If there was one statewide Republican officeholder that I thought would be all over the Prop 8 ruling it was Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, Senate sponsor of HJR 6, the enacting legislation that led to Proposition 2 in 2005, which constitutionally banned recognition of same-sex marriage in Texas after voters approved it by 76%. It took him a few days but he did issue a pointless release to remind people of that.
Athens Review: "In 2005, I authored the state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Texas. At the ballot box, 76 percent of Texas voters statewide supported it. The federal court ruling from California against a state's right to define marriage is an assault on both traditional family values and states' rights."
Now, there's no reason for Staples to have had to issue any statement. As head of the Department of Agriculture, I can't imagine any application the Prop 8 ruling has on his office unless there has been a sudden rush of marriage applications form the state's cattle and goat populations.
Thankfully Democratic Ag Commissioner nominee Hank Gilbert fired back at Staples with some choice words about what he might focus on instead.
"I've spent the last two weeks on the campaign trail talking about real reform for the Texas Department of Agriculture-from weights and measures to funding to increase agribusiness in Texas to protecting Texans from eminent domain abuses," Gilbert said.
"My opponent, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be focused much on agriculture at all. He's kind of like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. If you hold an anchovy over his head, he forgets all about that ball of yarn; it is kind of how Todd Staples is with this issue."
Gilbert pointed out that the Agriculture Commissioner has no authority or power over the Texas Family Code with respect to marriage and that Staples is misleading voters about his role in the law's passing in order to, presumably, excite ultra-conservatives. "People elect their Agriculture Commissioner to do something about agriculture, not to serve as the state's de facto bedroom police," he said.
Todd Staples continues to be one of the most useless statewide elected officials. Good riddance.
With hundreds of Texans who attended rallies across Texas yesterday in the wake of Prop 8 being ruled unconstitutional, it's refreshing to see at least a couple of our Democratic leaders stand up and make a point about equality for all citizens. Democratic Lt. Governor nominee Linda Chavez-Thompson tweeted shortly after the ruling.
So glad to hear Prop 8 was overturned today. It was discrimination at its worst. I will keep fighting for equality for all Texans. #equality
Democratic Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston issued the following statement.
"I've always supported marriage equality for all Americans and believe that the U.S. Constitution supports it as well. When Texas passed its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions in 2005, I filed a constitutional amendment to let voters repeal the discriminatory amendment. I'm glad to see that our country continues to move forward. Every year, the public's opinion on marriage equality is more supportive. The law should prohibit discrimination, not sanction it."
Surprisingly, incumbent Republican officials statewide have been oddly silent on the matter. Governor Rick Perry, who was in California at the time of the ruling incidentally, has tweeted nothing other than being in San Francisco. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott who has defended Texas' Proposition 2 banning gay marriage, has been mum. A curious silence for Republicans who usually never miss a chance to bolster their anti-gay credentials in an election year. Not to mention a bit of luck for Bill White who would likely rather not have issue a statement at all on the matter.
California's Proposition 8 which had removed gay and lesbian's equal right to marry has been ruled unconstitutional by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker (a Reagan appointee unanimously confirmed by the US Senate). His ruling is based on both due process and equal protection arguments, a major victory for equality. Below are rallies planned across Texas in the coming hours, as well as the full ruling. A temporary stay until Friday has been issued in order to here arguments as to where a continuing stay should be issued.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement.
"Judge Walker had the great responsibility of deciding whether Proposition 8 violates the Constitution of the United States. He heard in-depth arguments from both sides on fundamental questions of due process, equal protection and freedom from discrimination. There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue, and I am glad that all viewpoints were respected throughout the proceedings. We should also recognize that there will continue to be different points of view in the wake of this decision.
"For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for all Californians to consider our history of leading the way to the future, and our growing reputation of treating all people and their relationships with equal respect and dignity.
"Today's decision is by no means California's first milestone, nor our last, on America's road to equality and freedom for all people."
(On Saturday) 5:00 PM at Denton Courthouse Square (map)
Equality Texas issued a statement including the following.
Equality Texas Executive Director Dennis Coleman says, "As we stand in solidarity with Californians, we must remember that our work is far from over. The laws in Texas are not similar to California. Existing law here allows for systematic discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Texans every single day. There is much work to be done legislatively to change the laws in Texas. And in order to change the laws, we must elect public officials who will support equal treatment under the law for every Texan."
