Marriage News Watch: March 3, 2014

Marriage News Watch: December 16, 2013

Marriage News Watch: December 2, 2013

Marriage News Watch: November 4, 2013

Texas Voter ID Law Vs. Women

Science Textbook Publishers Defeat Texas Conservatives

From Texas Freedom Network:

...Some reviewers had criticized the proposed biology textbooks for failing to include a variety of discredited arguments attacking evolution. For example, reviewers lowered the rating of one textbook because it didn’t include the inaccurate claim that scientists have found no transitional fossils and that “the fossil record can be interpreted in other ways than evolutionary with equal justification.” Another reviewer insisted that all of the textbooks teach “creation science based on Biblical principles” alongside evolution.

Editorial changes from all 14 publishers that submitted high school biology textbooks for adoption this year do not reflect those arguments and beliefs, TFN’s examination shows.

The anti-evolution arguments promoted by the textbook reviewers are based on claims that scientists have shown to be false or simply have no place in a science textbook, said Arturo De Lozanne, associate professor in molecular cell and developmental biology at the University of Texas at Austin.

“From what I can see so far, publishers are resisting pressure to do things that would leave high school graduates in Texas ill-prepared to succeed in a college science classroom,” De Lozanne said. “If we want Texas kids to be competitive nationally, we have to ensure that what they learn in their high school classrooms is based on facts, not ideology. Having said that, it’s remarkable and distressing that some folks are still arguing over what really is established, mainstream science...”

A (Former) Republican Judge on His (Former) Party

How Ted Cruz Has Affected Virginia

The Virginia part of this clip is relatively short, but is totally accurate. Maybe, Virginia should be thanking Ted Cruz, but not in the way he would want.

A Texas Newspaper Has Buyer's Remorse

From the Houston Chronicle:

...One reason we particularly believe that [former Texas senator Kay Bailey] Hutchison would make a difference in these hectic days is that if she had kept her seat, Cruz would not be in the Senate.

When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator.

Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution.

We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether.

But we'll never know...

While we may never know for sure, I think we have a pretty good hunch.

Wing-Nuts Denounce Vaccines & Measles Runs Amuck

From Think Progress:

...At the end of last month, epidemiologists in Texas traced the source of a measles outbreak to a right-wing megachurch whose pastor has preached against vaccines. Even though about 98 percent of Texas residents are vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, the congregants who attended that evangelical church represented a pocket of unprotected people, and measles was able to spread rapidly.

Fortunately, that outbreak was able to be pretty well-contained — after the disease sickened about 21 people, Texas issued a public health alert and quickly found the source of the issue. The megachurch’s pastor was very cooperative and even agreed to host several free clinics to encourage the congregation to get their shots.

But the problem is that it’s not an isolated incident. Although the Texas church is the only current example in the United States, an incredibly similar situationis also unfolding in Europe.

The Netherlands has been struggling with a measles outbreak since May. So far, more than 1,200 people have been sickened, and 82 of them have ended up in the hospital. It’s the first time in the past 13 years that the country has experienced a rash of measles cases. And as the Irish Times reports, the “outbreak is concentrated in the country’s extensive Bible Belt, where the majority of fundamentalist Protestants do not believe in having their children vaccinated...”

Minorities Bleach-Bombed at University of Texas

Rick Perry Vetoes Equal Pay

From the Huffington Post: 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has vetoed a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women. 

An aide to state Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D), who authored the equal pay bill, HB 950, said Perry's office called on Friday to say he had vetoed it. State Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who introduced the Senate version of the legislation, told the Texas Tribune that she had received the same call... 

...According to the Houston Chronicle, Thompson said Perry's office objected to her legislation because it duplicated federal law. The governor's office did not return a request for comment from The Huffington Post, and a veto statement was not yet available online. 

But the backers of HB 950 have pointed out that their legislation would allow parties to proceed on cases in a nearby state court, instead of having the increased expense of having to go to federal court. Lilly Ledbetter protections also do not always apply to certain state cases. 

Forty-two states have passed equal pay laws similar to the one Perry vetoed. Women currently make only 77 cents for every dollar men earn.

Yet again, on the rare occasion that the Texas state legislature gets something right, Rick Perry mucks it up.

