University of Georgia Log Cabin Republicans

Ted Olson’s Case for Marriage Equality January 26, 2010

Theodore B. Olson has a long history with the political right. He argued successfully for former President George W. Bush before the Supreme Court in the landmark case Bush v. Gore (2000). He also served as Solicitor General for the Bush Administration until 2004. Now he is fighting against California’s Proposition 8 which banned gay marriages in the state. He recently told Newsweek why “same-sex marriage is an American value.”

Here are a few highlights from Mr. Olson. A link to the full article with a video interview with him is below.

The simple fact is that there is no good reason why we should deny marriage to same-sex partners. On the other hand, there are many reasons why we should formally recognize these relationships and embrace the rights of gays and lesbians to marry and become full and equal members of our society.

[…]No matter what you think of homosexuality, it is a fact that gays and lesbians are members of our families, clubs, and workplaces. They are our doctors, our teachers, our soldiers (whether we admit it or not), and our friends. They yearn for acceptance, stable relationships, and success in their lives, just like the rest of us.

Conservatives and liberals alike need to come together on principles that surely unite us. Certainly, we can agree on the value of strong families, lasting domestic relationships, and communities populated by persons with recognized and sanctioned bonds to one another. Confining some of our neighbors and friends who share these same values to an outlaw or second-class status undermines their sense of belonging and weakens their ties with the rest of us and what should be our common aspirations. Even those whose religious convictions preclude endorsement of what they may perceive as an unacceptable “lifestyle” should recognize that disapproval should not warrant stigmatization and unequal treatment.

When we refuse to accord this status to gays and lesbians, we discourage them from forming the same relationships we encourage for others. And we are also telling them, those who love them, and society as a whole that their relationships are less worthy, less legitimate, less permanent, and less valued. We demean their relationships and we demean them as individuals. I cannot imagine how we benefit as a society by doing so.

He concludes:

Americans who believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence, in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in the 14th Amendment, and in the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and equal dignity before the law cannot sit by while this wrong continues. This is not a conservative or liberal issue; it is an American one, and it is time that we, as Americans, embraced it.

The full article can be viewed on the Newsweek website.

Clinton Advisor Challenges Obama on DADT January 25, 2010

A new opinion piece came out this weekend pressing President Obama to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Richard Socarides served as a  special assistant to President Bill Clinton and senior White House adviser from 1997 to 1999. In his article in the Wall Street Journal he writes:

What is especially troubling, however, is Mr. Obama’s over sensitivity to a dwindling minority of bigots on this issue. Hundreds of military careers have been destroyed on his watch for no valid reason. The country has been deprived of the talents of these service members and has wasted millions of dollars on their training.

Many wonder when their president will show the same kind of concern for the constitutional rights of gay American service members as he has for enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay. Many wonder what the administration’s willingness to treat gay Americans as second-class citizens says to Uganda and other countries that are considering laws that would subject gays to imprisonment and even death.

via–http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704375604575023134251017648.html

Republicans Coming Out For Gay Marriage January 25, 2010

A recent article from gaypolitics.com highlighted notable Republicans who have publicly support marriage equality. Here is a list below:

• Cindy McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain, is the latest high-profile Republican to declare support for marriage equality for gays and lesbians.  Meghan McCain, her daughter, has been a vocal supporter for more than a year.
  
• Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who, while he responds to the marriage question with the somewhat oblique “freedom means freedom for everybody,” has not challenged the understanding that he supports full marriage rights for gays and lesbians.
  
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, who has moved on the issue since vetoing two marriage equality bills passed in the state legislature.  He opposed the repeal of Prop 8 and had this advice for those fighting to keep marriage equality in California: “They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”
  
• Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General of the United States, who brought a federal case challenging the constitutionality of California’s Prop 8.  Olson penned a now-famous op-ed in Newsweek titled, “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage.”
  
• Steve Schmidt, McCain’s chief strategist during his 2008 presidential run, who told the Washington Blade, “I’m personally supportive of [marriage] equality for gay couples and I believe that it will happen over time.”
  
