Supreme Court ruling of DOMA and Prop. 8 to be decided on 6/26 at 10 AM

This was pretty great, but hopefully most people won't forget that pomegranate the NSA has been doing, and what's going on with Edward Snowden. Cause that's pretty important too lately, and I think with this, people might actually forget about it, since they're so excited right now.

Oh, and pardon me, but I just had to post this.

Expecting DOMA and Prop. 8 to be down pretty soon.

Related:

Prop. 8 is also down for the count!

This has been a wonderful few days in America. So much progress!

[MENTION=1697]FrozNlite[/MENTION], WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

AT WORK YO. There was a crisis in differentiating between leopard and ocelot prints. But I was on social media when the news broke, so no worries, I was posting up a storm.

It's really cool working at Time Inc. at a period like this. InStyle's elevator bay is the same as People's and TIME's, so it was cool hearing people chattering about Wendy Davis and the SCOTUS decisions on the way up to the office. There's also a huge OUT @ Time Inc. group doing a ton of cool things this month, one of which being a giant History of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement mural down the long hallway leading to our cafeteria, so I'm excited to check it out tomorrow and see if anyone's thumbtacked a little "2013: SCOTUS strikes down DOMA" sign or something (which I might even do myself if no one else does).

All else I'll say of the decision itself, in addition to other posts here, is echoing how great it is, especially in "completing" the institution of marriage for same-sex couples in the states and districts in the U.S. that have passed such laws. I'm so happy knowing that when I get married in New York (as I most likely will, but who knows!), I will be viewed and treated 100% equally as my heterosexual peers, not just partially with sole recognition by the state.

Additionally, I'd like to second another poster in saying it's important not to let euphoric deliria cast a cloud over our minds as there are still - and always will be - many fights left to be won. LGBT people in the United States still don't have full equality in every sense of the word, as there are still issues of rampant homelessness, the inability of LGBT people to donate blood, adoption policies and much more that need to be reconsidered and relegislated - not to mention all the other issues this country faces. So yes, we've made a small step forward, but the biggest feat comes in maintaining that momentum.

Trying to explain to all the men he said "Of course I love you, and would love to marry you, but we can't right now."

Ugh if only...

Oh man SF's gonna be crazy with Pride this weekend. Heard the news at work but I didn't believe it at first because the person who told me tends to be a filthy liar. Looked it up during my lunch break and many were had.

What a beautiful day today.

This is good news.

The Supreme Court is a presidential joke. Scalia, Thomas, Alito, and Roberts. All Republican nominees. Who broke the tie? Kennedy? Really. This is the highest court in the land and it's still a slave to bipartisan dogma rather than being an objective pursuit of legal insight. If Supreme Court politics play an analogous role down the hierarchy to judge appointees than it probably runs the same way as it does in New York, judge bids remain primarily a political party play to keep the other party at bay and judges are nothing more than over-glorified lawyers who have been sanctioned to be at the beck and call to kneel at the sound of the horn for their greater master. I'm happy this passed. But the US Supreme Court still remains a bigoted power play for senseless bipartisan politics that is still preventing all three branches from making the objective and progressive reforms needed to improve the country.

[MENTION=6761]AzureKite[/MENTION] There's not much dialogue to be had about Snowden, other than him being an American hero. The worst that he should be charged with is a fine for breaking his non-disclosure agreement that he signed when he agreed to work as a private contractor for the NSA. Other than that, he's on the run and the news is gobbling it up taking a picture of where he's not. Like pictures of an empty airplane seat when he wasn't even boarding the plan. Stephen Colbert on his Monday coverage nailed the media perfectly.

The worst that he should be charged with is a fine for breaking his non-disclosure agreement that he signed when he agreed to work as a private contractor for the NSA.

Not sure I agree, it WAS a pretty huge secret he leaked out; much as I am happy he did it, if the US government doesn't punish him somehow at this point, other countries will lose even more respect, and more importantly, fear, for this country. Fear is just about the only thing holding a lot of places back right now, there are tensions mounting worldwide, and when the big guy that supposedly breaks up all fights is repeatedly made to look weak as has happened over the past month or so, who is going to be afraid? It's not a great way to handle things, but it's the best we currently have. Until all the countries in the world are out of the theocratic stone ages, intimidation will be the only method of dealing with them; logic certainly doesn't work when they are willing to kill themselves just for a shot at hurting someone that doesn't believe what they believe.

So basically, DOMA discourages same sex marriages in the US while Prop 8 bans it completely in California?
Yikes.

