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NAACP Supports Marriage Equality

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

(Miami, Florida) The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People today released a resolution supporting marriage equality. At a meeting of the 103-year old civil rights group’s board of directors, the organization voted to support marriage equality as a continuation of its historic commitment to equal protection under the law.

“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAACP. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”

“Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP.

The NAACP has addressed civil rights with regard to marriage since Loving v. Virginia declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional in 1967. In recent years the NAACP has taken public positions against state and federal efforts to ban the rights and privileges for LGBT citizens, including strong opposition to Proposition 8 in California, the Defense of Marriage Act, and most recently, North Carolina’s Amendment 1, which changed the state constitution’s to prohibit same sex marriage.

Below is the text of the resolution passed by the NAACP board of directors:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, educational, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.

Brian Silva, Marriage Equality USA Executive Director, notes, “The NAACP has been a long-time ally in the fight for marriage equality. Today’s vote cements the bond of our common struggle to insure that all Americans are treated equally. We thank our friends at the NAACP for their action today.”

”The NAACP has an unbroken history of standing up for civil rights for all Americans, right up through their stand against the discriminatory Amendment 1 in North Carolina, and now today’s historic vote affirming marriage equality for all loving and committed couples,” said Stuart Gaffney, Media Director of MEUSA. “Standing together from coast-to-coast with allies such as the NAACP is what is going to make the dream of marriage equality for all loving and committed couples a reality.”

Posted in marriage, marriage equality | No Responses »
Tags: marriage equality, meusa, naacp

Leading Pastor Defends Obama’s Support for Marriage equality

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Rev. Otis Moss III of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ recently defended President Obama’s support for marriage equality.

“The question I believe we should pose to our congregations is, ‘Should all Americans have the same civil rights?,’” Moss asked his church members this weekend. “There is difference between rights and rites. We should never misconstrue rights designed to protect diverse individuals in a pluralistic society versus religious rites designed by faith communities to communicate a theological or doctrinal perspective.”

Moss replaced the controversial Jeremiah Wright as senior pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ. His recent words came as a sharp rebuke to other African-American pastors who expressed outrage at Obama’s marriage equality stance.

President Obama The View | Seeks to Repeal DOMA in Second Term

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Somewhat buried in CNN’s story on Barack Obama’s fundraiser in New York is this little tidbit about his administration’s plans for marriage equality—

He also outlined goals he hopes to accomplish under a second term, including the repeal of the Defense Of Marriage Act, which the administration has already stopped defending.

This is the first time Obama has said that he will actively work to repeal the law.

At the fundraiser, hosted by openly gay pop star Ricky Martin, Obama called same-sex marriage the “right thing to do.” He also said that contrary to what many right wing pundits have alleged, marriage equality will help families.

I want everyone treated fairly in this country. We have never gone wrong when we’ve extended rights and responsibilities to everybody. That doesn’t weaken families, that strengthens families.

The President also touched on his freshly out same-sex marriage stance on The View. The segment, which he taped today, will air on ABC tomorrow.

According to some White House officials, Obama had intended to speak out in favor of marriage equality on the talk show, but he was spurred forward by Joe Biden’s early endorsement.

Tony Perkins Marriage Equality Foe Knocked Out

Monday, May 14th, 2012

The Last Word
By Melanie Nathan, May 14,2012.

For years the anti- same-sex marriage lobby has taken the form of extreme right wing fundamentalists such as Tony Perkins and others who I am loathe to name. At every turn and opportunity LGBT bloggers have fought their rhetoric and we have never considered them as ‘the experts’ worthy of the title of legitimate opposition to equality. Yet they have been given a voice on mainstream TV as the opposing experts and have barely been challenged. Let us hope that with recent discredits we have seen the final round.

Now since President Obama has come out openly in support of same-sex marriage, main stream media has had the opportunity to call its ‘experts’ on the other side of the debate and unfortunately all they can find, by virtue of years of an insidious overt presence on the issue, are the likes of Tony Perkins, who, together with his cronies, have yet to put forth a legitimate argument against marriage equality.

