Marriage Equality in the News

Marriage Equality is back at the top of the news feeds today with lots of action around the nation.  With Florida bringing the number of states who enjoy the Freedom to Marry to 36 plus DC, of course Florida Senator Marco Rubio is against it.  Doesn't matter, it's not going to change the fact that Gay folks can get married in Florida.  Towleroad.com's Ari Ezra Waldman tells us Why Marriage in Florida is a Sign of Good Things to Come.  

In Washington, DC the Supreme Court will be discussing which cases to take up in this session.  SCOTUS will most likely take up a case from the 6th Circuit, the only appellate court to uphold discrimination.  Ari Waldman tells us what to watch for.  Also in Washington, up on Capitol Hill, the Respect for Marriage Act which would totally repeal all sections of DOMA was reintroduced in Congress by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).  An HRC statement reads in part:  “Every legally married couple - no matter where they live - should have access to the full federal benefits and protections they deserve. It’s far past time for DOMA to be completely repealed once and for all."  I agree but I am not going to pin my hopes on this particular Congress to do the right thing.  

Meanwhile, closer to home for me, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will hear oral arguments in Marriage Equality cases today from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.  Advocating on the behalf of Equality will be Roberta Kaplan who argued the case for Edie Windsor before SCOTUS and won.  This presents the possibility of Marriage Equality coming to Texas in my lifetime.  As unbelievable as that sounds, there are still those here in the Lone Star State adamantly opposed to LGBT Equality.  Florida will not be the only place where Herculean efforts to defeat the coming tide of Equality will abound.    In fact, the first such effort has already been launched, and we can't even get married yet.  

Texas State Rep. Cecil Bell Jr. on Wednesday introduced House Bill 623, which he’s calling the “Texas Preservation of Sovereignty and Marriage Act.”  This bill basically would make it illegal to expend any taxpayer funds for “the licensing or support of same-sex marriage.”  Any government employee who violates the provision would be barred from collecting “a salary, pension, or other employee benefit.”  HB 623 would also require Texas courts to dismiss challenges to the law and award attorneys’ fees to defendants.  We have no shortage of nut jobs elected to public office in this state and this is only the latest example.  

Not everyone in Austin is a right wing nut job (really, I wouldn't lie to you!).  Yesterday was the 37th Anniversary of the Inauguration of Harvey Milk to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.  To mark that Anniversary, State Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, who represents heavily LGBT areas of the city, introduced House Bill 627 and launched a petition in support of the measure. The bill's introduction comes as anti-LGBT groups fight to repeal nondiscrimination ordinances passed in Houston and Plano.  This legislation will face an up hill battle in a state legislature overflowing with a majority of fanatical nut jobs conservative Republicans.  Kudos to Johnson for remembering his LGBT History and  honoring it accordingly.  

Your Friday Musical Moment features the Trio in B Flat Major, Opus 97 by Ludwig von Beethoven.  The piece is a trio for piano, violin, and cello, finished in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, an amateur pianist who was a friend and composition student of Beethoven. The trio was written late in the composer's so-called "middle period". He began composing it in the summer of 1810, and completed it in March 1811.  Today's performance is from the 1966 recording featuring Eugene Istomin on Piano, Isaac Stern on Violin and Leonard Rose on Cello.  You ma join this same trio of artists on my tumblr for their 1964 recording of Piano Trio in B-flat major, D.898 (Op.99) by Franz Schubert.  

Since this is Friday, it must be time for some fiery hot Fantasy Fuel to kick off the Weekend.  And Sizzle I got for you today.  If these pieces of photographic art fail to beget a boatload of lascivious thought, then u need to check your pulse, lol.  If you mind is not too preoccupied with pornographic thoughts of what you want to do with that tattooed hunk in held half naked in a crate down below, then check out the Naked Violist, Your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again over the weekend for the Evening Concert.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!