defense of marriage act
Gay USA: January 31, 2012
NJ Republican Governor Chris Christie says he made a deal with the gay man, Bruce Harris, who he nominated to the state's high court to recuse himself on the same-sex marriage case! Christie wants to put gay marriage rights to a popular vote-and says that it is too bad Mississippi and Alabama could not have had state referenda on civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s. The Republican presidential contest gets wackier and wackier. This week, Newt Gingrich accused Mitt Romney, who wants to amend the US constitution to enshrine anti-gay bigotry, of being "PRO GAY RIGHTS." NEVER MIND: Cynthia Nixon now says that she did NOT choose her sexuality and that she is bisexual. We'll also review Cynthia in the Broadway revival of "Wit." The US Department of Housing and Urban Development formalizes guidelines banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in housing receiving HUD funds. The US military continues to discriminate against same-sex partners, even in ways that do not have to under the Defense of Marriage Act. Cops in Cleveland are sued for horribly abusing a gay couple. A restaurant owner in Knoxville denies service to a bigoted state legislator. Oh, Canada! If you do not appear to be the gender on your identification card, you can be barred from boarding a plane in Canada. A new book by an 88-year old male former hustler spills the beans on the extent of homosexual activity among Hollywood stars in the Golden Age.
Email this pageDemocracy Now! Friday, August 12, 2011
The Obama administration’s enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act is threatening to tear apart the seven-year marriage of a binational gay couple in San Francisco. Bradford Wells, a U.S. citizen, and Anthony John Makk, an Australian national, have lived together for 19 years and were among the first same-sex couples to legally marry in Massachusetts. Bradford Wells and Anthony John Makk join us from San Francisco. We also speak to Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality. The bipartisan "super committee" tasked with finding a way out of the U.S. debt crisis has been established, but what can we expect? On Thursday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi named the final three members to the 12-person panel, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. They will have until November 3 to recommend a plan to cut $1.5 trillion from the deficit over 10 years. We speak with Robert Borosage, founder and president of the Institute for America’s Future and co-director of its sister organization, the Campaign for America’s Future. Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is expected to announce his entry into the 2012 presidential race. Perry will make the announcement Saturday at a conference in South Carolina organized by Erick Erickson’s RedState.com. The Texas Observer has just published an explosive article titled "Rick Perry’s Army of God." It exposes how a group of radical Christians and self-proclaimed prophets from a little-known movement known as New Apostolic Reformation have been quietly pushing for Perry’s presidential bid. We speak with the Texas Observer’s Forrest Wilder. Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour
Gay USA: July 19-25, 2011
As same-sex marriages get underway in New York this weekend, we'll speak with Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz, two lesbian pioneers, who are marrying after a 36-year engagement. Now residents of Florida, they have returned to their home state to marry legally at the LGBT synagogue on July 26. They are also the subject of a 2002 documentary, "Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House." They were one of the plaintiff couples in the lawsuit from 1988-93 that won the domestic partners of NYC employees health benefits. You can read more about them and buy the DVD of their film at www.RuthieAndConnieTheMovie.com. Same-sex couples will be allowed to get married in New York State starting on Sunday. In New York City, so many couples want to marry that first day that a lottery system has been set up in each borough and it is open to gay and straight couples. To read about how to marry in New York City thereafter, go to: http://www.cityclerk.nyc.gov/html/marriage/lottery.shtml. For Frequently Asked Questions about getting married in New York State, go to www.NYCLU.or/marriageFAQ or to Lambda Legal at http://data.lambdalegal.org/publications/downloads/fs_marriage-equality-.... The US Senate held the first hearing ever in Congress on the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. You can read more about that at www.freedomtomarry.org. Active duty military personnel in San Diego make history by marching as an organized group in the Pride march. The Justice Department tries to reinstate the stay against enforcing DADT, while the Obama administration says it will certify the lifting of the ban imminently. California Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill mandating that schools integrate LGBT issues into curricula. Opponents have filed to put an initiative on the ballot to block it. The US Senate confirms the first out gay man with a life appointment to the federal bench. An Indiana man is rejected as a blood donor because he "appeared gay." The Emmy nominations have been announced and are once again replete with out gay nominees and nominations for actors playing gay roles.
