Comments on: Vote about taxes and leash laws, not marriage rights

By: Tweets that mention James Finn Garner - Third Coast Confidential – Vote about taxes and leash laws, not marriage rights - True/Slant -- Topsy.com

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:24:31 +0000

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By: Blonde Twinks » James Finn Garner - Third Coast Confidential – Vote about taxes …

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:48:38 +0000

[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.voters repeal marriage-equality law Windy City Times Maine voters [...]

By: Free Pics Twinks » James Finn Garner - Third Coast Confidential – Vote about taxes …

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:36:44 +0000

[...] post is from here. Visit the link to read more.voters repeal marriage-equality law Windy City Times Maine voters [...]

By: James Finn Garner

James Finn Garner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:11:52 +0000

But it might take these state issues and efforts to educate people and force them to confront the justice of the cause. The defeat in Maine was by a narrow margin; 10 years ago, it might have been much greater.

It is maddeningly bizarre, though, to contemplate a country where a marriage is recognized in some states and not others.

By: Brian In NYC

Brian In NYC — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:30:15 +0000

Ultimately this is a federal issue, not a states issue. I’ve continually had reservations about so much effort and recourse being directed at the state level when ultimately this is a 14th Amendment issue. I don’t think it was the intent of the Founding Fathers that every group was going to have to beg at the polls for their basic civil rights.

By: Fran Johns

Fran Johns — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:27:15 +0000

Go for it, James. I’m getting your book, too. Having grown up in the segregated south, where a lot of us, black and white and otherwise, were long weary with the wait for decency to prevail over what seemed “the will of the people,” and now living in California where every other issue winds up wildly distorted into Proposition Z and awaiting a referendum, I firmly believe justice cannot rely on popular vote. I also fail to see how my current and final marriage is threatened by legalizing the far longer commitments of my many gay friends.

By: James Finn Garner

James Finn Garner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:09:03 +0000

It will take a lot of hoping for that, too, but it will be interesting to see how the court conservatives would vote on it. Which will have more weight, their socially conservative views, or their professed devotion to the framers’ “Original Intent”?

By: James Finn Garner

James Finn Garner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:05:01 +0000

Thanks, Darren. Having this type of question decided by majority rule is flatly an injustice. And the lack of empathy, of putting yourself in another’s shoes, is distressing if typical.

But as Dr. King said, The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.

By: Brian In NYC

Brian In NYC — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:59:56 +0000

The entire idea of people being allowed to vote on the rights of others is just disgusting. Lets hope that when the time comes the Supreme Court displays greater wisdom than the people of Maine did yesterday.

By: virtualburn

virtualburn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:50:19 +0000

Great piece James. I just noticed that you are the Author of ‘Politically Correct Bedtime Stories’ how fantastic is that, I used to have that book. I must try to get it again.

Maybe if peoples basic rights were at stake or somebody was crapping on their Bran Flakes they would take note and bend over. The world view is changing albeit slowly and sometimes in the wrong direction.

We live in hope.