News Briefs
House introduces repeal of federal marriage ban
WASHINGTON – A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives September 15 y that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and respect state marriages by providing federal protections for married same-sex couples. DOMA, passed in 1996, authorized discrimination against lawfully married same-sex couples. The bill—the Respect for Marriage Act,—was introduced by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and several others.
“DOMA singles out lawfully married same-sex couples for discriminatory treatment under the law, denying families the more than 1,100 federal protections and responsibilities that apply to married opposite-sex couples,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “The Respect for Marriage Act will do more than repeal DOMA; it will promote protections for same-sex couples who are already married. Congress should move quickly to pass this long overdue bill.”
Before DOMA was enacted, federal law deferred to states’ decisions about who was married and who was not. As a result of a discriminatory federal definition of marriage in DOMA, same-sex couples that are married by their home states are nevertheless denied all of the federal benefits and protections available to all other married couples.
The Respect for Marriage Act also ensures that, once the federal government recognizes the marriage of a same-sex couple, it will continue to recognize that marriage even if the couple moves to another state that would not have allowed the couple to marry in the first place. The Act does not force any state to marry same-sex couples.
~ACLU
Barney Frank: Repealing DOMA now could complicate matters
Barney Frank (D-MA), one of just three openly gay members of the House of Representatives, is against marriage equality. For now, at least.
Frank has been telling members of Congress to withhold support for the Respect for Marriage Act, introduced by fellow Democrats on Monday.
“I do think [the bill] can complicate things electorally for Members,” Frank said, according to Roll Call on Thursday. “People will interpret this as exporting marriage. That could complicate matters.”
Frank’s approach, Roll Call noted, is similar to Speaker Nancy Peolsi’s (D-CA), who prefers to take small steps toward marriage equality. In the short term, two of those steps would be ensuring partners of federal employees have equal benefits, and reinforcing laws that prohibit workplace discrimination.
The Massachusetts Congressman told The Washington Blade last week that pending lawsuits against DOMA have a better chance of overturning enforced marriage inequality than any single action of Congress, at this point.
~Raw Story
One more anti-gay politician caught in scandal
Mike Duvall resigned Sept. 9 as California State Assemblyman after a microphone caught him bragging about the details of marital affairs with he was allegedly having with two women.
The married Republican from Orange County was regarded as a crusader for “traditional family values.” He has been described as a “hardcore supporter” of the anti-gay Proposition 8 — the California initiative that would rescind the right of same-sex couples to marry.
Other anti-gay “traditional values” Republican officeholders recently caught in scandals:
Tennessee State Senator Paul Stanley was forced to resign in July after he was blackmailed over photos and video showing him having sex with a 22-year-ol female intern. Last March, Stanley introduced legislation that would have outlawed gay and lesbian couples in Tennessee from being able to adopt children: “When you’re married,” Stanley said at the time, “there’s a commitment there.” Stanley also opposed same-sex marriage and family planning services.
The anti-gay career of Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign came to an end in June when his affair with a married staffer was exposed. Ensign strongly supported the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have barred states from recognizing same-sex marriage. back in 2004. In 1998 he insisted that then-president Clinton resign over Clinton’s extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, vigorously opposed same-sex civil unions. When he was in Congress, he voted to impeach then-President Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal, declaring Clinton’s extramarital behavior to be “reprehensible.”
—Various sources
Gay scientist, WWII hero Alan Turing receives posthumous apology from UK
September 10 2009— British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has apologized for the British government’s “horrifying” treatment a half-century ago of Alan Turing, the mathematical genius who played a key role in defeating Nazi Germany but was later convicted of “gross indecency” for having sex with another man. Over 30,000 people signed a Downing Street petition seeking a posthumous apology to gay computer scientist Alan Turing.
Turing, who made significant contributions in the field of computing and is often considered as the father of modern computer science, was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for having sexual relationship with a man.
During the World War II, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain’s code breaking centre and made significant contributions towards breaking German codes.
The Times magazine named Turing as one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century for his contributions towards the creation of modern computers. “The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine,” stated the Times magazine.
Following his conviction Turing was given experimental chemical castration as a treatment. Turing soon committed suicide in 1954, two years after his conviction, and died at the age of 41.
Many believe the humiliation faced by Turing led to his suicide. Brown was recently presented with a petition with 30,000 signatures, demanding an apology from the British government British gay activist Peter Tatchell said that Turing was one of an estimated 100,000 British gay men-- including playwright Oscar Wilde in 1895 -- convicted under Britain’s “gross indecency” law, which was formally repealed in 2003.
‘’While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back,’’ Brown stated, “his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him.”
~AOL News and IBTimes
http://news.aol.com/article/gordon-brown-apologizes-for-treatment-of/666717
Prime Minister Brown’s apology
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown-apology-to-alan-turing-in-full-$1326346.htm
Comment via Facebook |
Shortened link for this page is http://is.gd/dKm3T
Erie Gay News
1115 W 7th St
Erie PA 16502
(814) 456-9833
info@eriegaynews.com
Co-editors Michael Mahler and Deb Spilko