Gay USA: April 19-25, 2011
We will talk with Edie Windsor and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, about their fight to get Edie’s marriage to the late Thea Spyer recognized by the federal government. She has had to pay more than $350,000 in estate taxes that she wouldn’t have had to if her late spouse was a man. Since President Obama and the US Department of Justice will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act because they see it as unconstitutional, Republican House Speaker John Boehner just hired a big high power lawyer to deny rights to the 81-year old lesbian widow. You can learn more about the case at:
http://inr.synapticdigital.com/MarriageAct_37570/
or at the ACLU's website at:
http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/windsor-v-united-states-thea-edie-doma
Edie and Thea, who were together for 40 years before getting married, are the subject of a 2010 documentary, "Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement"
Gay USA: April 12-18, 2011
Joining us this week for the last third of our show is Martina Navratilova, the greatest tennis player of all time and an out lesbian activist for 30 years now. Martina is in New York to receive one of four prestigious Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards for her contributions to sports and human rights. She talks with us about being out in the sports world, the state of LGBT rights in her homeland of the Czech Republic and her home state of Colorado, her survival of several health crises last year, her work promoting health and fitness through AARP, and her hopes for herself and our community in the future. We are honored to have the inspirational Martina Navratilova on our show this week. You can learn more about our guest at www.martinanavratilova.com
Gay USA: Jan. 18-24, 2011
The US Supreme Court rejects challenge to Washington, DC's law opening marriage to same-sex couples. The US Department of Justice files a kinder, gentler, but still wrong and obnoxious appeal of the ruling declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. House Republicans show their true colors, renaming the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and trying to halt the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. New York City's Museum of Modern Art acquires and displays David Wojnarovicz's video that was censored by the Smithsonian while activists Mike and Mike open the Museum of Censored Art in a trailer outside the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington. In 2011, a North Carolina legislator still thinks we should not help "perverts" with AIDS. The Golden Globes honor lesbian and gay themes and performers and we will show you their acceptance speeches. Andy reviews Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman" in Brooklyn and a new play, "Flipzoids," on Filipino and gay themes at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on Theater Row in Manhattan.
Gay USA: Nov. 9-16, 2010
Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal? We still don't know what's going to happen if anything before the new Congress, with a Republican House, is seated in January. Three new federal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act. A five-year old boy dressing up as a girl for Halloween creates a national furor. Out gay Bishop Gene Robinson announces that he will step down as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire in two years. Pope Benedict is greeted in Spain by a gay kiss-in
GRITtv: Charlene Strong: For My Wife
Fourteen years ago this week, Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law. DOMA, as it is known, allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, and laid the foundation for marriage bans across the country. Charlene Strong has been fighting DOMA since the death of her wife, Kate Fleming, in a flood in their Washington State home. Strong faced discrimination at the hospital and the funeral home while dealing with the loss of her partner, and a documentary was made of her struggle. For My Wife is available now on DVD to buy or to rent, and she joins Laura in studio to remind us all what the denial of marriage rights really means to couples.
GRITtv: Sept. 22 2010
"The first step is to stop apologizing," says Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change. "We have ideas; we are often cowed by the ferociousness of the argument from conservatives." Indeed, in the wake of Larry Summers' departure from the Obama administration--and the news that the administration wants to head off criticism that it's been anti-business--as well as the failure of Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal and the DREAM Act in the Senate, it often seems like conservatives are winning. But, Bhargava notes, ordinary Americans are organizing as well, and the One Nation march in Washington will be a start toward holding the administration accountable, and building a real bottom-up movement. Fourteen years ago this week, Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law. DOMA, as it is known, allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, and laid the foundation for marriage bans across the country. Charlene Strong has been fighting DOMA since the death of her wife, Kate Fleming, in a flood in their Washington State home. Strong faced discrimination at the hospital and the funeral home while dealing with the loss of her partner, and a documentary was made of her struggle. For My Wife is available now on DVD to buy or to rent, and she joins Laura in studio to remind us all what the denial of marriage rights really means to couples. Finally, Larry Summers is out, off to make more money off his own policies, presumably. But what's next, and how can we get progressive voices in? Laura has some thoughts.
GRITtv: Promises Unfulfilled: Obama and the LGBT Community
"This month, as we recognize the immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice wherever it exists." That's from the President's declaration on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride month this June. But other than pretty proclamations, what has this administration actually done to deliver on its promises of the campaign trail? Miriam Perez of Feministing.com and Cathy Renna, longtime activist and head of Renna Communications, join Laura in studio to talk about the state of things in the LGBT community: Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, marriage equality, and much more.
