Posts Tagged ‘same-sex couples’

Threatened: The American Taliban – Iowa and Vermont Approve Gay Marriage

// April 7th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // All things LGBT, Racism

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! What are opponents of gay marriage going to do when civilization fails to collapse?

Two U.S. states with different socio-economic, political and geographical realities came through for same-sex marriage this past week.

Vermont becomes the fourth state after Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Iowa to recognize same-sex marriage in the United States. We eagerly await the ruling in California, which should come no later than May.

Anti-gay marriage activists (the ones that spend all their time reading up and chatting about gay news) are spurring into action, snarling about judicial activism and the downfall of democracy, as well as civilization.

The atheist judges of Britain had destroyed Christianity in Britain, they allowed Sikh people to wear turban instead of helmet but prohibited schools from celebrating Christmas stating that it is offending non Christians.

Another moron:

It’s time for righteous indignation! We have a voice that needs to be heard, but in order to be heard we must use our mouth. This country was based on Christianity and MORALITY in our pulpits!

…

Does that even merit a response? It offends the sensibility of this blog and tells us not to bother arguing with such people since they have obviously lost control of their mental faculties.

Needless to say, I am thrilled. However, I would like to also take a moment to say that gay politics do not and should not stop at ‘gay marriage.’

Read: What Constitutes Gay Immigration Politics – Notes from a Queer Undocumented Organizer (Change.org)

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Sovereignty and Same-Sex Marriage – Native American Tribes

// September 11th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // All things LGBT

Given the sovereignty of Native American tribes within the United States and the fact that the tribes are allowed to do certain activities that are illegal for the general United States public (i.e. smoking peyote), marriage also falls under this category. However, it still does not grant the couple federal benefits since there is no such thing as “same-sex marriage” under federal law.

It boggles my mind how discrimination so clearly and blatantly in violation of equal protection laws continues to thrive. I don’t understand what the government gains from creating and treating a special category of peoples as different and subhuman. Wouldn’t acknowledging same-sex marriage give more power and legitimacy to the state as well as prolong the life of the dying institution of marriage? Keeping people in the ‘waiting rooms of history’ where they await the chance to live their lives freely, has the potential of creating communities in conflict with the flow of government. Of course the ‘handouts’ such as ‘civil unions’ and hospital visitation rights, serves to keep these communities formed in the ‘waiting rooms of history’ in relative harmony with the state. And the case in discussion is just another one of those ‘handouts.’

At the request of a lesbian couple, the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast has adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage.

Tribal law specialists say this appears to be the first time a tribe has actively sanctioned such marriages. Most tribal law ignores the issue. The Navajo and Cherokee tribes prohibit same-sex marriages.

The impact of the tribe’s action, first reported by The Oregonian newspaper, appears limited to its small reservation, given Oregon and federal prohibitions against gay marriage. The couple planning their wedding at the tribal plankhouse don’t seem to care, saying they seek only tribal recognition and equal tribal treatment.

“For me, the important thing wasn’t about rights or the benefits,” 25-year-old Kitzen Branting told the Eugene Register-Guard. “I just wanted the tribe to say ‘Yes, we recognize that you are just as important as any other tribe member, and we will treat you and your spouse as we treat all tribal members.’ “

Legal scholars said that tribes do have authority over domestic relations among tribal members, but Congress may have the ultimate say-so.

“It can do anything good or anything bad to the tribes and the Indian people as citizen Indians,” said Robert Miller, who teaches Indian law at the Lewis & Clark College School of Law in Portland.

He said the tribes have all the rights they have historically held unless Congress takes them away or the tribes give them up by treaty.

“Congress is the 900-pound gorilla in the corner,” Miller said. He said it is a vague and generally unknown loophole that can remove tribal powers.

Bill Funk, who teaches constitutional law at Lewis & Clark, compared the Coquille action to that of states that recognize same-sex marriages even though the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 does not and says other states and tribes needn’t do so.

“Under federal law, these are not marriages,” said Funk.

He said the lack of federal recognition could make the couple ineligible for marriage-related Social Security and other federal benefits.

He compared the tribe to Massachusetts, which recognizes same-sex marriages although the federal government does not

Oregon voters amended the state constitution in 2004 to prohibit gay marriage. But with its sovereignty recognized by the federal government, the tribe is not bound by that. Oregon does recognize civil unions.

