SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The first federal case to decide if
the U.S. Constitution prevents states from stopping same-sex weddings came to
an anti-climatic break Wednesday after a judge heard nearly 12 days of
wide-ranging testimony on the meaning of marriage, the nature of sexual
orientation, and the role of religion in shaping attitudes about both.
Attorneys for sponsors of California's Proposition 8
tentatively rested their case after introducing materials from the 2008
election campaign.
They called just two expert witnesses, including David
Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, who
capped the historic proceedings by saying the rights of same-sex couples should
come second to preserving the cherished social institution of marriage.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker heard the case
without a jury and said he will take time to review the evidence before
allowing closing arguments, probably in March or April. He has no deadline for
reaching a decision.
On Monday, January 25th, the 10th
day of the Prop 8 case being heard in San Francisco, Ted Olson and David Boies,
attorneys for the plaintiffs, rested their case. Now, the defense team makes
their case...
The Washington
Post reports...
Kenneth Miller, a professor at
Claremont McKenna College who teaches California politics and researches ballot
initiatives, was the first defense witness in the trial over the
constitutionality of Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban.
Miller said one indication of the
gay rights movement's clout in California was that neither Republican Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger nor any other statewide office holders endorsed Proposition
8. But perhaps the best measure of the movement's strength was the $43 million
amassed to defeat the gay marriage ban in 2008, he said. That was $3.4 million
more than initiative backers raised.
Boies pushed back at Miller, asking if he
thought Prop 8 was inherently discriminatory...
"It's differential
treatment. Whether it's legally discriminatory, I don't know," Miller
said.
The New York
Times reports on the cross examination of Kenneth Miller, at
the hand of Attorney David Boies. Boies tried to illuminate Miller's lack of
knowledge when it comes to LGBT discrimination, both currently and
historically...
Mr. Boies pointed out that during
his deposition, Dr. Miller did not know how many states had laws regarding
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Mr. Boies continued to ask
Dr. Miller to answer a range of difficult questions, ranging from political
history to gay and lesbian politics and scholarship.
“What academic books and articles
are you familiar with regarding the discrimination against minority groups?”
Dr. Miller demurred.
“You mean you can’t think of any
titles?” Mr. Boies asked.
“No, I can’t,” Dr. Miller
responded.
Mr. Boies, minutes later, asked,
“Nationally, do you believe the African-American minority or the gay and
lesbian minority has the greater political power?”
Dr. Miller responded, “I’d have
to say I don’t know.”
Shannon Minter, who was a lead attorney in
the California Supreme Court case concerning legal same sex marriage, open up
and provides his take on the current Prop 8 case, as reported by the Advocate...
Aside from the judge and
litigants of the case, perhaps no one has been more present during Perry v.
Schwarzenegger over the past several weeks than Shannon Minter, legal director
for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (if you’re following the case but
haven’t seen his commentary via Twitter, take note: He’s at @nclrights).
As lead attorney in the California state
supreme court case that opened the door for gay couples to marry before
Proposition 8 slammed it shut, Minter is no stranger to the arguments that the
ballot measure’s defenders are using — ones that have ranged in this trial from
dubious to utterly baffling. Minter recently put his tweeting aside for a few
minutes to speak with Advocate.com about the landmark case as it heads into its
third week.
The Advocate
Interview touches on the matter of Paul Nathanson and Katherine
Young, handpicked and paid for by the defense, who then withdrew from the case.
Video depositions later revealed they made statements indicating the plaintiffs
were correct in this matter. Minter comments....
"I have never seen a
situation like that before in any case. Keep in mind that these were experts
handpicked and paid for by the defense. To have a party’s own experts make
admissions in depositions that the other side is completely correct about
issues that are central to their case is almost unheard of."
Minter has also been posting his updates of
the trial on Twitter. You can follow those postings here: http://twitter.com/nclrights
Mercury News provides a time breakdown of the 10th day of
the trial, including this entry...
