In separate, strongly worded orders, two judges of the federal appeals court in California said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the program that insures millions of federal workers.Ah, the Defense of Marriage Act. Bill Clinton's big, shiny valentine to the gay community. Because of it, the federal government has said that its gay and lesbian employees are not entitled to the same basic benefits as straight employees.
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Judge Reinhardt confronted the question differently, and concluded that the Defense of Marriage Act, as applied to Mr. Levenson’s request, was unconstitutional because it violated the Fifth Amendment guarantee of “due process of law.”“A bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot provide a rational basis for governmental discrimination,” Judge Reinhardt wrote.
As the article mentions, Obama has pledged to further the cause of gay rights. The man he chose to run the Office of Personnel Management is gay, so we can be hopeful about this. The rub?
If [Obama] supports the judges and challenges the marriage act, he risks alienating Republicans with whom he is seeking to work on economic, health care and numerous other matters.Which Republicans? These Republicans? You're worried that you will otherwise alienate the religious conservatives, who have otherwise been so very helpful lately?
Mr. President, these people are not your friends. The man to whom they kowtow has publicly called for your failure. They do not like you, and do not want you to succeed. Kissing their collective backsides by keeping a group of people who do overwhelmingly support you in the second class is patently ridiculous.
Fix. This.
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Mr. Obama has pledged to further the cause of gay rights? Hope that works out better than Mr. Obama's campaign pledge to reduce earmarks. Hope that works out better than Mr. Obama's campaign claims that he had studied the Constitution and so he knew signing statements were an abuse of executive power. Two days after instructing the government to ignore President’s Bush’s signing statements, Obama has issued one of his own.
ReplyDeleteI could go on and on and on. I do wish you luck when Mr. Obama has to choose between pleasing a sizable Dem constituency which appear to be solidly against gay rights and keeping his commitment to advance gay rights.