letters written by no less than Warren G. Harding, our twenty-ninth president.
The analysis of the letters was written by an attorney friend of mine from Cleveland, James D. Robenalt, who — when not handling major litigation for his law firm, Thompson Hine LLC — is frequently thinking about or digging into Ohio history. As I’ve explained in the foreword, Jim obtained these extraordinary letters through unusual circumstances.
Harding wrote these letters a century ago to his long-time lover and mistress, Carrie Phillips. There are over one hundred letters, many deeply passionate and some remarkably explicit. This was a serious romance that lasted about fifteen years, beginning before Harding was elected to the U.S. Senate, and running until shortly before he was elected president in 1920. Some of his handwritten letters run forty pages in length. Collectively, they provide a new view and understanding of Harding – and, unless you are a committed prude, deeply hypocritical, or a racist, that new understanding is not for the worse.
Full Story: The Harding Affair: Evidence of Racism Rising.
Gay Rights on the Double: Bill to Repeal DOMA to Hit Capitol Just as Same-Sex Marriage to Be OK’d in Capital
BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Meg White
This weekend, gay-rights activists in our nation’s capital may be toasting a double to some of their elected representatives. As federal lawmakers gear up to try to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act in Washington, local lawmakers in D.C. are counting the ayes ahead of a vote on same-sex marriage. Rep. Nadler w/ HRC on DOMA repeal
The Washington Post reports today that the D.C. City Council will likely pass the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009″ shortly, a bill which would allow same-sex marriage as well as the transfer of domestic partnerships to district-sanctioned marriage by 2011. The votes are there; in fact the bill main sponsor, Councilman David Catania, says it may pass unanimously.
But because of the unique way in which D.C.’s local legislation is subject to approval by federal legislators, the likelihood of legal gay marriage in the district for the long term is far from assured. Congress has recently reaffirmed their control over the city in a craven move attaching an unpopular anti-gun control measure to a bill which would grant D.C. a full vote in the House.
Lawmakers to introduce legislation next week repealing DOMA.
Lawmakers to introduce legislation next week repealing DOMA.
Next week, Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler (NY), Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Jared Polis (CO) will be introducinglegislation to repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which “defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws.” From their press release sent out today:
Next Tuesday, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) will introduce legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law which discriminates against lawfully married same-sex couples.The legislators will be joined by married same-sex couples harmed by DOMA and many of the country’s premier LGBT and civil rights advocates in a press conference to announce the new bill, at 11:00am on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, at the House Triangle, near the southern steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
via Think Progress » Lawmakers to introduce legislation next week repealing DOMA..
Attorney General Plans Reshaping of Civil Rights Division
Justice Dept. to Recharge Enforcement of Civil Rights – - NYTimes.com
Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census.
As part of this shift, the Obama administration is planning a major revival of high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies, in areas ranging from housing to hiring, where statistics show that minorities fare disproportionately poorly. President George W. Bush’s appointees had discouraged such tactics, preferring to focus on individual cases in which there is evidence of intentional discrimination.
To bolster a unit that has been battered by heavy turnover and a scandal over politically tinged hiring under the Bush administration, the Obama White House has also proposed a hiring spree that would swell the ranks of several hundred civil rights lawyers with more than 50 additional lawyers, a significant increase for a relatively small but powerful division of the government.
via Attorney General Plans Reshaping of Civil Rights Division – NYTimes.com.
There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History
There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History – By Terrence McNally, AlterNet
One writer spent four years inside the world of modern-day slavery; an industry that produces huge profits and countless wasted lives.
The world suffers global recession, enormous inequity, hunger, deforestation, pollution, climate change, nuclear weapons, terrorism, etc. To those who say we’re not really making progress, many might point to the fact that at least we’ve eliminated slavery.
But sadly that is not the truth.
One hundred forty-three years after passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and 60 years after Article 4 of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights banned slavery and the slave trade worldwide, there are more slaves than at any time in human history — 27 million.
Today’s slavery focuses on big profits and cheap lives. It is not about owning people like before, but about using them as completely disposable tools for making money.
via There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet.
Utah Paper Rejects Same-Sex Wedding Announcement
The Spectrum: Utah Paper Rejects Same-Sex Wedding Announcement
SALT LAKE CITY — A southern Utah newspaper has rejected a gay California couple’s wedding announcement, saying its policy is to publish announcements only for marriages legal under Utah law.
The Spectrum in St. George initially accepted a paid wedding announcement for Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones last week, but then changed course, Jones said. The San Francisco couple were legally married June 17, 2008. They wanted the announcement printed in Jones’ hometown paper ahead of a family party next week.
via The Spectrum: Utah Paper Rejects Same-Sex Wedding Announcement.
Philadelphia workers file racial discrimination case
Philadelphia workers file racial discrimination case - - CNN.com
(CNN) — Black employees at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, waste transfer plant were harassed, humiliated and discriminated against by their supervisor for decades, says an attorney representing two workers who filed a complaint against the city.
Among the allegations in the complaint is that for decades, John Gill, the Northwest Transfer Station’s superintendent, limited one restroom to whites only, said the attorney, Howard K. Trubman. The restroom — which he called the “supervisors’ bathroom” — was supposedly for the sole use of upper-level officials with the city’s Streets Department, Trubman said.
As far back as 1996, it became apparent to black employees that they were being slighted, said Trubman. They would watch white co-workers walk into the segregated bathroom, conveniently located one floor above Gill’s office.
“If you tried to use the bathroom, you might get suspended,” said Leslie Young, a former worker at the facility. Young, along with Gibson Trowery, who still works at the station, filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in October 2007.
via Philadelphia workers file racial discrimination case – CNN.com.
Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. speaks out on racial profiling after his arrest by Cambridge police.
Skip Gates Speaks
The Root Editor-in-Chief Henry Louis Gates Jr. talks about his arrest and the outrage of racial profiling in America.
I’m saying ‘You need to send someone to fix my lock.’ All of a sudden, there was a policeman on my porch. And I thought, ‘This is strange.’ So I went over to the front porch still holding the phone, and I said ‘Officer, can I help you?’ And he said, ‘Would you step outside onto the porch.’ And the way he said it, I knew he wasn’t canvassing for the police benevolent association. All the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, and I realized that I was in danger. And I said to him no, out of instinct. I said, ‘No, I will not.
via Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. speaks out on racial profiling after his arrest by Cambridge police..
Swim club accused of discrimination sics cops on media
Swim club accused of discrimination sics cops on media
A swimming club in suburban Philadelphia called the police on a Fox television crew attempting to report on allegations the club had rejected inner-city children because of the color of their skin.
More than 60 children enrolled in day-care in the basement of a Northeast Philadelphia elementary school were told to pack up and not return, after the Valley Swim Club in Montgomery County accused them of changing the “complexion” and “atmosphere” of the club.
Most of the children enrolled in the day care are black or Hispanic.
When Fox’s Philadelphia affiliate showed up at the club, “we were ordered off, we were told it’s a private club and we’re not welcome,” Fox reporter Claudia Gomez said.
