joemygod-Montana
 

MONTANA: Supreme Court To Hear Partner Benefits Case For Same-Sex Couples

On Friday the Montana Supreme Court will hear the case of six same-sex couples who have sued to have their partners covered by their package of employee benefits.

The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Donaldson & Guggenheim, et al. v. State of Montana on Friday at the University of Montana. The session will start at 9:30 a.m. in the University Theatre with an introduction to the case. Hosted by the UM School of Law, the session is free and open to the public. Jan Donaldson and Mary Anne Guggenheim, along with five other same-sex couples in committed, intimate relationships, are bringing a constitutional challenge against several Montana laws under which same-sex couples cannot obtain the same public and private benefits provided to married opposite-sex couples

:married: horrible news, but thank you for the update

Though this amendment passed, there ARE smarter and wiser heads in NC. This is a clip from a May 6 press conference. In it the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina chides the press for the way the have handled coverage for this amendment. People like this will keep working, and we will keep working, and we will succeed in getting our full rights as citizens of the USA.
Smooches,
Keri

Pearl and Lennie of North Carolina. From the mouths of babes in the post above to the mouths of cherished elders, truth flows. These two are so beautiful.
Smooches,
Keri

The North Carolina law may be voided...I'll post from the prop 8 blog tomorrow because from my iPad I have issues.

Long story short, in some areas...primarily democratic, people were given the ballots without the amendment question on them. For some reason 17 year olds could vote if they would be 18 in 6 months, but they had ballots without the amendment question. They were also giving those ballots to regular voters that might otherwise vote to defeat the amendment, instead of the ballots for those over 18. Some say on purpose....we'll see.

The rights of the minority should never be subject to the vote of the majority. I may be over-optimistic but I believe same sex marriage will be fully legal across the US in my lifetime. It's going to happen. These are temporary set backs. The fight is still on!

Snipped from the Prop 8 Blog
 

Update 3 Scottie Thomaston:: There are reports of problems with ballots. Some voters are not being given ballots with amendments on them. Huffington Post’s Gay Voices reports:

All, we’re getting reports here in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Raleigh (which are base areas for us, e.g. anti-Amendment 1) of precincts handing out INCORRECT ballots. In North Carolina, 17-year-olds can vote in the statewide primary (e.g., for governor, etc.) if they turn 18 by November 6th. However, they CANNOT vote on Amendment 1 in this primary — they can only vote for candidates — therefore they are being handed ballots WITHOUT Amendment 1. That is proper election procedure.

The problem is, the reports we are getting are that people OVER 17 are also being handed these ballots WITHOUT Amendment 1 in what would normally be heavily anti-Amendment 1 precincts (Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh). We are working on testimonials from voters who have experienced this — in the meantime, if you report on Amendment 1, PLEASE ask readers to call 1-866-OUR-VOTE if they experience this in NC, or know someone who did. That will enable the campaign’s field team to investigate and correct this as soon as possible

Finally.

http://gma.yahoo.com/obama-announces...-marriage.html

Obama Backs Gay Marriage

WASHINGTON -- In a nod to a dramatic shift in public opinion, Barack Obama on Wednesday became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage.


In a sit-down interview with ABC's Robin Roberts, Obama completed what has been a markedly long and oft-mocked evolution on the matter.

"I've always been adamant that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly," Obama told Roberts, in an interview that will air in full on ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday.

"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," he said.

Thank you President Obama!

my post for today from FB :

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...14286837_n.jpg

"These signs somehow found their way into my trunk over the past few weeks... There is one house I pass on my hour drive through NC back roads daily that had signs saying NO to the amendment. Their house is surrounded literally by signs to vote yes. It is now up for sale. It is devastating to realize your neighbors want to deny you of basic rights."

The Church less than what would be a city block from the women's home I mentioned above ( I know they are women as they were having a yard sell last weekend), put up a message stating "God states marriage is between one man and one woman"... It really hasn't helped my drive back and forth daily feel good.

As much as I love the area where I live, our politics are still so backward thinking. It truly breaks my heart.

I thank Biden for talking out of school which effectively forced Obama's hand.

i'm an Obama supporter as well as a campaign advocate for Salem State University.. it's going to be a very busy fall season. :)

Bam backs gay marriage.

What do you think "For me, personally" means to him in this context?

