For many Californians, November's celebration of the election of Barack Obama as our next president was tempered by sadness and anger at the passage of Proposition 8.
That night, we became the first state in the nation to use our constitution to strip rights away from our fellow citizens. Our lesbian and gay friends, family members and neighbors woke up the morning after the election with fewer rights than they had enjoyed the night before.
Now it's time to empower and inspire Californians to win these rights back.
That's exactly what my friends at the Courage Campaign are doing. Since that historic setback six months ago, the Courage Campaign has worked with groups and activists across the progressive political spectrum to help build a people-powered movement to restore marriage equality to California.
The heart of the Courage Campaign's commitment to equality is Camp Courage -- a transformative two-day training event for marriage equality activists of all kinds, experienced or new to the movement. Modeled after "Camp Obama," Camp Courage has received amazing reviews from participants -- most rating it a 9 (on a scale of 1 to 10) -- following recent trainings in Los Angeles, Fresno and San Diego.
I haven't seen this much energy in the marriage equality movement since the "Winter of Love" in 2004, when Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon and more than 4,000 other couples said "I Do" following our announcement that the City of San Francisco would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
As former State Senator Sheila Kuehl wrote to you last week, this country took a significant step toward securing equality for every American five years ago in San Francisco. While some feel that what we did was too much, too fast, too soon, we stand firm in the belief that our actions were not only just, but legal and constitutional.
Now we need to take a stand and secure these fundamental rights for all Californians. For good.
Thanks for helping the Courage Campaign bring progressive change to California and our country.
Gavin Newsom Mayor of San Francisco
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The Courage Campaign is an online organizing network that empowers more than 700,000 grassroots and netroots supporters to push for progressive change in California.
To power our campaign to repeal Prop 8, please chip in what you can today:
Last night Stephen Colbert proclaimed his utter hatred for gay marriage and aired his own ad to support for NOM (the National Organization for Marriage). NOM released a Web ad last week that portrays a "gay storm" coming to wipe out Christian values. As Colbert said, "It is like watching the 700 Club and the Weather Channel at the same time."
As a result of the recent wins for gay marriage in Vermont and Iowa, Stephen got riled up, but it wasn't til Governor David Paterson introduced gay marriage legislation here in Stephen's home state of New York that he took action. He made his own gay marriage storm ad because as Stephen says, "New York can't handle a flood of gay marriage. As it is it's impossible to get a wedding announcement in the 'Times.' I had to release Carbon Monoxide into an apartment building then work the wedding into the police interview."
A new book from John J. McNeill: Sex as God Intended. McNeill will be signing books Jan. 11 at Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale. Here's the news release:
Lethe Press is proud to release the latest work from the acclaimed Biblical scholar John J. McNeill.
"Sex as God Intended It will make you think. It will make you question everything you've heard in the media or in church about homosexuals and God. It will make you question the rightness or wrongness of gay marriage. It will make you take a closer look at your faith and your beliefs. It is a book that encourages spiritual and intellectual growth, and a book that all Christians should read, even if your pastor or minister or priest tells you it is evil." -- Jack Gardner, Edge Boston
Noted biblical scholar, moral theologian, and psychotherapist John J. McNeill (The Church and the Homosexual) offers further insight into the portrayal of sex in the Bible and discusses how the original sex positive viewpoints have been twisted by the Church and society over the years. Citing the generally overlooked Biblical book The Songs of Songs, McNeill argues that human sexual activity represents a form of "play" that provides a source of pleasure, joy and love. From the beginning, he says, this is what God intended sex to be, not a cause of judgment, oppression, and resentment.
New York-based psychotherapist and retreat director Ken Page contributed the foreword. This volume also offers a Festschrift celebrating the life and work of John J. McNeill. In a collection of thirteen essays, voices of acclaimed religion scholars, theologians, ministers and teachers such as Mark Jordan, Robert E. Goss, Jim Mitulski, Mary Hunt, Mel White, Daniel Helminiak, and Troy Perry are raised to cite the influence McNeill's studies-and the example of his personal life-have had on their professional research and lives.