The Valley Club’s president, John Duesler, said in a statement: “There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”
One day-care attendee told the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia that he had overheard parents at the club complaining about the new children’s race.
via Raw Story » Swim club accused of discrimination sics cops on media.
Sessions Uses Sotomayor Nomination To Continue His Lifelong Crusade Against Civil Rights
Sessions Uses Sotomayor Nomination To Continue His Lifelong Crusade Against Civil Rights
Conservatives have chosen a strange leader to spearhead their charge against Judge Sotomayor — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). With only days remaining until Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings begin, Sessions has focused his attacks on Sotomayor’s past service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), a leading civil rights organization that Sessions calls “extreme” because it “brought several race discrimination lawsuits for minorities” while Sotomayor sat on its board.
Setting aside the facial absurdity of this attack — race discrimination is illegal, a fact which apparently also bothers Sessions — it’s puzzling that conservatives would let Sessions be their public face of opposition against the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court, especially in light of his own checkered history with race.
In 1986, Sessions’ nomination to the federal bench was rejected by the Senate because of Sessions’ deep-seated hostility to the very notion of civil rights. In comments that are strikingly similar to his recent attacks on PRLDEF, Sessions attacked the NAACP as an “un-American” and “Communist-inspired” organization that “forced civil rights down the throats of people.” When confronted about these statements at his confirmation hearing, Sessions reluctantly conceded that they “probably w[ere] wrong.” Watch:
Gay marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney
Gay marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The attorney representing two same-sex couples who were denied a right to wed in California said on Thursday he expected the case to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to hear a case on the gay marriage issue.
“When it does get to the United States Supreme Court, we expect to win,” Theodore Olson, who was solicitor general under former President George W. Bush, told reporters after the first hearing on federal lawsuit that was filed in May.
A high court ruling potentially could trump state laws prohibiting same-sex unions. Five out of 50 U.S. states have legalized gay marriage, which opponents view as a threat to what they view as the traditional family.
via Gay marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney | U.S. | Reuters.
Wilkerson says DADT ‘should be repealed’ immediately.
Wilkerson says DADT ‘should be repealed’ immediately.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.), former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, appeared on the XM/Sirius radio show “Stand Up! With Pete Dominick” today and stated forcefully that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy barring gay men and women from serving openly in the military “should be repealed”:
DOMINICK: You’re a 31 year veteran of the military, Army, like I’ve said, you served in Vietnam. What’s your opinion of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy currently in place? Should it be repealed or should it remain in place?
WILKERSON: Let me say just right off the bat, it should be repealed. Gays should be able to serve – gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the American armed forces just like anyone else does. [...]
DOMINICK: It should be repealed immediately.
WILKERSON: Yep.
Listen here:
via Think Progress » Wilkerson says DADT ‘should be repealed’ immediately..
Dodd comes out in support of marriage equality.
Dodd comes out in support of marriage equality.
Yesterday, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) wrote an op-ed in the The Meriden Record-Journal announcing that he had shifted his position on gay marriage. He now supports full marriage equality:
Public officials aren’t supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it’s important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community from across the state, I had the opportunity to tell them what I’ve learned about marriage, and about equality.
While I’ve long been for extending every benefit of marriage to same-sex couples, I have in the past drawn a distinction between a marriage-like status (“civil unions”) and full marriage rights.
I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same-sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter-racial marriage. And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history.
via Think Progress » Dodd comes out in support of marriage equality..
Court finds convicts have no right to test DNA
OPS: Otherwise you can’t keep the Privatized Prison Corporations in business.
Court finds convicts have no right to test DNA
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime.
The decision may have limited impact because the federal government and 47 states already have laws that allow convicts some access to genetic evidence. Testing has led to the exoneration of at least 232 people who had been found guilty of murder, rape and other violent crimes.
The court ruled 5-4 Thursday against an Alaska man who was convicted in a brutal attack on a prostitute 16 years ago.
via The Associated Press: Court finds convicts have no right to test DNA.
Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’
Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’ – BostonHerald.com
Fuming over anti-gay wed filing
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, one of the nation’s leading gay rights champions, blasted President Obama yesterday over a controversial anti-gay marriage court filing and is calling on the commander in chief to explain himself.
“I think the administration made a big mistake. The wording they used was inappropriate,” Frank (D-Newton) said of a brief filed by Obama’s Department of Justice that supported the Defense of Marriage Act.
The DOJ brief, which has touched off a firestorm of anger in the gay community, argued that states should not have to recognize same-sex marriages from other states, just as states don’t have to recognize incestuous marriages or unions involving underage girls.
via Barney Frank rips prez’s ‘big mistake’ – BostonHerald.com.
Georgia court ban on ‘exposing’ children to ‘homosexuals’ axed by state Supreme Court.
Georgia court ban on ‘exposing’ children to ‘homosexuals’ axed by state Supreme Court.
In 2007, Eric and Sandy Ehlers Mongerson divorced, and a Georgia trial judge awarded custody of their four children to Sandy and visitation rights to Eric. Inexplicably, the judge also held that Eric was “prohibited from exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.” Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously threw out the trial judge’s ban:
There is no evidence in the record before us that any member of the excluded community has engaged in inappropriate conduct in the presence of the children or that the children would be adversely affected by exposure to any member of that community. The prohibition against contact with any gay or lesbian person acquainted with Husband assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact. Such an arbitrary classification based on sexual orientation flies in the face of our public policy that encourages divorced parents to participate in the raising of their children…and constitutes an abuse of discretion.
Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners.
Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners.
Right now, the committed partners of gay employees in the federal government are excluded from receiving benefits afforded to spouses. This evening, the White House said that Obama will be making an announcement on this subject tomorrow, and media reports are saying he will extend benefits to same-sex partners of some of these employees. From the White House daily schedule:
In the evening, the President will deliver brief remarks and sign a Presidential Memorandum regarding federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office.
via Think Progress » Obama to extend benefits to some federal employees’ same-sex partners..
NYC officials duped into approving first gay marriage
NYC officials duped into approving first gay marriage
New York City’s marriage-licensing officials were either asleep at the switch or chose to make a profound political statement when they granted a marriage licence late last month to two men.
In a New York Post exclusive, “Hakim Nelson and Jason Stenson married on May 26 with nary a raised eyebrow among the oblivious city bureaucrats who not only OK’d the marriage license, but conducted the ceremony, despite gay marriage being illegal in the state.”
The Post notes that one half of the blissfully married duo arrived for their wedding ceremony in a dress, which was perhaps enough to fool city officials.
“Is our system 100 percent foolproof? What system is? We do the best job we can,” an unnamed source told the tabloid. ”If someone is trying to willfully sneak through, we try to stop it. But you have instances of females [who] have male names and vice versa. You’ve heard of a boy named Sue, right?”
via Raw Story » NYC officials duped into approving first gay marriage.
Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.
Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.
Joe and I have been trying since last night to get a copy of the government’s brief just filed in this case. This is not the GLAD case that we’ve written about previously, it’s another in California.
We just got the brief from reader Lavi Soloway. It’s pretty despicable, and gratuitously homophobic. It reads as if it were written by one of George Bush’s top political appointees. I cannot state strongly enough how damaging this brief is to us. Obama didn’t just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn’t motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn’t be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other cases and battles). He argued that DOMA doesn’t discriminate against us because it also discriminates about straight unmarried couples (ignoring the fact that they can get married and we can’t).
