When Is Torture Just That?

Good question. Someone should ask a certain judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals who just happened to help in writing the now infamous "Bush Torture Memos".

Day of Justice

Find more photos like this on Orange County Equality Coalition


Today is the day I've been waiting for quite some time. The California Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the lawsuits that will force the judges to decide whether it's OK to treat millions of people, people like me, as "second-class citizens" simply because of who we love. Can this possibly be allowed? I hope not, and I renew my vow today to work my hardest to ensure it's not allowed.

So what's at stake today? Here's an idea.



OK, so that's the human element... But what about the legality? It's not as "cut and dry" simple as the pro-H8 forces want us to believe. Believe it or not, the judges must ultimately decide on their own relevance. Does the court's interpretation of the constitution still matter?

What’s really at stake in the Prop 8 case – and what will probably be the real deciding factor in the California Supreme Court’s decision – is the power and prestige of the California Supreme Court itself.

Prop 8 aims to overturn the California Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in The Marriage Cases (2008), where the Court held that “the substantive right of two adults who share a loving relationship to join together to establish an officially recognized family of their own — and, if the couple chooses, to raise children within that family — constitutes a vitally important attribute of the fundamental interest in liberty and personal autonomy that the California Constitution secures to all persons for the benefit of both the individual and society,” and that “in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”

If this decision of the California Supreme Court, based on what it described as a “fundamental constitutional right,” can be overturned by a simple majority of voters in a ballot proposition, then the purportedly “fundamental” state constitution carries no more weight than a simple statute — and arguably even less weight, since a statute requires either the approval of a majority of the legislature and the signature of the governor or a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

And since appellate judges see themselves first and foremost as guardians of the constitution, if the constitution is diminished, then the judges are correspondingly diminished as well.

And this is what scares me the most about Prop H8 if it were left to stand! It could very well undo all of California's pioneering ventures to advance civil rights simply because any electoral majority can vote away any "protected" minority group's rights. It could very well reduce the value of our state's constitution to nothing more than scrap paper worth trashing. It could very well undermine the importance and the independence of the judiciary system by refusing to let them do the job they're supposed to do in interpreting the constitution!

This is what should scare all of us today, scare us all into action. Do we want the nation's most populous state reduced to ridicule? Do we want to see people's fundamental rights stripped because of certain churches' religious doctrines? Do we really want a "tyranny of the (bare) majority" where a 52% election win can render the entire judiciary meaningless?

This is what keeps me going. I just can't imagine this happening. And frankly, I don't want to.

LGBT families deserve better. All people who've had to endure unjust discrimination deserve better. And ultimately, all Californians deserve better. Hell, all Americans deserve better!

But as I've said before, this matter doesn't end once a decision is announced. If the court allows H8 to stand, we have no other choice but to go back to the ballot to win back our equal rights. But if the court does the right thing and overturns H8, we must be vigilant in defending them from the coming radical right attacks and ultimately stopping the radical right from playing any more political games with our lives.

After all, these people hurt by H8 deserve their day of justice.



Ultimately, we all need our day of justice. Let's hope we see it coming today.

Love in Action

Last Saturday, about 30 of us local civil rights activists in Orange County went out to see "Milk". And afterwards, we were all inspired by the story of "The Mayor of Castro Street" to go out & make a difference outside South Coast Plaza.

And guess what? We kept going on Sunday! In fact, we took our message of love & equality directly to H8 headquarters. And believe it or not, there's not as much H8 here as you'd think.

Come along with me as I tell you about my weekend full of love & equality.

On Saturday, Courage Campaign sponsored "MILK + Love" events all over California to remind the state that the civil rights movement isn't over yet. And yes, I hosted the event in Costa Mesa. I received RSVP email after RSVP email in the 72 hours before the event, but I seriously doubted that 46 people would actually show up.

But lo & behold, we actually had over 50 people come to the candlelight vigil after the movie! And better yet, most passers-by were quite moved by our plea for equal rights. In fact, a family doing some holiday shopping stopped by to apologize for their votes for H8 as the husband & wife were showing the kids all the other loving families at the rally. They seemed to be crying once they met the married couples that the Yes on H8 campaign wants to divorce against their will. I nearly cried after they left.

Well, I guess that was good preparation for what would happen the following day. I woke up early Sunday morning to make the trek down the toll road to Saddleback Church. I wanted to make sure I'd be there in time for the 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM services. But oh my, I didn't know what I'd be jumping into!

Sure, I expected the few people driving into church who shouted expletives at us. However, I didn't expect a church member to walk down from the campus to apologize for the recent Rick Warren related controversies. She tried to tell us that Warren isn't a bigot. Someone from our group wanted to shout her down, but the rest of us speaking with her quieted him down. Then, a lesbian couple who was married this year explained to the church member how they're not treated equally under a domestic partnership even though it's "just like marriage". She had asked about compromising by "calling it something else", but she started to understand as we were telling her our own stories of discovering that there's no such thing as "separate but equal". The church member told us of her gay son & gay cousins, and I told her of my Christian friends. We cried, we hugged, and I gave her my card in hopes that she will continue the conversation we began yesterday.

