Yesterday was the deadline for filing briefs before SCOTUS takes up oral arguments in the Prop 8 and DOMA cases on the 26th and 27th of this month. A great many were filed by a wide variety of individuals, companies, corporations and associations. There are three of which I would like to make special note. The first I would like to note was filed by two of our greatest allies from the NFL ranks, Brendon Ayanbedejo and Chris Kluwe. In their brief the players stated: “When we advance the idea that some people should be treated differently
because of who they are, demeaned in public as lesser beings, not
worthy of the same rights and benefits as others despite their actions
as good citizens and neighbors, then we deny them equal protection under
the laws. America has walked this path before, and courageous people
and the Court brought us to the right result. We urge the Court to
repeat those actions here.”
The second one I would like to make note of was from the Obama Administration. The President was directly involved in the decision to file the brief and in deciding what argument they wished to present. "Having previously endorsed the general idea that same-sex individuals should be allowed to marry the person they love, the President was said to have felt an obligation to have his government take part in the fundamental test of marital rights that is posed by the Proposition 8 case....What the brief endorsed is what has been called the “eight-state solution” — that is, if a state already recognizes for same-sex couples all the privileges and benefits that married couples have (as in the eight states that do so through “civil unions”) those states must go the final step and allow those couples to get married. The argument is that it violates the Constitution’s guarantee of legal equality when both same-sex and opposite-sex couples are entitled to the same marital benefits, but only the opposite-sex couples can get married. The eight states that apparently would be covered by such a decision are: California (whose Proposition 8, which denies marriage to couples who already have all of the other marital benefits, would fall), Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Rhode Island."
Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement about the filing: “In our filing today in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the government seeks to vindicate the defining constitutional ideal of equal treatment under the law. Throughout history, we have seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in discrimination. The issues before the Supreme Court in this case and the Defense of Marriage Act case are not just important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal benefits and rights under our laws, but to our Nation as a whole.”
Adam Umhoefer, executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the sole sponsor of the Perry case, issued the following statement: “The brief filed by the Solicitor General is a powerful statement that Proposition 8 cannot be squared with the principles of equality upon which this nation was founded. It is an unprecedented call to action by our Government that it is time to recognize gay and lesbian Americans as full and equal citizens under the law. AFER looks forward to having Solicitor General Verrilli and the Federal Government by our side as we make the case for marriage equality for all before the Supreme Court.”
The third brief I would like to note is from the American Sociological Association who quite literally obliterated the argument made by many Marriage Equality opponents, that being that same sex couples are inferior parents. In a press release posted to the organization's website, ASA President Cecilia Ridgeway says: The results of our review are clear. There is no evidence that children with parents in stable same-sex or opposite-sex relationships differ in terms of well-being. Indeed, the greater stability offered by marriage for same-sex as well as opposite-sex parents may be an asset for child well-being.
When the social science evidence is exhaustively examined -- which the ASA has done -- the facts demonstrate that children fare just as well when raised by same-sex parents. Unsubstantiated fears regarding same-sex child rearing do not overcome these facts and do not justify upholding DOMA and Proposition 8. The brief itself states: As the social science consensus described in Part I demonstrates, the evidence regarding children raised by same-sex parents overwhelmingly indicates that children raised by such families fare just as well as children raised by opposite-sex parents, and that children raised by same-sex parents are likely to benefit from the enhanced stability the institution of marriage would provide to their parents and families. All told, the Regnerus study ... does not undermine the consensus that children raised by same-sex parents fare just as well as those raised by opposite-sex parents.
In everything that has been filed before the court, the preponderance of the evidence is heavily weighted in favor of Marriage Equality and the striking down of both DOMA and Prop 8. This preponderance of evidence has collapsed the foundation of any argument that would favor continued discrimination, leaving them without a viable leg to stand on. Even if all 9 justices were blind, they should still be able to read the writing on the wall and come down on the side of Equality for all citizens of this great nation. Let's hope that at least five of them do just that and strike down both DOMA and Prop 8 unequivocally.
Your Friday Musical Moment concludes our week of first symphonies with a classic 1951 recording of Symphony Number 1 in F Minor, Opus 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich featuring the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kirill Kondrashin.