He actually argued that the courts shouldn’t consider Loving v. Virginia, the miscegenation case in which the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban interracial marriages, when looking at gay civil rights cases. He told the court, in essence, that blacks deserve more civil rights than gays, that our civil rights are not on the same level.
Supreme Court turns away constitutional challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Supreme Court turns away constitutional challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
The Supreme Court announced today that it would not hear a constitutional challenge to the government’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which bans gays from serving openly in the military. The case, Pietrangelo v. Gates, “stemmed from a lawsuit by 12 former service members who were discharged” under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A “federal appeals court in Boston threw out the suit,” but James E. Pietrangelo II, one of the 12 who filed the suit, “asked the Supreme Court to hear arguments in the case. Most of the rest of the group joined a brief asking the justices to defer reviewing the policy while the administration and lawmakers revisit it.” Reacting to the decision, Joe Sudbay at AmericaBlog writes, “It’s time for Obama to step up.” Yglesias adds, “if you’re upset about the status quo, don’t just get upset at the White House, get upset at your House member and your Senators too. Given an adequate volume of complaining, people will do the right thing here, but it’s obvious that there’s a kind of vague preference to just let this slide.”
via Think Progress » Supreme Court turns away constitutional challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell..
New Hampshire Legislature Approves Gay Marriage
New Hampshire Legislature Approves Gay Marriage – NYTimes.com
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire legislators have approved a measure that would make the state the sixth to allow gay marriage.
Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign the legislation Wednesday afternoon.
He had promised a veto if the law didn’t clearly spell out that churches and religious groups would not be forced to officiate at gay marriages or provide other services.
The Senate passed the measure Wednesday, and the House followed later in the day. The House vote was 198-176.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa already allow gay marriage. Maine opponents hope to overturn that state’s law with a public vote.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
via New Hampshire Legislature Approves Gay Marriage – NYTimes.com.
Cheney on same-sex marriage: ‘People ought to be free to enter into any kind of union.’
OPS: Oh Dick…..
Cheney on same-sex marriage: ‘People ought to be free to enter into any kind of union.’
At the National Press Club today, former Vice President Dick Cheney gave some of his strongest comments yet in favor of same-sex marriage. Asked if “some form of legalized marriage” was “inevitable in the United States,” Cheney said that “freedom means freedom for everyone.” “I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish,” said Cheney, adding that believes marriage should be regulated at the state level. Watch it:
Cheney Offers Support For Gay Marriage
Cheney Offers Support For Gay Marriage
Dick Cheney rarely takes a position that places him at a more progressive tilt than President Obama. But on Monday, the former vice president did just that, saying that he supports gay marriage as long as it is deemed legal by state and not federal government.
Speaking at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards, Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action in Iowa and elsewhere that allowed for gay couples to legally wed.
“I think that freedom means freedom for everyone,” replied the former V.P. “As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don’t support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. … But I don’t have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that.”
via Cheney Offers Support For Gay Marriage.
The Olson/Boies Challenge to California’s Proposition 8: A High-Risk Effort
The Olson/Boies Challenge to California’s Proposition 8: A High-Risk Effort 
By JOHN W. DEAN
This week, famously, the California Supreme Court issued its decision, Strauss v. Horton, upholding Proposition 8, the voter-adopted prohibition against same-sex marriages. Within twenty-four hours, former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and celebrated trial attorney David Boies had together filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn this controversial provision of the California Constitution.
Olson and Boies are best known for their roles in Bush v. Gore. In their challenge to Proposition 8, Olson, the conservative, and Boies, the progressive, represent two California couples who are precluded from marrying in light of Proposition 8′s changes to California law.
Clearly, with the high-profile Olson and Boies in charge, this is a carefully- considered move in taking same-sex marriage to federal court. However, for many good reasons, some in the Gay and Lesbian community, and some of the attorneys who have been toiling in this field for many years, are concerned about their action. It is an aggressive undertaking that could end marriage discrimination against gays, but it could also backfire, and set back efforts that have been proceeding state by state, with considerable success, over the past decade.
Allow me to broadly sketch the situation and the potential problems it raises.
via The Olson/Boies Challenge to California’s Proposition 8: A High-Risk Effort.
Ted Olson to team up with Bush v. Gore foe to challenge Prop. 8 in federal court.
Ted Olson to team up with Bush v. Gore foe to challenge Prop. 8 in federal court.
Former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, who argued opposite each other in Bush v. Gore, are now teaming up to “represent two same-sex couples filing suit after being denied marriage licenses because of Proposition 8. Their suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court in California, calls for an injunction against the proposition, allowing immediate reinstatement of marriage rights for same-sex couples.” The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is leading the case, notes that it is the first time that Olson and Boies have “served alongside each other as co-counsel.” “For a long time I’ve personally felt that we are doing a grave injustice for people throughout this country by denying equality to gay and lesbian individuals,” Olson told The Advocate in an interview. A copy of the 10-page complaint is here.
UpdateIn an interview with the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, a conservative, Olson pushed back hard against the argument that if he succeeded, he would be overturning “the legitimately expressed will of the people”:
via Think Progress » Ted Olson to team up with Bush v. Gore foe to challenge Prop. 8 in federal court..
California Upholds Gay Marriage Ban
California Upholds Gay Marriage Ban | CommonDreams.org
But 18,000 Same-Sex Couples Who Married Before Prop 8 Can Retain Rights
The California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8 — the controversial ballot question that banned same-sex marriage.
At the same time, the ruling will allow about 18,000 same-sex couples already married, to retain the rights they attained during the brief six-month period that gay marriage was legal in the state.
“There it goes,” said Jim Schnobrich, who married his partner of 27 years in Pasadena, Calif., last September. “We have to keep going.”
Still, the couple, who have two children, aged 12 and 16, said that they are now in a “weird class,” as the ruling preserved their 8-month-old same sex-marriage.
“That’s good news, but the bigger thing is that now we have this weird status that other people can’t have. There is this kind of equality situation where people are maybe thinking we aren’t really married.”
via California Upholds Gay Marriage Ban | CommonDreams.org.
Gay U.S. diplomats to be given equal benefits
Gay U.S. diplomats to be given equal benefits
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon announce that gay American diplomats will be given benefits similar to those that their heterosexual counterparts enjoy, U.S. officials said Saturday.
In a notice to be sent to State Department employees, Clinton says regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families the benefits that straight diplomats received are “unfair and must end,” as they harm U.S. diplomacy.
“Providing training, medical care and other benefits to domestic partners promote the cohesiveness, safety and effectiveness of our posts abroad,” she says in the message, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
“It will also help the department attract and retain personnel in a competitive environment where domestic partner benefits and allowances are increasingly the norm for world-class employers,” she says.
via Gay U.S. diplomats to be given equal benefits.
Rep. Berman: State Dept. will establish benefits for same-sex diplomats in the ‘very near future.’
Rep. Berman: State Dept. will establish benefits for same-sex diplomats in the ‘very near future.’
Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced the two-year Foreign Relations Authorization Act. One of the provisions of the legislation was to “end the long-standing practice of excluding the committed partners of Foreign Service officers from the benefits routinely provided to the spouses and children of officers serving abroad.” However, today Berman announced that he was dropping that provision because the State Department has promised to act instead:
Berman, in a hearing on funding for the Foreign Service, said he would drop his legislative bid as “it is my expectation, based on very recent conversations, that the Secretary of State will move forward with implementing all of the benefits provided in that provision in the very near future.”
The ranking Republican member on the committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), supported the benefits. But Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) was opposed, worried that the bill would force U.S. diplomats to “be advocates for the homosexual agenda.” A poll earlier this year found that 71 percent of foreign service officers support “official recognition and benefits for same-sex domestic partners of Foreign Service members.”
Supreme Court Votes Against Redressing Gender Discrimination In The Workplace
Supreme Court Votes Against Redressing Gender Discrimination In The Workplace
It used to be legal to discriminate against pregnant women in the workplace. If a woman took maternity leave, that time wouldn’t count toward her retirement benefits. The 1979 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) changed all that: “If an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job because of her pregnancy, the employer must treat her the same as any other temporarily disabled employee.”
But what happens to women who took maternity leave before 1979? The 9th Circuit ruled in 2007 that the new law should apply to these women. However, today the Supreme Court voted to overturn the 9th Circuit’s ruling.
AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen, involved four women who worked at AT&T and took maternity leave prior to 1979. They said that each reduced retirement check they receive is “a fresh act of discrimination.” A seven-member majority on the Supreme Court, however, agreed with AT&T: Because Congress did not make the PDA retroactive, the company had no obligation to pay the women for past discrimination.
via Think Progress » Supreme Court Votes Against Redressing Gender Discrimination In The Workplace.
The NYT sums up Obama’s civil liberties record in one paragraph
The NYT sums up Obama’s civil liberties record in one paragraph – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com
Among progressives, Democrats, liberals, Obama supporters and the like, there seems to be some debate about the extent to which Obama deserves criticisms for what he has done thus far in the realm of civil liberties, restoration of Constitutional principles, and reversing the severe imbalance between “security” and liberties — major planks of his two-year-long campaign and among the most frequent weapons used to criticize the Bush presidency. On that topic, here is the first paragraph of this New York Times article this morning by David Sanger, summing everything up:
President Obama’s decisions this week to retain important elements of the Bush-era system for trying terrorism suspects and to block the release of pictures showing abuse of American-held prisoners abroad are the most graphic examples yet of how he has backtracked, in substantial if often nuanced ways, from the approach to national security that he preached as a candidate, and even from his first days in the Oval Office.
Here’s how the NYT describes the article on its front page:
via The NYT sums up Obama’s civil liberties record in one paragraph – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com.
Wisconsin Supreme Court to review gay marriage ban
Wisconsin Supreme Court to review gay marriage ban
Decision may affect 2006 referendum approved by voters
MADISON — The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide whether the state’s 2006 ban on gay marriage was properly put to voters.
The court will review a challenge by political science instructor William McConkey, who claims the referendum on the constitutional amendment illegally put two issues to voters at the same time: whether to ban gay marriage and whether to outlaw civil unions.
via Wisconsin Supreme Court to review gay marriage ban | thenorthwestern.com | Oshkosh Northwestern.
S.C. bill on teen dating violence removes reference to gays
S.C. bill on teen dating violence removes reference to gays
COLUMBIA, S.C. — State House lawmakers have given key approval to a new teen dating violence policy that excludes references to gay relationships.
In a 75 to 25 vote today, the House approved a bill that will require the state’s school districts to distribute information to parents and students about the dangers of abusive teen relationships. Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, included an amendment that all written materials reference heterosexual relationships only. After one more perfunctory vote, the bill heads to the Senate.
Bill sponsor Rep. Joan Brady, R-Richland, said she’s fine with the amendment to her bill because most dating violence occurs in girl-boy relationships. Gay rights advocates have disagreed and said same-sex couples should be included.
via S.C. bill on teen dating violence removes reference to gays | McClatchy.
NH governor threatens to veto same-sex marriage bill without additional protections for religious groups.
NH governor threatens to veto same-sex marriage bill without additional protections for religious groups.
Earlier this month, the New Hampshire House agreed to changes made by the state Senate to a same-sex marriage bill, sending the bill to Gov. John Lynch. But Lynch announced today that he would veto the bill “if it does not change before it gets to his desk.” Concerned about those who have religious objections to same-sex marriage, Lynch suggested changes that he would accept:
“This morning, I met with House and Senate leaders, and the sponsors of this legislation, and gave them language that will provide additional protections to religious institutions.
“This new language will provide the strongest and clearest protections for religious institutions and associations, and for the individuals working with such institutions. It will make clear that they cannot be forced to act in ways that violate their deeply held religious principles.
Southern lawmakers move to place new restrictions on voting
Southern lawmakers move to place new restrictions on voting
That didn’t take long. Just months after a big election year that saw big turnout across the South, many state legislatures in the region are moving to pass an array of laws that create new barriers to voting, mostly in the name of combating “voter fraud.”
At the top of the list is Georgia — a site of election controversy last November — where on May 5, Gov. Sonny Perdue ® signed a law requiring prospective voters to prove their citizenship. Since Georgia is covered by the Voting Rights Act, the bill will need to be pre-cleared by the Obama Justice Department; if it does, the law will go into effect in 2010.
The debate echoed a similar controversy that Facing South reported on last fall, where Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel “flagged” thousands of voters suspected of being non-citizens, even encouraging Georgia citizens to challenge the citizenship of fellow voters.
This time, the debate is just heated, as the AP reports:
via ISS – Southern lawmakers move to place new restrictions on voting.
Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I’d Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called ‘Boy’
OPS: I guess it ain’t over, till it’s over.
Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I’d Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called ‘Boy’
When it became clear that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was poised to become ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, we recalled this 2002 article by Sarah Wildman which addresses some of the controversies that kept Sessions from being confirmed in 1986 as a U.S. District Court judge in Alabama.
Wildman writes in particular that the testimonies of two witnesses–a Justice Department employee named J. Gerald Hebert, and a black Sessions subordinate named Thomas Figures–helped to doom Sessions, then a U.S. Attorney, at his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings. According to Wildman, Hebert testified reluctantly “that in a conversation between the two men Sessions had labeled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” And Figures–then an assistant U.S. Attorney–told the committee that “during a 1981 murder investigation involving the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions was heard by several colleagues commenting that he ‘used to think they [the Klan] were OK’ until he found out some of them were ‘pot smokers.’”
Today we obtained a copy of the transcript of the Sessions hearings–over 500-pages worth–and it turns out there’s quite a bit more. We’re still going through it, of course, but the Figures testimony alone contains some damning details.
via Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I’d Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called ‘Boy’ | TPMDC.
Maine Legalizes Same Sex Marriage
May 6, 2009
AUGUSTA – Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.