This book appears in coordination with the upcoming release of a video documentary about John McNeill, "Uncommon Jesuit," produced by Festschrift contributor Brendan Fay.
You can order at Queerbooks.com or at TLABooks or through Amazon or ask your local bookseller to carry John's latest book.
About John J. McNeill
McNeill is a former Jesuit priest who clashed with Church officials over his compassionate and sex-positive teachings about homosexuality. And this current book continues in that tradition with a chapter on the very timely topic of Gay Marriage. McNeill makes the case that gay people gaining the right to marriage equality promises to improve society's ideas about traditional heterosexual marriage; same sex marriage would be good for everybody, if only because it offers of a model of relationship as equal partnership. Sex as God Intended concisely presents wisdom about sexuality and homosexuality that McNeill has gained over his 83 year life.
McNeill was co-founder of the New York City chapter of Dignity, a group for Catholic gays and lesbians. For over thirty-five years, he has been active in a ministry to gay Christians through retreats, workshops, lectures, publications, etc. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Lifetime Achievement Award.
McNeill is available for interviews and limited speaking engagements. He can be reached at jjmcneill@aol.com.
Many Native American tribes historically accepted same-sex relationships. Homosexual and transgender individuals were considered routine and expected.
Many Native American tribes formally recognize these homosexual and trans gendered individuals in the role of the "two-spirit" and these two-spirits were historically recognized in more than 150 different tribes.
In these tribes, the two-spirit was a man or woman who mixed gender roles by wearing clothes of the opposite or both sexes, doing both male and female work, and often engaging in same-sex relations with other members of the tribe. Two-spirit people often were shamans, performing religious and mediating functions for other members of the tribe, because their special status was thought to invest them with exceptional spiritual power, as a result of which they are both feared and respected.
But after a lesbian couple married under a vague Cherokee law that allowed such unions in Oklahoma three years ago, that tribe's council adopted a law banning same-sex marriage. Other tribes across the nation, including the Navajos, the nation's largest tribe soon followed.
Nonetheless, OregonLive.com is reporting that not all tribes have followed this example and last week the Coquilles of Coastal Oregon, after reviewing their tribal history, concluded "same-sex domestic relations were accepted with no exclusions from tribal citizenship, the community, auspices or spiritual activities," and they have probably become the first tribe in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.
However because the Coquilles have federal status, a marriage within the tribe would be federally recognized and that could violate the Defense of Marriage Act that says the federal government "may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose."
Some Coquilles elders are calling the new law “a test of tribal sovereignty” and a matter of traditional tribal religious beliefs.
Of particular issue will be the tribes recognizing the marriage of one of it members, Kitzen Branting, 25, to her lesbian partner, Jeni Branting, 27, who is not a tribal member, and extending Federally recognized tribal benefits to her. Kitzen and Jeni Branting have been in a committed lesbian relationship since high school and entered a legal domestic partnership in Washington last year, now they plan to marry under the tribes new rules this coming spring.
Native Americans are "sensitive to discrimination of any kind," says Coquilles Chief Ken Tanner. "For our tribe, we want people to walk in the shoes of other people and learn to respect differences. Through that, we think we build a stronger community."
The new law stirred "some strong feelings" among a minority of tribal members who opposed it, Tanner said, but only two members of the tribes seven member counsel failed to support the new law. "I think it is going to have a very positive impact on this tribe," Tanner added.
The Branting’s are planning their wedding for May in the tribal plankhouse. Chief Tanner has agreed to officiate.
“LIGHT UP THE NIGHT FOR EQUALITY” ON-AIR AND ONLINE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2008
NEW YORK, NY – December 17, 2008 – The gay marriage debate continues across the United States. In response to JoinTheImpact.com’s “Light Up the Night for Equality,” LOGO will participate on-air and online in the nationwide candle light vigil occurring on December 20, 2008.
