New Jersey LGBT Law

Astra Taylor defends homeschooling against Dana Goldstein's attacks. Taylor thinks unschooling is an arena where the left can regain ground long ago ceded to the right: 

Conservatives will continue to appear brave enough to think big, posing bold solutions to society’s problems (charter schools, eliminating teacher tenure, instituting merit pay), while progressives defend the status quo. What intrigues me about the history of radical pedagogy and the unschooling tradition is that its proponents were and are not afraid to challenge the conventional wisdom, to dream of different ways of doing things, to take seriously words like “freedom,” “autonomy,” and “choice”—inspiring and important ideals that have been all but ceded to the political right in recent decades.

Friedersdorf makes related points. Goldstein responds to critics: 

[M]y Slate piece was not about the benefits or drawbacks of homeschooling for particular families or children. Rather, my piece was about the educational needs of society at-large. To clarify my own position, I do not think homeschooling should be illegal, and I acknowledge it may be the best option for a relatively small population of disabled and special-needs kids. My own belief is that when it comes to the typical child, however, homeschooling does not comport with crucial social justice values related to investing in the common good, and so I’d urge parents concerned with social justice—both broadly and in terms of their own children’s development—to think twice about making this choice.

I wonder when these far right wingnuts are going to get the idea that there are certain rights that all people are entitled to? As court case after court case gets decided in favor of marriage equality, do you think they'll ever realize that the law is plainly unconstitutional?

How about if a George W Bush appointed judge finds in our favor? What if the judge rules that we're a protected minority group and laws against us should be held to heightened scrutiny?

Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution's equal protection clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, "was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco." White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. The decision represents a serious setback for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), whose Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) defended DOMA after the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the law.

With so many steps marching forward toward full marriage equality and federal courts finding laws preventing it unconstitutional, how much longer do you think it will be before gay and lesbian couples can get married nationwide? If you'd asked me just five years ago, I'd have given you a completely different answer than I would today.

Tucker Carlson thinks "Iran deserves to be annihilated." His only worry is that oil prices will go up:

Goldblog cringes:

This is the sort of rhetoric that leads to war. I have no doubt this clip will be played over and over again in Tehran by a regime eager to prove that America wants to -- to borrow a phrase -- wipe Iran off the map. It should go without saying that Iran does not "deserve" to be annihilated. 

A major ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White, a Bush appointee, who has ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional for violating the Constitution's guarantee of equality.

Our legal expert Ari Ezra Waldman will have analysis coming up this evening. Check back with us...

Politico's Josh Gerstein:

U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White, who sits in San Francisco and was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, issued the ruling Wednesday afternoon in a case involving federal judicial law clerk Karen Golinski's request for benefits for her female spouse. White said the stated goals of DOMA, passed in 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton, could not pass muster under a so-called "heightened scrutiny" test or even a lower "rational basis" threshhold.

"The imposition of subjective moral beliefs of a majority upon a minority cannot provide a justification for the legislation. The obligation of the Court is 'to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code,'" White wrote. "Tradition alone, however, cannot form an adequate justification for a law....The 'ancient lineage” of a classification does not render it legitimate....Instead, the government must have an interest separate and apart from the fact of tradition itself."

Check out the ruling here.

Reuters' Dan Levine adds:

White, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican, issued a permanent injunction preventing the government from further interfering with Golinski's ability to enroll her wife in the insurance program.

Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly pulls out some key pieces:

The Court has found that DOMA unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex married couples. Even though animus is clearly present in its legislative history, the Court, having examined that history, the arguments made in its support, and the effects of the law, is persuaded that something short of animus may have motivated DOMA’s passage:

Prejudice, we are beginning to understand, rises not from malice or hostile animus alone. It may result as well from insensitivity caused by simple want of careful, rational reflection or from some instinctive mechanism to guard against people who appear to be different in some respects from ourselves.

Board of Trustees of University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 374-75 (2001) (Kennedy, J., concurring).

Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Tara Borelli tweets: "This ruling spells doom for #DOMA."

Adds Borelli, in a press release:

"The Court recognized the clear fact that a law that denies one class of individuals the rights and benefits available to all others because of their sexual orientation violates the constitutional guarantee of equality embodied in the Fifth Amendment. The Court agreed with us that sexual orientation discrimination by the government should receive heightened scrutiny under the constitution.  It then concluded that DOMA could not meet that standard, and that there was not even a rational justification to deny Karen Golinski the same spousal health care benefits that her heterosexual co-workers receive."

