Dear Evan Wolfson: Please Keep Freedom to Marry Going

Evan Wolfson and everyone at Freedom to Marry have done a lot of good in helping the US progress to getting the nationwide limited same-gender freedom to marry. That we applaud with great enthusiasm and joy. That we don't applaud is plans to shut down the organization. From a report at reason.com by Scott Shackford...

The group, founded in 2003 by civil rights lawyer Evan Wolfson to fight for same-sex marriage recognition, is marking the occasion by having a big party and then doing something unusual in non-profit activist circles: It's going away. The party was last week—Vice President Joe Biden and pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen (remember "Call Me, Maybe"?) joined the celebration. Now, as the Wall Street Journal explains, it's time to shut it all down:

The next morning, Mr. Wolfson said he and his "bleary-eyed" team met to plan the shutdown. Most of the 30 or so on staff will be gone by December, he said, while "a little rump of us" will remain to turn out the lights in February.

For many of the same reasons this blog will continue, Freedom to Marry should also continue. There is still so much progress to be made. Here are just a few reasons why Freedom to Marry can still do a lot of good:

1) There are still adults in the US who do not have the freedom to marry (or even simply be with) the person(s) they love, including many LGBT people. We need full marriage equality.

2) Other countries need help, including from the US, to move towards marriage equality.

3) Marriages will need protection in legislatures, administrations, and courts. Even though a decision by the US Supreme Court should settle the matter in the US, there are still going to be attacks, foot-dragging, noncompliance, and all sorts of ways marriages will be denied equal treatment. Many people can testify that having specific civil rights legislation in place has not ensured everyone has their rights; vigilance is needed.

4) Supreme Court decisions have been reversed before. A 5-4 decision isn't a safe as we'd like to believe. A new President will be elected in 2016. Will the new President make the right appointments to the Court and lower courts?

5) We need a federal Marriage Equality Amendment. Who better to lobby for it?

Let's keep going until every adult, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion is free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage (and any of those without the others) with any and all consenting adults, without fear of prosecution, bullying, or discrimination.

What do ya say? Let's reward the staff for their success so far by keeping them employed in the work that's still ahead.

Senator Feinstein Introduces (Limited) Respect For Marriage Act

I'm bumping up this argument from March 2011 because I'm hearing that the RFMA is being given another push...


US Senator Dianne Feinstein (California) has introduced a bill for a limited Respect For Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, the Denial of Marriage Act. The bill, if it becomes law without any other changes in law, would simply remove at least a portion of the unconstitutional DOMA so that same-sex marriages created in states or countries that currently recognize them would be recognized by the US government. Currenty, no same-sex marriages are.

Reading the language of the bill, it appears to me that it is possible that if one state were to gain the polygamous freedom to marry or the consanguineous freedom to marry (or, do the right thing and institute full marriage equality), the US government would recognize those marriages, too.

The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal DOMA and restore the rights of all lawfully married couples – including tens of thousands of same-sex couples – to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law.

Under current law, legally married, same-sex couples cannot take advantage of federal protections available to every other married couple in this country. These couples cannot:

File joint federal income taxes and claim certain deductions;

Receive spousal benefits under Social Security;

Take unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act when a loved one falls seriously ill;

Obtain the protections of the estate tax when one spouse passes and wants to leave his or her possessions to another.

And this is important to note…

Joining Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are co-sponsors: Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dan Inouye (D-Hawaii), and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii).

It’s a good start, but I call on these Senators to make history for equality and propose the Marriage Equality Amendment.

Denmark Party Calls For Decriminalizing Consanguinamory

From the Copenhagen Post website cphpost.dk comes this report by Ray Weaver about the position taken by the Enhedslisten politcal party to eliminate bigoted laws against consensual incest...

The recent case of a brother and sister in the city of Aarhus who said that they are in love and have a five-month-old child together has raised a national debate about sibling sex. The couple, who share the same father but have different mothers, face jail time for violating Denmark’s current statute prohibiting incest and inbreeding.

Why should their love be criminal? They should be free to be out and, if they want, to marry. Sounds like a possible case of Genetic Sexual Attraction. I don't think I'd heard about this couple before and I want to see if I can find any more information.

“It is not the government’s job to interfere in who should have children with whom,” party spokesperson Pernille Skipper told Politiken newspaper. “It is a grotesque approach to sex and families.”

Thank you! The article then takes a look at Discredited Argument #18...

A Strong Plank

Did you pick the Oscar winners? Were you able to vote as a member of the Academy? The big night is over for another year. That allows for more attention to turn to another voting matter; the US election for President.

At Upper Left, Shaun also supports the proposed plank in the US Democratic Party platform...

The Democratic Party supports the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibility, and protection under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.

As Shaun said...

I do, and my Party should.

I do, too. An adult should be free to marry any consenting adults. Full inclusion of all families is a must. Tear down the barriers of bigotry.

Whatever party, if any, you have joined, work to get the party on board with full marriage equality. Be on the right side of history.

I do. Do you?

Attention Americans

You can support repealing DOMA with the Respect for Marriage Act by signing this petition. Personally, I think we need a Marriage Equality Amendment as the best solution.

President Obama Endorses Repeal of DOMA

In case you haven’t heard, as US Senate Judiciary Committee testimony is scheduled for tomorrow on DOMA, Obama is endorsing the bill to repeal DOMA.

Introduced by Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein, Patrick Leahy and Kirsten Gillibrand, the Respect of Marriage Act would repeal the law, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and effectively bans same-sex marriage on a federal level.

While I would expect the Supreme Court to overturn DOMA within a few years, doesn’t it make sense to save everyone the trouble, and help out families who need immediate help, and pass the repeal through the legislature now?

Obama can do even more for full marriage equality by proposing a Marriage Equality Amendment.