Box Turtle Bulletin

State Marriage Equality Update

There has been a lot of movement recently in various states on the issue of recognition for same-sex couples. Here is a brief synopsis (I apologize if I missed anything):

Arkansas – on March 27, a bill was killed that would have banned cities and counties from creating domestic partner registries.

California – the State Supreme Court is deliberating on whether Proposition 8 is constitutional and, if so, what impact it has on the 18,000 same-sex couples who married between June and November 2008.

Colorado – at least two initiative drives are underway to either change the constitution to allow for gay marriage or alternately to statutorily create civil unions. The legislature has just passed a Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act, which has been signed by the Governor.

Connecticut – last week codified – with bipartisan support – marriage equality in the state\’s laws to agree with the decision of the state Supreme Court.

Delaware – proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage defeated in the Senate in the last week in March.

Hawaii – Civil Unions bill was tied up in committee. Although the bill has a strong majority of support in the Senate, they voted not to pull it from committee.

Illinois – a bill (HB 0178) has been introduced to legalize same-sex marriage along with a bill (HB 2234) to enact Civil Unions. The marriage bill is resting in the Rules Committee but the Civil Unions bill passed out of committee in March and now faces a House vote.

Iowa – last week the Supreme Court found that the state must recognize same-sex marriage. It will go into effect on April 27. The Governor, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House have all announced that they will oppose efforts to change the Constitution. Iowa has no initiative process so it would require a change in leadership and several years before it would be possible to revoke this right.

Maine – both a marriage bill and a civil unions bill are before the legislature. The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on April 24. Gov. John Baldacci is “keeping an open mind”.

Maryland – on April 7, the State Senate upgraded benefits offered to same-sex couples in domestic partnership relationships but do not allow for official state recognition of those relationships.

Minnesota – there is a bill before the legislature to provide new marriage equality. It is unlikely to pass.

Nevada – a bill to provide Domestic Partnerships with all the rights and obligations of marriage has passed out of committee and is before the Senate.

New Hampshire – at the end of March the House passed a bill to allow for gay marriage. It will be considered by the Senate, where Democrats have a 14-9 advantage (a dozen Republicans in the House supported the bill). Governor John Lynch has not stated whether he will veto the legislation, should it pass.

New Jersey – a commission has found that civil unions are inadequate and polls have found that residents favor gay marriage but a bill before the legislature appears not to be moving.

New Mexico – in March the Senate defeated efforts to enact Domestic Partnerships.

New York – the Governor has announced that he will push for a vote in the Senate on gay marriage. Although marriage equality has passed in the House, without support from some Republicans, the votes do not appear to be there in the Senate.

Rhode Island – a gay marriage bill is unlikely to make it out of committee. A “reciprocal beneficiary agreements” bill, a darling of anti-gays who want to label gay couples as identical to roommates or cousins, has been proposed as a “compromise”.

Vermont – this week the legislature overrode the governor\’s veto to pass marriage equality.

Washington – a bill to upgrade the state\’s Domestic Partnerships to provide all the rights and obligations of marriage has passed the Senate and will come before the House soon.

West Virginia – last week the House of Delegates defeated a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage.

Wisconsin – the Supreme Court is being asked to review the constitutional ban on marriage. The Governor, in his budget, has proposed Domestic Partnership benefits.

Wyoming – in February the House defeated a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

District of Columbia – the Council voted unanimously to recognize out of state marriages. Same-sex marriage bill expected later this year.

Domestic Partners Bill Advances in Nevada

SB 283, a bill that would provide for Domestic Partnerships with all the rights and responsibilities of marriage. It has now passed out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committees and is facing a vote in the Senate.

The bill now must clear the Senate floor, where Democrats hold a 12-9 majority over Republicans.

Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the only openly gay member of the Legislature, sponsored the bill.

Marriage Ban Goes to Wisconsin Supreme Court

In 2006, Wisconsin voters passed the following amendment to their constitution by 59%:

Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.

Now the Wisconsin State Supreme Court will be presented with the question of whether the referendum illegally put two issues to voters at the same time: whether to ban gay marriage and whether to outlaw civil unions.

On Thursday, the appeals court in Madison asked the seven-member Supreme Court to take the case instead. The appeals court said the case presents several new legal issues that should be decided by the state\’s highest court.

