ALERT THE MEDIA! CALL YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR LOVED ONES! GO PICK OUT CUTE CAKE TOPPERS! (Do they make toppers of girls in lace-up boots? I hope so.) And best of all, PICK OUT THE ALCOHOL FOR YOUR OPEN BAR!
Because now it’s time for our 1,456th shot at getting our gay marriage rights against all odds! But this time there are slightly better odds, because Obama doesn’t want to defend DOMA anymore.
A bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, a pinnacle piece of anti-same-sex marriage legislation, will be introduced this Wednesday. New York Representative Jerrold Nadler will be introducing the repeal legislation. A good summary of the situation is that this is not the first time, but it could be THE time.
Nadler introduced the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would end DOMA, the Clinton-era law that bans federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples and allows states to ignore such marriages from other states, in September, 2009. The measure quickly rounded up 100 co-sponsors in its first 30 days and then fizzled without a companion Senate bill.
Nadler will be joined on Wednesday by openly gay House members Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, and David Cicilline, as well as civil rights leader Rep. John Conyer. Also in court will be some of the plantiffs from DOMA cases who are currently being hurt by DOMA, like Nancy Gill and Marcelle Letourneau.
Things in the Senate are also looking better than last time! Dianne Feinstein of California, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have signed on to similar legislation already in the Senate. Hopefully, this means it will get easier to get the Act through Congress and straight to the desk of our biggest fan (that was hyperbole, calm down) Barack Obama.
Once again the liberal Hollywood elite has stepped forward to voice their support of this repeal. The Freedom to Marry campaign has pulled out its heavyweights with a letter urging the President to repeal DOMA.
Mr. President, marriage matters. In law, in love, in life, marriage says “we are family” in a way that nothing else does. Marriage is the coming together of two lives, marked by a public promise of love and responsibility in front of friends and family. And marriage brings not only public respect and personal significance, but also a safety net of legal protections, rights, and responsibilities for which there is no substitute.
The signers include Ellen DeGeneres & Portia DeRossiDeGeneres, Anne Hathaway, Jane Lynch, Rufus Wainright, Lily Tomlin and Martin Sheen. Speaking of Martin Sheen, let’s watch this video again:
Now go sign the petition, seriously, it’s important.
I’m… just going to take that crab puff.
Fingers crossed that this is indeed THE time.
This is so epic, I am so excited! Lip biting, bouncing in my chair excited.
Its sort of like when I went to see Inception but THIS IS NOT A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM ANYMORE. WE WILL MAKE IT REALITY.
I absolutely love the video of the West Wing, knowing nothing about the bible, I never knew that such stupid things (other than any anti-gay rhetoric) could come from it! It makes sence that if it was dead wrong about hating us, it would also talk shit about other stuff that is totally harmless! Thank you, really!
Much of my youth was spent trying to convince my pastor to make the reading of the day the one where Ezekiel makes God’s stance on gold, gem-encrusted dildos known (spoilers: he’s not in favor of them). I was unsuccessful in this.
I always wanted them to read the one where Paul tells Jews who won’t stop circumcising that they might as well do the thing right and castrate themselves for all the good it would do them. It didn’t work out for me either.
I’m pretty sure there’s a class in seminary called, “The Awesome Stuff: How to Avoid Ever Talking About It”, where they teach you how to skip over lines about ancient Egyptian men’s apparently equine-like genitals in favor of long-winded discussion of mustard seeds.
I know it’s not exactly popular opinion, but I have to say I don’t think the clip from West Wing shows how stupid the bible is. I think it shows how stupid some people are in their interpretation of it – namely, choosing which passages they will interpret literally (usually to exploit for political/financial reasons), and then dismissing the other REALLY bizarre old testament law as culturally contextualized. That is beyond stupid. It’s immoral.
But I don’t know, I just think that the bible itself is a really fascinating piece of ancient literature and not stupid at all. Most of it probably made good sense in the patriarchal ancient near-East culture.
My personal favorite: “If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand.” (Deut. 25:11)
As a feminist, the last part irks me, but still – I LOVE IT. It means that some woman over 3,000 years ago was badass enough to get in the middle of a brawl and grab a guy’s junk. She grabbed it so hard they made a law forbidding it. You gotta read between the lines sometimes, but don’t dismiss the whole bible out of hand. It’s interesting.
I totally have a crush on President Bartlett.
When you told me to pick out my cake toppers, i first thought ICING, DUH.
And then i realized you meant the little people, and thought, DO TEGAN AND SARA COUNT?
I need to be cut off from food/lesbian tumblrs for a while and stick to reading Autostradddds.
I’m trying really hard not to be a downer, but I am definitely not letting myself get my hopes up.
Prove me wrong, Congress! Please prove me wrong!!
“Prove me wrong, Congress! Please prove me wrong!!”
Yes yes please.
sign the petition!
omg I forgot how much I love the west wing. also, will sign petition nowish.
<3 West Wing. <3 Gay Marriage. <3 Cake toppers with combat boots.
You’ve come to the right place, then.
Four for you President Bartlett! You go, President Bartlett!
Definitely praying for repeal!
Signed the petition – and this must be at least the 3rd time AS has posted this particular West Wing clip but I gotta say, it never gets old.
Can I just have that clip on-hand for anytime I hear people spouting stupid biblical bullshit regarding the homogays? I feel like that should have come with my lesbocard.
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