That he is not saying everyone should agree. He is after all a politician.

Even so, I am so proud of him!

Maddow should be great tonight!

msnbc 9pm EST

http://www.rachelmaddow.com/

Bam said his views have 'evolved' over time. The ability to evolve, grow and change is what distinguishes people.

I'm going to go a step further and say that it may be carefully crafted ambivalence. He's leaving the door open to further clarify that this is his personal opinion and that he may not take any action on it politically if it comes down to it.

By Michael O'Brien


Updated 4:00 p.m. ET- President Barack Obama endorsed the right of same-sex couples to marry on Wednesday, a landmark pronouncement made in light of mounting pressure from gay rights advocates.

Obama became the first U.S. president to back the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry, a reversal from views expressed during the 2008 campaign, when he said he opposed same-sex marriage but favored civil unions as an alternative.

Obama told ABC News that, after reflection, he had "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."

In making his announcement, Obama completes what he had described as an “evolution” in his views on this issue, hastened by growing fervor this week involving gay rights. The growing pressure was capped Tuesday by North Carolina voters’ approval of a constitutional amendment banning not only same-sex marriages, but civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, as well.

Obama’s shift not only speaks to a broad swath of the electorate, which has exhibited increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage in opinion polls, but also gay and lesbian voters who compose a core part of Obama’s base, and have been major fundraisers for his re-election.


ABC News

President Barack Obama appears in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, speaking in support of gay marriage. "It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," the president said.
The president had found himself under increasing pressure this week to state his position unequivocally after Vice President Joe Biden voiced support for same-sex marriage.

Obama explained that he had hesitated in fully supporting same-sex marriage because he thought civil unions would be sufficient.

"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," he told ABC.

While the White House emphasized that Biden’s position wasn’t representative of the entire administration, Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s pronouncement Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in support of same-sex marriage added to pressure on the president.

“I have no update on the president's personal views,” press secretary Jay Carney said repeatedly at Monday’s White House press briefing in reference to the president’s self-styled “evolution” on gay marriage.

As a result, Obama has risked fallout among his political base. The Washington Post reported this week that gay and liberal donors had threatened to withhold financial support for the president or a super PAC due to his refusal to sign an executive order barring discrimination of gays and lesbians in federal contracting.

Comments from Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan brought Obama's views about gay marriage back into national spotlight.NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
And Obama was expected, too, to encounter frustration at a major Hollywood fundraiser this week at the home of actor George Clooney.

The overwhelming approval, too, of the measure, which Obama had opposed, in North Carolina -- a key swing state -- heightened speculation that the president might address the issue.

RELATED: North Carolina approves ban on same-sex marriage

Mitt Romney re-iterated his opposition to both same-sex marriage and civil unions earlier today to KDVR-TV in Denver.

"Well, when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name," he said. "My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not."

Obama has faced tremendous pressure throughout his administration to advance gay rights.

Among his earliest acts as president included signing an executive order extending benefits to federal employees in same-sex partnerships in 2009. Obama also ordered the government to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act -- the 1996 laws allowing states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages in other states -- in court.

The administration’s crowning achievement on gay rights came more methodically, though -- sometimes to the frustration of advocates for same-sex rights.

Obama signed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” -- the military’s ban on openly gay or lesbian service members -- into law in December 2010. But the repeal came after months of legislative wrangling, and the president’s refusal to sign a simple order to make the change. And even after Obama signed the law, the implementation took months.

Same-sex marriage is hardly the hot-button issue it was compared to the last decade, though. Support for it now eclipses opposition; 49 percent of Americans said that favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry, according to the March NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, while 40 percent oppose it. (In October 2009, 49 percent opposed same-sex marriages, while 41 percent supported them.)

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he supports gay marriage, one day after Vice President Joe Biden said he's "comfortable" with marriage equality.
Opinion has shifted especially among independent voters, who back marriage rights 46 percent to 37 percent. About three in 10 Republicans said they, too, support same-sex marriage.

However, of the 18 states making composing the “toss-up” or “lean” categories in NBC’s battleground map, 10 have banned same-sex marriage and civil unions outright, either by constitutional amendment or statute. Just two -- Iowa and New Hampshire -- have legalized gay marriage outright, while other states operate in more nebulous space when it comes to gay and lesbian couples.

and here it is
 

Fox Nation: 'Obama Flip-Flops, Declares War On Marriage'

As is often the case, Fox News' eccentric aggregation cousin Fox Nation took a slightly different angle about President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage than many news outlets.

