Roy Moore Suspended From Alabama Supreme Court For Anti-Gay Marriage Order
~KARMA~
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore suspended over same-sex marriage order
By Ray Sanchez, CNN
(September 30, 2016)
Alabama’s chief justice Roy Moore was suspended without pay Friday, September 30, for the rest of his term for directing probate judges to enforce the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The state Court of the Judiciary, in a 50-page decision, cited Moore’s “disregard for binding federal law” as a reason for the suspension.
Moore’s administrative order to probate judges was issued in January – seven months after a landmark Supreme Court ruling legalized gay and lesbian nuptials nationwide.
Moore’s term runs through January 2019.
He is 69 and will be ineligible to run for re-election because of his age.
Friday’s ruling also cited Moore’s “history with this court,” saying it was the second time he had been brought before the judiciary court for “actions grossly inconsistent with his duties as Chief Justice.”
Basically it’s an overt trampling of a group of citizens, in this great country, who simply are “different”. Different because others make them so.
The big kahunas, who live in some of the houses of law, elected by their constituents, are writing, reviewing and passing these draconian laws. These laws are stripping away basic rights of members of the LGBT community in their states.
At the time of this writing, these are the states, which I’m aware, have passed these laws, are attempting to and may be back pedaling now”
North Carolina
Mississippi
Tennessee
South Carolina
I’m afraid others will follow suit.
At least, some people have strongly come forward to clearly state that this can’t be allowed.
I’m waiting for the President to weigh in on this.
Not holding my breath, though.
Rachel Maddow explained the current situation in some of the listed states and speaks with Joel Ebert, political reporter for The Tennessean, trying to decipher what is going on.
Tennessee Passes Anti-LGBT Counseling Bill
Mental health professionals would be allowed to reject LGBT patients based on “sincerely held principles.”
Tennessee legislators on Monday, April 11, 2016, passed a bill that could jeopardize access to mental health treatment for LGBT individuals, part of a string of recent anti-LGBT legislation in the South.
The GOP-sponsored bill, which now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam (R), allows therapists and counselors to reject patients they feel would violate “sincerely held principles.”
Gay rights and mental health advocacy groups have protested the bill and urge Haslam to veto it because it could permit mental health professionals to discriminate against LGBT patients without legal liability.
The bill passed by the legislature is a more discriminatory version of legislation approved earlier this year. That measure stated that therapists and counselors could turn away patients based on “sincerely held beliefs.” The state House last week passed a version that expanded grounds for shunning patients to “principles,” which the Senate approved on Monday.
What The Media Need To Know About Tennessee’s New Anti-LGBT Bill
Here’s what the media need to know about this unprecedented law.
On April 11, the Tennessee legislature passed HB 1840. The bill allows private practice therapists and counselors to reject patients if their “goals, outcomes, or behaviors” would violate the “sincerely held principles” of the provider. The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Haslam (R), who has yet to indicate whether he will sign it into law.
~SUMMARY~
This Isn’t A Typical “Religious Freedom” Bill
The Bill Violates The Ethics Of All Major Counseling Professionals
Anti-LGBT Extremists Are Behind The Push For HB 1840
“As it appears in … full read/full information/full credit”
~North Carolina Anti-Gay Law Backlash A Caution For Tennessee~
Rachel Maddow
~Published on Apr 13, 2016~
Joel Ebert, political reporter for The Tennessean, talks with Rachel Maddow about whether the boycotts and economic penalties (including being blocked by a porn site) being suffered by North Carolina over its anti-gay discrimination law helped Tennessee politicians reconsider a pending anti-trans bathroom bill.
I have been waiting for this for most of my life. I didn’t think that I would see this in my lifetime. It seems that there’s significant momentum for make this a reality for many who have been waiting.
19 states before, 24 states yesterday, 30 ….. This ruling of the 9th Circuit has added another 5 states …. Total of 35 out of 50, per Rachel Maddow!! 15 states to go.
19 states before, 24 states yesterday, 30 ….. This ruling of the 9th Circuit has added another 5 states …. Total of 35 out of 50, per Rachel Maddow!! 15 states to go.
The tide is turning!!
9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of the freedom to marry
Today, October 7, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the freedom to marry in Nevada and Idaho. Just one month ago, the Court heard oral arguments for cases involving the freedom to marry in Idaho, Nevada, and Hawaii on September 8.
The ruling also paves the way for the freedom to marry in Montana, Arizona and Alaska, which also fall under the jurisdiction of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is the fourth federal appellate court to rule in favor of the freedom to marry this year, and the second to do so unanimously.
The unanimous opinion, authored by Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Judge Marsha Berzon and Judge Ronald Gould, reads:
We hold that the Idaho and Nevada laws at issue violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they deny lesbians and gays who wish to marry persons of the same sex a right they afford to individuals who wish to marry persons of the opposite sex, and do not satisfy the heightened scrutiny standard we adopted in Smith-Kline.
Freedom to Marry founder and president Evan Wolfson said today:
Today’s decision from the Ninth Circuit brings to 35 the number of freedom to marry states, and 64% of the American people now live in a state where gay people will soon share in the freedom to marry.
We now have more states that have ended the exclusion of gay couples from marriage than had ended bans on interracial marriage when the Supreme Court brought the country to national resolution in Loving v. Virginia.
We hope that the other federal appellate courts will move swiftly to end the disparity and unfair denial that too many loving and committed couples in the 15 remaining states endure.
Watch This Amazing Ode to Marriage Equality, by Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco
It is a decade since the U.S. first state, Massachusetts, enshrined marriage equality in law, and since the founding of campaign group Freedom To Marry (FTM). It has been a fruitful, frustrating decade, a bizarre range of weather systems of advances and losses— but mainly now, finally, advances.
To mark the 10 years, FTM commissioned Richard Blanco, the poet for Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013, to write a poem commemorating the decade. So powerful was the result, titled “Until We Could,” the organization then commissioned a video to bring Blanco’s words to evocative life.
To date, marriage equality is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Forty-four percent of people live in a state where gay and lesbian couples can marry; 59 percent of people support equal marriage.
Until We Could is personal and universal, a series of glimpses of intimacy, qualified with the words “but still, we couldn’t,” referring to not being able to marry. The lines in Until We Could about love are gorgeous: “Two mirrors face to face with no end … Yes, I counted your eyelashes.”
We read and see couples living everyday life: a hand on a back as one partner heads out to do the grocery shopping, another couple goes through boxes of pictures, a female couple holds each other tenderly in bed. The video makes clear the struggle for marriage equality in the context of the wider post-Stonewall gay civil rights movement.
Equality for ALL
The video for Until We Could shows families getting ready for the day: shoelaces being done up, children at the table, cups of coffee, a loved one in hospital and dying, loving glances—everything about the lesbian and gay love on display is the same as the straight, but — as the poem reiterates — “still we couldn’t.”
Until We Could, a gorgeous new video poem written by Richard Blanco, celebrates love and the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. The film is narrated by Golden Globe winning actress Robin Wright and actor Ben Foster.
This I have to post “verbatim” … this is how important this is!! I must confess that I’m not a fan of either Rick Scott or Charlie Crist.
People in Florida voted last Tuesday, August 26, 2014. Charlie Crist won the primary for his party. He will be one of the candidates on the next election. If Mr. Crist can get this done I will have to give him lots of credit.
Crist Urges Scott to Declare That Florida Will Not Challenge Latest Federal Decision on Marriage for All
St. Petersburg, Fla — Charlie Crist, the People’s Governor, sent a letter to Governor Rick Scott today urging him to declare that Florida will not challenge the latest federal ruling on marriage for all issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle. Letter included below.
Dear Governor Scott:
Four years ago, a district court of appeals ruled Florida’s ban on gay and lesbian adoption unconstitutional. When the ruling came down, I believed it was my job as Governor to exercise the authority vested in me by the people and our Constitution. The day the judge ruled, I declared Florida’s adoption ban over. Gay and lesbian parents began adopting the children they loved immediately.
It is one of my proudest moments as an elected official.
Last Thursday Federal District Judge Robert Hinkle gave you the same chance to speak out for what is right when, in a ruling that would apply statewide, he struck down Florida’s ban on same sex marriage. By declaring the marriage ban finished you could discourage any future appeals and end the nightmare that loving same sex couples all across our state endure every single day, ending court battles that could drag on for months or years
Courts throughout Florida are endorsing the principle that government ought not deprive an entire class of citizens the right to marry simply because of whom they love. Florida deserves a governor who will stand up for all of the people of this state.
You have the power to end the suffering of people like Arlene Goldberg. Last March, Arlene lost her wife and partner of 47 years, Carol Goldwasser. At a moment of enormous and understandable grief, Arlene had to suffer the humiliation of not being listed as Carol’s wife on the death certificate. Even worse, she lost her home because she was denied the social security benefits they had earned.
When faced with a very similar decision four years ago I did what I believed was best for Florida and best for the thousands of children waiting to be adopted by loving parents.
Today, I urge you to do what’s best for Floridians and declare the state will not be challenging Judge Hinkle’s Order or any other orders supporting the rights of all Floridians to marry.
It Is What It Is 