Californians anxiously await ruling on Prop. 8
lat.msThe ruling on the gay marriage ban is expected in the next 30 minutes.
Legal Journalism
My feature story for California Lawyer “Challenging Prop. 8: The Hidden Story” won a 2011 Azbee Gold Award for editorial excellence in the News Analysis/Investigative category from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. The article was titled “Anatomy of a Complaint” in the print version. It was also a finalist for a Maggie Award, which is presented by the Western Publications Association.
This story was blogged about and mentioned in various places online, including Variety’s politics and entertainment blog, Wilshire & Washington, which called it a “fascinating backstory,” and Slate, which described it as a “meaty background piece.” It was also reprinted in its entirety as the cover story of the January 28, 2010 issue of the San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times.
UPDATE: In March 2012 Andrew Sullivan mentioned my story in his Daily Beast blog post in response to the announcement that Chad Griffin (interviewed in my story) was the new president of the Human Rights Campaign.
Charlie Rose Talks to David Boies About the Supreme Court's Same-Sex Marriage Cases
businessweek.comExplain the importance of this moment and these two cases being argued in the Supreme Court.
Just think how unlikely this would have been four years ago. To be on the verge of real equality for gay and lesbian citizens was unthinkable. We still had “don’t ask, don’t tell.” You had 38 percent of the American people supporting marriage equality. You had a whole series of states that prohibited gays and lesbians from marrying, New York among them. Today, “don’t ask, don’t tell” has been repealed. We have marriage equality in New York. And 58 percent of the American people, and more than 80 percent of citizens 30 and under, support marriage equality. It’s been a seismic shift. It’s been one of the most rapid advances in any civil rights movement in history.… .
You and Olson, who’ve been opponents on big issues, coming together is a powerful statement for an idea whose time has come.
There’s a certain novelty in the two of us being together that made people listen to us. And this is an issue that, when people listen, there’s only one way they can come out. All the other side has is a bumper sticker: “Marriage is between a man and a woman.” That’s not the answer. That’s the question. I think we’re going to win this case. I think this is the right time.
Oral Arguments regarding Prop. 8 and DOMA this week!
Today is the first day of at the Supreme Court hearings. Make sure you wear red to show your support for marriage equality. And make your Tumblr profile picture red too!
Also sign THIS Petition to show your support!
Creativity and the Internet -- Human Rights Campaign
Many of these have already been floating through the Tumblr-world. I’ve seen a few of them. Here are some I hadn’t seen (for these and MANY more—check this out):
Prop 8 hearing is only the tip of the iceberg
dailytrojan.comLike, thanks, everyone, for changing your profile picture for a little bit in support of marriage equality. The Human Rights Campaign is definitely enjoying the free publicity and I’m sure the Supreme Court has taken notice of how much Facebook cares.
But honestly, I’m significantly more concerned about the thousands of LGBTQ youth who will be sleeping on the streets tonight. Over 40% of the homeless youth in the United States have been kicked out of their homes for being queer, and what they need right now is shelter, and clothes, and food, and physical and mental healthcare services—not marriage rights.
I appreciate folks being interested in helping the queer community regardless of their personal orientations. That’s totally rad. But if you are serious about improving the lives of LGBTQ people, consider raising awareness and donating money and time to somewhere like the Ruth Ellis Center or the Forty to None Project.
Keep each other safe.
And then Justice Alito said this...
“Same sex marriage is very new… newer than cell phones or the internet.”
-Justice Samuel Alito
Yeah, remember when same sex marriage first came out and it was bulky and really slow?
(via ccindecision)
LOL, are you kidding me? This comment of his is just more proof that Injustice Alito is ridiculously out of touch.
Thoughts re: SCOTUS and DOMA and Prop. 8:
If DOMA is unconstitutional, then maybe we can get past this whole gay marriage thing and get to focus on, you know, all the other queer issues that need to be addressed. Like how many trans* women have been murdered in the past year, or how 40% of homeless youth are homeless because they’re queer, or something like that…