And here's some extra background on the case from Lambda Legal:

Judge White's ruling is the latest victory in a battle that began in 2008, when Golinski, a 20-year employee of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sought to enroll her wife, Amy Cunninghis, in the employee health plan.  It is the first DOMA-related ruling since U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had determined DOMA was unconstitutional and would no longer defend it, and the majority leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives hired outside counsel to defend the discriminatory statute.  A similar ruling holding DOMA unconstitutional in a separate case is on appeal in the 1st Circuit.

Golinski's struggle to enroll her spouse in the family health plan, a benefit routinely granted to her married heterosexual co-workers, travelled a torturous path, including two separate orders by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski directing that Golinski be allowed to enroll Cunninghis in the health plan, orders ignored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), citing DOMA.  In April 2011, Lambda Legal and Morrison & Foerster filed an amended complaint directly challenging the constitutionality of DOMA.  Judge White heard arguments on this amended complaint on December 16.

Said Golinski: "I am profoundly grateful for the thought and consideration that Judge White gave to my case. His decision acknowledges that DOMA violates the Constitution and that my marriage to Amy is equal to those marriages of my heterosexual colleagues.  This decision is a huge step toward equality."

Our legal expert Ari Ezra Waldman will have analysis coming up this evening. Check back with us...

Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) tore into Rick Santorum, calling him "rigid and...homophobic" on Face to Face with Bob Schieffer, adding that he was alarmed at how Republicans are grabbing on to social issues:

"I am convinced that if you get into these social issues and just stay in there about abortion and homosexuality and even mental health they bring up, somehow they're going to take us all to Alaska and float us out in the Bering Sea or something."

Said Simpson of Santorum:

"He said, 'I want a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage,' and they said, 'Well, what about the people who are already married?' And he said, 'Well, they would be nullified.' I mean what is, what's human, what's kind about that? We're all human beings, we all know or love somebody who's gay or lesbian so what the hell is that about? To me it's startling and borders on disgust."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Simpson made similar remarks last April, in an interview with Chris Matthews:

"We have homophobes on our party. That’s disgusting to me. We’re all human beings. We’re all God’s children. Now if they’re going to get off on that stuff—Santorum has said some cruel things—cruel, cruel things—about homosexuals. Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul."

Among other reasons:

Previously marginalized groups that once felt they had no other outlet now have more voices in the political process. White flight ceded whole cities – and their governments – to African Americans in the U.S. And this left neighborhood boundaries less contentious, Katz argues, eliminating one of the causes of urban friction. In the 1960s, by contrast, large numbers of African Americans were moving into the city at a time when whites had not yet left.

Conan O'Brien realizes that Indiana GOP Rep. Bob Morris was right, and the Girl Scouts really do have a pro-gay, pro-abortion, feminist agenda.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Benjamin Dueholm ponders Ash Wednesday:

Not that long ago, contemplating mortality and feeling contrition for grave failings were considered noble pursuits. They were the themes of great literature and popular music alike. In our culture we have come, more often, to view these same experiences as neuroses. Grief is edging closer to being defined as a species of depression. Anxiety over the inevitability of death has become something to be resolved through a process ending in "acceptance," as though being sundered from everyone and everything one loves is the sort of thing one can become good at. 

(Photo: A young woman prays during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle February 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. By Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This has been stuck in my head all day! And now it's your turn.

Razib Kahn warns against them:

[B]ad metaphors can do a great disservice to the public understanding of science. The idea of the "evolutionary ladder" perpetuates the myth that evolution is about a steady linear march towards complexity. The militaristic metaphor of the "war on cancer" threatens to undervalue achievements in treatment that fall short of a total cure. The idea of the brain as a computer creates all sorts of misconceptions about how different parts of the brain work, how memories are stored and whether we will ever be able to download or upload our minds. In a field where complex ideas must be conveyed simply but accurately, it couldn’t be more important for science writers to pick the right metaphors.

A reader writes:

Here's a joyful video of a rollercoaster with no tracks swooping through Buenos Aires. Obviously not real, but smile-inducing all the same.

Update from another reader:

Anybody else find it bit incongruous watching a roller-coaster swooping through Buenos Aires amidst headlines of a horrendous, deadly train derailment in that city today?

We had no idea. We subsequently replaced the MHB, out of respect for the victims, but you can watch the original here if you wish.

I'm on Michael Medved's radio talk show for the next hour. You can listen here.