• Maine gubernatorial candidate Peter Mills, a state senator who voted in favor of the state’s marriage equality bill.  “It’s a state relationship.  What religious institutions choose to do is really very different and outside the realm of what the state should rightfully get involved in,” Mills said.  He was joined by GOP State Sen. Chris Rector in supporting the marriage bill that was overturned by a statewide ballot measure.
  
• Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2009 special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district, who was driven from the race by right-wing activists who opposed her stances on marriage and other issues.  She is a member of the New York State Assembly.
  
• San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who tearfully announced his support for marriage equality while standing next to his lesbian daughter at a press conference.
  
• FOX News contributor Margaret Hoover, who announced her support for marriage equality January 15th in a FOXNews.com op-ed titled, “Why I’m Joining the Fight for Marriage Equality.”
  
• Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker not only supports marriage equality, he’s chosen an openly gay state senator as his running mate.
  
• Tom Campbell, a former member of Congress who’s now running for Senate in California.  Campbell authored an article in Reason magazine in 2008 urging Republicans to vote no on Prop 8.
  

This list may not be exhaustive, but let’s hope more join the ranks of fair-minded Republicans who support marriage equality soon.  We will be highlighting some of these people and their support throughout the week.

Via– http://www.gaypolitics.com/2010/01/21/republicans-coming-out-for-marriage-equality

Obama Administration May End DADT January 22, 2010

President Obama and Congressional leaders have decided to move forward with ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. A report on the Huffington Post stated that the repeal may come in this year’s defense authorization bill, the same method through which the policy was enacted.

From the Huffington Post:

In Congress, members are being whipped to ensure that the votes will be there for passage, should the legislation be placed in the bill. At this juncture, aides say, the prospects look good. Meanwhile, a source close to the White House says the president has instructed the Defense Department that he believes the repeal of DADT should be placed in the authorization bill.

However, disagreements could emerge when it comes to crafting the actual legislative language, over which Defense Secretary Robert Gates will wield his influence. And at this juncture, few of the offices working on the issue said they were willing to take passage as a fait accompli.

“People have said publicly and privately that this is a good place for repeal to be placed,” said one Democratic aide on the Hill. “It would be reasonable to expect that repeal might be in this year’s defense authorization… But we aren’t assuming anything yet.”

UGA LCR has been sponsoring a petition to encourage members of Congress to support ending DADT. Please help support overturning the ban by signing here.

Prop 8 Backers Show Their Ignorance January 22, 2010

 As the Proposition 8 trial continued this week in California, the backers of the measure which banned gay marriages in the state revealed their ignorance. A proponent of Prop 8 testified on Thursday that he thinks gays are more likely to be pedophiles and that allowing them to wed would lead to efforts to lower the age at which teenagers can legally have sex with adults.

Lawyers working on behalf of two couples who sued to overturn the ban called Hak-Shing William Tam to testify to prove that bias toward gays fueled the campaign to pass the measure. Tam serves as secretary of the group, known as the American Return to God Prayer Movement.

Attorney David Boies spent time walking Tam through a Web site for a Chinese-American evangelical Christian group that featured a headline reading “Studies Show That Homosexuality Is Linked to Pedophilia.” The Web site also contained a link to another article claiming gays were 12 times more likely to molest children.

Here is a brief part of their exchange:

“So you supported this Web site making these kind of statements?” Boies asked.

“Uh, yes,” Tam said.

“Do you believe that homosexuals are 12 times more likely to molest children?” the lawyer continued.

“Yeah, based on the different literature that I have read,” Tam replied.

Boies pressed Tam to cite books, articles or authors he had read to substantiate the views, but Tam said he could not remember specifics. Earlier in the trial, a Cambridge University professor testified that there is no evidence to suggest that gays are more likely to molest children than heterosexuals.

Via–http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14236959?nclick_check=1

Cindy McCain Back Marriage Equality January 22, 2010

Cindy McCain, the wife of 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, has joined in with her daughter Meghan in endorsing the “NOH8” campaign.

One wonders if Michelle Obama would do the same?

via–http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012004764.html

GA GOP Gubernatorial Debate Wrap-up January 21, 2010

The Athens-Clarke County Republicans and UGA College Republicans held the first debate between the Republican candidates for governor this week.