DOMA was a bit more complex than that. It helps to remember that the U.S. has two levels of government - State and Federal. DOMA meant that even though the state's said "yes you're married, here are all your rights as a married couple" the federal government in turn said "we don't recognize you as married, you have no rights outside your state". In the case of the woman suing to have DOMA appealed that meant when her wife passed the state acknowledged her as the legal heir, but the internal revenue serve did not, and charged her a massive tax for everything her partner left her ( ~$400k ). Since a hetero couple recognized in their state as married wouldn't have had to pay a dime, she had a very clear case of demonstrable undue burden DOMA was putting on her.

Is it really a victory for an entire country when equality has to be imposed on it by its highest court.

Written that way, no.
But your perspective is skewed - What happened is our highest courts have affirmed that the rules created to explicitly remove rights from citizens and treat them as a secondary class were in fact a violation of the principles upon which our justice system works.

That is most definitely a victory.

Written that way, no.
But your perspective is skewed - What happened is our highest courts have affirmed that the rules created to explicitly remove rights from citizens and treat them as a secondary class were in fact a violation of the principles upon which our justice system works. That is most definitely a victory.

What principles is our justice system based on. When we arrive at the point where economic compensation is suitable to address the violation of another person's freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness I don't believe that we're operating on a system run by 'principles' in the same vein as your post.

oh man, this is pretty cool
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release....seid=16119

official department of defense statement about DOMA

oh man, this is pretty cool
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release....seid=16119

official department of defense statement about DOMA

Yeah my dad emailed that to me earlier, STILL, TEARS

What principles is our justice system based on. When we arrive at the point where economic compensation is suitable to address the violation of another person's freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness I don't believe that we're operating on a system run by 'principles' in the same vein as your post.

And what exactly would you do? Give them nothing? You can't restore things. You can't unmake the past. Affirmative action is what you get by trying to forcibly swing things in the other direction regardless of merit, and we can see how well that works. We work with what we have, not with what we wish we had.

If all you do is complain that it will never be enough what are you doing that's any better? It's easy to complain and tear things down and demonstrate your superior contempt for things, but life doesn't give a damn what you think of it, it is what it is and what's done is done.

As glad as I am this has passed this is a small step to a more equal United States, the United States needs to move towards actually allowing marriage regardless of ones gender differences in all states. But good that prop. 8 is gone now it's all good times in California.

But now they need to figure out how to legalize it in the Bible Belt. All I can say is good luck, because that's hard mode right there. :/

I just had a friend express his hatred for this all over Facebook. After being friends with him (and many other gays/bis), I had THOUGHT he would understand. Nope. Apparently he hates us all.

I just had a friend express his hatred for this all over Facebook. After being friends with him (and many other gays/bis), I had THOUGHT he would understand. Nope. Apparently he hates us all.

He hates that DOMA is no longer a thing or he hates that it took them this long to get rid of it? :f6:

this is a great step towards our equality, but i still have to move out of state to get married

luckily it's not THAT far (DC) though i would like to have my family stay close..


urgh virginiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAA. it's completely banned here and will be void as soon as i come back in the state.

He hates that DOMA is no longer a thing or he hates that it took them this long to get rid of it? :f6:

He hates DOMA is no longer a thing and that Prop 8 is officially dead.

He hates DOMA is no longer a thing and that Prop 8 is officially dead.

Oh come on now.

Now I'm incredibly dumb on political stuff like this, but with DOMA dead, how does getting married with a same-sex partner work now if your state still doesn't allow it? I would imagine you can marry elsewhere, yes, but it'd probably still be an issue to move back.

As glad as I am this has passed this is a small step to a more equal United States, the United States needs to move towards actually allowing marriage regardless of ones gender differences in all states. But good that prop. 8 is gone now it's all good times in California.

But now they need to figure out how to legalize it in the Bible Belt. All I can say is good luck, because that's hard mode right there. :/

Don't hold your breath. Historically, marriage has always been left up to the states to manage. It's not likely that we'll see a federal law or constitutional amendment that says "gay marriage is a go in all fifty states." Key word is likely because it is *possible* that one day there could be a law that legalizes it nationally. But of course, it's not like it would be challenged to hell and beyond anyways.

Oh come on now.

Now I'm incredibly dumb on political stuff like this, but with DOMA dead, how does getting married with a same-sex partner work now if your state still doesn't allow it? I would imagine you can marry elsewhere, yes, but it'd probably still be an issue to move back.

Well that's the thing. From what I understand the important reality is that DOMA isn't actually dead - just the key provision declaring that the federal government didn't recognize same-sex marriages. States, however, can still choose how they recognize marriages, so no, you can't go to, say, Massachusetts or New York to get married, then move back to the South and have the same state-given rights as married heterosexual couples. IIRC you have the federal rights (so yay for easier tax filings), but just not anything at that state level.