Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Vegetate to Close at the End of the Month
D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Wizards Owner Abe Pollin Dies at 85
By DCist contributer Shauna Miller
The mere acknowledgment of the existence of gays in President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech
brought historic warm fuzzies for many of us, but that doesn't mean that marriage-minded gay folks are holding their breath for movement on the issue under Obama. Clearly, there
are some other priorities that want attention, and in any case, both Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden have said directly that they don't support gay marriage.
But like any good politician, Obama's got an inclusive (if vague) message for the hopefuls. "I'm running for President to build an America that lives up to our founding promise of equality for all, a promise that extends to our gay brothers and sisters," he said in an open letter released through Obama Pride during the campaign. "It's wrong to have millions of Americans living as second-class citizens in this nation."
What that will work out to actually mean remains to be seen, but today, Join the Impact -- the people who brought you November's nationwide Proposition 8 protests -- is staging another nationwide initiative. Their goal is to collect 1 million signatures calling for the repeal
of the Defense of Marriage Act, which permits states to refuse to recognize same-sex unions sanctified elsewhere, even when the relationship is considered a marriage by another state.
Organizers plan to present the signatures to Obama on his first day in office as a reminder of his campaign promises to address LGBTQ issues. The D.C. effort begins in Dupont Circle at 1:30 p.m., with volunteers canvassing seven areas in the District to collect old-school paper-and-pen signatures.
Photo by yospyn
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so is there not a digital form that can be signed online?
Kind of interesting for this type of thing to be posted on DCist... I am 100% in favor of equal rights for all. That being said this is the stupidest fucking idea to move forward with right now. Politcally it's a poison pill, and completely impractical. First it will never pass the house, simply because any half-wit who has taken a intro to political science course will see that passing such legislation will guarantee a Republican House after the 2010 elections and likely cut the margin in the Senate by at least 4-5 votes, if not more. Additionally Obama will be dead in the water come 2012 - with gay marriage legislation virtually sinking any hopes he has to win Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Indiana. It also would put states like Pennsylvania, where the conservative base in places like Lancaster county stayed home in 2008.
Just look at the numbers of when the bill was passed and you will see that it has no chance to be overturned except by those committing political suicide.
All that being said, the Defense of Marriage Act is a horrendous bill that could potentially be ruled unconstitutional for a number of reasons... From Article 4 section 1 to the 14th amendment, there are plenty of opportunities for the courts to find this unconstitutional. That will take time though, and it is unlikely the current make up of the Supreme Court will overturn the provisions of DOMA.
However, if the issue isn't a hot button at the time of the next Supreme Court appointment, Obama might be able to get someone in there that will move the court in the right direction on this issue. Of course, that's doubtful, because all the damn abortionist and flamers will be running around like crazy stoking the fire.. Then the catholic church will show up with fetus posters and the megachurches in missouri will send bus loads of people to argue against gay marriage and we'll get stuck with a moderate that promises not to do anything.
Basically, point is: The best fight against the ridiculous anti-gay lobby is to fight locally and through the courts. As far as nationally, it's pragmatically impossible and pretty damn stupid at this juncture. The best possible option for gay rights is to ensure Obama gets re-elected in 2012 and stupid projects like this one that try to bring the issue to the forefront of national politics do far more damage than good.