While others played the news straight (no pun intended) or celebratory, Fox Nation had a rather more apocalyptic take on the occasion:

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/600048/original.jpg

link

Support
 

And the backlash bigotry begins...

(And didn't republicans just say that the term "War on Women" was an improper use of the word "War" when we have soldiers fighting/dying for their country?)

When Same-Sex Marriage was a Christian Rite

Interesting stuff - though it's posted on livejournal and I haven't fact-checked it in any way.

FROM THE PROP 8 BLOG-Today
 

News roundup: reactions to President Obama’s marriage announcement, and other headlines
By Jacob Combs

Yesterday was a hugely historic day, with President Obama becoming the first sitting U.S. president to endorse full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. Yesterday, we brought you live updates before, during and after the President’s announcement, and here is a collection of news items from late yesterday and early this morning on this game-changing endorsement and other marriage related news.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Ted Olson, the Republican member of the two-attorney duo that successfully litigated the Prop 8 trial at the district court and before the Ninth Circuit, said that he was “gratified that the president has thrown his personal support and the authority of the presidency behind the goal of justice, equality, and decency for all citizens.”

He also spoke out about the passage of Amendment One in North Carolina on Tuesday, noting the similarities between the nullification of domestic partnerships there with the rollback of marriage rights effected in California by Prop 8. ”This is a law,” Olsen said, “that withdraws existing rights from people based upon their sexual orientationIt withdraws rights and privileges that gay and lesbian citizens have had in North Carolina for some time now. That is one of the bases on which the Ninth Circuit specifically struck down Proposition 8.”

Yesterday, Scottie reported that two U.S. Senators had made public their support for marriage equality as well. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed finally completed his (extremely gradual) evolution on the issue of DOMA, tweeting that he now supported marriage equality and would cosponsor the Respect for Marriage Act. The support of Senator Reed puts us at 33 Senators in support of repealing DOMA–we need 17 more for a majority and 27 more to break a filibuster.

In addition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his support as well in a nuanced statement, saying, “My personal belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman. But in a civil society, I believe that people should be able to marry whomever they want, and it’s no business of mine if two men or two women want to get married.”

For anyone trying to parse out the political and electoral effect of Obama’s announcement, the short-term effect yesterday was apparent and crystal-clear. According to Buzzfeed, the Obama campaign received an astonishing $1 million in spontaneous contributions in the first 90 minutes after the announcement yesterday. Clearly, supporters were fired up about the President’s move.

The marriage announcement will also undoubtedly help Obama with big-money donors as well. The Washington Post reported the other day that gay men make up 1 in 6 of Obama’s top fundraising bundlers. For those who had hesitated to raise money for Obama as he continued evolving, yesterday’s announcement removes a final barrier to outright support for the campaign. ”This is beyond unifying–it’s electrifying,” said Eugene Sepulveda, a former top bundler.

It’s also worth noting just how much the Obama campaign has embraced this announcement and chosen to make it a significant news story. Not only did the campaign send out a fundraising email touting the President’s new views and seeking donations, it also put Obama’s announcement on the front page of the campaign’s website. Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt sent two tweets out highlighting the marriage announcement as part of the campaign’s narrative that Obama is a forward-looking leader while Romney is a creature of the past ”We’ve amended Constitution to expand righgts. Romney, RNC on record saying they want to enshrine discrimination into it,” read one of them.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign is out today with a new ad titled “Mitt Romney: Backwards on Equality.” It really is amazing how actively the campaign is incorporating marriage equality into its messaging

a crack in the Fake News armor???? Shepard Smith is gonna get his ass fired if he is not careful.............

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...soFU_blog.html

google around for talk radio reaction............Limbaugh was bouncing in his chair and puffing his cigar as he ranted about this..............

People laugh when parents say "I learn so much from my kids" believing that one is learning something basic such as tying your shoe laces. But we parents learn things like how not to act, how to be kind, what really matters in the world. I love that the president said he was influenced by his daughters and how they didn't treat kids or the parents of kids differently because the parents are LGTB. YAY kids and changing hearts!