Florida Agenda

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – A new survey of Illinois delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina this week indicates that President Obama’s support for legalizing same-sex marriage helps his reelection chances. Almost 78 percent of respondents to a Chicago Daily Herald survey said that the president’s announcement this year supporting marriage equality will help him among independent voters. The remainder thinks his position will neither help nor hurt him.

The responses of the 40 Prairie State delegates stands in stark contrast to those of GOP delegates surveyed by the newspaper prior to last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa. In those answers, 33 percent said that Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s opposition to gay marriage will help him with independent voters. Only 4 percent said that his position will hurt his chances, while 64 percent think it will neither help nor hurt him.

In Illinois, lawmakers have approved civil unions, while a suit seeking to legalize marriage equality is working its way through the state’s courts.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – Last week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, donated $2.5 million to the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington State—a contribution that effectively doubles the electoral war chest of gay marriage supporters. Washington is one of four states where same-sex marriage referendums will be on the ballot this year.

In February, Washington State lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage, a move pushed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. But opponents collected enough signatures to add a ballot measure that would repeal the law. Although most Americans say they support marriage equality, voters in 32 states have rejected such measures at the ballot box.

Bezos, who founded Seattle-based Amazon.com in 1994, is among top Washington State business leaders who have donated in support of the same-sex referendum, including Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer of Microsoft, who have each given $100,000.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – In separate but coordinated pastoral letters to their respective flocks, the Roman Catholic and Anglican archbishops of Sydney condemned parliamentary efforts to legalize same sex marriage.

LGBT rights activists and marriage equality supporters accused the churches of utilizing fear-mongering tactics from pulpits for political purposes.

In a letter read Sunday to Anglican congregations, the Archbishop of Sydney, Rev. Dr. Peter Jensen said called gay marriage a “state-imposed idea,” and referred to “a blatant propaganda war fought on this issue, with what amounts to product placement and celebrity endorsements.” The Anglican prelate called on his flock to pressure their Members of Parliament to oppose marriage equality bills,” and to those lawmakers, he added, “my advice to people is to take this into account as you cast your vote.”

In a similar epistle to Roman Catholic congregations, Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell said that same-sex relationships are “contrary to God’s plan for sexuality,” and that the two proposed bills for marriage equality “will cause” “discrimination and injustice,” “instead of removing” them.

And the Primate of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis, wrote “Our Orthodox view is contrary” to same sex marriage, “because the proposed alteration to the traditional form of marriage is diametrically against the sacredness of marriage and of the family, as taught by the Christian faith and Greek Orthodox Tradition.”

The prelates’ opinions will likely prevail, at least for now, because although a majority of Australians support marriage equality, a senior lawmaker said on Monday that MPs will likely maintain the ban on same sex marriage, when the issue comes to a vote later this year. Graham Perrett— who has two gay brothers and supports gay marriage—chairs the Australian parliamentary committee that examined gay law reform, and said that he believes a majority of lawmakers don’t share his views.

By Cliff Dunn

“Personally, I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” -President Barack Obama, May 9, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans. “I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said.

During an interview with ABC reporter Robin Roberts (which aired in full this morning on “Good Morning America”), Obama gave LGBT Americans the nod they had been waiting for after four years of coy winks concerning his “evolving” views on full marriage rights for every citizen.

The president, invoking the images of same-sex families and households possessing the same goals and concerns as any straight family unit, spoke of his evolution from a supporter of civil unions to a history-making proponent of full marital rights.

The president’s comments came during a week that was filled with good news for LGBT Americans. On Sunday, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Vice President Joe Biden said that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, remarks that were followed on Monday by Secretary of Education Secretary Arne Duncan offering ‘his own “public” support on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” President Obama offered. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know, believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha [the president and Mrs. Obama’s daughters], they have friends whose parents are same sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

By publically announcing his support, Obama was formalizing a process that has already begun, with the rollback of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), and the Justice Department ending its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—which defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman—in court. Analysts say that the president is taking some political risk in his overt support for same-sex marriage. In 2008, his presidential campaign won North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes by a 0.3 percent margin of victory. On Tuesday, the pivotal swing state’s voters overwhelmingly—61 to 39 percent—passed legislation which enshrines the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution. For Obama, it will be a long road until November.WASHINGTON, DC – President Barack Obama made history on Wednesday, saying he “personally affirms” his support for marriage equality for all Americans.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The comments of a Jamestown councilman suggesting that the community consider marketing itself as a Mecca for gay marriage has sparked a firestorm, with the official receiving calls for his resignation and even threats against his life.