The six contenders to lead the state government were included state Sen. Jeff Chapman, US Rep. Nathan Deal, former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former state Senate President Eric Johnson, businessman and conservative activist Ray McBerry, and state Rep. Austin Scott. The only candidate who did not show up to the debate was John Oxendine, the frontrunner, who claimed a prior engagement as the reason for his absence.

Here are a few highlights from The Southern Political Report:

Each tried to leave viewers with a handle to remember them by. Johnson several times identified himself as the “jobs governor,” and brought that theme into every answer he could, including ethics reform in the legislature.

“Anything that distracts from jobs needs to be dealt with and pushed out of the way,” said Johnson, who was chair of the House-Senate ethics panel which cleared former Speaker Glenn Richardson of charges he was improperly close to a lobbyist.

Deal spoke of his experience. He could also claim points as the recipient of the only two shots of the evening, in which the candidates didn’t get the chance to ask questions of each other.

Scott made the first jab, raising the question of whether someone who had questioned President Obama’s birth certificate could best carry forward the negotiations over water usage with Florida and Alabama. Deal responded later that he’d simply asked the White House to forward the names of some experts on that subject to whom he could refer inquiring constituents.

It was probably Deal whom Handel was comparing herself with later when she called herself “a lifelong conservative Republican.” Deal was elected to Congress as a Democrat but switched parties over a decade ago.

McBerry sought to cast himself as the non-politician and true conservative, Scott as the candidate who listens, Handel as “a next-generation leader” and Chapman as a Republican willing to break with party orthodoxy, at least on the handling of the water negotiations, which he labeled “an economic stimulus package for lawyers.”

Predictably, there was more talk of cutting taxes than raising them.

“I think the idea that we need to raise taxes in this climate, to deal with the budget issues, is just simply unacceptable,” said Handel, adding that state leaders had fallen into “scope-creep” and made government too big.

Scott said he opposed the money included in the proposed state budget to fund a College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

“I think it sends a very bad messge to the general public when we’re cutting public safety and we’re cutting public education,” the Tifton legislator said.

via–http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_120_1225.aspx

Dems Begin Retreating from Health Care Reform January 21, 2010

Scott Brown’s election Tuesday has gotten Congressional Democrats worried about their chances of pushing through their health care reform plans. Once Brown takes office, they will no longer have a crucial 60 vote majority in the Senate.

Very shortly after the race was called for Brown Democrats began to react. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) issued a statement calling for a suspension of any health care votes until Brown takes office.

“In many ways, the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform, but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. […] To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.”

Evan Byah (D-IN), another moderate Democrat, called the outcome of the election a “wake up call” for Democrats. In an interview with ABC Morning News he stated:

“It’s why moderates and independents even in a state as Democratic as Massachusetts just aren’t buying our message. They just don’t believe the answers we are currently proposing are solving their problems.  That’s something that has to be corrected.”

via–http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/01/the_post-coakley_panic_of_2010.php

San Diego Mayor Testifies in Prop 8 Trial January 20, 2010

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders testified this week in the Proposition 8 Trial in California.  The trial, which will rule whether denying homosexuals the right to marry violates their constitutional rights, began last week .

Sanders, a Republican, had previously opposed allowing gay marriages but explained why he had changed his mind. He said his views evolved after learning one of his daughter’s  was a lesbian who wanted to marry her partner.

“I believe the government should allow everyone to get married in exactly the same way,” Sanders said.  

“I felt I came very close to making a bad decision,” he said. “I came very close to showing the prejudice I obviously had toward my daughter to my staff and to the people of San Diego.”
     
Mayor Sanders was questioned by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

Herrera got the gig because the city of San Francisco is part of the case because it claims denial of marriage is costly to local governments.

Sanders also testified he thinks Prop 8 has a discriminatory intent.
     
He said the law tells gay people, “We don’t think that you folks have the same type of relationship or love each other as much, so we’re not going to allow you to be married.”

via–http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Surprise-Star-Witness-in-Support-of-Gay-Marriage-82090657.html