“I have followed closely the debate on this issue. I have listened to both sides, as they have presented their arguments during the public hearing and on the floor of the Maine Senate and the House of Representatives. I have read many of the notes and letters sent to my office, and I have weighed my decision carefully,” Governor Baldacci said. “I did not come to this decision lightly or in haste.”
“I appreciate the tone brought to this debate by both sides of the issue,” Governor Baldacci said. “This is an emotional issue that touches deeply many of our most important ideals and traditions. There are good, earnest and honest people on both sides of the question.”
“In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Governor Baldacci said. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.”
“Article I in the Maine Constitution states that ‘no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.’”
“This new law does not force any religion to recognize a marriage that falls outside of its beliefs. It does not require the church to perform any ceremony with which it disagrees. Instead, it reaffirms the separation of Church and State,” Governor Baldacci said.
“It guarantees that Maine citizens will be treated equally under Maine’s civil marriage laws, and that is the responsibility of government.”
“Even as I sign this important legislation into law, I recognize that this may not be the final word,” Governor Baldacci said. “Just as the Maine Constitution demands that all people are treated equally under the law, it also guarantees that the ultimate political power in the State belongs to the people.”
“While the good and just people of Maine may determine this issue, my responsibility is to uphold the Constitution and do, as best as possible, what is right. I believe that signing this legislation is the right thing to do,” Governor Baldacci said.
via Maine.gov: Office of the Governor: News & Events: News Releases.
Maine takes step toward approving gay marriage
Maine takes step toward approving gay marriage
BOSTON (Reuters) – The lower house of the Maine state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday that takes the northeasternmost U.S. state a step closer to being the fifth in the nation to allow same-sex marriage.
Maine’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted 89 to 57 to enact the proposal.
The bill now returns to the state Senate, which has previously approved it. If it passes there it will be brought to the governor for his signature.
Governor John Baldacci once opposed gay marriage but in April said he is keeping an open mind on the issue.
“Marriage is not just a bundle of rights, but is dignity and respect; it is full and equal citizenship; it represents a future of hope for gay and lesbian youth,” said Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which has been lobbying for approval of same-sex marriage across the New England region. “We are hopeful that Governor Baldacci is hearing this, too.”
via Maine takes step toward approving gay marriage | U.S. | Reuters.
White House Eliminated Pledge To Repeal Defense Of Marriage Act From Website
White House Eliminated Pledge To Repeal Defense Of Marriage Act From Website
After ThinkProgress and other outlets noted last week’s changes to the Civil Rights page on whitehouse.gov, watering down language on the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” Tips-Q noted that the website also has completely eliminated the portion objecting to the Defense of Marriage Act. As late as April 28, the website highlighted President Obama’s commitment to “repealing” DOMA, as a cached image shows:
civil-rightsscreen1
Today, the website states only that Obama supports full “federal rights for LGBT couples”:
via Think Progress » White House Eliminated Pledge To Repeal Defense Of Marriage Act From Website.
White House reinserts commitment to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on website.
White House reinserts commitment to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on website.
On Friday, the White House website replaced its commitment to “repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” with a commitment to simply “changing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way.” John Aravosis said that the change appeared to be “a backward step from a clear campaign promise” and looked to be the latest in increasingly vague promises from the Obama administration on its plans regarding DADT. But as Pro Publica notes, the White House has now “reinserted language saying President Obama supports the ‘repeal’ of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The new phrasing: ‘He supports repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and national security.’”
via Think Progress » White House reinserts commitment to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell on website..
Court lets private schools expel lesbians
Court lets private schools expel lesbians
The state Supreme Court left intact Wednesday a lower-court ruling that said a private religious high school wasn’t covered by California civil rights law and could expel students it believed were lesbians.
Over Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar’s dissent, the court denied review of an appeal by parents of two girls who were expelled from a high school in Riverside County. A lawyer for the parents said the ruling, which is binding on trial courts statewide, would allow private schools to discriminate against students on any basis they chose, including sex and religion.
The girls were juniors at California Lutheran High School in the town of Wildomar when the principal, Gregory Bork, called them to his office in September 2005 and questioned them separately about their sexual orientation, after another student reported postings on their MySpace pages.
via Court lets private schools expel lesbians.
Fleischer: ‘I’ll be proud to testify if I get a subpoena.’
OPS: Are ya feelin lucky, punk? Well, are ya?
Fleischer: ‘I’ll be proud to testify if I get a subpoena.’
Today during a panel discussion for the IFC Media Project, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer argued forcefully against launching an in-depth investigation of the Bush administration’s torture program. However, he said that if it does happen, he’s ready for them to bring it on:
He argued that neither Congress nor anyone else is up to the task, and that any investigation would “lead to acrimony and blame-gaming” and “devolve into the worst type of partisanship.” While noting that “no one likes to get a subpoena,” Fleischer said, “I’ll be proud to testify if I get a subpoena. I’m proud of what we did to protect this country.” Those wanting to see Fleischer—or at least some of his former colleagues—on the witness stand include his fellow panelists Noonan, who called for a 9/11 Commission-style investigation, and Tina Brown, who quoted Senator Patrick Leahy’s contention that “before you can turn a page, you want to read it.” When moderator (and Media Project host) Gideon Yago brought up the idea of a special prosecutor, Fleischer sternly pointed out that “that assumes a crime has been committed.”
via Think Progress » Fleischer: ‘I’ll be proud to testify if I get a subpoena.’.
Flyer: All prom dates must be of opposite sex
Flyer: All prom dates must be of opposite sex
Reversed after outrage
This via Detroit News columnist Deb Pryce:
A flyer announcing this year’s prom at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., stated upfront what at many schools is usually a far more subtle message to gay students: “All dates must be of the opposite sex.”
The flyer, posted around the school, fortunately caught the eye of Brittany Crowell, a heterosexual senior who, thanks to her volunteer work at the American Civil Liberties Union, knows the rights of her gay friends.
The 17-year-old took one of the flyers to the ACLU, which wrote to the principal and district superintendent to explain that banning same-sex dates from the prom would violate the court-recognized constitutional rights of gay students.
Two days later, Brittany spotted a “revised announcement” on bulletin boards: Gone were all four references to allowing only dates of the opposite sex. (School officials declined my repeated requests for comment.)
via Raw Story » Flyer: All prom dates must be of opposite sex.
GOP Hysterical Over Hate Crimes Bill Because It Would Protect Gay People
GOP Hysterical Over Hate Crimes Bill Because It Would Protect Gay People
The House is scheduled to vote today on the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The bill, also called the Matthew Shepard Act, would “permit greater federal involvement in investigating hate crimes and expand the federal definition of such crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.” Yesterday, President Obama urged Congress “to act on this important civil rights issue,” and pass the bill. Indeed, in 2007, the most recent year for which statics are available, there were 7,621 single-bias hate crimes that involved 8,999 offenses, more than 50 percent of which were racially-motivated.
The right wing, unsurprisingly, is up in arms over extending protection to victims of anti-gay crimes. Led by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), House Republicans took to the floor last night to warn that the bill would impose “tyranny,” create a “Big Brother” government, and end religious freedom:
via Think Progress » GOP Hysterical Over Hate Crimes Bill Because It Would Protect Gay People.