“The validity of the marriage amendment is a matter of significant public interest with statewide implications,” the three-judge panel wrote.

If the court chooses to hear the case, it could invalidate the amendment.

Marriage Vote May be Coming to New York

New York Legislature is a world in which votes are often the least tense or worrisome of the legislative process. Vote counts are made long in advance with back room wrangling determining the outcome before the issue is ever raised.

Governor Patersen wants to stand that on its head.

In a radio address yesterday, he called for the gay marriage bill to be brought up for a vote in the Senate, even if it fails.

In an appearance on an Ithaca radio station, Paterson said Wednesday he doubted the measure would pass, but that it still merited a vote on the floor of the Senate.

“We’ll put a bill out and let the people decide one way or the other, which is actually the reform Albany really needs,” Paterson said, referring to the gay marriage bill

This did not sit well with gay lobbyists who do not yet believe they have adequate votes to pass the bill and who were given no advance warning.

While I recognize the value of strategy and timing, part of me would rather have it public who supports equality and who will not rather than drag on indefinitely waiting for the ‘right time’ for Senate leadership to spend the political capital and twist the arms required to pass this legislation.

Dr. Laura Supports Same-Sex Couples

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the go-to girl for conservatives (and others) who want folksy but direct advice on their lives and relationships. Although she has had a less-than-friendly relationship with the gay community in the past, in July of last year we reported on our impression of a much gay-friendlier Dr. Laura. She seemed to have adopted a more pragmatic approach to gay men and women.

Last night she was on Larry King Live to plug her new book, In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms. Asked about lesbian parenting, Dr. Laura gave a vague answer that seemed to suggest that she was not favorable (an issue we discussed last June). But this was followed by an exchange in which Dr. Laura seemed to endorse same-sex relationships, if not the term “marriage”.

KING: This week, the Washington City Council voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. And the Vermont legislature voted to override a gubernatorial veto of a bill legalizing same sex. Do you think this — now we have four states, about to be five states.

SCHLESSINGER: Well, it’s issues of — sometimes it’s done by courts, sometimes it’s done by legislatures.

KING: Basically, five states now say you can have it. What do you think of that? What are you laughing at?

SCHLESSINGER: Well, I don’t have much of an opinion on it.

KING: You have no opinion on it?

SCHLESSINGER: Not much, no.

KING: But you’ve always favored that marriage must be between a man and woman.

SCHLESSINGER: I’m very big on human beings finding love, attachment and commitment and being faithful to it, because there’s more to benefit when there is real true commitment and faithfulness to it. I still believe, as just every president has, and all the people who ran for office, that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman. So not calling it marriage works for me. But that two people would have that sort of commitment to me is very healthy and very positive thing in their lives and society as a whole.

KING: So, you favor marriage between a man and a woman, but you applaud the fact that even people of the same-sex can have that kind of commitment to each other.

SCHLESSINGER: That’s a beautiful thing and a healthy thing.

KING: We’ll be back with more of Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

Dr. Laura has great sway in influencing the thinking of your average conservative housewife. And if Dr. Laura isn’t much upset by recent changes to state marriage laws, then this gives plenty of folks in Iowa permission to not be upset either.

And while I’d prefer an endorsement of marriage equality, I’m delighted that she is defining same-sex commitment as healthy and positive in the lives of gay people and in society as a whole.

(hat tip to reader David)

LaBarbera Award: Bob Peters

Morality In Media’s Bob Peters has something to say about the mass shooting in Binghamton, New York, in which a gunman stormed into an immigration aid center and murdered thirteen people before killing himself. In a press release commenting on the atrocity, Peters thinks he has connected the dots:

Connecting the Dots: The Link Between Gay Marriage and Mass Murders
On April 4 the NY Times ran adjacent front-page articles on the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing ‘gay marriage’ and the gunman who murdered 13 people in New York.

“…Having lived in New York City for more than 30 years, I am all too aware of the harm that firearms in the hands of criminals can cause. Having grown up in a small town in Illinois, where citizens owned guns without misusing them, I am also aware that guns aren’t the underlying problem. I am not an opponent of gun regulation; I am an opponent of making guns the scapegoat for mass murder.