Noah Kristula-Green dissects Heritage VP Michael Franc's recent claim that the organization likes "having a coherent world view":

Heritage wants to unify the social conservatives, foreign policy hawks, and free marketers. In politics, there are inevitably issues that divide that coalition (Franc cited immigration as an example). When a tough policy issue comes up, how does Heritage deal with the arguments that may arise? Simple, don't have the arguments (publicly) at all! Work out what the unified position is and stick to it. Whatever you do, don't allow people who may have different points of view to publish papers that disagree with each other, think about how that would make the marketing department's job harder!

And if one of your employees wants to think out loud, fire him!

The Williams Institute's Executive Director Brad Sears and Distinguished Scholar Gary Gates (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

The issue of marriage rights for same sex couples has dominated our national conversation since Karl Rove used antigay initiatives to drive evangelicals to the ballot box for George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. The Prop 8 wars and the recent victories and ballot referendums in a number of states since then have lead many to believe that marriage equality is the top priority for LGBT people.

The reality is that the top priority for many LGBT Americans is finding and securing a job, especially one with discrimination protections based on gender identity, as well as sexual orientation. The question about the status of the languishing Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) surfaced in early January when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) won a $155,000 settlement against DynCorp International LLC, a military contractor and aircraft maintenance company, based in a sex-based workplace discrimination case. After considerable pressure lead by Tico Almeida, a civil rights attorney and founder of Freedom to Work who started the petition signed by 50,000 people on Change.org, DynCorp added sexual orientation and gender identity to its workplace non-discrimination policies.

"It's terrific that DynCorp has moved to protect its LGBT employees, but let's also remember that dozens of other government contractors do not protect their workers from anti-LGBT harassment and discrimination," Almeida said in a press release. "An executive order outlawing discrimination at federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is sitting at the White House. President Obama should take this opportunity, in the wake of DynCorp's decision, to make sure that no government contractor uses taxpayer money to fund anti-LGBT harassment or discrimination."

The news that an ENDA-like bill was "sitting at the White House" prompted a new petition to Obama – and a number of stories: I criticized Obama for not including the need for ENDA in his State of the Union address; Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly wrote “From Partner Benefits to Affirmative Action, Proposed Contractor Executive Order Specifics Discussed;” and The Williams Institute's M.V. Lee Badgett wrote an op-ed for the New York Times: "What Obama Should Do About Workplace Discrimination."

Wednesday night, Feb. 22, from 6:15-8:00pm The Williams Institute and the City of West Hollywood are presenting an important panel discussion on the topic: "What Happened to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)” in the Community Room at the New West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. (Free validated parking at the parking structure on El Tovar Place off Robertson Boulevard in between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd).

Continue reading "What Happened to ENDA?"...

Bill to reinstate 'DADT' in Oklahoma National Guard is shelved.

Kellogg's creates 'Totes Amazeballs' cereal for Twitter user.

Adam Levine joins the contraception debate, endorses the withdrawal method.

Action on "Don't Say Gay" bill delayed for amendment: "The House Education Committee put off discussion of a measure meant to curb discussions about homosexuality in elementary and middle school for a week so new language can be added specifically protecting some talks between students and their teachers, school nurses and guidance counselors."

Chace Crawford plays shirtless football, poses for paparazzi in Cabo San Lucas.

Mark Ronson talks about his work on the new Rufus Wainwright album. "It has a sort of really warm, mid '70s T Rex, Young Americans, Lauren Canyon kind of vibe to it."

Serbia to open first shelter for gays: "Dusica Davidovic, an official in the southern city of Nis, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of Belgrade, says the city needs a "safe house" where gays from the area could seek protection. A 19-year-old Serbian man was kicked out of his home last year after he publicly said he was gay. Stefan Radovic says his family has cut all ties with him and he has nowhere to live."

Nicki Minaj goes Smurf blue.

10 members of Congress pose for the NOH8 Campaign.

Amazing Race advance producer Jeff Rice poisoned in Uganda after attempted shakedown. "Details are sketchy, but the source said that after refusing to give in to the demands of local thugs, Rice and another facilitator ended up very sick with poisoning of some kind."

LOGO announces 2012 slate of shows, veers away from gay-specific programming: “These new projects are anchored by stories that go deep into today’s world: Wanting to start a family is a universal desire, no matter who you love. Families in business together during a recession could be the ultimate drama. Pets are now surrogate children for a lot of people—who go to great length to celebrate them.” Check out the new offerings here.

VIDEO: Justin Theroux breakdances for Ellen DeGeneres.

S.C.U.M. Manifesto: Andy Warhol shooter annotated her own book in the NY Public Library.