This time the deconstruction of their warped views are being elucidated with realistic force and vigor. It is akin to a boxing match. If a fighter keeps kicking below the belt he must be disqualified. While Tony Perkins was recently caught doing just that, he was allowed to fight on – but was knocked out cold, in the ring!

Their views are just that – mere views – with no truth -neither based in science nor reality. They have re-written history and spewed their lies.

Perkins was on CNN with Piers Morgan, stating that his own kids are not likely to be gay, because “we are teaching them the right ways that they are to interact as human beings,” and “we are not allowing them to be indoctrinated by the education system.”

Chris Matthews invited Tony Perkins on to his CNN show Hardball, with Congressman Barney Frank and took Perkins to task on this statement.

To my wild eye it played out like a boxing match with the referee Mathews so incensed by the below the belt tactics of Perkins, he could all but take sides. Perkins did not get away with a single old rhetorical trick. When caught, Perkins tried to sidetrack, but Referee Mathews was not having any of that.

Mathews replayed what Perkins had said and Frank went in for the kill. The discussion was a round one knock out for Frank. Perkins lay unconscious on the ground as referee Mathews instead of blowing the whistle and calling it a win, went for a stomp in the stomach. Perkins lay writhing on the ground. Now that should end Perkins’ career once and for all!

Well after the knock out Lawrence O’Donnell last night on the Last Word, had his go at it; notable Perkins and his lies not there – perhaps relegated to a different league now,no longer worthy of another main stream match, as O’Donnell recalled five thousand years of history on traditional marriage and finally someone on mainstream sets the record straight (ahem amen!) Not quite the right wing version fed to Americans by so called experts given voice by our mainstream Television media.

While I am one who usually prefers to not lend voice to these fringe lunatics, I came to realize I could applaud this one last round – a final knock out – rendering them unconscious in the hope that Chris Mathews Piers Morgan and others will now realize that Perkins and his type, with lies and misinformation, fully discredited. They have lost and are banished to the lower leagues never to be seen or heard of in the center ring again!

So I suggest next time Chris Mathews, Piers Morgan or any mainstream and cable TV show wants an expert – find an expert who makes sense, who can truly put forth a counter argument, one based not on lies made up by divisive hate and hurtful rhetoric. I know that you will have to go a long way to find such – because there is no logical or fact based argument against equality – the only opposition, albeit illegitimate, is hate! I also suggest Barney Frank, Joe Solmonese, Andrew Sullivan et al, all refuse invitations to enter the ring with those unworthy of center ring.

Let this be the last we hear of these types as having any legitimacy forged by mainstream’s fever for ratings; they have been discredited loudly and clearly and any further voice by the likes of Mathews and Morgan will render these show nothing g more than Jerry Springer version 2.

Here is the Match : Barney Franks v. Tony Perkins Round 1- Knock out, Ref, Chris Mathews

SEE VIDEO on GAY U.S.A.

Lawrence O’Donnell has the Last Word

SEE VIDEO on GAY U.S.A.

By MELANIE NATHAN
nathan@privatecourts.com
twitter, melanienathan1

Posted in gay marrage, Gay Marriage, marriage, marriage equality | No Responses »
Tags: Chris Mathews, cnn, gay usa, Lawrence O'Donnell, marriage equality, Pierce Morgan, same sex marriage, tony perkins

President Obama Voices his Support for Marriage Equality

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Amidst speculation of his evolution on the issue of marriage equality, President Obama, today spoke of its finality.

By Melanie Nathan, May 09, 20112.

Speaking Wednesday with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, President Barack Obama spoke about his evolution toward full marriage equality for same-sex American couples.

He said that he and his administration have long “stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community,” pointing to the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, among others.

President Obama’s evolution is explained from these quotes which appeared within hours of the interview in the Los Angeles Times Article:-

“I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” he said. “And I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word ‘marriage’ was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs, and so forth.”

That changed, Obama said, as he reflected more on the relationships of friends and staff and the feelings of gay members of the military who “feel constrained.” “At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” he concluded. In the interview, Obama also reflected on the rapid change in public opinion on the issue, particularly among younger generations.

“When I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same-sex equality or, you know, sexual orientation that they believe in equality,” he said.