“The underlying problem is that increasingly we live in a ‘post-Christian’ society, where Judeo-Christian faith and values have less and less influence. … This secular value system is also reflected in the ‘sexual revolution,’ which is the driving force behind the push for ‘gay marriage;’ and the Iowa Supreme Court decision is another indication that despite all the damage this revolution has caused to children, adults, family life and society (think abortion, divorce, pornography, rape, sexual abuse of children, sexually transmitted diseases, trafficking in women and children, unwed teen mothers and more), it continues to advance relentlessly.”

Peters goes on to say, “It most certainly is not my intention to blame the epidemic of mass murders on the gay rights movement,” and yet his headline and reasoning does just that.The push for same-sex marriage and mass murder are of the same root, all tied up in one tidy, neat package.

So there you have it. Thirteen tragic deaths, fourteen grieving sets of families and friends. Exploit that to denounce gays and Peters has a full day’s work done — an effort that is certainly worthy of the LaBarbera Award.

[Hat tip: Warren Throckmorton]

Who is Damon Owens?

In their delightfully campy ad currently running in several states, the National Organization for Marriage presents a spokesperson, Damon Owens. He tells us that “A rainbow coalition of people of every creed and color are coming together in love to protect marriage”, but he tells us nothing about himself.

And other than presenting his name with “National Organization for Marriage” underneath, we know nothing about his position or affiliation. He’s not listed on the NOM website as being on their lily-white staff or a member of their Board of Directors. In fact, a search on their website for “Damon” yields no hits at all.

Who then is this mysterious Mr. Owens?

Well an internet search reveals a bit about Damon Owens and his unique perspectives on marriage. An undated bio on the website of the National Black Catholic Congress tells us:

Damon Clarke Owens lives in West Orange, NJ with his wife Melanie and their five daughters. He is the Director of Natural Family Planning for the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ and the founder of New Jersey Natural Family Planning. He speaks nationally on marriage, chastity, Theology of the Body, and Theology of the Family. [more on that later]

And we also find that Damon Owens is a devotee of the spirituality of St. Josemaria, better known as the Opus Dei. A secretive Catholic organization mostly unknown before being dramatized as the fictional villains of The Da Vinci Code, the Opus Dei is a group that believes in the sanctity of good works (perhaps best defined by the advancement of Roman Catholic doctrine). The Opus Dei is also known for the far-right political associations of its members.

Perhaps the most controversial practice of the Opus Dei is Mortification, self-inflicted pain intended as a gift or sacrifice to God. This may include the use of a celice, a metal chain with inward pointing barbs, or other discomforts. Mortification is practiced primarily among the celibate, about 30% of Opus Dei followers.

Owens is not, however, among the celibate. In fact, he goes in the opposite direction. As indicated in his bio, Owens is a practitioner and teacher of the Theology of The Body.

The Theology of the Body loosely refers to Pope John Paul II’s teachings about Catholic doctrine and how it applies to sexuality and family. But to Protestant ears such as mine, it seems to go much further than matters of behavior and spiritual conviction.

I hesitate to state with certainty, but it appears that the Theology of the Body hints, at least, that one knows God – or perhaps Christ’s relationship with the Church – through sexual complimentarity with the opposite sex. Because this seems startlingly like the beliefs of a fertility cult, I may perhaps be overstating their views.

[Jim Burroway provides additional context for understanding the Theology of the Body and, while foreign to my religious experience, it does appear to be well within Catholic orthodoxy. ]

In any case, Owens is hardly representative of “people from every creed”. Rather, he is affiliated with some rather extreme offshoots of the Catholic Church, and his beliefs about marriage are far from mainstream Christianity, much less the American populace.

No California Doctors Were Harmed In The Making Of This Commercial

She says she’s a “California doctor,” but she’s actually an actress playing one on T.V.

That about as accurate as things get on the “Crazy Dingbat Insane Ookie Spookie” advertising campaign unleashed by Maggie Gallagher’s National Organization for Marriage (NOM). In fact, that “California doctor” actress was one of many that had auditioned for the campaign. The Human Rights Campaign was able to obtain videos of some of the auditions for the ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRjVDZxho54 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqNFBt33o4

According to the HRC, the ad is set to run eight times per day in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and California. Because the ad is slated to play in states where marriage equality is at the fore, it’s important to look not only at the bad acting on display in the ad, but the false information behind it.