4:52 p.m.: Plaintiffs' lawyer and
prof spar over whether Prop 8 is discriminatory
Another day is done in the
Proposition 8 trial. Kenneth Miller, a Claremont McKenna professor and the
Proposition 8 team's first witness, remains on the stand, under
cross-examination by plaintiffs attorney David Boies. As the afternoon
progressed, Boies moved on to sparring with Miller about the professor's view
of whether Proposition 8 and other same-sex marriage bans amount to
discrimination. The lawyer and witness went around and around on the topic,
with Miller only conceding that it just defines marriage as between a man and a
woman and "excludes other forms of marriage." He also at one point
said "it creates a distinction between the two groups."
We will be at Mandarin House at 163 East Pine Street in Exeter on Sunday, January 24 at 12:30. Wear your PFLAG or Marriage Equality T-shirt and bring a friend.
Graduating high school students in Northern and Central CA who are members of the LGBTQ community can apply for $5000 scholarships to any accredited post-secondary school. Applications are available at www.equalityscholarship.org and are due by February 16th.
Based on the volunteer-driven Neighborhood Team model that proved successful during the Obama campaign, our Neighborhood Equality Teams provide an opportunity for everyone to be involved in the movement for equality. The most valuable work we can do right now is talk with Californians neighbor-to- neighbor and build power for progressive change within our local communities.
The Courage Campaign Equality Program was born in the wake of Proposition 8. The program was launched with understanding - backed by extensive research - that long-term, deep organizing work done on a local level is the single best way to open the hearts and minds of Californians on same-sex marriage.
And now, after a year of wins and losses and much learned about the movement for LGBT Equality, we know more. We know that we have to fundamentally change how California operates. We know that winning on equality will require building an unprecedented coalition of progressive- minded organizers. And we know that we have to organize ourselves. That's where you come in.
To register (FREE) for Courage Acdemy- Fresno, February 27th please visit:
We are looking for people to step up as Neighborhood Equality Team Organizers and form Neighborhood Equality Teams to build a coalition of volunteers who take the initiative and work together, both locally and in coordinated state-wide actions, to create a more progressive, more governable and more equitable California.
The program kicks off with Courage Academy, our one day leadership and organizing trainings, which will be held across the state on February 27th and 28th, 2010. The goal of the training is to empower Neighborhood Equality Team Organizers to use their personal stories to create shared values, shared commitment, shared structure, and a shared strategy to achieve measurable action for change in their community.
Some potential Neighborhood Equality Teams can include (but not limited to):
Courage Academy- Fresno will take place on February 27th. This event is FREE, for more information and to register for Courage Academy- Fresno please visit:
It's frustrating for those
following the current Prop 8 trial in San Francisco to have to wade through the
blogs and tweets in order to piece the case together. The Supreme Court has
barred the use of live or delayed video of the trial, and understandably, much
of the information coming out via bloggers is incomplete, given the difficulty
of transferring an ongoing trial immediately into words. But an answer seems to
have arrived. It appears we'll now be able to watch daily re-enactments of the
trial, starting on Tuesday, January 19th, thanks to John Ireland.
John Ireland, (pictured above) is afreelance
journalist and filmmaker, based in Los Angeles, who has "focused on the gay rights movement, the
electoral process and the effects of linguistics and semantics on everyday
exchanges that connect us to one another." You can check out Ireland's
previous works by clicking here.
Ireland made this statement over the
weekend... “People want to see this drama
unfold and there is a tremendous narrative that was propelled by that first day
of testimony…. I don’t think you need to be gay or lesbian to see there is a
tremendous human story being told but so few people are actually hearing it.”
Read the full interview here... On
Top Magazine Interview with John Ireland
The project's mission, according to their
website...In its January 13, 2010 ruling, the U.S.
Supreme Court blocked the public broadcasting of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a
U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California
Proposition 8. Working from partial transcripts and first-hand accounts from
bloggers who are present at the trial, we will re-create the trial proceedings
and post them here, for public viewing.
Ireland posted this Craigslist
Adto get the people he needed for the project. All work on the project
is volunteer only.