Obama noted that his daughters have friends who have same-sex parents. “There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table, and we’re talking about their friends and their parents, and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and, frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” he said.

LGBT activists are commenting with pride and admiration for the President:

John Lewis, MEUSA Legal Director, said, “I am thrilled that the dream of marriage equality is now so much closer, thanks to the President’s decisive leadership. Marriage is about love and commitment, and the President looked at this decision with his heart — not as a political calculation — and decided to stand on the side of love. In standing on the side of love, he also decided to stand on the right side of history.”

Robin Tyler, national activist and the original lesbian plaintiff to sue in the successful case (Tyler v State of California) that brought marriage equality for same sex couples to California, celebrates President Obama’s decision to come out for marriage equality today.

”There is absolutely no question of who I will support in the coming Presidential elections. Mitt Romney donated through his Mormon Church, $10,000 to Yes of Proposition 8. Donations to discrimination are not ‘charitable.’ Mitt Romeny violated our civil rights. We need a President who supports all American’s and their families, including LGBT ones. Today, President Obama showed that he has the courage to come out publicly and support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. There is actually no such thing as ‘gay’ marriage. There is no ‘gay driver’s license’ or ‘gay birth certificate.’ It is just marriage for same-sex adult couples. Our President has finally evolved!

There was never a doubt in my mind that the President had evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage; since recently the President had said he would sign the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act , the legislation that bans same-sex couples who are legally married from participating in Federal civil law granted by marriage to heterosexual couples. Now that the President has made it clear to all who could not read into this as indicative of his evolution, it could not be more clear that he actually does support gay marriage.

So well done to President Obama, the skeptics in the LGBTQI community can now focus on the re-election of a President who has actually already done more than any other to forward the interests of equality.

Politically, let us hope that those in the community who insisted Obama be overt in his stance now support him one hundred percent unconditionally in his bid for re-election, because you can be rest assured that FOX News, Santorum, Romney and Maggie Gallagher, to name but a few, will do everything in their power to make this the re-invigoration of the wedge issue many assumed may have dwindled.

GAY U.S.A. the Movie

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

Posted in civil rights, civil union, gay families, gay mariage, gay marrage, Gay Marriage, gay marriage ban, obama, same sex couples, same sex laws, same sex marriage, same sex partners, same sex rights | 1 Response »
Tags: barack obama, equality, Gay Marriage, gay marriage ban, marriage equality, obama, president obama, same sex marriage, supports gay marriage

President Obama Finally Says “I Do” to Marriage Equality

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Barack Obama, the president of the United States, has announced in an interview with ABC News that he thinks gay couples should have the same legal right to marry as heterosexual couples.

In an interview with Robin Roberts, he said that his views have ‘evolved’ over the past few years, based on conversations with staff members, gay and lesbian service members, and people in his own family.

According to ABC News, Mr Obama said: “I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Full Story from Pink News

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: evolution, marriage equality, president obama

North Carolina Votes Against Equality

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

By Melanie Nathan, May 08, 2012

The LGBT Community in the U.S.A. is deeply saddened by today’s vote in North Carolina against the right of same sex couples to marry or to enter into domestic partnerships or civil unions.

“This divisive initiative is blatantly unconstitutional. Not only does it deprive lesbian and gay North Carolinians of their fundamental freedom to marry, it attempts to strip partners of lesbian and gay city employees in cities such as Durham and Asheville, of their health care benefits under the guise of limiting marriage rights. The United States Supreme Court has made clear that such targeting of lesbian and gay people to harm them violates the basic fairness guarantees of the United States Constitution,” said John Lewis, Marriage Equality USA’s Legal Director.

“It is a horrible feeling to have your life and your family put up for a popular vote. No one is better off by the initiative’s taking away health care benefits from lesbian and gay families. Lesbian and gay couples and their families are real human beings. This exclusionary initiative harms real people,” said Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA’s Media Director.

Pam Spaulding an LGBT Blogger from North Carolina notes

“What is the key issue here is that a battle about marriage and legal rights for unmarried couples is not what North Carolina needed, and was forced into it by craven lawmakers and bigots who wanted an easy political club — homophobia — as a GOTV tool. It shouldn’t have been on the ballot in the first place, but it was, prematurely leapfrogging an issue that the state was not ready to handle.