Obama Administration Produces First List Of Human Rights Commitments
Obama Administration Produces First List Of Human Rights Commitments
ACLU Calls On Government To Add Missing Key Provisions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – The U.S. State Department today released its “Human Rights Commitments and Pledges of the United States of America” as part of the government’s efforts to secure a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. While President Obama’s decision to join the Council was the right one, the administration’s first list of human rights commitments leaves out several key issues.
The following can be attributed to Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program:
“While we welcome the Obama administration’s commitment to upholding human rights at home and abroad, we are concerned that the first detailed list of human rights commitments to come from the new administration leaves out several key issues. In order to fully restore its position as a leader on human rights around the world, the U.S. must pledge to promote fair trial standards, end torture and arbitrary and indefinite detention and hold government officials accountable for violating U.S. and international human rights laws. The new administration has already taken steps to break with the Bush administration’s disastrous human rights policies but there is still much more to do, including the domestic implementation of human rights commitments and the creation of effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.”
The full list of commitments and pledges is online at: www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/04/122271.htm
Miss California Could Sue for Discrimination, Legal Analyst Says
Miss California Could Sue for Discrimination, Legal Analyst Says
Miss California Carrie Prejean, blasted by a Miss USA contest judge because she opposes gay marriage, may have grounds for a discrimination lawsuit herself — against the Miss USA pageant, a legal analyst says.
“If she really feels some tremendous stress as a result of losing — and I’m certain she’s probably devastated from what happened to her — she can articulate a viable claim for monetary compensation for psychic injury,” said FOX News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin.
Prejean fielded a question during Sunday night’s pageant from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about whether every state should legalize same-sex marriage. Prejean replied that she is opposed to gay marriage, and her answer may have cost her the crown. She finished second to Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton.
“She lost it because of that question,” Hilton said Monday. “She was definitely the front-runner before that.”
Bloomberg On Same-Sex Marriage: ‘Rudy Has A Right To His Views,’ But I Totally Disagree With Them
Bloomberg On Same-Sex Marriage: ‘Rudy Has A Right To His Views,’ But I Totally Disagree With Them
In a New York Post interview published yesterday, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani sharply criticized the push to legalize same-sex marriage in New York state:
“This will create a grass-roots movement. This is the kind of issue that, in many ways, is somewhat beyond politics,” said Giuliani, a two-term mayor who unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination last year. [...]
“Marriage, I believe, both traditionally and legally, has always been between a man and a woman and should remain between a man and woman,” said Giuliani, who has been married three times.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood by Paterson’s side when the governor made his announcement about the marriage equality legislation on April 16. Today, ThinkProgress sat down with the mayor and asked him to respond to his predecessor’s comments:
High Court Poised To Closely Weigh Civil Rights Laws
High Court Poised To Closely Weigh Civil Rights Laws
Cases Heard as Nation Debates Race
The Supreme Court has an opportunity to reaffirm or reshape the nation’s civil rights laws as it faces a rare confluence of cases over the next two weeks, including a high-profile challenge brought by white firefighters who claim they lost out on promotions because of the “color of their skin.”
The cases also touch on the Voting Rights Act, the need to provide English classes for immigrant children and, more tangentially, discriminatory mortgage lending.
The most emotionally charged case is from the New Haven, Conn., firefighters, whose complaints define the real-life quandary that sometimes accompanies government efforts to ensure racial equality.
The firefighters accuse city officials of violating civil rights laws and the Constitution by throwing out a promotions test on which they performed well but no blacks scored high enough to be eligible. The city responds that relying on test results with such wide racial discrepancies could have violated federal law and left them open to being sued by minorities.
via High Court Poised To Closely Weigh Civil Rights Laws – washingtonpost.com.
Report Card on Civil Liberties
Report Card on Civil Liberties
Obama pledged to reject the Bush administration’s fast-and-loose adherence to constitutional rights. How is he doing?
During his inauguration speech, President Barack Obama declared, “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” These were words many Americans who voted for Obama longed to hear — an acknowledgement that American security could not be purchased by shredding the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
In these first few months, the Obama administration has taken a number of positions on issues relating to civil liberties and the fight against terrorism. Below, we look at how the administration has handled its commitment to reversing the policies of the previous administration.
via Report Card on Civil Liberties | The American Prospect.
Gov. Paterson unveils same-sex marriage bill: ‘It’s time to take a stand.’
Gov. Paterson unveils same-sex marriage bill: ‘It’s time to take a stand.’
Declaring that “it’s time to take a stand,” New York Gov. David Paterson today announced a bill to legalize gay marriage. “We come to this debate with the wind at our back,” Paterson said. “The events in Connecticut and Massachusetts, the decisions in Iowa and in Vermont, give us the feeling that we can be effective.” He emphasized that 1,300-1,400 rights would be granted to individuals that don’t exist in the case of civil unions. “Rights should not be stifled by fear,” he said. “What we should understand is that silence should not be a response to injustice.” Watch it:
via Think Progress » Gov. Paterson unveils same-sex marriage bill: ‘It’s time to take a stand.’.
Warren waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders
Warren waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders
Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren’s apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California’s Proposition 8.
Mr. Warren told CNN’s Larry King on Monday that he “never once even gave an endorsement” of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman. The measure won at the polls last November by a close margin, in effect negating an earlier California Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages.
Proponents of the proposition had gathered from earlier comments that Mr. Warren stood with them on the issue, and they reacted vigorously to his CNN interview.
“I was extremely troubled by the way he appeared to be so anxious to distance himself from the same-sex issue and to make clear he was not an ‘activist’ and that he’d only addressed the issue in a very minor way,” said the Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
via Warren waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders – Washington Times.
Gov. Paterson to introduce marriage equality legislation in New York.
Gov. Paterson to introduce marriage equality legislation in New York.
New York Gov. David Paterson (D) today said that he plans to re-introduce legislation making same-sex marriage legal in the state. “We’ll put a bill out and let the people decide one way or the other,” Paterson told WHCU-AM in Ithaca. In 2007, then-governor Eliot Spitzer introduced similar legislation, but it stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. The state Senate is now controlled by Democrats but “still appears a few votes shy from having the 32 votes needed for passage.” New York state currently recognizes same-sex marriages performed legally in other states.
via Think Progress » Gov. Paterson to introduce marriage equality legislation in New York..
D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Gay Marriages Performed in Other States
D.C. Council Votes To Recognize Gay Nuptials Elsewhere
Decision Comes as Vermont Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
The D.C. Council unanimously voted yesterday to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere, joining a growing number of states to loosen restrictions on the unions.
The District’s actions came the same day as Vermont became the fourth state to recognize same-sex marriages and a week after the Iowa Supreme Court legalized such unions. The moves generated a sense of momentum and hope among gay activists and anger among some religious and conservative groups.
via D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Gay Marriages Performed in Other States – washingtonpost.com.
Vermont legalizes gay marriage with veto override
Vermont legalizes gay marriage with veto override
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature’s vote.
The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.
The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.
It’s now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
via The Associated Press: Vermont legalizes gay marriage with veto override.