As members of the LGBT community and allies gather across the nation, LOGO will keep its audience up-to-date that evening with an “on-air candle” directing viewers to the latest news from 365gay.com, the online source for the latest LGBT news, opinion, video blogs and streaming video news. Updated news will be posted throughout the weekend, further supporting LOGO’s status as the ultimate aggregator of LGBT related content across all platforms: on-air, online, on mobile and on-demand.
LOGO continues to reach all various digital platforms on issues that affect the LGBT community including the recent “Day Without a Gay.” LOGO’s NewNowNext.com created a witty, but poignant viral video demonstrating what would happen if people called out “gay” at work in response to the nationwide “Day Without a Gay,” thus generating dialogue within the community and in the press. In addition, on-air efforts include “365Gay News,” LOGO’s half-hour weekly magazine-style LGBT news show, airing Thursdays at 7 PM ET/PT on LOGO and 365gay.com hosted by Emmy-award television journalist Ross Palombo. “365Gay News” has covered extensive issues related to LGBT rights including a recent special on Harvey Milk and political issues including gay marriage on its multiplatform brand “Road to Gay Marriage” on-air and on 365gay.com.
For more information on “Light Up the Night for Equality,” go to JointheImpact.com and for the latest in LGBT news and entertainment, go to 365gay.com and LOGOonline.com.
On December 20, 2008, JointheImpact.com, the official organizers of the nationwide November 15 protests against California’s Proposition 8, have called all LGBTQ individuals and allies of the community to participate in a peaceful demonstration in local commercial district areas in congruence with their National Food Drive for Equality.
WHAT IS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT FOR EQUALITY? On December 20th, we ask that you join us again for a nation-wide demonstration that will make an impact on the private sector. Candlelight vigils will be held at commercial centers in cities across the country in vigil for the rights of 18,000 same-sex couples who married and look forward to the day when those rights are available again - for EVERYONE. Find a LUTN event in your city
WHAT IS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT FOR EQUALITY? On December 20th, we ask that you join us again for a nation-wide demonstration that will make an impact on the private sector. Candlelight vigils will be held at commercial centers in cities across the country in vigil for the rights of 18,000 same-sex couples who married and look forward to the day when those rights are available again - for EVERYONE. Find a LUTN event in your city
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Please take to your local commercial district -- be it a shopping mall, outdoor financial center, you name it. Check your city page for the time and location of your event.
This will be a peaceful demonstration in the spirit of the holidays.
Dress alike. Wear the same t-shirts or signs pinned to your coats. You can make or buy a "2nd Class Citizen" t-shirt, but the message is optional. Learn more about why we suggest "2nd Class Citizen."
We will stay silent unless asked a question, we will not yell, instigate, or bear signs. Instead, we will let our shirts do the talking and our candles pay our respects. Bring candles (battery powered if you'll be huddling inside).
Singing and/or silence encouraged...chanting is not....keep it peaceful and in the holiday spirit.
I say this 'tongue-in-cheek' but I have to admit there are serious and profound questions, if Prop H8 was intended to protect / save 'marriage', wouldn't the logical next step would be to ban divorce? After all, divorce 'destroys' 50% of marriages...
If the Prop 8 supporters believe what they say that 'marriage is a mandate from God to procreate', doesn't stand to reason to ask if marriages who do not procreate are invalid before God and the Law?
I just can't believe that people that, until now, I considered my friends and admired, voted for Prop H8 (Pronounced 'Hate')
Anyway, I wanted to share this exchange with a dear friend of mine and also comments from the Protect Marriage, Protect Children, Prohibit Divorce petition site, here is mine:
# 4886: Dec 3, 2008, Aurora Grajeda, California I can't argue with the logic, divorce destroys 50% of Marriages and I have to hear concrete cases about where or how same-sex marriage harms opposite sex marriages. On a side note, is there a Heavenly Court on this Earth to hear how in religious marriage, in front of God, there are vows to stay together until death, as far as I know, divorce is granted on civil courts; shouldn't divorce be granted on a religious court? Then the formerly married, but now 'single' individuals, marry again in a religious ceremony, sometimes in the same church. Therefore, the question to ask is, for all of the above, are divorces Godly legal? Ooooh, the hypocritical ironies, if they weren't so harmful, they would be delectable.
