My Gay Online

Jay-Z rips anti-gay marriage movement as ‘discrimination’

pikapp44 — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:20:14 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden generated headlines — and inspired a few jokes — when he credited sitcom “Will & Grace” with educating the American populace on gay rights. Now it’s Jay-Z’s turn to make headlines.

This week, the hip-hop star-entrepreneur and longtime supporter of Barack Obama echoed the president’s sentiments on the topic of gay marriage. Denouncing gay rights “is no different than discriminating against blacks,” Jay-Z told CNN. “It’s discrimination, plain and simple.”

Jay-Z is one of the most powerful figures in a genre that over the last decade has been shedding its perceived anti-gay tendencies, a dialogue that went mainstream after the union of Eminem and Elton John at the 2001 Grammy awards. To be fair, Jay-Z himself used an anti-gay slur more than once in his early works, but he left no room for misinterpretation this week when he stated that the refusal to allow gay couples to wed is “holding the country back.”

Jay-Z could prove to be a powerful ally. For one, his “Empire State of Mind” has positioned him as a modern-day Frank Sinatra, and his daughter with Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, is treated like American royalty. But more important, American voters remain divided on the issue, and ballot box polling has shown that gay marriage is a particularly contentious issue among African Americans. The Times recently reported that in “2008 more than 9 in 10 black voters in California backed Obama, then overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 8, the successful ballot measure to overturn the state Supreme Court’s decision allowing same-sex marriage.”

Jay-Z has been making the media rounds to discuss the two-day Made in America festival he’ll be hosting Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia. No doubt by then, more artists will have weighed in with their thoughts on the upcoming election, but one topic won’t be up for debate at the event.

“What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love,” Jay-Z told CNN. “That’s their business.”

Romney Gets Facts Wrong on Gay Adoption

pikapp44 — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:28:44 +0000

When Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney suggested he was in favor of gay adoption and then quickly backtracked, it was widely reported as yet another flip-flop by the former Massachusetts governor.

But Romney also got his facts wrong when he said, “I simply acknowledge the fact that gay adoption is legal in all states but one.”

Not even close. According to the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks state laws relating to gay rights, the District of Columbia and just 18 states — Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — allow joint adoption by same-sex couples. Same-sex couples have successfully petitioned to adopt in some jurisdictions in Colorado and Minnesota.

Florida’s ban on gay adoption was overturned in 2010 after a foster parent and his partner petitioned to adopt two boys that had been in their care for six years.

Romney’s mistake reflects his sometimes-awkward efforts to position himself as someone who is conservative enough for Republican voters but not too conservative for independents and Democrats.

UPDATE from the campaign:

Only one state – Mississippi – explicitly bars same-sex adoption by statute. Miss. Code Sec. 93-17-3(b). Utah is frequently cited as another state that bars same-sex adoption, but that prohibition applies to any cohabitation relationship involving persons of any gender who are not married. And, regardless, the point Gov. Romney is making is that this is a state issue, which is what he thinks it should be.

For Gay Republicans, Romney Tough To Support

pikapp44 — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:40:12 +0000

President Obama’s support for same-sex marriage has been a hot topic this week. After his interview with ABC News, it’s been difficult for pundits, the media and the public to focus on little else, especially since the news came on the heels of North Carolina’s approval of a ban on same-sex marriage.
One person trying to move away from the same-sex marriage debate has been Mitt Romney. For three days, his campaign has tried to steer the national conversation back to the economy, but the pressure to respond to Obama’s announcement has been intense.
Speaking at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Saturday, Romney finally spoke out. “Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman,” he said to a cheering crowd of students who have to follow a strict code of conduct that considers sex out of wedlock and homosexuality to be sins.
Despite earlier avoidance of the issue, Romney might be forced to draw a clear contrast when it comes to all gay issues because of Obama’s position.
One group watching Romney’s position carefully is the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates for equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians. Rich Tafel, who founded the national office, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz that Romney’s position on gay issues has shifted over the years.
“Certainly when he was running for Senate in Massachusetts in 1994, he really made a case to Log Cabin Republicans that he would be even better than Sen. Kennedy,” Tafel says. Romney basically made the pitch, he says, that he’s a businessman who has never discriminated against gay people, that he has no problem with gays and he’d be a supporter if he were in the Senate.
Romney lost that race but eventually became governor of the state. His pivot on the issue, Tafel says, came in 2004 when courts in Massachusetts ruled that same-sex marriage was constitutional in the state.
“It felt really odd at the time that we would ride this issue as a governor, when there were so many issues in the state,” Tafel says. “He was saying ‘I’ve got no future in Republican politics unless I pivot on this issue.’”

