Romney Hedging on Civil Unions?

As FZ put it, what does that mean exactly? I'm not sure why Romney wouldn't say, I'm against gay marriage. I'm against civil unions. But I could support visitation rights, some domestic partnership benefits etc. But he didn't. He seems to be saying that some civil unions could be okay as long as they're clearly inferior to 'marriage', rather than simply being a different name for the identical bun...

Talking Points Memo • May 11, 2012

PPP: Majority Support NC Marriage Amendment, Many Voters Uninformed

The poll shows that 58 percent of likely primary voters in the state intend to support the amendment, while only 38 percent intend to vote against. But the poll also indicated that opponents to the amendment might be suffering from an under-informed electorate. ...

Talking Points Memo • Mar 29, 2012

Obama Administration Wouldn't Defend Blocking Military Benefits From Same-Sex Couples

The Obama Justice Department has concluded that legislation banning same-sex couples from receiving military and veterans benefits violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and will no longer defend the statute in court, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders on Friday. ...

Talking Points Memo • Feb 17, 2012

Millions To Be Spent In Minnesota's Gay Marriage Fight

In November, Minnesota voters will head to the polls to vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. Already, the two key advocacy groups facing off over the measure have raised big bucks. Minnesotans United for All Families -- a group opposing the amendment -- raised $1.2 million in 2011 and boasts a "broad coalition" of people supporting their efforts. Among the group's 5...

Talking Points Memo • Feb 15, 2012

Anti-Gay Groups Struggle, Make Year-End Pleas For Financial Help

Andy Pugno, the general counsel for Protect Marriage, the Proposition 8 legal defense fund, said in a fundraising email on Wednesday that his "greatest fear is that the Ninth Circuit's decision could arrive at any minute, because right now we simply do not yet have enough money in the Defense Fund account to mount an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court."...

Talking Points Memo • Dec 31, 2011

Study Author To Boehner's DOMA Defense Team: You Know Nothing Of My Work

Professor Lisa A. Diamond, whose work was cited by the legal team arguing on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives that the Defense of Marriage Act is constitutional, filed a declaration in federal court stating that the legal team "misconstrues and distorts my research findings, which do not support the propositions for which BLAG cites them."...

Talking Points Memo • Aug 23, 2011

Tolerance Wave? Multiple Polls In Red and Purple States Show Support For Gay Rights

As gay rights advocates have made gains over the last few years, the public seems to be moving in the same direction. Friday saw the release of a new poll sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Citizens for Equal Protection showing citizens deep in the middle of conservative America - in Nebraska - are solidly for non-discrimination protections for members of the gay, lesbian bisexual an...

Talking Points Memo • Aug 23, 2011

DOMA Fight Seen As Turning Point in Politics of Gay Rights

"The wedge has lost its edge," Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, who worked on Bush's 2004 campaign, told The New York Times last month. Other supporters of gay marriage appeared less comfortable with the 2004 comparisons, but were nonetheless quick to point out splits within the Republican Party on the issue. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said at the press conference that repealing DOMA is "cert...

Talking Points Memo • Mar 20, 2011

1996 Letter To Hatch Shows DOJ Has Declined To Defend Legislation In The Past

As the documents compiled by the Senate Legal Counsel indicate, the Department has declared that it will decline to defend the constitutionality of a statute in a wide variety of circumstances. For example, in several of the cases listed by the Senate Legal Counsel, the Department defended the constitutionality of a statute in district court, but declined to appeal an adverse decision because of ...

Talking Points Memo • Mar 1, 2011

Boehner: I'll Decide Whether To Defend DOMA In Court By End Of This Week

"I'm really disappointed in the President and the Department of Justice in the fact that they're not going to defend a law that Congress passed overwhelmingly. It's their responsibility to do that," he told CBN's David Brody on Sunday. Asked if the House would appoint a special counsel to defend the law itself in the White House's stead, Boehner said, "It's an option being considered" and added t...

Talking Points Memo • Feb 28, 2011

Barney Frank: White House Move On DOMA Is A Political Winner

He added that he believed gay issues were losing their cachet even among social conservatives. "They are deemphasizing LGBT issues and putting all the energy into the abortion issue," he said. "For example, in this budget we just had where every very conservative idea was put in, no amendment was put in saying don't implement repeal of DADT. They are, I think, soft peddling their opposition to LG...

Talking Points Memo • Feb 24, 2011

In First Briefs Of Prop 8 Appeal, Gay Marriage Opponents Focus On Procreation

Those supporters filed their first brief on Friday. In it, they argue that marriage is inherently defined by the ability of heterosexual couples to procreate. "The essential question in this case, then, is whether such unions [opposite-sex marriages] possess distinguishing characteristics that are relevant to marriage," they write. "This is not a hard question. Indeed, because of the distinguishi...

Talking Points Memo • Sep 22, 2010

Frank: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Will Probably Wait Till Next Year

"I believe we should and will do 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' next year," Frank said. "We haven't done the preliminary work, the preparatory work. It would be a mistake to bring it up without a lot of lobbying and a lot of conversation."...

Talking Points Memo • Apr 24, 2009