The goal is to get 10,000 signatures.
I did get some big laughs out of those "ban divorce" comments. Still, the issue is the definition of marraige. Ignoramuses want it to be legally defined as "between a man and a woman" - sane people might be missjudging their opponents depth of hatred and tenacity. Check out this article - the stats reinforce my caution in wanting to laugh the thing off. I won't be crying either. I'll be articulating - seriously. No, seriously - hey, oh - thanks for the laughs. Lisa
Anything can be turned into comedy. But when I read the comments of people who viewed Prop 8 the musical I can't laugh. There exists many people who believe that homosexuals do not deserve equal rights. I would easily make the leap that those same people would not be alarmed when gays are physically ridiculed, attacked, or murdered. Therefore I wonder if the slim victory in favor of Prop 8 was due to bias and not confusion. The prop 8 musical certainly feeds the gay stereotype that many ignorant people use to cultivate their hatred. I love a campy musical, but the Prop 8 phenomena has got me wondering if we are devolving - and should we take this issue more seriously?
-- Vote No on Prop 8: Margaret Cho Can you still not figure out what California's Prop 8 actually means? That a "no" actually means you're for gay marriage? Let Ma... more >
Hi sister,
I agree with you that there is a serious issue with Prop H8 proponents, but these people are actually comical in their intellectual contortions and the spiritual masturbation they engage in order to have reality fit their religious or bigoted beliefs, not to do so would further turn their screwed up view of the world into cognitive dissonance mayhem.
Yes, it is a serious issue, and the people supporting Prop 8 are dangerous.
But I can't help myself from laughing at their pitifulness, maybe is as Marcos Gutierrez loves to say, 'rio para no llorar', (I laugh so I don't cry)
I'm sending comments from some of the people who signed the petition to ban divorce, I'm laughing at this also because I really don't believe that divorce should be outlawed, can you imagine children living in the hell that some marriages turn into? I signed the petition hoping that many more people sign it in order to have more pro-Prop h8 people see their folly / hypocrisy.
10:49 pm PST, Dec 3,Name not displayed, Illinois Really, it's absurd to stop at divorce. I think we should amend the constitution of the entire country to say that all marriage ceremonies should exclude the words, "till death do us part," and that people should be forced to live with the rotting remains of their loved ones until they themselves die, and then the two can be sealed in lucite and sent into space to be beacons of what it means to be a truly civilized planet. It'll be a sign that says to anyone who passes by, "These people are serious about commitment, and serious about children."
# 4,971:
10:43 pm PST, Dec 3,Name not displayed, California After all, if we're going to return society to the rules of the Bible, this is only the start. Petitions against the consumption of shellfish and the blasphemous wearing of mixed fiber clothing next!
# 4,970:
10:41 pm PST, Dec 3,Monique Savala, California this sounds reasonable to me
# 4,970:
10:41 pm PST, Dec 3,Monique Savala, California this sounds reasonable to me
# 4,969:
10:41 pm PST, Dec 3,Matthew Gates, California If we are really going to protect marriage and children from the threat of the decay of traditional families, then we also need to prohibit divorce.
# 4,968:
10:34 pm PST, Dec 3,Anthony Mack, Alabama After we protect marriage and children through nullifying divorce, we should continue this righteous and God-ordained crusade through further mandates. Perhaps we should work toward a mandatory marriage age for couples? Perhaps mandatory pregnancies? If, through some poor slight (or, more likely, a curse from God), the couple is unable to conceive, mandatory adoption could be implemented. These and many more spiritually-sound tactics are what's needed to truly ensure that our children and the sanctity of marriage are secured and blessed! * * * * * * Truly, the outcome of Prop 8 is a travesty. I had hoped that we were living in an age enlightened to the point where people of all persuasions would be allowed basic human rights. Obviously, I was mistaken.