“I’m a California doctor who must choose between my faith and my job.”
This California “doctor” refers to a case that has nothing to do with marriage. Last year, the California Supreme Court ruled that a doctor that offers artificial insemination services cannot pick and chose who to offer services to.

This was an important decision, and it should have been a no-brainer. Think of it: what if the decision had gone the other way. It would then have been legal for a doctor to refuse to treat any LGBT person for any illness, condition, or injury simply because doing so might have run counter to their “religious beliefs.” Is that how Maggie Gallagher and the National Organization for Marriage would have it?

“I’m part of a NJ church group punished by the government because we can’t support same-sex marriage.”
As we reported last December, this “New Jersey church group” story has become a new favorite falsehood in an attempt to scare people of faith. This “church group” actually refers to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which is not a church. It operates the Auditorium Pavilion, which was made exempt from state property tax in exchange for being open for public use and access. It is not a religious facility, nor are several other facilities built on land owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association — including stores, restaurants, hotels, private homes and a beach boardwalk alongside a public beach.

The facilities were granted a tax exemption by the state of New Jersey on the provision that they be maintained as public accommodations. (Two chapels are tax exempt due to religious use, but they are not a part of the dispute.) The Auditorium Pavilion has been rented out to the general public for all sorts of events, including concerts, debates and even Civil War reenactments — none of which are religious in character. In March 2007, a lesbian couple was rejected by the Association when they tried to rent the Pavilion for a civil union ceremony. They filed a complaint with the State Division on Civil Rights and won. A state commissioner explained:

“When people hear the words ‘open space,\’ we want them to think not just of open air and land, but that it is open to all people,” said [Lisa Jackson, state commissioner of environmental protection]. “And when the public subsidizes it with tax breaks, it goes with the expectation that it is not going to be parsed out, whether it be by activity or any particular beliefs.”

The state of New Jersey didn’t challenge the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association\’s beliefs about homosexuality. It only held that a public facility must remain open to the public — and that means all of the public.

“I’m a Massachusetts parent helplessly watching public schools teach my son that gay marriage is OK.”
This refers to David Parker, the Massachusetts parent who sued his local school district when they provided students with a book called Who’s in a Family? The book illustrated various family constructions: single parents, mom-dad-kids, grandparents, mixed-race families, and same-sex parents. Parker complained to the school district, demanding that the district change its curriculum to accommodate his religious belief that any discussion of same-sex parenting must be excluded — including any conversations about children of gay or lesbian parents.

Now this is a difficult requirement for the school district to meet. After all, there were children of gay and lesbian parents in those same schools. Should teachers pretend that their parents don’t exist? Should the district bar those parents from school functions? Should kids be prohibited from talking about their families?

The school district found Parker’s demand to be impossible to meet. And besides, they weren’t teaching that “gay marriage is OK,” just that it happens and some of the children from those families attend school, and other kids in school shouldn’t treat them badly because of it.

That didn’t satisfy Parker, who sued the school district in Federal Court. In February 2007, U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf dismissed the lawsuit. Parker appealed, but the three judge appeals panel unanimously upheld Judge Wolf’s decision:

“Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them,” the court said in its ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

So there you have it. Three claims, three lies. That’s a remarkable achievement for a group that wants to stand for truth.

Delightfully Crazy Dingbat Insane Ookie Spookie Ad from National Organization for Marriage

Well, it’s happened. Maggie Gallagher’s head has now exploded. That’s the only thing that could possibly explain the decision by National Organization for Marriage to produce and run their latest ad.

It’s called A Gathering Storm and its purpose is described as:

The centerpiece of the new initiative is a $1.5 million nationwide ad campaign launched today highlighting the threat that same-sex marriage poses to the core civil rights of all Americans who believe in marriage as the union of a husband and wife.

What it really is, of course, is an over-the-top cheesy horror flick reminiscent of what one might see late at night on the Chiller Network.

The “threat” is identified by three speakers with three scare “stories”:

• “I’m a California doctor who must choose between my faith and my job.”
• “I’m part of a New Jersey church group punished by the government because we can’t support same-sex marriage.”
• “I am a Massachusetts parent helplessly watching public schools teach my son that gay marriage is OK.”