Councilman Greg Rabb, who also serves as the municipal body’s president, proposed during a recent meeting that the state’s marriage equality law could benefit the community by putting out the call for gay tourists and those looking to tie the knot.

When council members reviewed ideas for building tourism dollars within the community of 31,000 (Source: 2010 Census data), Rabb floated the suggestion that Jamestown “market itself as a same sex destination.”

Following the remarks, a flood of emails and comments hit the Web site of the Post Journal, the local newspaper. “I was appalled when I read Greg Rabb’s idea to make Chautauqua County a destination for ‘same sex marriages,’” wrote one reader. “What a despicable thing to say!

This is an abomination and is against all natural law. The morals of our country are at an all time low and it is time we turn ourselves around.”

Another reader, Pastor Donald V. Erickson, wrote with outrage “What! Is this how we are going to put Jamestown on the map? A baby San Francisco? We’ve already been in the national limelight (recall one who went about Jamestown knowingly infecting girls with the HIV virus),” adding “News flash, fellas: The second half of Romans, chapter one, is just as true as every other page in God’s Holy Word (The Bible).” Another criticized Rabb for pushing a “personal agenda.”

Supporters of Rabb organized a demonstration on front of the Post Journal editorial offices this week, to show their solidarity with the embattled councilman.

They said that the councilman had received threats since his suggestion, and note that town officials have seen an increase in tourism since the passage of marriage equality in New York, since Jamestown is near the border with Pennsylvania, a state where gay marriage is still not legal.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – A prominent British barrister says that rulings in favor of marriage equality by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Appeal mean that British churches will soon be compelled to perform same-sex marriages, despite promises to the contrary by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Cameron’s government issued a consultation document last month that said a marriage equality law will “make no changes to religious marriages.” The document said that church marriages “will continue to only be legally possible between a man and a woman.”

Neil Addison, the director of the Thomas More Legal Centre in London, which represents religious and social conservative organizations in court, says this isn’t the case. “The Government will be obliged to permit same-sex marriage on religious premises on exactly the same basis as it permits heterosexual marriage,” said Addison.

“Certainly a good legal case can be made that any place or person who is registered to perform marriage must be willing to perform same-sex marriage on the same basis as they conduct heterosexual marriage since, in law, there will be no difference between the two,” he added.

Addison pointed to the recent decision in a European Court of Human Rights case involving two French lesbians which found that, although no country has an obligation to legalize marriage equality, once such a law is passed, the state must apply it equally to all citizens.

“Churches which perform heterosexual marriages will have to be willing to perform same-sex marriages and they will have no legal grounds to resist since the courts have determined that the ‘orthodox Christian view of marriage’ is not a ‘core’ part of Christian belief,” Addison noted.

MANCHESTER, NH – Lawmakers rejected a bill that would have made New Hampshire’s legislature the first to repeal a marriage equality law.

Members of the state House voted 211-116 to defeat the bill, which ended attempts by the chamber’s new GOP majority to overturn the Granite State’s two-yearold same-sex marriage law.

“They blew it,” said Craig Stowell, co-chair of Standing Up For New Hampshire Families, citing conservatives’ efforts to undo the existing gay marriage law. “This was supposed to be the most favorable legislative climate for repeal and they couldn’t even get a majority.”

Republicans hold a 189-seat majority in the state’s House of Representatives.

The Republican-backed measure would have ended same-sex marriage effective March 2013, and replaced it with a previous civil unions law that had been in effect in 2008 and 2009. Under the bill, those same-sex marriages that were made prior to the repeal taking effect would have remained valid.

State Rep. David Welch, a Republican, said he had been against same-sex marriage, but that the time for repeal had come and gone. “The Legislature has given certain rights to members of our community and now we’re being asked to take them away,” said Welch.

Another Republican, state Rep. Warren Groen, supported the bill because, in his view, marriage equality is a gateway to legalizing polygamy and other non-traditional lifestyles. “We are indeed on a slippery slope,” Groen said.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE – The European Court of Human Rights ruled last week that its member states are not required to grant access to marriage to same-sex couples.

The judges were deciding upon the case of two gay women who are registered in France under a civil partnership. The couple argued that their status prevents them from adopting a child as a couple.

The women, Valerie Gas and Nathalie Dubois, were asking the court to establish their marriage rights under European anti-discrimination laws.

Among other rights the women were petitioning for Gas to be allowed to adopt Dubois’s 11 year-old daughter.

But the judges said there had been no discrimination. “The European Convention on Human Rights does not require member states’ governments to grant same-sex couples access to marriage,” the court ruled.

“With regard to married couples, the court considers that in view of the social, personal, and legal consequences of marriage, the applicants’ legal situation could not be said to be comparable to that of married couples,” they added.

But the judges noted the importance of parity in all instances: “Where national legislation recognizes registered partnerships between samesex, member states should aim to ensure that their legal status and their rights and obligations are equivalent to those of heterosexual couples in a similar situation.”

DES MOINES, IA – The state capital was awash in same-sex marriage events this week, and both sides were wellrepresented. On Tuesday, the Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, held a rally in the Capitol Rotunda which was meant to convince the state Senate’s Democratic leaders to allow a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit marriage equality.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the Hawkeye State, after a 2009 state Supreme Court decision invalidated a state law barring such marriages. Since then, conservatives attempted to write a ban into the state constitution. Iowa’s Republican-led House approved such an amendment last year, but it has stalled in the state Senate. A constitutional amendment requires lawmaker approval of the proposed amendment in consecutive legislative sessions before it is then put to popular referendum.

One Iowa, an organization that advocates marriage equality, likewise held a rally on Tuesday, which featured speakers in support of same-sex marriage, including members of Iowa Republicans for Freedom, a GOP group that favors marriage equality, and the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

AUGUSTA, ME – Supporters of same-sex marriage say they are confident that voters in Maine are ready to make the Pine Tree State the nation’s first to legalize marriage equality by popular referendum.

Although five states are expected to contain marriage equality questions on their November ballots, Maine is the only one where the initiative has been framed by supporters of the issue. In 2009, lawmakers approved a same-sex marriage bill that was signed into law by then-Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat.

Baldacci, a Roman Catholic, became the first governor to sign a marriage equality law that had not been previously courtordered. That status was reversed less than six months later, when gay marriage was overturned 53-47 percent in a statewide referendum on Nov. 3, 2009.

In spite of that defeat, marriage equality advocates believe that the past three years have seen a drastic change in voter opinions, and have successfully petitioned to add the question to this November’s ballot.

Last week, Raleigh, North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling released the results of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) poll of Maine voters that concerned the issue, with the following results reported:

“It looks like Maine voters will reverse their 2009 decision and legalize gay marriage in the state this fall. 54% think that gay marriage should be legal to only 41% who think it should be illegal. And when we asked about the issue using the exact language voters will see on the ballot this fall, they say they’re inclined to support the referendum by a 47-32 margin.

There’s some indication that the exact ballot language is confusing people a little at this point. Only 67% of those who support gay marriage in general say they’ll vote yes while 12% say they’ll not and 21% are not sure. At the same time, just 60% of those who oppose gay marriage generally say they’ll vote against the proposed referendum, while 24% say they’ll vote for it and 16% are not sure. My guess is at the end of the day voters will see this as a straight referendum on gay marriage regardless of what the language on the ballot says — and the 54/41 number bodes well for pro-equality voters.

Republicans’ opinions are pretty much the same as they were in 2009. But Democrats’ support for gay marriage has increased slightly, from 71% to 78%. And more importantly independents have gone from voting against gay marriage 52/46 three years ago to now supporting it by a 57/36 margin.”