Thursday, February 17, 2011
Now & Later
Film Review by Kam Williams
Headline: Politics Make Strange Bedfellows in Sexplicit Agitprop Adventure
Bill (James Wortham) was making a decent enough salary crippling Third World economies as an international banker to be able to afford a great house in L.A. But when greed got the better of him, he ended up accused of embezzlement.
He subsequently became so despondent and suicidal about the prospect of spending eight years behind bars that, rather than face the music, he decided to jump bail without even telling his wife (Marcellina …

14 years ago this week, Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law. DOMA, as it is known, allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, and laid the foundation for marriage bans across the country. Charlene Strong has been fighting DOMA since the death of her wife, Kate Fleming, in a flood in their Washington State home.
Strong faced discrimination at the hospital and the funeral home while dealing with the loss of her partner, and a documentary was made of her struggle. For My …

Charlene Strong promotes marriage equality in the documentary “For My Wife”
In 2006, Charlene Strong lost her wife of 10 years, Kate Fleming, in a flash flood accident in Seattle, Washington. At the time of Kate’s hospitalization, Charlene was denied the basic right to be by her partner’s side, and was refused dignity and respect following Kate’s passing, as the funeral director dismissed Charlene’s existence in funeral preparations.
Here she is in a clip for the US Census Bureau, telling her story and how the 2010 Census could help gays and lesbians.
Watch and Read …

By: Associated Press
August 11th
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that all 31 states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in the capital, though its decision does not force those states to begin marrying gay couples in their territory.
In a 9-2 decision, the tribunal cited an article of the constitution requiring states to recognize legal contracts drawn up elsewhere.
It did not specify what degree of recognition must be granted to same-sex couples.
Read On.

My Fellow Conservatives, Think Carefully About Your Opposition to Gay Marriage
By Margaret Hoover
Published August 10, 2010
As a conservative Republican representing the next generation of attitudes towards gays and lesbians, I encouraged the readers of FoxNews.com last January to take a careful look at the arguments and evidence in the Prop 8 trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
The case was presented by a constitutional conservative, Ted Olson, who helped found the Federalist Society, successfully argued Bush v. Gore to the Supreme Court (among fifty-five other cases), and was George W. Bush’s Solicitor General. Working with …

10 August 2010
The American Bar Association, the nation’s leading legal organization, today passed the following resolution:
“RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges state, territorial, and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry.”
“With this action, the American Bar Association has affirmed the principles upon which this nation was founded—that every American is vested with certain inalienable rights and that all Americans are created equal,” said Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation …

Is There Really a “Fight” for Gay Marriage?
By Vanessa Carmichael
August 9th, 2010
Celebration is indeed in order. The health of our society, our democracy, hinges on equality, not just for some but for all. However, the ink isn’t even dry on Judge Walker’s decision to undo the wrong passed by California voters and already we’re onto how weak Obama and Democrats are on gay marriage.
Obama may have brought this one on himself. There was really no need to rain on the gay marriage parade with a statement about not supporting gay …

LOS ANGELES (August 6, 2010) – Following the tragic death of her wife, Charlene Strong was thrust into the national spotlight as an activist for marriage equality.  Her emotional testimony was influential in the final decision of the Washington State’s Legislature to enact its historic Domestic Partnership laws protecting LGBT couples and families.  Charlene was recently invited to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House during a June 2010 reception for LGBT Pride leaders.  Charlene’s evolution into a marriage equality activist is powerfully captured in the award-winning documentary …

By Charlene Strong and Hans Johnson
EARLIER this month, a federal judge ruled that part of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is unconstitutional.
The ruling may spell the beginning of the end for the 1996 statute, a cornerstone of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But demise of the law may be achingly slow unless the U.S. House and Senate repeal it in full.
State legislators also need to follow the lead of Washington state by providing recognition for same-sex couples in state law. Equal access to civil marriage is the …