Ooooooooh. Scary!!!

I so very much wish I had the funds to run an identical ad with only a slight change. After warning about gay marriage coming, I’d have my B-movie horror victims say

• “I’m a California doctor who has learned how to reanimate dead flesh. Now the zombies are out to get me.”
• “I’m part of a New Jersey church group punished by the government because we won’t give up the secret to the mummy’s curse.”
• “I am a Massachusetts parent helplessly watching public schools turn my son into a blood-sucking vampire.”

and end the whole thing with a maniacal laugh, “It’s all because of gay marriage. Mwaaa-haaa-haaaaaaa”

But that may not be necessary. This Halloween night fright is nearly a parody of itself.

And to add even more comedy to the story, Gallahger and her buddies were so careless that they allowed the audition tapes for this nut-job ad to get onto the internet.

Hop on over to Good-As-You and watch one bad wanna-be actor after another blunder their way through this wacky script. But you’ll have to provide your own lightning, screeching doors, howling wolves, and other eerie effects.

We’re Almost There

Support for same-sex marriage bans has been dipping slowly and steadily over the years, if polls are any indication. On Monday, BTB’s Timothy Kincaid reported on some number crunching by Nate Silver to determine the last year in which such a ban would be supported by a majority in each state. To those who are more visually inclined, the results, according to Silver’s model, looks something like this:

Remember, this model only predicts the last year in which a ban on same-sex marriage would pass if it were brought to a vote. Thirty of these state already have a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and this model doesn’t predict the ban’s demise for those states. Passing a constitutional amendment and rescinding one that already exists are two completely different things. What’s more, this model can’t predict when marriage equality might actually arrive. Time is on our side, but we still have a lot of very hard work to do.

[Hat tip: JoeMyGod]

Wingers On Parade: Reactions To Vermont

We did this following the Iowa Supreme Court decision. Now it’s time to look at reactions to the Vermont legislature’s decision to allow same-sex marriage. Wouldn’t it be great if this could become a regular series?

Anti-gay activists pounced immediately with their talking points when the Iowa Supreme Court released their opinion, but Right Wing Watch noticed that it took quite a while for anti-gay activists to react to the Vermont vote. Probably because couldn’t reflexively blame “activist judges.”

But several hours later, reactions slowly began to trickle in. So guess what? It’s not “activist judges,” it’s a breakdown in democracy. Focus On the Family detects a “mysterious” conspiracy afoot:

Thanks to several legislators who mysteriously changed their votes over the weekend, Vermont has become the first state to radically change the definition of marriage through the legislative process.

Sounds nefarious, doesn’t it. Like it’s some sort of threat to destroy democracy or something. The Liberty Counsel’s Matt Staver is also reading from the same playbook, calling a vote by two legislative chambers made up of duly elected representatives of the people “tyranny”:

By redefining marriage, the Vermont legislature removed the cornerstone of society and the foundation of government. The consequences will rest on their shoulders and upon those passive objectors who know what to do but lack the courage to stand against this form of tyranny.

The Catholic League’s reaction defines the word “apoplectic.” Vermont’s exercise in democracy apparently doesn’t count because it’s Vermont:

Vermont is a lily-white state populated by left-wingers who are anti-traditional marriage and anti-family. Exactly what we would expect of a population where more people believe in nothing than anywhere else in the nation.

But not everyone was on the same page. Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, took a different route.

The institution of marriage has predated the legislature and government and the United States, and it’s not the prerogative of anybody to redefine it. It is the prerogative of every state and U.S. citizen to uphold the institution as it has always been defined, as one man and one woman.”

As it was always defined? I think Nimocks needs to study up on his Bible, because just off the top of my head I know that King David, who unlike Nimocks was divinely appointment, had eight wives. Solomon had seven hundred.

Matt Barber isn’t thinking representative democracy either. He labors under the mistaken impression that we’re in a theocracy:

“How long can a nation founded on the laws of nature and nature’s God expect to find favor in his eyes when we continue to mock God?”

…”I believe that the purveyors of evil around the country feel emboldened right now with the current political climate in Washington, DC,” Barber states, what with both the Oval Office and Congress inhabited by “people who are bent on thumbing their nose at God.”