Right to a Decent Job Is a Principal Civil Right
Right to a Decent Job Is a Principal Civil Right – by Robyn E. Blumner
“I Am a Man” was the slogan of 1,300 striking black sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968. Their grievances were many, but chief among them was that their wages were so meager they lived below the poverty line.
On April 4, 41 years ago last evening, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He was in town to help the strikers gain recognition of their union, and his epic “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech was a labor rally.
Dr. King is remembered as America’s greatest civil rights leader, but the man was a towering labor leader as well. He clearly connected the dots between the immorality of racial inequality and the economic injustices inflicted on working men and women of all colors. It was the same struggle: to demand through collective action one’s individual worth and dignity.
One of the great labor speeches in American history is King’s 1961 address to the AFL-CIO. In it King reflected on the grand work of the labor movement. He said that in response to the “organized misery” of sweatshops and the notion that capital may “act without restraints and without conscience,” the worker unionized and by doing so had “constructed the means by which a fairer sharing of the fruits of his toil had to be given to him.”
How sad that in the intervening years King’s message to workers has been lost. Worker solidarity has given way to an every-man-for-himself ethic that has helped to strip labor of the influence it once had.
via Right to a Decent Job Is a Principal Civil Right | CommonDreams.org.
41 Years Ago Today: Dr. King Assassinated
41 Years Ago Today: Dr. King Assassinated
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee 41 years ago today. King had been in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. He was shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel outside room 306 on April 4, 1968.
In this report below, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite breaks the news that King had been “shot to death.” As Cronkite reported, “There was shock in Harlem tonight when word of Dr. King’s murder reached the nation’s largest Negro community. Men, women and children poured into the streets. They appeared dazed. Many were crying.”
In his final speech (shown below) at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, King seemed aware that he may not make it to the “promised land” but encouraged his audience to press on.
“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life,” King said. “Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
via 41 Years Ago Today: Dr. King Assassinated – The Daily Voice – Black America’s Daily News Source.
BREAKING: Iowa Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Same-Sex Marriage
BREAKING: Iowa Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Same-Sex Marriage
decision.gifIn an unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the right of same-sex couples to marry. The court, which was reviewing a district court decision allowing six gay couples to marry, found that “limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution”:
In a unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court today held that the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.
The decision strikes the language from Iowa Code section 595.2 limiting civil marriage to a man and a woman. It further directs that the remaining statutory language be interpreted and applied in a manner allowing gay and lesbian people full access to the institution of civil marriage.
The ruling “makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages.” In the opinion, the judges compared protecting the right to same-sex marriage to past rulings by the Iowa Supreme Court that protected women’s rights and struck down slavery and segregation laws:
via Think Progress » BREAKING: Iowa Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Same-Sex Marriage.
Martin Luther KIng – LIFE EXCLUSIVE! The Day MLK Died
LIFE EXCLUSIVE! The Day MLK Died
LIFE Presents: Never-Before-Published Photos From Memphis, April 4, 1968
On April 4, 1968, LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky and writer Mike Silva, on assignment in Alabama, learned that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. They raced to the scene and there, incredibly, had unfettered access to the hotel grounds, Dr. King’s room, and the surrounding area. For reasons that have been lost in the intervening years, the photographs taken that night and the next day were never published. Until now.
via Martin Luther KIng – LIFE EXCLUSIVE! The Day MLK Died – LIFE.
It’s Showdown Time in Vermont Over Same-Gender Marriage
It’s Showdown Time in Vermont Over Same-Gender Marriage
Vermont House to Begin Debate Today (Thursday) on Bill to Accord Full Marriage Rights to Gay and Lesbian Couples Despite Governor’s Threatened Veto; Supporters Hopeful of Mustering Veto-Proof Two-Thirds Majority; Poll Finds 55 Percent of Vermonters Support Same-Gender Marriage While 38 Percent Oppose It
Vermont State Representative Peg Flory (right), a Republican from the town of Pittsford, asks a question to Dr. Louis DiNicola of the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (not pictured), who testified in favor of a bill to legalize same-gender marriage during a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on March 26, while Representative Bill Lippert, the committee’s chairman, listens. Lippert, a Democrat from the town of Hinesburg, is gay and would benefit from the measure if it becomes law. Flory, who opposed the state’s existing civil union law in 2000, was one of only two members the 11-member panel to vote against the marriage bill. (Photo courtesy The Burlington Free Press)
via The ‘Skeeter Bites Report: Follow-Up Report: It’s Showdown Time in Vermont Over Same-Gender Marriage.
Former McCain campaign chief endorses same-sex marriage.
OPS: Grampy probably needed oxygen when he heard this
Former McCain campaign chief endorses same-sex marriage.
Former McCain campaign chief strategist Steve Schmidt told the Washington Blade in an interview last week that he is “personally supportive” of same-sex marriage rights. Schmidt, who spoke to the Log Cabin Republicans at the Republican National Convention last year, added that he thinks Americans are “troubled” when they see Republicans “trying to stigmatize” the gay community:
via Think Progress » Former McCain campaign chief endorses same-sex marriage..
NAACP leader blasts Huckabee for comparing abortion to slavery
NAACP leader blasts Huckabee for comparing abortion to slavery – Ron Brynaert
A NAACP leader is blasting former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for comparing abortion to slavery.
Huckabee’s comments were made “Monday speech during a fundraiser for an anti-abortion group,” the Associated Press reports.
“The half-hour speech was the keynote address during a luncheon fundraiser for the Jefferson City-based Vitae Caring Foundation,” the AP notes. “The organization, created in 1991, sponsors advertisements across the country encouraging women to seek alternatives to abortion.”
via The Raw Story | NAACP leader blasts Huckabee for comparing abortion to slavery.
Michigan 15-year-old dies after police Taser him
Teen dies after police Taser him
BAY CITY, MI — Police in Michigan say a 15-year-old boy has died after being Tasered by officers who were trying to break up a fight.
Police didn’t release his name and say state police are investigating.
via Michigan 15-year-old dies after police Taser him – 3/22/09 – San Francisco News – abc7news.com.
Vermont Senate Panel Approves Gay Marriage Bill
Vermont Senate Panel Approves Gay Marriage Bill
Montpelier, Vermont – A state Senate committee unanimously approved a gay marriage bill on Friday, moving Vermont one step closer to allowing same-sex couples to legally wed.
“It provides … gay and lesbian couples the same rights that I have as a married heterosexual,” said Sen. John Campbell, vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chief sponsor of the bill.
The measure would replace Vermont’s first-in-the-nation civil unions law with one that allows marriage of same-sex partners beginning Sept. 1.
The committee’s vote ended an intense week highlighted by a public hearing Wednesday night in which more than 500 people swarmed the Statehouse to speak for and against allowing same-sex marriages.
via t r u t h o u t | Vermont Senate Panel Approves Gay Marriage Bill.
Woman recovering from cancer surgery fired for ‘job abandonment’
Woman recovering from cancer surgery fired for ‘job abandonment’
A Maine woman fired while recovering from major surgery necessary for cancer treatment has filed a civil-rights lawsuit against her employer, Bank of America, and seems to be winning. This week, a U.S. District Court Judge recommended denying a motion filed by Bank of America lawyers seeking summary judgment, which would have kept the suit from becoming a full trial.