Romney seeks evangelical votes; opposes gay marriage

pikapp44 — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:17:23 +0000

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought on Saturday to calm fears that his Mormon faith would be an obstacle to evangelical Christian voters, stressing shared conservative values while acknowledging religious differences.
In a speech at conservative Christian Liberty University – where it is taught that Mormonism is a cult – Romney stressed their common goal of service to God and declared his opposition to gay marriage, a position essential for winning the majority of evangelicals in November.
“People of different faiths like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology,” the presumptive Republican nominee said in a commencement speech, addressing his Mormon faith.
“Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview,” said Romney to warm applause. Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, view themselves as Christians.
Romney went right at the latest hot-button issue, bringing much of the audience to its feet in cheers by declaring: “Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.”
Many students and parents said that while they are wary of Romney’s religion, they would rather he occupy the White House than President Barack Obama who announced his support for same-sex marriage this week.

JWoww Slams Bristol Palin For Criticizing Obama’s Gay Marriage Endorsement

pikapp44 — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:41:08 +0000

After criticizing President Obama over his recent endorsement for gay marriage, Bristol Palin is under attack from an unlikely source — “Jersey Shore” star, Jenni “JWoww” Farley.
“Bristol should keep her uneducated ignorant mouth shut. If Ur living in the past u wouldn’t have a kid w/out marriage #hypocrite. It’s 2012!” JWoww tweeted Thursday afternoon.
The secretly savvy guidette’s tweet comes in response to Palin’s criticism of Obama’s explanation for his evolving views on gay marriage. Obama explained that because his daughters have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, he could no longer explain to them that those couples should be treated any differently.
“While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads,” Palin wrote in a public Facebook post. “In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage. Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home.”
But JWoww isn’t the only famous face taking to Twitter to show Sarah Palin’s daughter the error of her ways.
“We know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home.” really bristol palin? how’s your kid doing?” openly gay DJ, Samantha Ronson tweeted.
Echoing Ronson’s sentiments, former “The Hills” star Lo Bosworth simply tweeted, “Bristol Palin – you so silly, girl.”

Romney affirms opposition to same-sex marriage

pikapp44 — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:51:23 +0000

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he unequivocally opposes “marriage between people of the same gender,” drawing a contrast to President Obama’s “evolving” position on the issue.
In an interview with Denver-based KDVR-TV, Romney was asked about the failure of a ballot measure that would have allowed same-sex civil unions in Colorado. “I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name,” Romney said. “My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not.”
Romney, in another interview Wednesday, told CBS affiliate KCNC in Denver: “My position is the same on gay marriage as it’s been well, from the beginning, and that is that marriage is a relation between a man and a woman. That’s the posture that I had as governor and I have that today.”

Asked why he supported domestic partnerships, but not civil unions, Romney said, “If a civil union is identical to marriage other than in the name, I don’t support that. But I certainly recognize that hospital visitation rights and benefits of that nature may well be appropriate. And states are able to make provisions for determination of those kinds of rights as well as, if you will, benefits that might accrue to state workers.”

