Equality Roundup: Pride in California / Equality across the U.S.
Pride Pride Pride! We were at SF (scroll down), George Takei was in NY as were couples celebrating their paper anniversary with placards. In Chicago, it was about diversity, Minnesota’s same-sex marriage struggle made theirs about politics (and we’re looking OK so far), and OccuPride crashed SF’s march. Google even hid a Pride easter egg
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the first same-sex civil union was held on a military base, and it looked a lot like a wedding, with an Evangelical Lutheran Chaplain officiating, a couple in formal dress and mothers crying.
Even as anti-equality marriage foes qualify in Maryland, one of the main proponents of our Prop 8 has changed his views. It’s an important piece to read, and one of the things to keep in mind is that we win by increment, not by shock and awe. That David Blankenhorn clings to unwarranted assumptions about the differences between same sex and mixed sex unions shouldn’t overwhelm lines like, “I do believe, with growing numbers of Americans, that the time for denigrating or stigmatizing same-sex relationships is over,” or his references to the “equal dignity of homosexual love,” or “Whatever one’s definition of marriage, legally recognizing gay and lesbian couples and their children is a victory for basic fairness.” It is frustrating that it took Blankenhorn so long to acknowledge something so basic to so many of our lives, but recognize his support of comity and fairness will be more convincing to those still stuck on the other side of the fence than all of the obvious (to us) civil rights arguments we can muster. He also helps us reinforce the message that much of the resistance to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people does stem from homophobic animus. That he recognizes this may make it easier for those lagging in the moveable middle to accept that as well. As per always, we recommend the excellent Movement Advancement Project series on Talking About LGBT Issues.
The Supreme Court overturned three portions of SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial “show me your papers law,” and Lamda Legal writes about what it means for LGBT people, and why we should all be concerned. The National Council of La Raza voted to support the freedom to marry on June 9, but the vote was leaked today. What do those have in common? Intersectional solidarity, where people recognize common threats to justice and equality and work to oppose them. It’s the subject of a long report from the Applied Research Center called Better Together In Action, about how LGBT and racial justice communities can work together to achieve more than either could alone.
We all know that there’s nothing to that pernicious urban legend about churches being “forced” to perform same-sex weddings. But one of our favorite legislators, Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), has brought SB 1140 to end that sewer alligator of religious umbrage. The bill would explicitly excuse churches from having to perform weddings that they don’t agree with — so no more Catholic ceremonies at the synagog. Some regressives are still against it because, well, because they’re against same-sex marriage and don’t like having to own it, we guess.
While Entertainment Weekly’s story about new celebrity comings-out makes blasé the new black, Autostraddle has curated a huge archive of lesbian history from back when being ignored was the best that could be hoped for.
Fred Phelps’ cool son does a Reddit I Am An Ex-Member of Westboro Baptist, Ask Me Anything where he talks about his father, his former church, and his advocacy for LGBT people.
And finally, the ethics complaint against Mark Regnerus, prompted by his latest pseudoscience on LGBT people and families.
