Long before Election Day, in addition to our work with “Republicans Against 8,” Log Cabin members were on the frontlines of the battle to keep discrimination out of the California State Constitution.  You’ve heard of the “revision vs. amendment” argument being put forth by the opponents of Prop 8 in the current court case?  It was first published by long-time activist and Log Cabin member Kevin Norte in the Metropolitan News last May!  Log Cabin is still fighting.  This week we submitted an amicus brief supporting the challenge to Proposition 8 and its ban on marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.  “Proposition 8 is an unprecedented attempt to use the initiative amendment process to eviscerate constitutional rights only for a targeted minority,” said Terry Hamilton, a California resident who serves as Log Cabin’s National Board Chairman.  “The California Constitution provides equal protection to all Californians to prevent the majority stripping fundamental rights from one group of citizens.”

Click here to read Log Cabin’s press release, and hear to read our brief.

-posted by Casey Pick

Posted: January 25th, 2009 under Log Cabin In Focus.
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Log Cabin has been saying for years that the federal government should not be in the business of making marriage policy.  Whether done through a federal constitutional amendment or the Defense of Marriage Act signed by President Clinton, such laws aren’t just discriminatory – they’re anti-American.  Now, former Republican Congressman and 2008 Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr, the author of DOMA, realizes this too.  From today’s Los Angeles Times:

In effect, DOMA’s language reflects one-way federalism: It protects only those states that don’t want to accept a same-sex marriage granted by another state. Moreover, the heterosexual definition of marriage for purposes of federal laws — including, immigration, Social Security survivor rights and veteran’s benefits — has become a de facto club used to limit, if not thwart, the ability of a state to choose to recognize same-sex unions.

Even more so now than in 1996, I believe we need to reduce federal power over the lives of the citizenry and over the prerogatives of the states. It truly is time to get the federal government out of the marriage business.

Thanks, Mr. Barr.  Better late than never.  Here’s hoping more Republicans come to this conclusion soon, and we see DOMA repealed.

-posted by Casey Pick

Posted: January 5th, 2009 under From the Right, GOP Progress, In the News.
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