Obama Says Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Legal

pikapp44 — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:46:29 +0000

President Obama on Wednesday ended nearly two years of “evolving” on the issue of same-sex marriage by publicly endorsing it in a television interview, taking a definitive stand on one of the most contentious and politically charged social issues of the day.
“At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Mr. Obama told ABC News in an interview that came after the president faced mounting pressure to clarify his position.
In an election that is all but certain to turn on the slowly recovering economy and its persistently high jobless rate, Mr. Obama’s stand nonetheless injects a volatile social issue into the campaign debate and puts him at even sharper odds with his presumptive Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who opposes same-sex marriage and favors an amendment to the United States Constitution to forbid it.
Public support for same-sex marriage is growing at a pace that surprises even professional pollsters as older generations of voters who tend to be strongly opposed are supplanted by younger ones who are just as strongly in favor. Same-sex couples are featured in some of the most popular shows on television, without controversy.
Yet time after time, when the issue is put to voters in states, they have chosen to ban unions between people of the same gender or to defeat measures that would legalize same-sex unions. Just Tuesday, North Carolinians voted overwhelmingly to add a ban to their state constitution, and Republican leaders in the Colorado House blocked a vote on legislation to allow civil unions; North Carolina and Colorado are considered swing states in presidential politics.
Nationwide, according to the pollster Andrew Kohut of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, a plurality of swing voters favors same-sex marriage, 47 percent to 39 percent, and outside the South the margin widens to a majority of 53 percent in favor and 35 percent opposed; in the South, a plurality of 48 percent opposes same-sex marriage. Swing voters generally do not have strong opinions on the subject, Mr. Kohut said, though in the South 30 percent of swing voters say they are strongly opposed.
Supporters of same-sex marriage were quick to praise the president’s decision to speak out.
“President Obama’s words today will be celebrated by generations to come,” said Chad Griffin, the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group. “For the millions of young gay and lesbian Americans across this nation, President Obama’s words provide genuine hope that they will be the first generation to grow up with the freedom to fully pursue the American dream. Marriage — the promise of love, companionship, and family — is basic to the pursuit of that dream.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, called the president’s statement “a watershed moment in American history” that would aid efforts to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York said, “No American president has ever supported a major expansion of civil rights that has not ultimately been adopted by the American people, and I have no doubt that this will be no exception.”
Some supporters saw the president’s announcement in more political terms.
“For thousands of supporters who donated, canvassed and phone-banked to help elect Barack Obama in 2008, this is a powerful reminder of why we felt so passionately about this president in the first place,” said Michael Keegan, president of People for the American Way, a liberal interest group.
“I’m almost in tears,” said Steve Clemons, director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. Mr. Clemons, who is gay and was married in California in 2008, said the announcement would ignite progressives at a time when there was some ambivalence on the Democratic left as to how forcefully to support Mr. Obama’s re-election bid.
Mr. Clemons compared that ambivalence to that of evangelicals on the Republican right toward Mr. Romney. But now, in one single step, Mr. Obama, at least, has erased any ambivalence his base might feel toward his candidacy, Mr. Clemons said.
Mr. Obama’s comments came in an interview with ABC News’s Robin Roberts that was arranged by the White House, knowing that Ms. Roberts is a popular correspondent, well-known especially among female viewers as a cancer survivor and among African-Americans, a group in which there is widespread opposition to same-sex marriage.
The interview was intended to be wide-ranging, but it inadvertently became the outlet for Mr. Obama’s long-awaited evolution on same-sex marriage in a week that began with the remarks of his vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., all but embracing same-sex marriage in an expansive answer to a question on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Mr. Biden’s well-publicized comments increased the pressure on Mr. Obama to take a stand, with his press secretary, Jay Carney, pummeled with questions from White House reporters. Newspaper editorials, columnists and bloggers assailed the president’s ambivalence, demanding clarity before the election. On Tuesday, Mr. Carney signaled that Mr. Obama would soon address the matter.
But the timing was forced on the president in other ways.
On Thursday, Mr. Obama is to attend a fund-raiser in Los Angeles at the home of the actor George Clooney, which is expected to raise about $12 million, much of it from Hollywood people active in the gay-rights cause. On Monday, Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak at a campaign fund-raiser and reception of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Leadership Council in New York City, where the special guest is Ricky Martin, the singer who is gay. On June 6 Mr. Obama is scheduled to return to Los Angeles to speak at a gala benefiting the gay, bisexual and transgender community, with tickets costing up to $25,000. And this summer, Democrats will begin meeting to draft the party’s platform for the national convention that will nominate Mr. Obama in September, and some gay-rights activists are pushing to include language endorsing same-sex marriage. The president and his advisers in the White House and at the campaign headquarters in Chicago knew Mr. Obama would repeatedly have to parry questions and criticisms on the issue. That prospect, several Democrats said, suggested that the greater political risk for Mr. Obama was not in coming out for same-sex unions but in appearing to be politically calculating, especially given that most supporters believe he personally has favored same-sex unions.
“He’s been on this evolution since November 2010, and it’s been getting kind of awkward,” said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign. “The word evolution signifies change that has an ending at some point.”