As I’ve told my marriage equality advocate friends many times, for those of us in states where we do not even have employment protections — you can be fired for being LGBT here, no questions asked — we won’t see same-sex marriage until the U.S. Supreme Court makes it happen.”

On a positive note Spaulding notes:

“The coalition-building here has afforded North Carolinians for the first time to discuss the rights of LGBT neighbors and friends. It has shown the country that yes, the South has politically active voters of strong faith that are against discrimination for all of the right reasons — it’s not a matter of religion at all, but about the separation of church and state and protecting and extending the rights of minorities, not restricting them.”

Jeremy Kennedy of Protect All NC Families notes:-

“Tonight’s results were disappointing, not just for gay and lesbian North Carolinians, but for the hundreds of thousands of non-traditional families who may face the harmful impact of Amendment One. Our campaign may have fallen short this evening, but your work over the past several months did not. Your efforts and dedications achieved many victories along the way, and demonstrated to North Carolina and to the entire country that discrimination and victimization will not achieve easy victories.”

According to MEUSA, The North Carolina vote stands in stark contrast to the clear trend in favor of marriage equality nationwide. All federal courts that have recently considered the issue have found that discriminating against lesbian and gay people in marriage violates the United States Constitution.

Last year, New York became the largest state in the nation to achieve the freedom to marry for all its citizens.

This year, Washington State and Maryland passed marriage equality laws through their legislatures, and the New Hampshire Legislature by a strong bipartisan vote rejected an attempt to roll back the freedom to marry in that state.

The freedom to marry will likely be up for a vote in four states this fall, and we are very hopeful that love and fairness will prevail in those states,” said Lewis.

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

Posted in north carolina, same sex benefits, same sex couple, same sex couples, same sex laws, same sex marriage, same sex partners, same sex rights, same sx couples | No Responses »
Tags: Amednment Oner, gay, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, meusa, nc, north carolina, protect nc families, same sex marriage

Caroline Kennedy Calls on Dem Party for Freedom to Marry Platform

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

At a ceremony on Monday, Caroline Kennedy will present the 2012 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award to three former Iowa supreme court justices voted out of their positions after they ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2009.

The daughter of former president John Kennedy, is urging Democrats to embrace marriage equality. Kennedy joined “Democrats: Say I Do,” a campaign from the group Freedom to Marry that advocates a marriage equality plank in this year’s Democratic party platform.

“There are few things in life more important than being able to marry and build a family with the person you love,” Kennedy said in a statement. “This fundamental right should be available to all Americans, including gay and lesbian couples. In our democracy we are fortunate to have elected officials at all levels of government, and courageous jurists who have put their careers on the line, to uphold the promise of equality that is as old as our Constitution, and I hope that many more will follow their example.”

VP Joe Biden Indicates Approval of Marriage Equality

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden on Sunday said he doesn’t think that there should be any legal barriers to same sex marriage.

In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Biden told moderator David Gregory that more and more Americans will come to understand “what this is all about … who do you love? Who do you love, and will you be loyal to the person you love?”

“Look, I am Vice President of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that. [...]

“People fear that which is different, and now they’re beginning to understand.”

The Vice-President’s remarks may signal a shift in public policy by the President who has maintained that his views on same-sex marriage are evolving, however a spokesperson from the vice president’s office has since denied that Biden’s remarks were an endorsement of same-sex marriage. READ MORE AT LGBTQ NATION

Melanie Nathan: Yet what everyone seems to forget is that President Obama has said that he would sign the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, (DOMA) known as the Respect for Marriage Act, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

WATCH VIDEO Visit msnbc.com http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/05/joe-biden-i-am-absolutely-comfortable-with-same-sex-marriage/

Posted in defense of marriage act, federal, gay mariage, gay marrage, Gay Marriage, obama, same sex, same sex marriage, same sex partners | No Responses »
Tags: joe biden, marriage equality, Meet the Press, obama, same sex marriage

Bi-National Same-sex Couples Need Progressive Democrats in Congress

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

President Barack Obama with CA Assembly Member Jared Huffman

Thank you for listening Jared Huffman Candidate for U.S.Congress.
By Melanie Nathan, May 5, 2012.
What could be worse for any person than to be deprived of the basic right to be with the person one loves? What could be worse than separation from the person to whom you are married, the inability to hold the hand of your fiance, not being allowed to live together in your own country?