A proposal coming before the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section would permanently render the so-called “gay panic” defense inadmissible in court. According to the dot429 blog, if the proposal is ratified, it will ban defense attorneys from using the sexual orientation or gender identity of a victim against them in court.
Too often, according to dot429, attorneys representing perpetrators of violent acts against LGBT people resort to accusing the victims of “bringing it on themselves” in order to defend their clients in court. The “gay panic” defense says that an LGBT brought violent retribution on themselves, up to and including murder, by sexually propositioning someone who was so enraged by the gesture that they had no choice but to react violently.
It was invoked, unsuccessfully in the trail of the murderers of Matthew Shepard and Gwen Araujo. The term “gay panic” was first used by psychiatrist Edward J. Kempf in his 1920 book Psychopathology, in which he described it as “a distinct stage in the psychoses.” However, it is rarely used in modern courts since no one has able to verify its existence as a genuine psychiatric phenomenon.

As dot439 pointed out, “If merely being sexually propositioned was a legally acceptable reason for killing someone, countless thousands of heterosexual men would be at severe risk for being murdered by women they made a pass at.”
- See more at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/12/american-bar-association-may-ban-gay-panic-defense/#sthash.LDvpYbNE.dpuf

Texas "Justice" Becomes an Oxymoron

Rick Perry Vetoes Buying American

From Forward Progressives:

Rare is it that you get true bipartisan support on anything political these days, but that’s exactly what happened a few days ago when the Texas Senate and House sent the “Buy American” bill to Governor Rick Perry’s desk. 

Passing the Senate by a vote of 23-7 and the House 145-0, the Texas legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill meant to give preference to American-made goods for purchase by the State of Texas when they are of equal cost and quality to foreign-made products. 

In other words, if an American-made product and foreign-made product are of equal quality and cost, when the state is purchasing a good or service, the state would always give preference to the American-made product or service. 

96% of Texas legislators supported the “Buy American” bill… 

And Rick Perry vetoed it.

Texas Couple Forced Apart By Estranged Sister

From The New Civil Rights Movement: 

A Texas man says he and his partner were together for 34 years but his partner’s sister has now forced them apart, taken their home, and his partner’s finances — and done it legally because they weren’t married. For the last six years his partner, Jim, who is older, suffered from Alzheimer’s. Jim’s estranged sister, Lon Watts writes on Facebook, was able to take their home and Jim’s finances through the courts by filing for guardianship — despite Lon having power of attorney. Lon Watts writes:

I’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE HIM AGAIN! She got his bank account from Social Security Disability and sold his house out from under me. I had 2 weeks to vacate our home of 12 years. [sic] 

If we were EQUAL in the eyes of the law we would be together till the end. But as it stands in Texas, a money hungry greedy relative was able to steal our life and toss me out as trash to pad her pocketbook. I pray God has mercy on her soul for her evil deeds. I am content knowing the world is coming around to acknowledge that ALL HUMANS ARE CREATED EQUAL and SHOULD HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS.

Lon’s story has been shared almost 3000 times on Facebook and has more than 3000 likes. Sadly, Lon and Jim’s story, and others like it, are the exact reason why marriage must be extended to all same-sex couples across the entire nation.

This is what is at stake as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on California's Proposition 8. The court could make a sweeping decision that would affect marriage equality across the nation. Most legal scholars, however, see such a ruling unlikely, in favour of a ruling that applies only to California. The court has surprised us before though.

Things like this should not happen and had marriage been an option for this couple, it would not have. It is bad enough that one of them is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (trust me, I have seen its affects firsthand), but that someone has so much hate where their heart should be to put a restraining order in place keeping two people in love apart after being together for 34 years is absolutely unfathomable. The rest of the story just makes an already horrible situation even worse. When we are fighting for the equality of the LGBT community and same-sex couples, this is the kind of tragedy we are trying to prevent. No one should have to go through what this couple is suffering.

Texas A.G.: Democrats More Dangerous Than N. Korea

From Huffington Post: 

“One thing that requires ongoing vigilance is the reality that the state of Texas is coming under a new 
assault, an assault far more dangerous than what the leader of North Korea threatened when he said he was going to add Austin, Texas, as one of the recipients of his nuclear weapons,” [Texas Attorney General Greg] Abbott told the McLennan County Republican Club on Monday, according to the Waco Tribune. “The threat that we’re getting is the threat from the Obama administration and his political machine.” 

