By Adam Bink
Pam, who publishes the well-read and wonderful blog Pam’s House Blend, took a moment to give her Testimony as part of our Testimony: Take a Stand project and Dustin Lance Black challenge. Go Pam!
You can enter the challenge by starting here. It’s easy. The deadline is July 4th.
2 Comments June 28, 2011
By Adam Bink
Today, the proponents of Prop 8 — ProtectMarriage.com and their cohorts– filed their appeal before the 9th Circuit, as promised. A copy of the appeal can be found here. There is not much to it except noting the June 14th decision and that appeal has been filed.
Update: Kathleen notes in the comments:
The typical procedure is the appellants file a notice of appeal (as they did here), then the 9th Circuit will docket the case, giving it a case number, and set a date for submission of opening brief.
53 Comments June 27, 2011
By Adam Bink
The number of couples living in states in which marriage equality is a reality, but the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents those couples from having any federal rights. As much a problem is a couple from, say, Pennsylvania who travels to New York to wed, then loses recognition at the state line because DOMA says other states don’t have to recognize those marriages. It’s a patchwork quilt that we’re trying to resolve at the federal level.
We now have 27 Senators in support of repealing DOMA, but the President hasn’t yet come out in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act. So we’re giving him a little nudge.
Please read below and sign Cleve Jones’ open letter to the President. Rick Jacobs will be delivering your signatures to the White House. If the President hasn’t “evolved” yet on marriage equality, he should support legislative efforts to repeal DOMA. It’s time to lead.
“… (S)upport of the President would be very welcomed. I hope he endorses my bill to repeal DOMA.” — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, June 23rd
Dear Adam,
According to the New York Times, Gov. Cuomo told his father, “(Passing same sex marriage) is at the heart of leadership and progressive government. I have to do this.” Yet even after he and Republican donors and senators “did this,” the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) means NY marriages provide no access to federal benefits and rights and no protection if couples marry and leave the state.
The time has long passed to repeal DOMA. While President Obama continues to “evolve” on marriage, we need him to support and lead on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals DOMA — now.
I have spent nearly 40 years fighting for full equality, not fractions. Our president ordered his Justice Department to stop defending DOMA cases in court. If the president cannot say the words, “I support marriage equality,” he needs to say, “I support Sen. Feinstein’s bill to repeal DOMA.” And then he needs to get on the phone to senators to get them on board, just as Cuomo did. Americans respect courage. When President Obama says, “repeal DOMA,” he’ll earn respect of the base and his opponents.
Do you want President Obama to move DOMA off the books? Sign with me.
We have a lot to celebrate this Pride Month, but we also have a lot left to do. Through your efforts, 27 Senators support DOMA repeal — nearly halfway to the 60 we need. The President’s seal of approval — and leadership — can push this over the top. Gov. Cuomo gets it. We need our president to as well.
Click here to demand his seal of approval. It’s time.
Thanks for all you do,
Cleve Jones
Senior Adviser, Courage Campaign
22 Comments June 27, 2011
By Adam Bink
This is one of our intrepid Courage state coordinators for DOMA repeal — Joshua Loker, organizing in Texas — and he’s invited to attend Wednesday’s Pride month reception at the White House. Joshua has been doing great work organizing on the ground to educate the public and bring more Senators on to DOMA repeal, and this helps recognize that important work. Congrats to Josh.
We have now 75 coordinators in 46 states, volunteering several hours a month to organize on the ground for DOMA repeal. We can always use more! The reason that this is so important is that even though the number of couples in states with marriage equality has now doubled post-New York, they still have no access to over 1,100 federal rights because of DOMA. And that helps us build pressure to repeal this law. We now have 27 Senators onboard, and for a full list of them, check out the DOMA graphic on the right side of this blog near the top.
You can sign up here to volunteer for DOMA repeal, and a member of Courage’s field team will be in touch!
More in this KXAN-TV piece.
11 Comments June 27, 2011
