While in Tokyo for the city’s first Rainbow Week, Boris Dittrich could not help but notice gay pride marchers with banners demanding marriage equality in the land of the rising sun. “I asked why and they said, ‘Well, we’ve seen what’s happening in other countries and…
Why conservatives should support immigration equality
A majority of Americans now support marriage equality, and a (slowly) growing number of Republicans have recently come around to the idea, too. Despite this, the opposition to the inclusion of gay binational couples and their families in immigration reform remains strong. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), of “Gang of Eight” fame, told the New York Times on Wednesday that “there’s a reason this language wasn’t included in the Gang of Eight’s bill: It’s a deal-breaker for most Republicans… Finding consensus on immigration legislation is tough enough without opening the bill up to social issues [like gay marriage].”On Thursday in the Daily Beast, writer Jonathan Rauch called Flake’s “deal-breaker” misguided — and a GOP “suicide mission” (emphasis mine):Continue Reading… … Read More
Fourth grader writes world’s most perfect argument in support of marriage equality
Cue: “The Greatest Love Of All,” because the children are, in fact, our future.A 4th grade school teacher asked students to write a persuasive essay for a recent assignment, and one of those students chose marriage equality as his topic. What happened next was so good that the teacher had to post it to Reddit so the rest of us could enjoy it.Behold (sic):Why gay people should be able to get married is you can’t stop two adult’s from getting married because there grown and it doesn’t matter if it creeps you out just get over it. And you should be happy for them because it’s a big momment in their life. When I went to my grandparents wedding it was the happies momment. As you can see gay people should have the right to get married and you shouldn’t judge other peoples lives because if you was gay you wouldn’t want people talking about you.Continue Reading… … Read More
Violence in France following gay marriage victory
While others in the country celebrated, protests in Paris, Lyon and elsewhere took an aggressive, sometimes violent, turn following the French parliament’s vote to legalize gay marriage and extend equal adoption rights to same-sex couples.In the final reading of the proposal on Tuesday, the National Assembly voted 331 to 225 to adopt the bill. Soon after, anti-gay marriage protestors in Paris began to clash with riot police stationed in the area.As reported by the Local:Despite the requests of organizers that marchers disperse peacefully, a hard core group of around 500 refused to leave the Invalides. Their anger soon boiled over as bottles and firecrackers were hurled at the riot police, who had blocked off a street leading to the parliament. One officer was taken to hospital with a head wound after being hit by a brick. “The clashes were extremely violent,” one officer told French media. Police, who responded with tear gas, made 12 arrests. The protesters also turned their ire on journalists in the vicinity, shouting “scumbags” and “collaborators” at the members of the press. At one point a mob of masked protesters chased a group of journalists down the street and a photographer from AFP was sprayed with tear gas. Interior Minister Manuel Valls later said those arrested were linked to far-right organizations. There were also violent clashes in the city of Lyon, where anti-gay marriage protesters took to the streets to express their anger. Police said they had made 44 arrests.Continue Reading… … Read More
With France poised to legalize gay marriage, protests take a violent turn
The French National Assembly is expected to approve a marriage equality bill Tuesday afternoon, making France the 14th country to legalize gay marriage.But even with wide voting margins in the legislature and popular support among the public, opposition to the measure that would grant equal marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples has intensified in recent weeks. Protests in Paris have turned violent, and gay couples have been the victims of vicious assaults.As The New York Times reports:At the margins, the demonstrations have also become more violent and homophobic, with a series of nightly demonstrations last week around Parliament that resulted in clashes with riot police officers and a number of arrests. Even opposition leaders have bemoaned the way harder-right groups have infiltrated the demonstrations, and there has been a small surge in violence against gay men and lesbians, with some beatings and angry, offensive words on social media. Two weeks ago, a Dutch-born man walking with his partner in Paris was beaten up. The man, Wilfred de Bruijn, posted a photograph of his bloodied face on his Facebook page, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times. Last week, two gay bars, in Bordeaux and Lille, were attacked, and a same-sex couple was attacked Saturday in Nice outside a gay nightclub.Continue Reading… … Read More
Bill Clinton credits daughter Chelsea for reversing his views on gay marriage
Former president Bill Clinton, who first signed the Defense of Marriage Act into effect in 1996, has changed his opinion on gay marriage. In March, Clinton wrote an editorial in the Washington Post urging the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, writing, “As the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that DOMA is contrary to those principles and, in fact, incompatible with our Constitution.”GLAAD acknowledged the former president’s evolved views on marriage equality and subsequent activism with its Advocate for Change Award, presented to Clinton over the weekend.During the speech, Clinton reiterated his desire to overturn DOMA, essentially admitting that it was a mistake to sign the law: “I want to keep working on this until not only is DOMA no longer the law of the land, but until all people – no matter where they live – can marry the people they love,” he said. Continue Reading… … Read More
Pat Robertson: Gay marriage advocates are like Illuminati, want to build “country without God”
Pat Robertson continues his reign as conductor of the crazy train with his latest ”700 Club” commentary about marriage equality.In a circuitous little statement about the French Revolution, the Illuminati and “history repeating itself,” Robertson segued his ramblings to gay marriage, asking viewers if equal rights advocates are really “just about marriage,” or if their motives “go far beyond that: to destroying the traditional family and building a country without God?”h/t Right Wing WatchContinue Reading… … Read More
