Gay donors, though, have only intensified their support and are expected to participate in unprecedented numbers in a “LGBT Gala” DNC fundraiser scheduled for June 23 in New York.
“He’s coming back up in the estimation of the gay community pretty rapidly, and I think justifiably,” said Ethan Geto, a New York lobbyist and key figure in Dean’s gay fundraising, who said many gay supporters had hoped “don’t ask” would be repealed during the president’s first year in office. “When things didn’t happen in [that] time frame and on the track that Obama had held out hope for, people got very disillusioned,” said Geto. “This was the time to strike.”Others said that Republican candidates’ shots at gay rights in their attempt to appeal to socially conservative Iowa voters had reminded gay donors of the stakes. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum this week said gays and lesbians shouldn’t have the “privilege” of adopting children, while former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty suggested he would block the repeal of the ban on gays in the military, and Donald Trump compared same-sex marriage to faddish golf gear.“Our community has tasted change, and it’s hard to conceive of going backward,” said Fred Sainz, the vice president for communications for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights group. “It’s hard to conceive of that coming to a screeching halt or reversing — and so it’s a subject of great energy for members of my community and especially those with great resources.”
“Any reservations that a significant number of donors might sit this out have been answered by Donald Trump and the fools in the Republican Party,” said Mixner. “They have become so vehemently anti-gay.”
Orange County might be a beautiful oceanfront locale, but it's also home to Holocaust deniers, vicious anti-gay bigots and freakish big-haired televangelists.Here, one of our Republican politicians welcomed the inauguration of the first African American U.S. president in early 2009 by sending out an email that depicted a watermelon field in front of the White House.That incident drew embarrassing international attention, but now another Orange County Republican has apparently topped the watermelon imagery with another racist attack on President Barack Obama.
The Weekly has obtained a copy of an email sent to fellow conservatives this week by Marilyn Davenport, a Southern California Tea Party activist and member of the central committee of the Orange County Republican Party.Under the words, "Now you know why no birth certificate," there's an Obama family portrait showing them as apes.
"I simply found it amusing regarding the character of [President Barack] Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth," Davenport wrote. "In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people [Scott Baugh, Orange County GOP boss, and this writer] tried to make this about race . . . I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them . . . That being said, I will NOT resign my central committee position over this matter that the average person knows and agrees is much to do about nothing."
As a result, the attorneys are urging a federal appeals court to keep blocking same-sex unions while it considers the constitutionality of the ballot measure known as Proposition 8.Good grief.
The lawyers said in court papers filed Monday that the rationale for keeping the voter-approved ban in effect is the same now as it was last summer, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a trial judge's order overturning Proposition 8 on hold.
Lawyers for two gay couples are asking the 9th Circuit to let same-sex marriages resume in California.
Some say the decision is dismaying, though not damning. Others may be rethinking their views, given the influence Obama has in the African American community. And there are those who don't seem to care much at all.However, some folks have a different view. Like the minister Anthony Evans who leads the National Black Church Initiative
"I don't think that this is a deal breaker in terms of whether we are going to support the president ... but it doesn't help," said Cheryl Sanders, pastor of a small church in the District, who described herself as fairly conservative theologically.
She is among the 68 percent of churchgoing African Americans who oppose same-sex marriage and among the 90 percent who support Obama.
As a question on its own, churchgoing African Americans are against same-sex marriage. But when the issue is wrapped up into a larger political context, it becomes just one of many and generally not the deciding one, said the Rev. Al Sharpton, an Obama ally.
"The president has harmed himself on this issue," he said. "He has openly offended the black church, and he didn't need to do it."However, according to the article, Anthony will continue to support the president. I also believe, that the overall majority of us will support Obama in 2012. Gay Marriage will not send a huge number of Blacks to the other side. In fact, his stance will challenge their beliefs and possibly begin the much needed conversation.
Today, the California State Senate approved a joint resolution, AJR 19, calling on the U.S. Congress and President Obama to immediately repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which explicitly forbids the federal government or any federal agency from recognizing state-sanctioned marriages between same-sex couples. Introduced by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D - Santa Monica) and sponsored by Equality California, the joint resolution was passed by a bipartisan vote of 22-12.
“The Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal government from recognizing the relationships of loving same-sex couples, even when the states where they live recognize their relationships,” said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors. “We’re proud of the California legislature for making the state’s opposition to DOMA official state policy. Now we must overturn this discriminatory federal law and pave the way for the marriages of same-sex couples to be recognized at the federal level.”
Under DOMA, which passed in 1996, married same-sex couples are refused the same federal rights and responsibilities as their heterosexual counterparts, resulting in inequitable and unfair implementation of federal laws governing a range of issues such as housing, immigration, tax and inheritance. A repeal of DOMA would result in the federal government recognizing legal marriages of same-sex couples, just as it currently recognizes legal marriages of heterosexual couples.“President Obama has called this law abhorrent in the way it denies more than 1,000 federal rights to same-sex couples,” Assemblymember Brownley said. “Congress must act now to overturn DOMA, which is rooted in irrational and unfounded prejudice. Married same-sex couples deserve equal access to these benefits.”
We will see how this goes.
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"Jan Brewer has the cojones that our President does not have. If our own president will not enforce a federal law, more power to Jan Brewer."
Moose Mess on illegal immigration
