Just this week, this proud and out Navy psychologist proposed to his boyfriend. Love and progress are in the air.
Showing posts with label #AllMenAreCreatedEqual. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #AllMenAreCreatedEqual. Show all posts
2/14/14
A Federal judge gives a big Valentine's Day gift to the LGBT community in striking down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage: "marriage is a fundamental right"
From Towleroad.com:
Happy Valentine's Day! Lately, it seems like every day brings another falling domino in the fight for marriage freedom. Today's victory comes from Virginia, where a federal judge declared the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
The case, Bostic v. Rainey, looks a lot like every other marriage case -- loving and committed same-sex couples want nothing more than to have their love recognized by the state.
Judge Arenda Wright Allen, a former Judge Advocate General in the Navy and public defender and an Obama appointee to the federal bench, declared Virginia's ban unconstitutional, but took a different path than some other judges who have recently come to similar conclusions.
The decision concludes that marriage is a fundamental right and, as such, any ban on fundamental rights has to be evaluated under strict scrutiny. But Judge Wright Allen notes that she does not have to go the far: the ban fails very easily under equal protection, and under the lowest form of scrutiny. But, as you will see from our discussion below, this decision feeds off recent decisions elsewhere on marriage equality, proving that a victory in one case does indeed make it easier to win the next case.
2/13/14
2/10/14
Tweet of the day
This gave me chills. Love you guys #mizzounation RT @Mizzou Support for Sam at Memorial Stadium. #OneMizzou pic.twitter.com/pVejgYWiC2
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) February 10, 2014
2/8/14
My president sends a message to Russia...of inclusion & love!
From Towleroad:
In an interview with Bob Costas this evening before the Opening Ceremonies of the Sochi Games, President Obama was asked about the inclusion of openly gay athletes in the official delegation.
Said Obama:
"There is no doubt we wanted to make it very clear that we do not abide by discrimination in anything, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. One of the wonderful things about the Olympics is that you are judged by your merit, how good you are regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love and that I think is consistent with the spirit of the Olympics."
2/6/14
2/5/14
When Midwestern kids like this one come out so proudly and authentically, you know that love is winning...
Ryan is a role model for closeted gay teenagers around the world. Unfortunately, his bravery comes at a cost: he has received two religious-referencing death threats. How crazy is that?
2/2/14
12/8/13
12/7/13
Forgive but don't forget: in 1986 the Congress overrode Reagan's veto of the Anti-Apartheid Act, which put severe measures on the South African government
From PolicyMic:
Ronald Reagan was angry. It was October 1986, and his veto against the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act had just been overridden — and by a Republican-controlled Senate, at that.
He had appeared on TV a month earlier to warn Americans against the Anti-Apartheid Act, decrying it as "immoral" and "utterly repugnant." Congress disagreed, and one month later, it produced the two-thirds majority needed to override Reagan and pass tough new measures against South Africa's apartheid government. These measures included a ban on bank loans and new investments in South Africa, a sharp reduction of imports, and prevented most South African officials from traveling to the United States. The Act also called for the repeal of apartheid laws and the release of political prisoners like African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela, who had spent the last 23 years in prison.
It is difficult to fully comprehend the evils of apartheid today. Blacks were denied citizenship and the right to vote. They were forcibly relocated into impoverished reservations. People of color were barred from operating businesses or owning land inside white areas, which comprised most of the country. Sexual relations or marriage between people of color and whites was strictly forbidden. Racial segregation was enforced in public areas, including schools, hospitals, trains, beaches, bridges, churches and theaters. To enforce apartheid, the government often resorted to police brutality, the imprisonment and assassination of political dissidents, and the murder of black protesters.
Remembering Nelson...and some of his wisest words
"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die" - Statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial, April 1964.
"I am your servant, I don't come to you as a leader, as one above others" - Speech announcing the ANC election victory, May 1994.
"We have travelled too far along the road to freedom to turn back now. We shall not be deterred by the threats or the actions of the forces of the past. Our people have the right to hope, the right to a future, the right to life itself. No power on this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity" - Statement after the Bisho massacre, September 1992.
"Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign" - Inauguration speech as President of South Africa, May 1994.
"There are times when my heart almost stops beating, slowed down by heavy loads of longing. I would love to bathe once more in the waters of Umbashe, as I did at the beginning of 1935" - Letter from Robben Island, April 1971.
"The white man makes all the laws, he drags us before his courts and accuses us, and he sits in judgment over us" - Court statement, October 1962.
"I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man" - Speaking while conducting his own defence after being charged with illegally exiting South Africa, October 1962.
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children" - Speech at the launch of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, May 1995.
"This is for all South Africans, an unforgettable occasion. It is the realisation of hopes and dreams that we have cherished over decades. The dreams of a South Africa which represents all South Africans. It is the beginning of a new era. We have moved from an era of pessimism, division, limited opportunities, turmoil and conflict. We are starting a new era of hope, reconciliation and nation building" - Statement after voting in South Africa's first democratic election, April 1994.
"Your right to determine your own destiny was used to deny us to determine our own." - Speech to British MPs in the House of Commons, London, May, 1993
"Unite! Mobilise! Fight on! Between the anvil of united mass action and the hammer of the armed struggle we shall crush apartheid and white minority racist rule" - Statement issued by Mandela via the ANC after the Soweto uprising of 1976.
"The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days" - Press statement, 1961.
"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb" - From Mandela's autobiography, The Long Walk To Freedom, 1994.
"The cameras started clicking like a great herd of metallic beasts. I raised my right fist and there was a roar. I had not been able to do that for 27 years and it gave me a surge of strength and joy" - Describing his release from prison in The Long Walk To Freedom, 1994.
"One of the greatest challenges we face is gaping - and growing - disparities in the response to HIV between countries and regions around the world. Aids-related stigma and discrimination is pervasive and a real barrier to stopping the expansion of this disease. The vast majority of the 40 million estimated people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Fear of being stigmatised is a great factor. It requires bold and visible action by top leadership - at all levels of society - to root out this deadly form of discrimination" - World Aids Day Message, 2006.
12/6/13
12/5/13
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