Apparently Day One of the trial
has been filmed over the weekend and is in the bag, to be released Tuesday,
January 19th. We'll post the ongoing video series here for you to see. For
updates on the project follow this link... Prop 8 Trial
Re-enactment
Pictured, left to right...VAUGHN WALKER (JUDGE)
- DAVID BOIES (PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY) - TED OLSON (PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY) - DAVID
KATAMI (PLAINTIFF) - JEFFREY ZARILLO (PLAINTIFF) - KRISTEN PERRY (PLAINTIFF) -
SANDY STIER (PLAINTIFF)
The PFLAG meeting yesterday was just sensational! There were almost 60 people and about 12 different groups/organizations represented. Everyone gave great presentations and I even learned of a few I hadn’t heard of before. The list of participants is below which I will also try to post on our resource page soon.
AA Rainbow Group- LGBT and friendly support group
Boundaries- Confidential support group for persons living with HIV/AIDS
COS Pride- COS club promoting LGBT awareness
Dining Out for Equality- Monthly lunch group promoting visibility
VisaliaPride Lions Club- Service organization with many community outreach projects
Gay Visalia- We’re here for you, just let us know how to help!
HanfordRainbow Pride- Local social and political group for
Kings
County
Queer Visalia- Website for bloggers and information. Hosts Pride in the Park
Rainbowlers- Monthly bowling group in
Visalia
TulareCountyOutreach- Monthly potluck group
TedG- Weekly dining group at various area restaurants
PFLAG- Monthly meeting to support EVERYONE in and around the LGBTQI community
There is talk of wanting to bring together all of the different area organizations into one coalition effort consisting of social activities and community outreach. If anyone is interested in the organization and participation of such a group please let me know. If you have ideas for this group, we would take those as well. This coalition would include
Tulare
and
Kings
Counties
and include all of the surrounding cities. Again, this thought is just in the newborn stages, so any input or direction would be great! If someone would like to step up and take charge of this, many, many people would be extremely grateful. You can also talk to anyone on the PFLAG board for more information because that’s where the idea was born.
A big thank you to PFLAG for bringing us all together. And thanks to all of the groups in our community for doing the wonderful work that you do for all of us. You make a difference in many people’s lives and help
Visalia
be a better place to live. Thank you!
Over 1,000,000 people voted during Round 1 to determine the top 100 charities. But that was just the beginning.
During Round 2, the top charity by votes will win $1 million, with $100,000 being awarded to the five runners-up. Votes can be cast Jan. 15 through Jan. 22 by visiting our charity page. On January 8, you can read about our BIG IDEA and how we would use this money within our organization.
There are two other organizations among the 100 finalists that work to improve the lives of LGBTQ youth: The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the Matthew Shepard Foundation. In order to ensure that these organizations' life-saving work receives as much support as possible, we are pleased to announce that we will be pooling our resources to offer each other support in hopes of all reaching one of the top six places.
So what can you do to help? Besides casting your vote between Jan. 15 and Jan. 22, please spread word among your friends and contacts. Update your Facebook status, post a link on your profile/fan page wall, send private messages and tweet about the contest. Every person you reach out to is another vote and we can't win this without your help!
If you are willing to do any of these starting January 15, we will send you a follow-up email closer to the competition launch with specific language to use.
Thank you for your continued support.
About The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioningyouth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves young lives through its free and confidential helpline, in-school workshops, educational materials, online resources and public policy advocacy.
Friends and members of Disciples of Christ-Visalia:
Tuesday afternoon Port Au Prince, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake that is so immense that I am not sure we can grasp the damage it has done. 100,000 people have possibly died. That would be like the city of Visalia being eradicated. Port Au Prince had two firestations and three trash trucks to service a town of 3 million people. Everybody in Port will be touched by death by family or acquaintance. The whole city which had little infrastructure to begin will have to be rebuilt. And we want to know what we can do.
I am encouraging you to give to www.weekofcompassion.org or www.churchworldservice.org. I know people in both organizations and they do good work. They will provide immediate assistance and will help in the rebuild. Your money will go a long ways and to the right people.