A same-sex couple from the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma applied for a marriage license there in 2004 and had a ceremony, then the tribe outlawed same-sex marriages after the fact.

At least two tribal lawsuits challenging the marriage have been thrown out and a third is in process, said Shannon Minter, an attorney for the San Francisco-based Center for Lesbian Rights, who represents the couple.

Why Gay Marriage is Wrong! Political Satire

// May 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // All things LGBT, Gender, Human Rights, Videos

This new video by Taylor Oakley is great political satire on gay marriages. He pretty much takes all the redundant arguments against same-sex marriage and shows their lunacy. A must-watch.

Who is more ‘undesirable ?’ The ‘illegal alien’ or homosexual ?

// May 19th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // All things LGBT, Gender, Human Rights, Immigration, Politics

Over the weekend, I was reading some pro-migrant news at a Catholic site that I had stumbled on via Google News Alert service. And on the sidebar, the very site was spewing hatred about same-sex marriage in California. The churches and religious ‘right’ who first established ’sanctuary’ and are very pro-migrant, are also the ones who are very wrong on LGBT issues. So what happens when we have a gay undocumented migrant??

This post has been in my mind for quite some time because lets face it, those of us in the pro-migrant community know undocumented persons who are also gay, lesbian, transgender. This intersectionality is further complicated by our homophobic and heterosexist immigration laws that do not recognize ‘marriage’ or partnership between people of the same-sex, and hence we have undocumented partners who are forced to live in the shadows, break off their relationships or move to another country.

It is utterly discriminatory to single out a ‘particular group of people’ and deny them equal rights and protections under the law–that is not debatable.

The sheer increase in the hate mail on my pro-migrant/pro-gay Youtube videos since the marriage equality ruling has prompted me to finally say something. To some extent, I can understand arguments against ‘undocumented migrants.’ I can understand working class fears of migrants taking their jobs, respect for the ‘rule of law’ and those who apply legally etc. even while refuting them. But marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people? NOT even debatable, which is often why the comments I receive are hilarious:

“…California will face the wrath of Sodom and Gomorrah…Now that gays are destroying marriage, there will be a huge earthquake in California… violence, perversion, lawlessness …Sodom and Gomorroh II. The U.S. will come to an end soon…Thank god you people cannot pass on your impaired genes by reproducing…What is next–legalizing sex with animals?…Why aren’t real lesbians hot like the ones in TV sitcoms?…”

What is this –the new Comedy Central Online???? It reminds me of this one scene in The L word when Kate Moening (Shane, the poster child of androgyny) waves her hands in the air saying “Where do you live, ________? It’s entirely possible” when her ignorant straight male housemate says that lesbians can’t fuck. But we are going off on a tangent.

The point is that as an out and proud lesbian, I haven’t dedicated my time to the gay rights movement precisely because I cannot begin to wrap my mind around the egregious fallacies, inaccuracies, lies, misrepresentation and sheer IGNORANCE of a vast majority of people. But that will change in the next 6 months as I am not about to sit around and watch California voters dash the hopes and dreams of people in my community, some of whom are our idols, since we so lack representation of ‘healthy, stable and loving’ same-sex families.

So where does the church stand on undocumented gays and lesbians? Who do you think is more undesirable in the current political climate of immigrant crackdowns and constitutional amendments for marriage discrimination? And how can we support our undocumented gay/lesbian students who have to deal with both anti-migrant and anti-gay sentiments?

The biggest lesson from this post is that social and political rights cannot be ‘divided’ and given to people on the basis of binary categories and identities. It is not enough for some of us to push for just pro-migrant rights because even when some of us become legal citizens, we would be SECOND-CLASS citizens who pay taxes but don’t have our lives affirmed by the state. Likewise, it is not enough to exercise ‘federalism’ when it comes to LGBT rights since state laws do not affect homophobic federal immigration laws and the lives of our bi-national couples, who are torn apart by their countries for the crime of love. This struggle is not just about selective rights for a select group of people; it is a small step forward in the bigger fight against global inequity.

I hate identity politics. But it does matter.

Quote of the day:

“Gay haters just can’t get enough news about gay sex and gay everything.” jerrydoubleu

Video Updates – Gay Marriage in California

// May 16th, 2008 // No Comments » // All things LGBT, Gender, Human Rights, Videos