Just ignore the polls

And in other news:

Gary Glenn, Michigan's top homophobe, ready to deny us any morsel of rights, is running for the Michigan House. His district includes Midland to Pinconning. Should I be glad this will keep him too busy to pay more attention to us, or should I be afraid he will be in the thick of lawmaking? Note I didn't say it would give him more access to lawmakers. He seems to be doing just fine as a lobbyist.


Laurel Ramseyer notes the American anti-gay crowd appears to now be using language of defeat. They sometimes use that actual word. Other times they blame various factors ("Young people overwhelmingly support the other side."). Sometimes they feel boxed in, such as commenting on marriage equality lawsuits in Oklahoma and Arkansas, states they considered "safe." And at times, they just let loose with idiocy. “We’re winning it in public opinion despite what the polls say.” Aren't polls designed to reflect public opinion?




I had noted Bayard Rustin is being honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. NPR's All Things Considered did a great profile of Rustin. He's a gay and black icon you should get to know.



The Social Security Administration says for now, its definition of marriage is based on where the couple lives, not where they were married. The SSA bases that on an existing law, which means the law must change. Sorry, sis. You and your sweetie won't be able to get married elsewhere, come back to Michigan, and expect the SSA consider you married.



How is this for roundabout? In Kentucky a wife cannot be made to testify against her husband. Bobbie Jo Clary is accused of murdering a man. Her partner Geneva Case does not want to testify against her. Prosecutors want to compel her. So the couple filed suit to overturn the state's marriage amendment on the grounds of equal treatment. Might this be how Kentucky gets marriage equality?



Many times when a gay person is murdered the assailant claims "gay panic." This guy came on to me and I panicked and killed him. Or in the case of a transgender person, when I found this girl was really a guy I freaked out. The American Bar Association now urges a ban on using gay panic or trans panic as a murder defense. David McConnell, who wrote the book, American Honor Killings: Desire and Rage Among Men, says such defense hasn't worked.