How to start a movement

We've come a long way since 1969. Today is the anniversary of the Stonewall riot in New York City. They are named for the Stonewall Inn where they took place. The riot marks the start of the era of gay civil rights, when feelings shifted from fear to a confident push for dignity and full rights. If you don't know about the Stonewall riot, you have some Googling to do. Not bad work for 44 years.



I've been writing that the demise of DOMA means federal benefits for married same-sex couples will be true across America. That may not be the case immediately. Obama has said he very much wants it to be true and he has his staff looking into the issue.

In the meantime a couple Congresscritters are submitting bills to overturn the rest of DOMA, the part that says one state can ignore a marriage that was celebrated in another state.



Rob Tisinai looks at the latest ad from the National Organization for Marriage. It says "The Supreme Court has not ended the debate. It has started a movement." Presumably, NOM believes it is a movement to overturn our gains in gay equality, especially marriage. Does that mean all the work they've done over the last decade (or at least half-dozen years) hasn't been a movement?

Well, says Tisinai, that work did start a movement. And they did it by relentlessly humiliating a tiny minority and stripping away their rights. They kept doing that until that minority rose up and fought back. Which is how we came to repeal the Calif. gay marriage ban. Tisinai says he didn't particularly care to get involved -- until he was stung by that big defeat in Calif. Yup, a movement was started. But not the kind NOM intended.

Commenter Richard Rush notes another effect of the actions of NOM and other Fundies who attack gays. That is a movement away from religion. It has caused many to seriously look at religious belief and many of those see bigotry and want no part of it.



I wrote about Tim Huelskamp of Kansas filing a new version of the federal marriage protection amendment. One little problem -- his fellow GOP members (both in Congress and in the state legislature) in Kansas are doing all they can to distance themselves from him. Maybe his voters still love him?



Ohh, there are some fun implications to the latest cover of the New Yorker.



There was talk it would take maybe 3 weeks for the Supreme Court to go through the paperwork to notify the 9th Circuit Court and several days for the 9th Circuit to lift it stay before marriage could resume in California. Eager couples were looking at perhaps a wait of a month. Nope. Took two days. The 9th Circuit lifted it's stay today. The plaintiffs, Sandy Stier and Kris Perry have already been married by the Calif. Attorney General Kamela Harris. Jeff Zarillo and Paul Katami, the other pair of plaintiffs are on their way to their own ceremony. Done.



Equality Michigan reports that a federal district judge has struck down the ban on employee benefits to same-sex partners of public workers. The law is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution.