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IMHO, Tracy's version of our favorite newsbian is very good and so is her Barney Frank, but her Ariana is spot on.
Queer News, Reviews, Rants and Raves ... because Jesus said "Love Thy Neighbor", Bitch!
From wsj.com:
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said that Mr. Gates and Adm. Mullen "have been and continue to work on an implementation plan for ultimately achieving the president's goal of repealing 'don't ask, don't tell.'"
"Next week they will share that plan with Congress," he said.
A defense official said the two men wouldn't provide Congress with a formal proposal for legislation repealing the controversial ban. Instead, the official said Mr. Gates and Adm. Mullen would outline the preparations the department was making so it would be able to offer guidance to Congress.
President Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to repeal the ban and reiterated that vow in Wednesday's State of the Union address. Still, it is far from clear that a repeal bill would have enough political support to pass the divided Congress. A current House bill that would repeal the legislation has 187 supporters, leaving it 31 votes short of the 218 needed to ensure passage. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D., Mich.) supports eliminating the restriction, but lawmakers have yet to introduce a Senate bill to repeal the law.
During cross-examination, David Boies, an attorney for the challengers, got Miller to admit that the entities that support gay rights also support rights for other minorities.
Boies asked Miller for examples of official discrimination against gays. Miller mentioned the federal law banning openly gay people in the military.
Under further questioning, Miller cited a federal law that defines marriage as an opposite-sex relationship and California's marriage ban that was enacted as Proposition 8. "Looking at the institution of marriage, the state does treat heterosexual couples differently than same-sex couples," Miller said.
David Boies, who cross-examined Miller, read aloud written statements Miller made that said minorities were vulnerable to ballot initiatives, and federal courts needed to step in and protect them. One of the statements was from a paper Miller wrote in 2005.Boies also got Miller to admit, "At least some people voted for Proposition 8 on the basis of anti-gay stereotypes."
The Washington Post reported on Sunday:Delgaudio's fellow supervisors quickly distanced themselves from his remarks and called on him to apologize.
Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene A. Delgaudio (R-Sterling), a longtime opponent of gay rights, is coming under increased criticism for recent comments viewed as homophobic and embarrassing to the community.
At a Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, five of his board counterparts used personal time to chastise the Sterling supervisor for anti-gay comments. One member, Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac), apologized that Delgaudio made some of the remarks from the board dais.
At a Jan. 6 meeting, supervisors voted to expand Loudoun's nondiscrimination policy to prohibit bias on the basis of sexual orientation in hiring by the county. Delgaudio fought the change in the meeting, saying he was especially offended by language in the measure that sought protection for transgendered people. In the debate, he called the board's attempt to protect transgendered people "freaky" and "bizarre." In a subsequent newsletter to supporters, Delgaudio wrote that "if a man dressed as a woman wants a job, you have to treat 'it' the same as a normal person."
James Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said Delgaudio had "conducted himself in a manner best described in my opinion as histrionic, and his choice of words were and should have been an embarrassment to this board and to the county."Delgaudio's response to his critics was to read a revised and more blatant statement with the word "it" taken out. "With apologies to real-life Tootsies" and "to all their defenders who are calling me all sorts of names and, like Mr. Burton, are saying I should apologize." Delgaudio continued adding insult to injury in his response to Burton's remarks by saying his "strong words" were hyperbole, telling Burton, "Lady doth protest too much, Mr. Burton."
Burton challenged Delgaudio's use of the word "it" to describe transgendered people. "Regardless of how one may feel about the policy in question, there's no excuse for referring to fellow human beings as 'it,' " he said. The use of the word "it," he said, was "demeaning, insulting and dehumanizing."