US vice-president Joe Biden ‘absolutely comfortable’ with same-sex marriage

pikapp44 — Sun, 06 May 2012 17:52:19 +0000

Vice-president Joe Biden has strongly backed gay marriage in comments that appear to go beyond the “evolving” views of his White House boss.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriages, adding that homosexual couples are entitled to “the exact same rights” as heterosexual ones.
It makes him the most senior member of the administration to come out in favour of gay marriage and raises the hopes of many that a second Barack Obama term may lead to federal recognition of all unions, irrespective of sexual orientation.
Biden told Meet the Press: “I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.”
The vice-president made it clear that the views were his personally, as opposed to that of the administration, prefacing the comments with “the president sets the policy”.
But it comes as an indication that the White House is moving towards an official policy of backing same-sex marriage.
Asked outright if -Obama would support gay marriage in a second term, Biden said: “I don’t know the answer to that.”
The president has disappointed some in the LGBT community for not pushing hard enough for equal rights during his first four years in power.
Yesterday, at an event to mark the official launch of his 2012 re-election campaign, Obama trumpeted his record on gay rights, such as the removal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that encouraged gay members of the armed forces to hide their sexuality.
He told a crowd of supporters in Columbus, Ohio, that never again would America go back to the days when someone could get thrown out of the army because of “who you are or who you love”.
But his views on gay marriage have not been as clear cut. He has stated in the past that he is in favour of same-sex unions, but has only gone as far as saying his views on gay marriage are “evolving”.
Polling suggests that America has moved significantly on the issue over the past few years.
A Pew Research Centre survey last month noted that 47% of people are now in favour of same-sex marriage, with 43% against. The same poll taken during the last presidential campaign found that 51% were against allowing gays and lesbians to wed, with 39% in favour.
Other polls have suggested that over the last 12 months, the scales have tipped further, with a majority of Americans now in favour of gay marriage.
During the Meet the Press interview, Biden said the portrayal of gay people on TV shows such as Will & Grace had helped shaped society’s views in recent years.
The trajectory comes in contrast to that of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate for the White House, Mitt Romney.
In his earlier political career, the former Massachusetts governor backed equal rights for gay and lesbian couples wanting to marry.

Bill Clinton Opposes North Carolina Gay Marriage Amendment

pikapp44 — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:04:18 +0000

Former President Bill Clinton has recorded an audio advertisement opposing North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The ad will be pushed to the phones of hundreds of thousands of North Carolina voters beginning Monday. In it, Clinton urges voters to oppose the amendment, saying it won’t change North Carolina’s statutory ban on gay marriages.

But he says it will affect the state’s ability to attract new businesses and will take health care from children. He says it also could diminish the state’s laws protecting women from domestic violence.

The pro-amendment side also has its share of heavy hitters supporting it. The Rev. Billy Graham issued a statement supporting the amendment, saying the Bible is clear that God’s definition of marriage is between a man and a woman.