Andy Warhol died 25 years ago today.

Scientists discover steamy "water world" planet.

UK serial killer of gay men dies in prison: "He made a New Year’s Resolution on January 1, 1993 to become a serial killer and over the next six months killed five men he met at the Colherne pub in Earls Court. It was reported at the time he went back to his victim’s homes, got them to agree to be tied up, tortured and suffocated them."

Opening statements could begin today in Tyler Clementi roommate case: "Jury selection in 19-year-old Dharun Ravi's trial began Tuesday in New Brunswick, N.J., where Ravi faces charges of bias intimidation, in addition to invasion of privacy. Because the two bias intimidation charges are considered hate crimes, each carries a potential prison term of 10 years.  "

Ryan McGee wonders if the channel commonly credited with ushering in TV's "Golden Age" has actually damaged the medium:

HBO has shifted its model to produce televised novels, in which chapters unfold as part and parcel of a larger whole rather than serving the individual piece itself.  Here’s the problem: A television show is not a novel. That’s not to put one above the other. It’s simply meant to illuminate that each piece of art has to accomplish different things. HBO’s apparent lack of awareness of this difference has filtered into its product, and also filtered into the product of nearly every other network as well. 

James Poniewozik counters:

It’s true that a TV series is not a novel. But it’s also not a movie. Every medium works best when it takes advantage of what’s distinctive about it. TV is linear and cumulative, allowing a story to unfold over weeks, months or years. There were good business reasons to structure TV stories that began and ended within one episode, and many of them are still best told that way, but the ability to spread a story out is part of what makes TV TV.

Jason Mittell and Kathryn VanArendonk pile on McGee.

Tanya Ditty, a Georgia schoolteacher and the state director of Georgia's branch of the extremist wingnut group Concerned Women for America, testified against a bill that would ban discrimination against the state’s LGBT employees before a House panel on Tuesday, Project Q Atlanta reports.

Ditty warned that approving the bill would allow gay people, who according to Ditty are pedophiles and necrophiliacs (she has a whole list), to get jobs as teachers or janitors and prey on students. She also tells a personal story about her 'shocking' encounter with a transgender person in the restroom.

Whether her hateful testimony was influential or not, the panel effectively killed the bill by tabling it  in a 3-2 vote.

Watch Ditty's disgusting rant, AFTER THE JUMP...

In response to violence sparked by the burning of Korans by the US military, Asra Q. Nomani begs fellow Muslims to chill out:

I believe that we, as Muslims, have to change our relationship with the "sacred text" and make it something that we study, think about and critically examine—not "honor" with such blind reverence that we lose our sense of common sense and rationality.

I learned this when I visited the pioneering Muslim feminist scholar Fatima Mernissi in Rabat, Morocco, some years ago. The pages on her Quran were dog-eared, and she read it without covering her hair or doing wudu, the traditions I was taught I had to do whenever I opened the Quran. "To me, the Quran is a research book," Mernissi said, respectfully. Her easy access to the Quran challenged my other-worldly relationship with the Quran, and, in a very magical way, she liberated me from relating to the book as if it was beyond my capacity for research and ijtihad, or critical thinking.

Chait compares the US recession to other financial crises:

I think that comparison has flaws of its own. But surely it tells us something — it tells us that Obama’s boast that we avoided total disaster is not meaningless. The steps the administration and the Federal Reserve undertook in face of the recession — quantitative easing, some degree of fiscal stimulus, banking bailouts, reorganizing the auto industry rather than letting it collapse in the face of frozen credit markets — prevented the kinds of total disaster that are the norm in the face of this kind of crisis.

To run against Obama, Frum advises the GOP to come up with a, you know, plan for America's future.

(Chart from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis)

Pinal County Sheriff and congressional candidate Paul Babeu, who yesterday asked for an investigation into claims by his ex-boyfriend Jose Orozco that he threatened him over exposing their relationship, has received support from gay former Arizona GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe.

Said Kolbe to Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade:

“I endorse Paul Babeu based on his distinguished record of service to his country both in the military and as a law enforcement officer,” Kolbe said. “I think he has a solid understanding of the short and long-term economic problems that face this country and is willing to make the necessary, tough decisions to tackle them.”

Kolbe, who came out in 1996 after being hit with criticism for voting in favor of DOMA, said he knew Babeu was gay prior to last weekend when Babeu announced it in response to the allegations.

Added Kolbe: “I knew he was gay. That is the only thing that I can say that I knew. We had several little discussions about that in my conversations with him. That’s all I would say about that.”