Stirring the majority into action

After several days of temperatures hovering around 40F and a significant melting of snow (some bare grass along some streets) we had another snowstorm today. After a taste of spring there was a lot more resentment towards more snow. The weather report said 3-8 inches. News reports said that might be enough to pass the current record for snowfall for a season -- 93 inches set in 1888. And even if this storm didn't pass the record, they were quick to point out, this is Michigan and only mid March.

I postponed lunch with my friend and debate partner. After the snow stopped I shoveled 3 (whew!) inches off my driveway. The mounds on either side are tall enough that several times a shovel-full rolled right off. But once I got out to the main roads the drive into the Ruth Ellis Center went smoothly.

It might get down to 0F tonight and back to 40F on Friday.



The New York Times has a good article on the marriage equality case recently concluded in Michigan. The article explains the case well, though I didn't learn anything new. Buzzfeed has another article, in case you haven't had enough.



I've seen a couple articles now on the Dorchester Conference in Oregon in which Republicans approved an endorsement of marriage equality. The vote was 233-162. While it is great news some sources have noted this is probably the moderate side of the party. The conservative side held a gathering elsewhere.



As for the GOP across the country, a recent poll says that 61% of people ages 18-29 who are or lean GOP approve of same-sex marriage. That's compared to 22% ages 65 and older and 39% of all those who are or lean GOP. Another graph shows that support for marriage equality has grown through all generations.



While on the topic of public opinion… Those who oppose marriage equality are down to 41%. Of those nearly 2/3 wrongly believe most Americans agree with them. This is because most people filter out things they disagree with. But it means this group, less than 30% of the country believes they are only one court order or "religious liberty" victory away from stirring the majority into action and defeating marriage equality for good.



A coalition of fifty civil rights organizations in Uganda have petitioned the constitutional court challenging the new anti-gay law. The signers include the heads of gay rights groups. The petition thoroughly describes how each clause of the law violates the constitutional guarantees of equality and privacy. In addition, the petition requests the court ban media outlets from publishing names and addresses of people thought to be gay, to cut off vigilante campaigns.

Even with all the damage the law is doing (see those vigilante campaigns), this law is not yet officially in effect. It hasn't yet been published in the Uganda Gazette.



I had reported that a trial appealed to the 9th Circuit Court by the Abbott drug company has raised that court's level of scrutiny in all cases dealing with gay issues. That means there had better be a really good reason for discrimination. That threshold is now so high that the AG of Nevada has used the 9th Circuit's ruling as his reason why he won't defend the states same-sex marriage ban before that court.

The latest news in the case is that Abbott will not appeal the 9th Circuit's ruling. That means the high level of scrutiny won't go directly before the Supremes. And that means, with the Nevada case on the 9th Circuit's docket, it is quite probable that marriage equality will come to the rest of the 9th Circuit -- in particular Arizona and also Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon -- by the end of summer. California, Hawaii, and Washington already have marriage equality. Of course, that high level of scrutiny will likely go before the Supremes as part of the appeal of the Nevada case. And Arizona will do all it can to appeal it.



Some more news about United Methodist pastors and same-sex weddings on my brother blog.