# 4,962:
10:26 pm PST, Dec 3,Jae Manion, Texas Hey! If we are going to take away rights, let's be fair about it. Let's take away everyone's rights equally. Protect children by forcing people to stay in loveless marriages.
# 4,961:
10:25 pm PST, Dec 3,Peter Gratiot, Arizona I thought marriage lasts until you or your spouse departs from this plane of existent. The mormon church teaches its members that divorce is an evil sin that shouldn't be acted upon. I was born and raised in a mormon household. I am not mormon anymore because of the fact that I am gay. I have been out to my parents and family since 1997. Of course, they think homosexuality is very wrong. They don't approve of me being myself. My mom at the very beginning told me to never send her any positive materials on the GLBT community. Today, she hasn't budged a single inch on her position with me. She also voted for Prop 102 in Arizona. My mom decided to divorce my dad when she wasn't happy with their marriage. She did divorce him and then married another man. She was willing to go against her own religion and commit an evil sin by divorcing my dad, BUT, she wasn't willing to go against THAT same religion and accept/support her own son who happened to be gay? That is not right!!! To me, she put her own selfish need to be happy above her own son's happiness. It is like she isn't willing to risk losing her religion but she is very much willing to risk losing her son. This has shown me how hypocritical the mormon church and its members are.
# 4,951:
10:07 pm PST, Dec 3,Ben Kullerd, Texas Let's get rid of marriage, so gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans Americans who cannot marry will be equally unhappy as those heterosexual couples who remain in married relationships, no matter how strong their relationship.
# 4,950:
10:06 pm PST, Dec 3,Name not displayed, California If marriage is to be sacred, divorce should be banned. Let all us hetero couples choose a "legal union" if we're too scared to pledge a vow for life.
# 4,948:
10:05 pm PST, Dec 3,Name not displayed, Ohio I think we should add that all marriages must be sanctified by a certified priest or pastor who has gone to seminary and believes in the Christian faith. All those false doctrine marriages should be remade with Christian ceremonies. After we protect marriage by eliminating divorce, the next step must be to make sure only Christian marriages are recognized. No one is forcing you to be Christian (or straight), we are just recognizing what has always been (we only have a working history of 6,000 years, so give us a break!). If god sanctifies the union, and god is Christian (and Republican), then I don't think Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian. Mormon (come on, really?), or any other marriage meets that standard.
# 4,947:
10:05 pm PST, Dec 3,Jomeka Betty, Tennessee put that in your pipe and smoke it! reverse prop 8!!
# 4,946:
10:03 pm PST, Dec 3,Ashley Sloane, Oklahoma As a God-fearing southern woman, I am signing this petition to stand against Proposition 8. The God I know loves all His children unconditonaly. How do we as a nation have the right to deny anyone the most basic right of choosing their own partner?
# 4,941: 9:55 pm PST, Dec 3, Scott McPhail, California So simple, yet so profound. Thank you to the architects of "Yes on 8". The ideas and words about protecting marriage have become a beacon of light to guide us all through the darkness of spiteful and divisive marketing campaigns whose sole focus was to create fear and uncertainty among cities and communities. Humanity will prevail. # 4,940: 9:52 pm PST, Dec 3, Jessie M Potter, Washington Let's make this country right once and for all! # 4,939: 9:52 pm PST, Dec 3, Tim Sullivan, California I am all for the sanctity of marriage and believe that divorce is against my religion and therefore should be amended to the Consitution of the State of California # 4,938: 9:51 pm PST, Dec 3, Ben Henschel, Pennsylvania With all of the violence in the world to be fighting against love is just wrong. Your bible is not my bible, your idea of traditional marriage is not my idea, so people need to stop thinking they have all this authority because they read a book. Everyone deserves the benefits of marriage...period.
