Recently in Gay Marriage Category

I should begin by noting that I hate beauty pageants. Judging women, in whole or in large part, by appearances is a sexist and anachronistic affront to an entire gender.

I must admit, however, that the latest wrinkle in the Carrie Prejean, former Miss California USA, controversy has grabbed my attention. Prejean, who was a finalist in the Miss USA Pageant in April, made a statement in opposition to same-sex marriage during the question and answer segment of the contest. Religious Right groups immediately began complaining that she came in second because of the content of her answer and that she deserved to win the competition.

After the event, Ms. Prejean suffered some embarrassment in regard to a series of "modeling" photographs that appeared on the Internet, but Pageant officials supported her continued activity as Miss California USA.  Then, several weeks later, her employment was terminated, with officials claiming that she had failed to participate in several public events that she was contractually obliged to do and that, on the other hand, she had made some unauthorized media appearances.

Ms. Prejean has now sued Miss California USA officials Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler, as well as publicist Roger Neal for what she claims was an illegal firing.  I have no opinion about this contract dispute.  However, she is also claiming that the company dismissed her because of an anti-religious bias.  She is asserting that the company told her not to discuss God and her religious values even before the night she gave the infamous anti-same sex marriage answer.

Maybe  James Dobson was just having a particularly bad day.  As the top Religious Right leader gave a "farewell speech" to the staff at Focus On the Family he noted that "we are awash in evil" and that "humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."  By those battles he meant the "cultural" clash over reproductive choice, gay rights and censorship. As a few bloggers did point out, however, Dobson also noted that "God is in control and we are not going to give up, right?"

Of course, Dobson and his "far-right-of-center" colleagues aren't giving up.  They have a mound of money, are raising more with Obama-bashing every day and continue to return to the wells of gay-bashing and vilifying the separation of church and state on a daily basis.  In the last year for which we have IRS records, Focus took in about $145 million and Dobson's more overtly political arm vacuumed in an additional $10 million.

Barry, I'm surprised you vigorously oppose former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy joining the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  You cite his religious beliefs about marriage.  Would you have a different opinion if Dungy supported same-sex marriage?  

As you indicated, you believe this council is an 'unnecessary body.'  That's fine.  But, don't disqualify someone like Dungy from serving in an advisory capacity because of his religious beliefs on marriage.  President Obama has promised diversity and there are reports that a member of the Human Rights Campaign is among those being invited to join the council.

Dan Gilgoff is now reporting that former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy has been invited to join the White House "Advisory Panel On Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships".  This unnecessary body already has plenty of people on it who are way off the mark on civil rights and liberties.  Dungy will be another.

Dungy's fund-raising for the James Dobson-affiliated "Indiana Family Institute" and his unequivocal opposition to same-sex marriage based on his view that God opposes it make him an unlikely candidate for useful discussion of faith based partnerships and civil rights, one of the key issues the panel will hammer out.

I'm sorry, Jay, but I can't say "amen" to your characterization of Rick Warren's participation in the inaugural ceremony.  Although once you pass the threshold of having two Protestant ministers, it is not unexpected that one or both (in this case, only one since the Rev. Joseph Lowery did not) is going to pray in the name of Jesus. As you know, I think the prayers should have been restricted to the worship service the then-President elect attended earlier in the day. Adding the Lord's Prayer to the end of Warren's own was really over the top, since this is such a well-known Christian intercession. 

As he discussed on Larry King's show, Warren doesn't believe non-believers should be elected to public office, at least not to the Presidency.  So he still thinks their moral compass is inferior to his own just on the face of it.  Also, I don't like people prattling on about "our commitment to freedom and justice for all" when they just participated in a campaign of injustice, in Warren's case his support for passage of California's notoriously discriminatory Proposition 8.

As for that poll about Warren, sorry, but I'm not buying it.  Given that very few people know who is on the Supreme Court, the idea that 61% of people even know who Rick Warren is simply stretches credulity. 

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We obviously disagree fundamentally about the role of the courts in dealing with issues where fundamental rights (like marriage and equal protection) are at stake.  The "will" of the voters does not trump such rights and the courts exist to...

Barry, contested issues of public policy, such as the definition of marriage, should be settled at the ballot box, not through violence or the actions of activist judges. It is unfortunate that you would try to link the defense of...

 I have been in the San Francisco area for several days.  My trip coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk.  The atmosphere would have been somber simply about that, but it was poisoned even more...

The blogosphere is filled with them: predictions about the outcome of Tuesday's election.  Although a Google search indicates there are even ones made by monkeys, a quick examination of the first few hits indicates this could be a put on....

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Barry, the examples you cited show precisely why the IRS gag rule should be repealed. When the IRS investigates pro-life churches who speak out in defense of the unborn during the election season, it has a chilling effect on other...

For the past two years I have been telling my liberal friends, Jay, that the Religious Right is not dead; it is not even sleeping.  I've also been alerting them to the fact that the so-called "new evangelicals" may have...

Today the Supreme Court of California issued an extremely important decision in a case which addressed the issue: does the right of religious freedom exempt a medical clinic's physicians from complying with a state law that bars discrimination based on...