How the Mormons bashed gays in Nebraska too

Prop 8 wasn't the Mormons' first time to the hate dance. They've been bankrolling anti-gay legislation for at least two decades. Here is one Mormon's story about how they helped push DOMA in the state of Nebraska. ...

AmericaBlog • Jan 19, 2012

Boehner's DOMA lawyer cites anti-gay "experts" using science that "echoed Nazi Germany"

John Boehner's DOMA lawyer, former Bush solicitor general Paul Clement, has been having a bad week. Yesterday, one of the authorities he cited in a legal brief defending DOMA publicly accused Clement of having "completely misrepresented my research." Today, we find out that Clement is citing an anti-gay study that is based in part on the work of a man, Paul Cameron, who once mused about the exte...

AmericaBlog • Aug 25, 2011

Prof. says Boehner's DOMA lawyer "misconstrues and distorts my research findings"

In what amounts to a legal bombshell, Diamond maintains that Boehner's crack legal team misconstrued and distorted her writings. She stated, "They have completely misrepresented my research." ...

AmericaBlog • Aug 23, 2011

Did Obama just come out for same-sex marriage on Facebook?

What's actually going on is that the Obama campaign, and White House, have been trying to pull the wool over the community's eyes with a little bit of rhetorical trickery. The president is for equal rights for all couples, gay and straight, they keep telling us. And the proof they use is that he's for repealing DOMA (and that Facebook ad lands on a page about DOMA). What they don't say is that the...

AmericaBlog • Jul 31, 2011

Judge orders Boehner's lawyers to answer DOMA questions, calls argument "disingenous"

The two interrogatories pressed by the plaintiff ask "What, if anything, do you contend are the compelling justifications for section 3 of DOMA, 1 U.S.C. § 77" (Interrogatory no. 1) and "What, if anything, do you assert are the legitimate government interests rationally advanced by section 3 of DOMA, 1 U.S.C. § 7?" (Interrogatory no. 3). BLAG objects to both on the ground that, to the extent they ...

AmericaBlog • Jul 30, 2011

Immigration lawyers try to discern meaning of AG Holder's action in deportation case

"What it means is that the Attorney General has asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to look at the facts of this case as if DOMA were not a factor and decide whether a civil union could qualify someone as a sponsor [for their partner/spouse] under New Jersey and under immigration law," says Williams. In other words, if you forget about DOMA for a second, is it possible that a civil union or a ...

AmericaBlog • May 10, 2011

House GOPer who wants Obama impeached over DOMA to chair hearing on "Defending Marriage"

The hearing, scheduled for Friday, is being held by the House Judiciary Committee's "Subcommittee on the Constitution." That's classic. But, we've seen many times before that homophobes on Capitol Hill are willing to use the Constitution to discriminate and divide. And, as Chris Johnson reported, the hearing will be chaired by Rep. Trent Franks, who is especially homophobic....

AmericaBlog • Apr 12, 2011

Equality under attack in the 'Equality State' on 'Equality Day'

The legislature in the Cheney's home state of Wyoming is debating anti-gay legislation, House Bill 74, titled inappropriately, the "Validity of marriages" bill. It's an ugly attempt to invalidate same-sex marriages in the "Equality State." There's a hearing today on the bill. In Wyoming, it's not just MLK day, it's also "Equality Day." Hell of a way to celebrate equality, huh? You can't make this ...

AmericaBlog • Jan 19, 2011

On Martin Luther King Day, words on equality from his widow

Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Georgia, and St. Augustine, Florida, and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions....

AmericaBlog • Jan 18, 2011

Is Obama giving federal agencies a right they already have?

The answer is "yes." I just asked OPM Director John Berry, on a White House media conference call, whether in fact federal agencies already have the right to give these benefits to gay employees. The answer, "yes." So what's new about tonight? Obama is going to "tell" the agencies to give the benefits - as if any agency in the Obama administration would dare tell a gay employee no to a request for...

AmericaBlog • Jun 17, 2009

Obama DOJ lies to Politico in defending hate brief against gays

It is an outright lie to suggest that the DOJ had no choice. But it's worse than that. Let's just assume for a moment that the Justice spokesman didn't lie to Politico, even though they did. Let's just assume that Obama had no choice but to oppose the gay couple filing this DOMA lawsuit. Where in the law does it say that Obama was required to compare equal marriage to incest?...

AmericaBlog • Jun 12, 2009

Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.

I cannot state strongly enough how damaging this brief is to us. Obama didn't just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn't motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn't be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other case...

AmericaBlog • Jun 12, 2009

Donald Trump, Miss California, and Barack Obama

From Obama's embrace of anti-gay activist Donny McClurkin, to his choice of anti-gay bigot Rick Warren to give the inauguration invocation, to the bizarre disappearance of most of the gay civil rights promises to the White House Web site, to the continual backtracking on the President's commitment to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell, to the upcoming firing of more gay service members, to the fact that ...

AmericaBlog • May 12, 2009

No one could have predicted that the religious right hates gays and cares about gay marriage

And now we're having "the day without a gay" and postcard campaigns to Obama (yeah, that'll get his attention) because we are a movement of aimless and energized followers with no real leaders....

AmericaBlog • Dec 4, 2008

Why is the Sundance Film Festival taking place in the Hate State of Utah?

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AmericaBlog • Nov 6, 2008