Today between 3-5 PM CST, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco will issue a ruling in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case to decide the constitutionality of Proposition 8 passed by California voters in 2008 to remove equal marriage rights for gay and lesbians which had previously been afforded by the state supreme court. Below I have posted information for Texans who want to be updated on the results of the ruling as well as public gatherings scheduled around Texas later today (regardless of the outcome of the ruling).
Action
Text "EQUAL" to 69866 to get a text message with the official decision on your mobile phone the moment the court releases its decision, or sign-up for an email alert at equalrightsfoundation.org. Join AFER on its Web site to watch a live press conference with our plaintiffs and co-counsels Ted Olson and David Boies following the release of the decision.
This post is from Burnt Orange Report's coverage of the 2009 Constitutional Amendment election. For coverage of the 2011 Constitutional Amendment election, CLICK HERE.
Early voting is on for the Constitutional Amendments election. Yesterday and today, Burnt Orange Report is providing some information about the 11 propositions on the ballot. Our aim is to give a broad sense of how different Texas entities perceive these amendments. In the table below, we've compiled their yea, nay, or no-endorse. Sources are all linked at the bottom. Friday, BOR will issue our official endorsements on some or all of these amendments. For more on the Amendment process, see the post on Amendment 1.
Proposition 8: Authorizing the State to Contribute Resources to Veterans' Hospitals
"Texas now has nine inpatient veterans' hospitals ... The state does not currently have the authority to contribute to a veterans' hospital operated by the federal government. This proposed amendment would allow Texas to partner with the [VA] and local communities to establish additional health care facilities." --League of Women Voters Guide
Source:
Endorsement:
Austin Chronicle:
YES. "We frankly can't believe it takes a constitutional amendment to get this done, and even the sponsors weren't sure."
El Paso Times:
YES. "Even though the hospitals are federally funded, state resources could be used to enhance and improve the facilities. Our veterans deserve this."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
NO. "Prop 8 says it would be OK for the state to contribute money, property or other resources to help build and operate VA hospitals. But the Legislature also passed a law to do the same thing whether Prop 8 is approved or not. Doesn't that make Prop 8 unnecessary?"
Houston Tea Party Patriots:
No Endorsement.
Sen. Kirk Watson's "Watson Wire:"
YES. "Most immediately, this would allow the state to help build a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, as required by a law that took effect earlier this year."
We'll wrap these up in the late afternoon and evening tonight. Endorsements by the Burnt Orange Report staff will follow on Friday.
Many of you are aware that the passage of CA's Propostion 8 on Nov. 4 ignited a firestorm of activism among members of the LGBTQ and straight allies. At this point, there is a lot of momentum toward increasing public visibility of the need for marriage equality and raising public awareness that this is a civil rights issue. To that end, JoinTheImpact.com organized nationwide protests at city halls a few weeks ago; we had 2,000-3,000 people attend here in Austin.
Now, Join The Impact is organizing a canned food drive that will specifically support faith-based food banks in cities nationwide. The goal of this is to demonstrate, in a meaningful, community-building way, that the LGBTQ community and supporters have a positive impact on our city - specifically to some folks who might still be a little skeptical.
I get really excited about initiatives that build bridges among different faith communities and other groups, so I was disappointed to see that no one had signed up to organize the Austin chapter of this effort. So... I signed up! However, we need tons of help.
- First of all, please check out the details on the national website.
- Then, join our Austin facebook page and invite anyone you think might be interested.
*** We especially need business/bars/etc. that can volunteer to put out a box for collection.
- We also need a location to store items collected until the donation day on 12/20, and someone with a truck who can help deliver on that day.
- Most of all at this stage, we need publicity! Blog, twitter, and email this to everyone you know. Once it gets off the ground, I'll be harping on all of you to donate cans - hopefully along with a small army of volunteers. :-)
Yes on Prop 8 donors in Austin are whining that their donations are being aired publicly and people are making note of that. Specifically, they are upset over Warren and Derrick's "blacklist" which highlights the 20 anti-gay Yes on Prop 8 donors in Austin.
This is the type of activism though that's making waves, taking note from the AmericaBlog model of, you know, getting shit done on your own. Already, Warren and Derrick have had the Austin Regional Clinic and Dell issue statements to iterate that the donations of their employees do not reflect their business views.