The next issue is that they need hygiene kits and the warehouse that has these kits was emptied on the initial movement to Haiti. I expect that they will need more kits for Haiti, because the challenges and recovery will be that difficult. We need to build more of these hygiene kits for the people of Haiti and for the next crisis. It is a pay it forward initiative. We need the following items for the kits. This is something we can do now that will help.
We have four ways of participating in this effort.
1.) Create your own hygiene kit at home.
2.) Get hygiene kit supplies. (items listed below) You may have towels at home and trip to the dollar store can get most of the items. Big need hand towels. They cost $2.00 a piece. Ask neighbors and friends if they have some.
3.) Donate money to get supplies
4.) Participate in the assembling of the kits. We start Sunday after church.
From the CWS website.
In the face of natural disasters, violence, or grinding poverty, Hygiene Kits can mean the difference between sickness and health for struggling families.
To assemble a Hygiene Kit you will need:
One hand towel measuring approximately 16" x 28" (no fingertip or bath towels)
One washcloth
One wide-tooth comb
One nail clipper (no metal files or
emery boards)
One bar of soap (bath size in wrapper)
One toothbrush (in original packaging)
Six Band-Aids®
Please do not add toothpaste to the Hygiene Kit. Toothpaste that has an extended expiration date will be added to Hygiene Kit shipments just prior to shipment. Seal all items in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure.
Thank you and continue to pray for the people of Haiti.
This
video explains a part of the back story of the current Prop 8 trial. Much more
of the story can be read about in a compelling article from The New Yorker... The
New Yorker - A Risky Proposal
For the best
up to minute information on the Federal Prop 8 case, visit The
American Foundation for Equal Rightswhich is the group
bringing the case against Prop 8. This site is the best resource for
information about the trial, although we have provided various other links to
keep track of the proceedings.
From the American Foundation for Equal Rights... The federal trial over the unconstitutionality of
Proposition 8 began today with an opening statement by attorney Theodore Olson,
who with David Boies is leading the legal team assembled by the American
Foundation for Equal Rights to litigate the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
Opening statements will be followed by testimony from Kris Perry, Sandy Stier,
Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, who comprise two couples who wish to be married
but who were denied marriage licenses because of Proposition 8. After the
opening statement David Boies gave the direct examination of Jeff Zarrillo and
Paul Katami. Read
Olson's opening statement by clicking here
You can
follow live Twitter updates from the trial by clicking on the following link...Live Updates From
the Trial
Jennifer
Vanasco of 365Gay.com is also providing live Tweet updates from the Federal
Prop 8 Case. You can view her contributions HERE
Yet another
source for keeping track of the Federal Prop 8 case. This one is through the
Courage Campaign with Rick Jacobs writing from the courtroom. Many lengthy
dialogues which are occurring in the courtroom are written out here. Prop 8
Trial Tracker - Courage Campaign
We need Obama to be the fierce advocate he promised to be. Tell him we need his support and sign the EQCA petition below. Pass it on the friends and family as well. Thank you!!
After much begging, favor asking, whining and sad puppy dog eyes, the good people at:
HONG KONG - 417 E. Center St., Visalia CA
(Center & Santa Fe, across from Santa Fe Station)
have opened up on a Tuesday night ESPECIALLY for TEDG! We hope to see you and many others there in appreciation of them opening up and working on their usual day off. Please come by for dinner, and use the Lum Lum's Market entrance. Charlie will be there at the entrance in his CHONIES!!!!
Editor's note: I'll believe the chonies when I see them. ;-)
PFLAG Tulare and Kings Counties is a volunteer group of parents, family and friends of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT). We welcome members of the GLBT community to our meetings and membership. We meet on the third Sunday of each month.
Location:Family HealthCare Network
305 East Center Street (Corner of Bridge Street)
Visalia (Use the courtyard entrance on Bridge. Pedestrian gate is in the alley.)
Date: Sunday, January 17, 2009, 3 - 5 pm
Program: Brief presentations from local gay and gay-friendly groups , including Queer Visalia, Gay Visalia, Ted G, Dining Out For Equality, Lions Club, Hanford Rainbow Pride, COS Pride.