Naples man deals with DMV denying gay marriage license

pikapp44 — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:54:24 +0000

Hoping to snip through the red tape of getting a driver license, new Collier County resident David Scott Duseau showed up at the Department of Motor Vehicles well prepared.
Birth certificate, proof of address — check. Social Security card and marriage certificate to document his name change — check, check.
Although he brought everything the DMV instructed online, Duseau didn’t walk away with a new ID that mid-April day. He said they stopped processing his paperwork when DMV staff saw David’s spouse was named Paul.
“Had he had a name like Pat, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” said Duseau, 46, referring to a gender-ambiguous name.
When the couple legally married in Massachusetts in 2007, Duseau took his husband’s name, changing his driver license and Social Security card. They knew Florida wouldn’t recognize same-sex marriage when they moved to North Naples this winter.
Then they learned the marriage certificate didn’t count either, even to show how his name changed from Burris to Duseau.
“I’m not asking to recognize my marriage,” Duseau said. “Just recognize my name change.”
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees driver license issuance, can’t do that, staff said.
“It’s not that we don’t recognize the marriage,” agency spokeswoman Courtney Heidelberg said. “We as a department cannot recognize the documentation of a same-sex marriage because of that law.”
That law, she explained, is Florida statute 741.212, which states that no matter where the union occurred, same-sex marriages “are not recognized for any purpose in this state,” adding that state agencies can’t recognize “any public act, record, or judicial proceeding” of a marriage other than the one “between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”
“We have looked at it to determine if there was any way, any type, any flexibility in the law,” Heidelberg said. “It’s so specific we can’t — we have to follow (it).”
That understanding of the law is questionable, according to the legal director for the ACLU of Florida.
“I don’t think the DMV is correct in it’s interpretation,” said Randall Marshall. “He’s not asking the State of Florida to recognize his marriage, he’s asking the State of Florida to recognize his name change. I don’t think this statute prohibits the DMV from using that document for that purpose.” He believes there is “room for an attempt to get the DMV to change its interpretation.”
The Florida DMV requires three forms of identification from license applicants: a primary one, like a birth certificate or a passport, proof of Social Security number, and proofs of residential address. If the applicant changed names, a certified copy of a marriage certificate or court order is needed to document that change. On its website, the agency states only that marriage licenses “must be from a governmental agency.”
Staff at the local DMV office were polite, Duseau said, but told him to get his Florida license he had to bypass the marriage certificate step and either get a passport with his married name, or get a court order declaring his married name. Both options meant money and time he didn’t want to — and didn’t feel he should have to — spend.
“Why should I be fined or taxed… (when) others don’t have to pay?” Duseau asked, citing passport and court order fees.
After a week of stalling during which Duseau emailed local and national media, he said he capitulated, paying $110 to apply for a new passport.
The risk of being without the license, however, could be costlier. A new Florida resident caught driving without a state license after 30 days could face a second-degree misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of up to 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.
“The problem you are facing is experienced by most same-sex married couples who reside in states that do not recognize their marriage,” wrote Bruce Bell of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a Boston-based organization, in response to an email from Duseau.
Social Security accepted his name change because it was done in a state where the marriage is recognized; otherwise, that wouldn’t have worked for Duseau either, Bell said.
Because a court order is generally needed to legally change one’s name in Florida outside of marriage, individuals who undergo non-marital name changes already have that legal document to present to the DMV.
The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage to include one man and one woman. Sixty-two percent of Florida voters in 2008 backed an amendment to the state constitution to explicitly ban same-sex marriages; Collier and Lee voters supported the change at 63 percent and 65 percent respectively.
John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment’s official sponsor, called the driver license issue “innocuous.”
Because “marriage benefits society in unique ways that same-sex couples do not,” one of the perks is the ability to automatically change one’s name, Stemberger said.
The DMV, he added, “should follow the law, and they did follow the law. It’s unfortunate that it’s an inconvenience for these two individuals.”Duseau’s case is not isolated. Another Florida couple was told in January by DMV staff over the phone their marriage certificate would be valid to prove their name change, but in person it was rejected.
They were excited to get their licenses at first.
“(It’s) the final step of the marriage, it really signifies you’re together…” said Rachel Lambert-Jolley, 26, a St. Petersburg resident who merged surnames with her wife after their 2011 marriage in Connecticut.
The DMV rejection quashed that, she said, describing the scene as “embarrassing and upsetting.”
Brian Winfield, managing director of gay rights advocacy organization Equality Florida, believes these cases aren’t about validating gay marriage in Florida.
“Our feeling is that there is a huge difference between recognizing this couple as legally married in Florida and allowing them to change their name on their license,” Winfield said. “They’re being discriminated against, humiliated by being told their relationship is meaningless, and financially penalized.”
The DMV and Equality Florida do not have figures on how frequently name-change issues for same-sex couples arise, but Winfield suspects it’s more than these two cases. Some couples pay for the court order or passport to get the license ordeal over with, he said.
“Many people having had that experience just don’t want to fight about it anymore,” Winfield said.
Lambert-Jolley believes at the very least, Florida needs a protocol for same-sex spouses who change their names.
“We’re not asking you for a wedding gift,” she said. “We’re asking for our driver’s licenses.”