# 4,935: 9:49 pm PST, Dec 3, Richard Caton, California Preventing divorce is a great first step; however, it needs to also be stipulated that those who have already been divorced must be reunited with their previous spouse, and they must live together. How can we allow those who have already violated the "sanctity of marriage" to continue doing so? What to do about the ones who have had 4 or 5 spouses could become a little complicated since the churches are so concerned about polygamy though - but hey, I'm sure those who supported Prop 8 can resolve it since they have all of the answers on how to protect marriage. # 4,934: 9:46 pm PST, Dec 3, Matthew Baxter, California Be careful what you wish for... # 4,933: 9:43 pm PST, Dec 3, Simon Wickstrom, California Divorce is the biggest threat to marriage that exists in our society. It is time we stamped it out. Ban divorce. # 4,932: 9:42 pm PST, Dec 3, Heidi Neilson, California This is the only true way to protect marriage. # 4,931: 9:41 pm PST, Dec 3, Name not displayed, California Wow...I would love to vote on someone else's rights for a change! # 4,930: 9:39 pm PST, Dec 3, Shawn Wagner, California # 4,929: 9:37 pm PST, Dec 3, Trey Richards, Texas # 4,928: 9:36 pm PST, Dec 3, Name withheld, Illinois If, by Constitutional law, I am entitled to partial rights; then, I will pay partial taxes. Oh and, should I ever be called for duty to protect "my" country, sorry but I have rights to fight for instead.
# 4,921: 9:22 pm PST, Dec 3, Robert Buechler, California HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I LOVE IT!! Sanctity of marriage?! Are you f'in kidding me? The divorce rate is now OVER 50 percent...there is nothing harmonious about that! This fight isn't over!
# 4,919: 9:21 pm PST, Dec 3, Lisette Garcia, California my husband and I believe that we are all equal. I'm tired of hearing the ignorant people fighting for this prop 8 . people come on It doesnt matter if gays get married I think that we all should have the same right. I know that this is one thing I shall fight for. Fight for the equal rights that gays and lesbians deserve.
# 4,916: 9:20 pm PST, Dec 3, Name not displayed, California Keith Olbermann said it best. "Sanctity of marriage...how many marriages like that have their bit?" # 4,915: 9:20 pm PST, Dec 3, Gary Ducharme, California Prop 8 had nothing to do with protecting marriage, and everything to do with homophobic discrimination. I am heterosexual and I don't believe in the bible, I do not believe that someone else's religious views should dictate what other people can do peacfully with one-another. Hate is hate is hate. Keep hate out of our constitution. # 4,914: 9:18 pm PST, Dec 3, Gary Llero, California Signature number 4,902: "Let's not stop there. Let's protect marriage even further. Children are the primary interest of marriage. It's about procreation. So, after we get rid of divorce, we should penalize those who enter marriage and do not have children. 9 months is all it takes (we'll even throw in a few months for good measure). If a married couple does not have at least one child by 1 year after marriage, their marriage is immediately annulled and they will be fined the equivalent of child support for the next 18 years. Those proceeds will go to support the age-old institution of marriage. Oh, and if it is discovered that you entered marriage knowing you couldn't have or didn't want children, you will be subject to jail time and a fine for fraud." This man is on crack. Sounds like something out of the novel "1984". Sir, please put down your pipe. You're from Florida, this doesn't affect you. FU*K Prop Hate!
# 4,911: 9:13 pm PST, Dec 3, Marshall Gurley, California In order truly to protect marriage and family rights, not only should divorce be outlawed, but if a woman becomes pregnant, she and the father should, by law, become married. Also, single women should not be able to become pregnant by artificial insemination. Children should have both a father and a mother.