But at least we can count on Peter LaBarbera to know exactly where to lay the blame. It’s not activist judges or rogue legislators. It’s the American people:

A northeastern state, Vermont, has voted in homosexual “marriage” — through an override of the governor\’s veto, no less.  This profane legislative act cannot be blamed on reckless judges or “unelected courts.” No, this instead is reckless, godless liberalism in action…

Most Americans have gotten too comfortable with same-sex perversion (we at AFTAH reject the activist concept of innocuous, innate “sexual orientation”) and extramarital sex. … It\’s asking too much of God to “bless America” when America is blessing the counter-Biblical idea of state-sanctioned, homosexually-redefined “marriage.

NY Times: 25 Gay Iraqis Murdered In Past Two Months

Last week, we received reports that six suspected gay men were found murdered in Iraq in one week. The New York Times is now reporting that those six were just the tip of the iceberg:

In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.

“Three of my closest friends have been killed during the past two weeks alone,” said Basim, 23, a hairdresser. “They had been planning to go to a cafe away from Sadr City because we don\’t feel safe here, but they killed them on the way. I had planned to go with them, but fortunately I didn\’t.”

One cafe popular with gay men in Sadr City has been torched.

Police blame the killings on tribal and family members who are shamed by their gay relatives, and it’s believed that they are being aided by Shi’ite death squads. But it also appears that police aren’t exactly helping the situation:

“Homosexuality is against the law,” said Lt. Muthana Shaad, at a police station in the Karada district, a neighborhood that has become popular with gay men. “And it\’s disgusting.”

For the past four months, he said, officers have been engaged in a “campaign to clean up the streets and get the beggars and homosexuals off them.”

Gay men, he said, can be arrested only if they are seen engaging in sex, but the police try to drive them away. “These people, we make sure they can\’t get together in a coffee shop or walk together in the street — we make them break up,” he said.

In 2005, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shi’ite leader, issued a fatwah that said gay men and lesbians should be “killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.”

Tony Perkins’ Strange Understanding Of Democracy

The Vermont Senate and House today voted to override the governor’s veto and provide marriage equality for all citizens of that state. And the city council for the District of Columbia voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. All three of these legislative bodies are made up of members who stand for regular free and fair elections. So how does the Family “Research” Council’s Tony Perkins react to today’s news?

“Same-sex ‘marriage’ is a movement driven by wealthy homosexual activists and a liberal elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well”

That’s right. Overwhelming votes by representatives of the people are destroying democracy.

There are more winger reactions here.

Iowa Gov. Culver Will Not Push Marriage Ban Amendment

Finding no traction in the Iowa Senate or House in their desire to overturn marriage in Iowa, anti-gays were hoping that Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat that had indicated personal opposition to marriage equality, would call a special session to push through a marriage ban amendment. The Omaha World-Herald is reporting that their approaches have been rebuffed:

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said Tuesday he will not support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
…
The Supreme Court found that denying gay and lesbian couples marriage is discrimination under the Iowa Constitution\’s equal protection clause. With that in mind, Culver said he is “reluctant” to add a provision to the constitution that was already found “unlawful and discriminatory.”

With the Senate and House leadership unwilling to bring an amendment up for a vote and the Governor unwilling to support their efforts, anti-gays are finding few available options left. Until such time as they can use homophobia as a basis for their political campaigns, they are limited in their response to ranting, raving, hand wringing, denouncing, whining, and pouting.

All of which they will do.

Save on Golf in Columbia Missouri

From Connect MidMissouri:

Columbia city council members unanimously voted on Monday night to establish a domestic partner registry.

The registry allows qualifying same sex couples to register with the city of Columbia to get benefits and discounts at certain locations.

Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot that this arrangement provides

Community Services Manager Steve Hollis said, “The only tangible benefit is the ordinance contains language that allows folks to access city services such as golf or the arc at the family rate, if they are in the domestic partnership registry. So really, that\’s the only tangible benefit. Other than that, it\’s rather symbolic actually.”

We appreciate this, Columbia. The validation of being recognized by your neighborhood and your community far outweighs any local civic service benefits.

But, yes thanks, we’ll take the golf discount.