Then finally today is an especially spicy collection of the fine art found in the male form in this week's edition of Naked or Nearly So. Any one selection in the collection should be enough to inspire a proper weekend state of mind as well as any number of fantasy adventures. Thanks for spending part of your day here at Nichevo. Be sure to check in tomorrow for this week's review of the Best of the Web This Week. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
The second one I would like to make note of was from the Obama Administration. The President was directly involved in the decision to file the brief and in deciding what argument they wished to present. "Having previously endorsed the general idea that same-sex individuals should be allowed to marry the person they love, the President was said to have felt an obligation to have his government take part in the fundamental test of marital rights that is posed by the Proposition 8 case....What the brief endorsed is what has been called the “eight-state solution” — that is, if a state already recognizes for same-sex couples all the privileges and benefits that married couples have (as in the eight states that do so through “civil unions”) those states must go the final step and allow those couples to get married. The argument is that it violates the Constitution’s guarantee of legal equality when both same-sex and opposite-sex couples are entitled to the same marital benefits, but only the opposite-sex couples can get married. The eight states that apparently would be covered by such a decision are: California (whose Proposition 8, which denies marriage to couples who already have all of the other marital benefits, would fall), Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Rhode Island."
Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement about the filing: “In our filing today in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the government seeks to vindicate the defining constitutional ideal of equal treatment under the law. Throughout history, we have seen the unjust consequences of decisions and policies rooted in discrimination. The issues before the Supreme Court in this case and the Defense of Marriage Act case are not just important to the tens of thousands Americans who are being denied equal benefits and rights under our laws, but to our Nation as a whole.”
Adam Umhoefer, executive director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the sole sponsor of the Perry case, issued the following statement: “The brief filed by the Solicitor General is a powerful statement that Proposition 8 cannot be squared with the principles of equality upon which this nation was founded. It is an unprecedented call to action by our Government that it is time to recognize gay and lesbian Americans as full and equal citizens under the law. AFER looks forward to having Solicitor General Verrilli and the Federal Government by our side as we make the case for marriage equality for all before the Supreme Court.”
The third brief I would like to note is from the American Sociological Association who quite literally obliterated the argument made by many Marriage Equality opponents, that being that same sex couples are inferior parents. In a press release posted to the organization's website, ASA President Cecilia Ridgeway says: The results of our review are clear. There is no evidence that children with parents in stable same-sex or opposite-sex relationships differ in terms of well-being. Indeed, the greater stability offered by marriage for same-sex as well as opposite-sex parents may be an asset for child well-being.
When the social science evidence is exhaustively examined -- which the ASA has done -- the facts demonstrate that children fare just as well when raised by same-sex parents. Unsubstantiated fears regarding same-sex child rearing do not overcome these facts and do not justify upholding DOMA and Proposition 8. The brief itself states: As the social science consensus described in Part I demonstrates, the evidence regarding children raised by same-sex parents overwhelmingly indicates that children raised by such families fare just as well as children raised by opposite-sex parents, and that children raised by same-sex parents are likely to benefit from the enhanced stability the institution of marriage would provide to their parents and families. All told, the Regnerus study ... does not undermine the consensus that children raised by same-sex parents fare just as well as those raised by opposite-sex parents.
In everything that has been filed before the court, the preponderance of the evidence is heavily weighted in favor of Marriage Equality and the striking down of both DOMA and Prop 8. This preponderance of evidence has collapsed the foundation of any argument that would favor continued discrimination, leaving them without a viable leg to stand on. Even if all 9 justices were blind, they should still be able to read the writing on the wall and come down on the side of Equality for all citizens of this great nation. Let's hope that at least five of them do just that and strike down both DOMA and Prop 8 unequivocally.
Your Friday Musical Moment concludes our week of first symphonies with a classic 1951 recording of Symphony Number 1 in F Minor, Opus 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich featuring the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kirill Kondrashin.
Then finally today is an especially spicy collection of the fine art found in the male form in this week's edition of Naked or Nearly So. Any one selection in the collection should be enough to inspire a proper weekend state of mind as well as any number of fantasy adventures. Thanks for spending part of your day here at Nichevo. Be sure to check in tomorrow for this week's review of the Best of the Web This Week. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
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