On top of that, the effort has hit the local press with an article in the Austin American-Statesman and on drive time radio. This is great and I love this quote from the Statesman from one of the Yes on 8 donors about this effort.
For Austin attorney Roger Hepworth, who gave about $10,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign, the backlash first came in the form of what he called a "hateful" e-mail to him and other employees of his firm, Henslee Schwartz.
...
The firm also is on the "anti-gay blacklist" created by Clark.
"I think irresponsible for them to smear an entire law firm that had no knowledge of any donation I made," Hepworth said. "It's unfair to target a company for something a person has done."
There is a difference between targeting an entire company because a mid or low level employee gave a donation and when a senior partner, CEO, or founder makes a donation. Along those lines, I received this comment via e-mail.
Given as the Texas anti-marriage amendment passed only after the preamble guaranteed Texas GLBT citizens could be made "equal" by paying legal fees roe documents to secure contractually what others receive by right, the presence of an attorney on this list is especially troubling. Certainly all Texas GLBT citizens should be aware this firm (Hepworth is a founding partner and formerly a name partner) does not wholly appreciate the rights we need to secure.
(There was over 1,000 people at the rally today which was entirely grassroots driving. Great speakers, diverse, lots of energy and support. Really impressed. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
At 12:30 today there was a huge rally at City Hall in Austin in opposition to Prop 8, which was an amendment to California's constitution that prohibits same-sex marriages. The proposition passed on election day with 52.5% of California voters in support; many attribute its passage to out-of-state financial influence, including at least $14 million from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons).
Protests were held nationwide at 1:30 EST today at city halls in hundreds of cities, including all across Texas. I'm a terrible estimator of crowd sizes, but I can comfortably say there were well over a thousand people decked out with signs and shirts in front of Austin's own City Hall this afternoon. This group was large and diverse: there were many members of the LGBT community and a lot of straight families and other supporters.
Unfortunately, there was very little local media coverage present. I saw KXAN arrive almost an hour after the event started, and heard that there were some folks from the local Fox affiliate there. A guy next to me was calling all the stations but not getting much response. Otherwise, I didn't see much - certainly not the big line of news trucks nearby that I expected (apologizes to anyone overlooked; this is simply an account of what one person observed). However, there were tons and tons of people snapping photos that will likely end up online soon, so perhaps it's a triumph of citizen journalism. Be on the lookout for these - including my own flickr photo stream.
The organizers lined up a great set of speakers for about an hour, including a lesbian couple who were married in California and now face the prospect of their marriage being nullified, a ten year old with lesbian parents, a gay man who was not protected under the law when his longtime partner was killed by a drunk driver, and many others. At one point, we were all led in a vow to fight to overturn Proposition 8 and to be "out and proud". After the conclusion of the program, the crowd was really fired up. Many people left at this point, but many others still at the City Hall Plaza began waving signs at passers-by, most of whom waved and honked in reply. At about 2:00, a spontaneous march began. Several hundred of us walked all the way to the Capitol, then on an improvised route around downtown on 5th and 6th streets, Congress Avenue, and other areas for about an hour. There was absolutely no MSM coverage of this portion of the event. We were shouting "Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right!" and "What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want it? Now!" all over downtown - drawing cheers, waves, and honks from motorists. Throughout the entire event, I did not see a single counter-protester or endure a harassing comment. At most, there was an occasional disgruntled-looking driver.
Austinites should be proud that the local protest at our City Hall drew such a massive response from queers and straights alike who support equal rights for all and have pledged to fight Proposition 8.
(This is Saturday at City Hall in Austin at 12:30. More info here. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
There are events going on nationwide tomorrow in protest of California's passage of Proposition 8, an amendment to the CA state constitution that bans same-sex marriages.
In Austin, there will be a major gathering in front of City Hall at 12:30. The turnout is expected to be large - as of 4:16 pm on Friday, 792 people are already "confirmed guests" on the Houston/Austin facebook page alone! My workplace seems to be abuzz about it. Everyone who supports this issue is encouraged to turn out, bring friends, and make signs in support of marriage equality.
Check out the Texas page here. It includes events listed in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, the Valley, Denton, and Lubbock.
There have been protests going on all over California since the election, but this is the first time that we in Texas have had an opportunity to participate, to my knowledge. How exciting!
