"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

I Wasn't Really Planning on Posting Today

But the world just doesn't hold still.

First off, this one, via Joe.My.God:


It really is Christmas. Catch the rainbow kerchief.

Next, from AmericaBlog:


My take: it's cute, but I don't know how effective it's going to be. But hey, if it gets gay men thinking about enrolling in the ACA, so much the better.

The Log Cabin Republicans have a different take (as quoted at AmericaBlog):

Today Log Cabin Republicans, the only LGBT advocacy organization on the Obamacare Repeal Coalition, denounced a video advertisement by Out2Enroll exploiting gay stereotypes to encourage gay men to enroll in the Affordable Care Act.

“This cynical ad betrays the depths Obamacare advocates will sink to in order to pad their pathetic enrollment numbers,” Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Gregory T. Angelo declared. As a self-proclaimed ‘fierce advocate’ of gay equality, President Obama would do well to distance himself from this nonsense and denounce it immediately.

This ad is also an example of the left promoting harmful stereotypes that gay men are nothing more than sex-crazed lechers. If anyone on the right made such a comparison, liberals would be apoplectic.

At a time when left-wing propagandists are decrying Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson for equating homosexuality with promiscuity and deviance, Out2Enroll and others should take a look in the mirror and ask if the truth is that they are the ones responsible for promoting such harmful stereotypes.”

There is so much wrong with that I don't even know where to start. John Aravosis did a pretty good take-down at the link. And the comments on this one are worth reading.

Maybe when the LCR grows enough balls to take on the "Christian" right, I might start paying attention to them. (By the way, has anyone heard from GOProud lately? You know, that "gay conservative" organization run by a bunch of straight people?)

Next up, the state of Utah still has not managed to get a stay of Judge Shelby's ruling. Judge Shelby was kind enough to explain to them why he couldn't do it:

[State's attorney] Lott gave the example of then-District Judge Vaughn Richard Walker deciding to stay his ruling at the same time he ruled against California’s Proposition 8.

Shelby explained the difference between what happened in that court and why it didn’t happen in this court.

“There was no motion for a stay pending when I made my ruling,” he said. “When Judge Walker ruled, the plaintiffs had filed a motion to stay the ruling in case it didn’t come down their way.”

There was no such motion filed by the State of Utah before Shelby made his ruling.

“I had no authority to rule on a temporary stay,” he explained.

Duh.

And Ohio must recognize your same-sex marriage, but only if you're dead. Needless to say, Brian Brown thinks it's outrageous that even dead people have rights.

And Virginia, in the persons of the Staunton Circuit Court Clerk and the Registrar of Vital Records, is being sued to overturn its marriage ban. That case is going forward. (There's a more complete story here.)

And a Marry Christmas to all.





2 comments:

Glenn Ingersoll said...

So Judge Shelby's saying Utah wasn't even as competent as the Prop H8ers ...

Hunter said...

In their defense -- and it's a pretty weak defense -- the AG's office is a shambles right now, since the AG resigned under suspicion of corruption and the Governor hasn't appointed a permanent replacement.

On the other side, they obviously believed that their ridiculous arguments were going to prevail, when they haven't anyplace else.