# 4,903: 8:59 pm PST, Dec 3, Aisia Davenport, California I don't want my children taught that coming from a divorced home is ok. I don't want them to learn that there may be (too digusted to say but SINGLE Parents) raising children because "something didn't work out" Please California protect our children from the Divorce word. Keep protecting Marriage. # 4,902: 8:59 pm PST, Dec 3, Name not displayed, Florida Let's not stop there. Let's protect marriage even further. Children are the primary interest of marriage. It's about procreation. So, after we get rid of divorce, we should penalize those who enter marriage and do not have children. 9 months is all it takes (we'll even throw in a few months for good measure). If a married couple does not have at least one child by 1 year after marriage, their marriage is immediately annulled and they will be fined the equivalent of child support for the next 18 years. Those proceeds will go to support the age-old institution of marriage. Oh, and if it is discovered that you entered marriage knowing you couldn't have or didn't want children, you will be subject to jail time and a fine for fraud. # 4,901: 8:59 pm PST, Dec 3, Noah Levin, New York From the state that has some of the most divorces, adultery, and the biggest mockery of marriage - celebrity marriages, protecting marriage from loving gays is the most backwards thing this progressive state has done in a while.
4900: Dec 3, 2008, Anonymous, Florida It's about love and dignity, understanding human relationships, and stamping out discrimination. Get to know a gay person -- it can change your mind.
# 4899: Dec 3, 2008, Albert Clay, Washington Marriage is truly threatened by the 40+% of heterosexual marriages that dissolve in divorce. This must stop.
# 4897: Dec 3, 2008, Katie Ashdown, Tennessee Change we can belive in... huh? Way to go CA.
# 4896: Dec 3, 2008, Kial Sankaran, Washington I just simply hate hypocrisy, and that is why I am signing.
# 4889: Dec 3, 2008, Anonymous, California I thought this from the beginning... If the sanctity of marriage is the goal, divorce should be illegal. Time to vote again.
# 4886: Dec 3, 2008, Aurora Grajeda, California I can't argue with the logic, divorce destroys 50% of Marriages and I have to hear concrete cases about where or how same-sex marriage harms opposite sex marriages. On a side note, is there a Heavenly Court on this Earth to hear how in religious marriage, in front of God, there are vows to stay together until death, as far as I know, divorce is granted on civil courts; shouldn't divorce be granted on a religious court? Then the formerly married, but now 'single' individuals, marry again in a religious ceremony, sometimes in the same church. Therefore, the question to ask is, for all of the above, are divorces Godly legal? Ooooh, the hypocritical ironies, if they weren't so harmful, they would be delectable.
# 4884: Dec 3, 2008, Kristopher Arcand, Massachusetts After all, this is what they're asking for. You can't have one and not the other. Equal. Rights.
# 4883: Dec 3, 2008, Mark Ruhl, Arizona If the argument for Prop 8 is to protect marriage and childern, then this proposed proposition is essential to provide the same protection
# 4882: Dec 3, 2008, Ryan Finn, California I'm signing not just because I'm disappointed in my home state, but because of the discrimination I've experienced while attending med school in Pennsylvania.
# 4881: Dec 3, 2008, Michael Halloran, Vermont Wake up, people who voted for Prop 8. In the years to come, you are going to be viewed alongside those who opposed racially mixed marriages, school integration, and voting rights for women and blacks. None of you is worried about the "sanctity of marriage," you just hate gay people. But you will ultimately lose this battle. Our love is stronger than your hate.
# 4880: Dec 3, 2008, Monica John, Korea, Democratic People's Republic Of Marriage is not a joke. This is true that everyone should have a right to choose their own way but when it comes to making laws, state has to worker for the greater good. Same sex marrige has no reality and in the same way divorce distroys families and children. how can parents do this to their own children. Only selfish people can do this. State has to make laws for everyone not just one group. Moreover, only children coming from an emotionally healthy family can build a healthy society. THIS ALSO MEANS KIDS RAISED BY MOTHER AND FATHER NOT TWO MOTHERS AR TWO FATHERS............... SO YOUR SOCIETY FROM MENTALLY SICK CRIMINALS.............