In the year since we've started the NOH8 Campaign, we've often been surprised at some of the different individuals who have approached us showing their support. Few, though, have surprised us more than Cindy McCain - the wife of Senator John McCain and mother to vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain. The McCains are one of the most well-known Republican families in recent history, and for Mrs. McCain to have reached out to us to offer her support truly means a lot. Although we had worked with Meghan McCain before and were aware of her own position, we'd never really thought the cause might be something her mother would get behind. We have a huge amount of respect for both of these women for being brave enough to make it known they support equal marriage rights for all Americans.
Ireland told On Top Magazine, “People want to see this drama unfold and there is a tremendous narrative that was propelled by that first day of testimony. This is the first time that gay and lesbian people have talked about their lives in federal court. It's historic from that point of view.”The video postings are not currently embeddable, meaning I can't post them here, but can be shared via FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. and e-mail.
The video is based on transcripts of live bloggers who have been posting details of the proceedings from the courtroom every day since the trial began.
From prop8trialtracker.com: For example, one letter indicated that the LDS church had identified a volunteer for the campaign in every single zip code. This was a church document that was in the hands of a Prop 8 campaign official, and thus was discoverable. Andy Pugno, the general council for ProtectMarriage.com tried his darnedest to get Judge Walker to exclude it, but failed.
From Rick’s liveblog:
Pugno: Objects because document will be revealing.
Judge: Not to make light of this, but the reason people want to produce documents is that they are revealing.
Boutrous: It’s from an outsider to the core group. We are attempting to show the level of coordination with groups that Protect Marriage says were not even affiliated with the campaign.
(Rick's comment) This is perhaps the most explosive bit of all, from a document between the LDS Church and the campaign:
"With respect to Prop. 8 campaign, key talking points will come from campaign, but cautious, strategic, not to take the lead so as to provide plausible deniability or respectable distance so as not to show that church is directly involved."
(Rick's comments) Get that? The LDS Church intentionally worked to hide behind the scenes to disguise their involvement in the public realm. The LDS Church is well aware that the general public does not have the most favorable opinion of them. Attention on their involvement could have hurt their cause, namely passing Prop 8.
For Immediate Release
Proposition 8 Trial Re-enactment Brings Closed Proceedings to the Viewing Public
January 18, 2010 (Los Angeles) -- Last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling blocking indefinitely the broadcast of a video feed from the San Francisco Federal Court trial challenging California’s Proposition 8. Within a few hours, a film production team in Los Angeles was readying a script from court transcripts, securing a courtroom set and casting actors in an effort to bring the trial to the people by way of re-enactment.
“We both jumped in and started calling all of our contacts… and never looked back,” says John Ireland, who is co-producing the “made for the web” series with actor and producer, John Ainsworth. “John and I both agreed that time is short but the time is now. We have collected a top-notch group of people to tell this story, so the world can see it.” Both men have been in the documentary and entertainment business for years.
“I was glued to the Courage Campaign’s Prop 8 Trial Tracker when John and I started talking about producing a re-enactment to put on the web. I wanted to know what was happening in the courtroom and that’s when I knew we needed to produce this.” Ainsworth noted.
The production is using professional actors and, where possible, they are casting as close to the appearance of the real people the actors portray.
The team is being advised by constitutional law scholar and Professor, David B. Cruz, from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, which has made the replica courtroom available. He is reviewing scripts and advising on courtroom dynamics and flow. "People across the country and around the world were eager to watch this trial unfold, so I was eager to help make it accessible after the Supreme Court took the unusual step of blocking broadcast,” Cruz said.
Ireland is confident that a sizable audience is ready to tune in. He says, “There is a huge buzz on the web about this trial. I think a lot of people across our country were poised to watch the opening statements on the first day. When access was blocked, the thirst for information just grew exponentially.”
According to Ainsworth, they should have last week’s five episodes “in the can” within a few days. They will assemble a script each new trial day, notify the relevant actors and film that day’s testimony late into the night. Ainsworth adds, “We are moving swiftly, so that more Americans can see our government in action as it reviews this landmark case.”
Learn more at:
www.MarriageTrial.com