Abbott drew the contrast while offering a warning to local Republicans about the newly formed Democratic group, Battleground Texas. The group, helmed by former Obama campaign operatives, is seeking to turn Texas blue, or at least make it competitive in 2014 and beyond. While reliably red Texas hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, officials with Battleground Texas have tapped into support from key Democratic backers, seeing hope for the future in demographic trends. Their effort has been bolstered by early polling that showed Hillary Clinton could win Texas if she ran in 2016.

First, saying that Democrats are more dangerous than a nuclear bomb is another example of a Republican making the party look like the “stupid party.” I know, he was just using colourful language as I have done on numerous occasions, but it is an infantile comparison. It also makes light of a nation whose leader is seeking to acquire nuclear arms and has no love of the United States.

Second, if Texas - a reliably GOP state for the last several decades - does become competitive in the next few elections, it is further evidence of the failure of the GOP to adapt to changing demographics. The main driving force behind Texas potentially becoming a swing state would be the state’s growing Latino population, and Republican politicians have a way driving Latino voters towards the Democratic party. If the GOP wants to hold on to Texas, the national party must change how they approach many policies, namely immigration and race relations. Just recently, a Republican politician (though not one from Texas) nonchalantly referred to Latinos as “wetbacks.” One GOP representative used the Boston Marathon bombing as an excuse to oppose comprehensive immigration reform even though there was then no proof of any connection to an immigrant. The GOP supports voter identification laws which would disproportionately affect, among other groups, Latinos. By supporting the policies they support - and not just the ones affecting Latinos specifically - the GOP is steadily taking once reliably red states and putting them in play. It happened in Virginia before, it may be happening now In Texas.

If a political shift were to happen in the Lone Star state, it would be yet another symptom of a larger systemic problem which has been well documented: the GOP is driving voters away in droves. American attitudes towards many issues are changing very quickly, whereas conservatives are adjusting to these changes very slowly, if at all. Most people think equal pay for equal work is a no-brainer, but Republicans routinely vote against it. Most Americans think big oil companies do not need multi-billion dollar subsidies, but Republicans (and some Democrats, to be fair) keep voting for them. Most Americans believe you should not be fired for being gay, but Republicans keep voting against employment non-discrimination policies at all levels of government. And yet again, it is not just the policies, but also the messages coming from members of the party. The phrase "legitimate rape" comes to mind. The governor of Georgia is calling an effort to desegregate the prom of a Georgia county’s school a “publicity stunt.” Democrats tend to have more inclusive policies like the Lily Ledbetter Act (i.e. equal pay), employment non-discrimination policies, and the Dream Act for children of undocumented immigrants because those children did not come to America of their own volition. Even some voters who may agree with the GOP on economic policies are kept away by many of the controversial policies and statements coming from the party.

Assuming Republicans want to stay in the proverbial game, they have to adjust to a new American reality. The voting bloc that they are accustomed to relying on no longer exists. They will either adapt and overcome, or they will hold on to the past and become politically irrelevant. The choice is theirs.

Texas Public Schools Pushing Christianity

Austin, Texas Endorses Marriage Equality

Austin becomes first Texas city to endorse marriage equality (via Raw Story )

The Austin City Council made history Thursday, becoming the first group of city leaders in the deeply conservative state of Texas to endorse marriage equality. The council’s strongly worded resolution (PDF) condemning the Defense of Marriage Act, the nation’s ban on same sex marriage, was supported…

The Conservative Agenda: Thinking & Voting = BAD

The Wrap-Up: June 27, 2012

After winning his recall election, Gov Scott Walker wants to take his message across the nation. It sucks that that nation is the U.S. though.

Anti-gay "scientists" may have coordinated a pair of "studies" for the sake of election year politics. Oh, and then there's the fact that these "studies" are filled with bogus information funded by NOM. Looks like someone has been caught in a lie.

People can change their perspectives even when those perspectives are firmly ingrained. Unfortunately, sometimes, it takes a tragedy for that change to occur.

Everything is bigger in Texas. Unfortunately, that includes the crazy in the state's Republicans.

A congressional candidate from Washington state wants marriage equality enshrined in the United States Constitution, or he's just trying to get headlines. Either way, it's a great idea.

A Tennessee politician that says it IS okay to say gay? What a novel idea.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on the individual mandate section of the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") on Thursday.

Need some stripping advice? Just ask Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello.

And lastly, you can sign a petition thanking General Mills for supporting marriage equality and denouncing Minnesota's proposed anti-marriage equality amendment.