# 4875: Dec 3, 2008, Javier Galito-Cava, California Isn't sanctity of marriage what people are so concerned about? Or was it just another hypocritical act of bigotry?
# 4866: Dec 3, 2008, Paul Jenson, California Make divorce illegal. I find it horrendous that people would treat others as second class citizens in this day and age.
# 4865: Dec 3, 2008, Sheena Ramirez, Louisiana Even as a heterosexual woman, this is the one political agenda that I full heartedly support. No one should ever be denied rights because of something out of their control...
# 4864: Dec 3, 2008, Donald Gray, Florida Really protect marriage...ban divorce!
# 4863: Dec 3, 2008, Ann Heitland, Arizona Married: 8/9/2008 after a 24 year engagement. We'll never divorce.
# 4860: Dec 3, 2008, Samantha Beck, Illinois Hahaha this is amazing.
# 4859: Dec 3, 2008, Oscar Salgado, Illinois Protect marriage and ban divorce for couples married in any church and at a city hall.
# 4858: Dec 3, 2008, Mike Lauro, Arkansas Keep up the fight. Join your local grassroots organizing groups and work for change. My husband and I married in California on 08/08/08. We always introduce ourselves as each others husband to everyone we meet. Educate people by telling your story.
# 4857: Dec 3, 2008, Gary Willis, Kentucky I refuse to be treated as a second-class citizen!
# 4856: Dec 3, 2008, Rachel Williams, Oklahoma Divorce killed the dinosaurs.
# 4854: Dec 3, 2008, Gina Piazza, California I want to protect the the very meaning of "sanctity" and "marriage" and "protect children" from the evils of divorce and protect heteros from themselves! Save the meaning!!!
# 4853: Dec 3, 2008, TRACEY THOMAS, Texas i'm signing to ensure that those who passed prop. 8 are serious about protecting marriage and will therefore outlaw divorce. otherwise they'll simply prove that the only real motivation behind prop. 8 was the discrimination of homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexual citizens from their legal right to enter into marriage with the legal/consenting adult of their choosing...
Working with a California law firm, the Southern Poverty Law Center has filed an amicus curiae brief calling for the state's Supreme Court to maintain the right to same-sex marriage.
The Court earlier this year ruled that gays had a fundamental right to marry, but this month California voters approved a ballot initiative that denies that right.
The SPLC's brief, filed on Nov. 17, argues that the California Supreme Court should exercise its original jurisdiction in the case, rather than waiting years for the matter to work itself through the court system. The brief also asked the Court to issue a stay order, preserving the status quo — full recognition and continued availability of same-sex marriages — until the Court can address the validity of a ballot initiative that denies a fundamental right to an entire class of individuals.
On Nov. 19, the Court granted the request to exercise original jurisdiction over three petitions filed challenging the validity of Proposition 8. The Court set an expedited briefing schedule, with all filings to be completed by January 21, 2009. The Court also denied multiple requests to stay enforcement of Proposition 8 pending its determination on the validity of the ballot initiative.
The SPLC's brief opens with a quote from a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Board of Education v. Barnette: "One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free pass, freedom of worship and assembly and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections."
The SPLC argues that the California electorate's passage of Proposition 8 is antithetical to well-established notions of equal protection and right of privacy.
"The proper resolution of these issues constitutes one of the most significant legal issues before this Court since California's inception," the brief states. "Given that thousands of California's citizens are currently in legal limbo — unsure of the status of their marriages which were lawfully performed at the time — time is of the essence. These citizens cannot wait for four years for a final determination of the status of their marriages as these issues wind themselves through lower courts."
Attorneys with the Irvine, Calif., firm of Manning & Marder authored the SPLC's brief.
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