Yet, notwithstanding the reality of the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA’s) worst infraction – its impact on immigration equality – resulting in the separation of individuals from loved ones, from extended family, careers, homes and lovers, causing often detention by authorities, exile and more, I have yet to find one single member of Congress who has thought of an ‘out of the box’ or creative remedy to assist all same-sex couples overcome this reprehensible hardship.

This came up in my discussions with Jared Huffman, of Marin County, a third term California Assembly member, who has co-authored legislation benefiting the LGBT community and accomplished a stellar equality record in California. Huffman is running against seven other pro-equality candidates in the newly redistricted 2nd California Congressional district for the seat of progressive Democrat Lynn Woolsey, who is retiring from Congress.

I met with Jared after he invited me to a chat about our community. I told him about the stories I had encountered and the hardship in our community; of those in exile, some in detention, and others separated or living in fear. For the first time I felt like I had found someone who could in essence find his way through the maze and hear the bottom line. I sensed a courage and willingness to look out of the box that so cynically seems to define incumbents.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) same-sex couples are unable to sponsor spouses or fiancé’s for green cards. This is in my opinion one of the single most onerous of the 1000 plus Federal rights which gay couples are denied because of DOMA.

In a recent interview with Congresswoman Woolsey for GAY U.S.A. the Movie, a documentary film I am co-producing, I asked about the future of the Respect for Marriage Act, the legislation that would repeal DOMA. The Congresswoman shook her head and said its repeal is a bleak long shot at this time and referred in no uncertain terms to the obstructionist Republican Congress.

I explained to Huffman that our bi-national couples cannot wait for court cases and DOMA’s unlikely repeal – that we desperately need some interim measure to accommodate this travesty. I told him about the Bi-national Visa I had suggested back in 2009 to Immigration Equality, and the petition I had placed on Change.org.

Huffman listened intently and then he said that indeed he would be willing to explore the possibility of a special VISA process for same-sex bi-nationals to help reunite couples and bring exiles home.

Now I understand this may not be workable and that when a rookie congressman Huffman may not find it viable; but most importantly I believe Jared Huffman will do more than anyone has yet to do in exploring more creative remedies for this reprehensible aspect of our inequality. “Why has this not happened yet?” Huffman suggested, and it made me realize that so many representatives are so caught up in business as usual, they give very llittle time to coming up with solutions that are not delivered.

It is my sincere hope that more members of Congress take the opportunity to think out of the box for creative solutions. For over twenty years nothing has happened to change this situation. Because binational couples have been terribly let down by advocacy groups such as Immigration Equality, which has taken a lead role in trying to obtain immigration reform, it is clear that the only form of advocacy that will work to bring soonest relief is the one where each person impacted take responsibility as individuals to speak to their representatives and to seize opportunities to educate candidates for Congress.

I hope this inspires you all to do a little more and to support the campaigns of those who will help our binational couples, such as that of Jared Huffman.

To read more about the GAY U.S.A. the Movie endorsement for Huffman and his equality record read BLOG

To Support Jared Huiffman and read up on the issues visit http://www.jaredhuffman.com/

MELANIE NATHAN is CEO of Private Courts Inc., a Marin County mediation and human rights advocacy firm specializing in LGBTI equality and international human rights. She is a blogger at www.oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com, and coproducer of Gay U.S.A. the Movie. She is also a Commissioner on the Marin Human Rights Commission and is on the Board of Fair Housing of Marin.

Posted in binational, california, democratic party, democrats, doma Defense of Marriage Act repeal effort democratic indifference frank pelosi, equality, gay marriage bill, immigration, immigration reform | No Responses »
Tags: california, congress, gay, gay usa, Jared Huffman, Lynn Woolsey, marriage equality, same sex couples

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