No stay, no appeal

Pennsylvania is done. I had reported Gov. Tom Corbett is desperate to hold onto his job. So he decided to annoy the Fundies rather than the majority of voters who want to see same-sex marriage in the state. He also recognizes that an appeal is "extremely unlikely to succeed." Besides, think of the money saved in legal fees. That means he decided to not appeal the ruling overturning the ban on same-sex marriage. And with no appeal there is no need for a stay. Marrying has begun and may continue uninterrupted.

Note to Michigan (and Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Idaho, Arkansas, and Texas): See how easy this can be?

There is one more sweet detail about John Jones, the judge who overturned the Pennsylvania ban. Back when Bush II nominated him to the federal bench, it was Rick Santorum who highly praised the appointment. Santorum is the guy who said the infamous "man on dog" comment comparing our love to bestiality. He's also the one who was the target of an effective Google bomb by Dan Savage. So Santorum's guy is the one to permit same-sex marriage in Ricky's state. No way this judge could be activist.

The National Organization for Marriage (remember them? -- they used to crow about marriage protection amendment victories) is one of those Fundie groups annoyed by Corbett's decision to cut his losses. They are searching for ways to do the appeal in place of Corbett. NOM is the same group that got slapped down for trying to intervene in the Oregon case. They're also forgetting the reason why same-sex couples are now marrying in California -- the Supremes said the group that brought the appeal didn't have standing to do so. NOM doesn't either.

Ari Ezra Waldman, who writes on legal issues for Towleroad, has a review of both the Oregon and Pennsylvania rulings. This long string of victories is definitely changing public opinion.



Last week a group of pastors in Detroit, most of them black, made a lot of noise against same-sex marriage. They even filed a brief with the 6th Circuit Court asking to keep Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage.

A second group of pastors is now starting to make noise. This group wants same-sex marriage to happen. They've also filed a brief with the 6th Circuit. They don't want the first group to be the only voice on the issue.

Predictably, the head of the first group claims the pastors in the second group aren't true Christians.