Holly Swift of Owls Head, Maine, was on the mend from her surgery in late July 2006 when she was contacted by the bank and told that she was fired. Asked the cause of her dismissal, Bank of America told her simply, “job abandonment.” She was confused. Her physician had complied with all of the bank’s requests for information about her ongoing limitations and reasons for being out of work. Not only were all her papers in order; Swift was within the 26 weeks short term disability leave allowed under bank policy.
via The Raw Story | Woman recovering from cancer surgery fired for ‘job abandonment’.
Preparing for Civil Unrest in America
Preparing for Civil Unrest in America – by Michel Chossudovsky
Legislation to Establish Internment Camps on US Military Bases
The Economic and Social Crisis
The financial meltdown has unleashed a latent and emergent social crisis across the United States.
What is at stake is the fraudulent confiscation of lifelong savings and pension funds, the appropriation of tax revenues to finance the trillion dollar “bank bailouts”, which ultimately serve to line the pockets of the richest people in America.
This economic crisis is in large part the result of financial manipulation and outright fraud to the detriment of entire populations, to a renewed wave of corporate bankruptcies, mass unemployment and poverty.
The criminalization of the global financial system, characterized by a “Shadow Banking” network has resulted in the centralization of bank power and an unprecedented concentration of private wealth.
Obama’s “economic stimulus” package and budget proposals contribute to a further process of concentration and centralization of bank power, the cumulative effects of which will eventually resul in large scale corporate, bankruptcies, a new wave of foreclosures not to mention fiscal collapse and the downfall of State social programs. (For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, America’s Fiscal Collapse, Global Research, March 2, 2009).
The cumulative decline of real economic activity backlashes on employment and wages, which in turn leads to a collapse in purchaisng power. The proposed “solution” under the Obama administration contributes to exacerbating rather than alleviating social inequalities and the process of wealth concentration.
via Preparing for Civil Unrest in America.
US will sign UN declaration on gay rights
US will sign UN declaration on gay rights
Officials: Obama administration to reverse Bush stance on gay rights at UN
The Obama administration will endorse a U.N. declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality that then-President George W. Bush had refused to sign, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. officials said Tuesday they had notified the declaration’s French sponsors that the administration wants to be added as a supporter. The Bush administration was criticized in December when it was the only western government that refused to sign on.
The move was made after an interagency review of the Bush administration’s position on the nonbinding document, which was signed by all 27 European Union members as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress was still being notified of the decision. They said the administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate that the United States supports human rights for all.
via PageOneQ | US will sign UN declaration on gay rights.
West Point graduates launch an LGBT alumni group.
West Point graduates launch an LGBT alumni group.
Yesterday, a group of West Point alumni came out of the closet in order to form Knights Out, an LGBT alumni organization pushing for the repeal of the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military and hoping to serve as an “open forum” for LGBT alumni and their fellow graduates. From the group’s press release:
By publicly outing themselves, the 38 members of Knights Out ended once and for all the anonymity that has obscured from full view their service to the nation as West Point graduates. Knights Out seeks to reduce the stigma associated with sexual diversity by providing an open forum for discussion between out LGBT West Point graduates and their fellow alumni. Knights Out is well-positioned to help West Point maintain its status as the world’s premier leadership institution by swiftly and effectively adapting to the end of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which Knights Out believes is both imminent and inevitable.
via Think Progress » West Point graduates launch an LGBT alumni group..
Poll: Opposition to Gay Marriage in California Drops 5 Points to 47%
Poll: Opposition to Gay Marriage in California Drops 5 Points to 47%
Jon Ponder | Mar. 11, 2009
Four months after Californians voted 52 percent to 48 percent to amend the state constitution to rescind the right to marriage for gays, a Field Poll finds voters in the state evenly divided on the issue, with 48 percent favoring a new amendment to protect gay marriage rights and 47 percent opposing such an amendment. Five percent are undecided.
In July 2008, four months before the election, the Field Poll found that 51 percent of California voters favored gay marriage, while 42 percent planned to vote to rescind the right.
via Pensito Review » Poll: Opposition to Gay Marriage in California Drops 5 Points to 47%.
Deb Price: Uncle Sam should recognize all marriages
Deb Price: Uncle Sam should recognize all marriages
A decade after falling in love, Massachusetts State Trooper Mary Ritchie and Kathy Bush became parents.
When Ryan was born, Bush postponed her career to be a stay-at-home mom. Not long afterward, Ryan was joined by brother William.
Once the sports-loving boys reached school age, Bush threw herself into the parent-teacher organization and into book fairs to raise money for their school. Ritchie, a crime scene investigator, continued to be the family’s breadwinner.
In 2004, the moms were among the first same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts, which treats all married couples equally under state law.
But, as a new, first-of-its-kind lawsuit spotlights, the federal government picks and chooses which Massachusetts marriages to honor.
via opinion: Deb Price: Uncle Sam should recognize all marriages.
A Look at Race, Incarceration, and American Values
A Look at Race, Incarceration, and American Values
Glenn Loury, a professor in the Department of Economics at Brown University, has long been one of the nation’s most outspoken Black intellectuals. For many years he was a leading conservative voice on topics like affirmative action, and whenever he focuses on a policy issue affecting the Black community, people pay attention. In his title essay in the recent book, Race, Incarceration, and American Values, Professor Loury sounds the alarm on some of the same concerns the Children’s Defense Fund has been raising when we talk about the pipeline to prison crisis.
via Marian Wright Edelman: A Look at Race, Incarceration, and American Values.
Time to Ratify Women’s Treaty,
Time to Ratify Women’s Treaty, Groups Urge
UNITED NATIONS – Rights activists in the United States are urging their newly-elected government to support global initiatives aimed at protecting women’s rights.
“If Barack Obama wants one important thing to do for women, he will direct the U.S. Senate to ratify CEDAW,” said Ritu Sharma, a leading women’s rights activist.
CEDAW is the acronym for the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which has been endorsed by over 170 countries.
In the past three decades, U.S. policymakers rejected CEDAW by reasoning that women in the United States already enjoyed legal protections against violence and discrimination.
But rights activists counter that the U.S. refusal to ratify the treaty encourages repressive regimes to promote discriminatory practices against women.
via Time to Ratify Women’s Treaty, Groups Urge | CommonDreams.org.
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If we don't change our ways soon...
A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: "The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption... or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future."This is the same warning that President Jimmy Carter gave Americans back in the 1970's - but it was ignored when Ronald Reagan came to power with a "more positive" message basically telling Americans we can do whatever we want. And then after 9/11 - Bush told us all we should go shopping and consume ever more.And now with corporations calling the shots in Washington - long-term sustainability of the planet takes a back seat to short-term profits. If we don't change our ways soon - and embrace clean, alternative energy and educate women around the plant - then we all could be headed for a rough century.-Thom(Is there any chance we will learn in time? Tell us here.) -
LEGALIZE Democracy
" We the corporations" On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. __________
MOVE to AMEND
a project of the CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE Democracy
Help end Corporate personhood
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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. 
moveon.org