Believe it or not, not everyone at Saddleback Church hates queer people. Sure, we got the dirty looks and the thumbs down and the expletives. However, we also discovered our fair share of thumbs up and amicable waves among both the passers-by along Portola Parkway and parishioners leaving church. I guess once they realized that queer people aren't so scary, they let go of whatever fear and hatred they once had. I mean, how could they look directly at the married gay couple that joined us later in the day and say that they should be forcibly divorced?

Really, that was the success of our weekend of action here in Orange County. We practiced what Harvey Milk preached. We showed the outside world that LGBT people are people too. We came out, showed our love, and asked our neighbors to join in sharing the love... And the civil rights!

It's so crucial that we remain out of our closet comfort zone in the coming months as the California Supreme Court determines the immediate fate of marriage equality and the voting public decides whether to reconsider their opinions in 2010. We must be out fighting for our rights. We must be out winning hearts and minds. We can't just expect California to fall into place, or for President Obama to magically make everything better. We musf make it happen!

So please, make sure Courage Campaign is ready for 2010. Make sure the ACLU can continue to win our rights in court. And most importantly, go out & put you love into action by telling everyone why equal rights for all matter.

LATE BREAKING: CA SUPREME COURT TAKES PROP H8 LAWSUITS!!

Hooray! California's Supreme Court WILL take the cases challenging Prop 8, the initiative that bans marriage equality in the state. While we didn't get everything we wanted, I think we now have a good shot of overturning this hateful, horrid initiative. Let's take a look at what happened:

1) The court is taking the case on an expedited schedule, meaning that first briefs will be filed next week, oral arguments begin in March, and a final ruling will likely come in May.

2) The court did NOT issue a stay on enforcing 8 while the court hears the case, meaning no marriage equality in California... FOR NOW.

3) The court expressed concern on the matters of whether Prop 8 is an attempted constitutional revision improperly sought after & whether Prop 8 improperly undoes constitutional protections against discrimination by sexual orientation... Meaning that the court is at least paying attention to our concerns & willing to hear what our lawyers have to say.

Overall, this is good news. While we don't know what will happen early next year, we do know the court has concerns about Prop 8 & the judges aren't dismissing this case any time soon. We now must remain vigilant & keep fighting until we win & we have our full rights!

A Ruling on California's Prop 8 Coming Soon?

I was just emailed this news. Unfortunately, I can't find the link. Still, this may help right what went wrong last week.

California Gay Marriage Ban Ruling Expected Shortly
By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: November 11, 2008

Lynn Holton, a spokeswoman for the California Supreme Court, said she expects the court to rule as early as this week on a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate Proposition 8, the recently-passed constitutional amendment that yanks back the right of gays and lesbians to marry in California.

Pro-gay rights groups filed the motion on Wednesday, the day after the election, arguing that Prop 8 is invalid because it alters the constitution's "core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group, lesbian and gay Californians."

To make such a radical change to the constitution would require the
approval of the legislature first, the pro-gay rights groups say.

Now I don't know if we'll actually get a final ruling this week. We may only see a decision on whether or not to issue an injunction to give the court more time to deliberate the immediate future of equal rights in California. Still, this is welcomed news for civil rights advocates everywhere.

The California Supreme Court does have a good record of standing up for LGBT rights. So hopefully, they'll go to bat for us again this time. Prop 8 was snuk onto the ballot to undo the equal rights provisions in the state constitution. But because it was not done properly as a constitutional revision, we may just see the damage undone soon.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Rejects Ohio GOP Attempt to Purge New Voters

This just in from the AP. In a surprising move, the US Supreme Court just sided with the Ohio Secretary of State in overturning a lower court ruling that would have forced local election officials to purge voters off the rolls whose names did not exactly match the information recorded in other state & federal government databases.

So what does this mean? The Ohio Republicans were trying to purge legitimate new voters off the rolls by arguing that voters like "Jane D. Plain of Columbus, OH" shouldn't be allowed to vote if her drivers license shows "Jane Plain of Columbus, OH" and her Social Security records show a "Jane Doe Plain of Columbus, OH". Anyone who was recently married or has a middle name that isn't always included or was simply a victim of some government bureaucrat's sloppy handwriting could have been purged off the rolls. And why? Just so the state GOP can "deliver Ohio to McCain" in the same way that former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell promised to "deliver Ohio to George W. Bush" playing dirty tricks in 2004?

Good on the Supremes. It's good that they're standing up for the voters for once. Maybe they still feel guilty about Florida in 2000? Whatever their thinking, I'm glad they're allowing people's votes to be counted this time.

The Palin Trainwreck Express Continues!

OMG, it's for real! Palinpalooza just gets worser & worser for McBush. This trainwreck just keeps getting more entertaining! :-D

Here's some of tonight's excerpt of Katie Couric's interview with The Failinator.

COURIC: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

PALIN: I do. Yeah, I do.

COURIC: the cornerstone of Roe v Wade

PALIN: I do. And I believe that --individual states can handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in in an issue like that.

COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

PALIN: Well, let's see. There's --of course --in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are--those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know--going through the history of America, there would be others but--

COURIC: Can you think of any?

PALIN: Well, I could think of--of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.

The Supremes

This is probably one of the most important issues of this election. The next President will likely be able to affect our nation's future long after he loves office. How, you might ask?

Easy. It's called THE SUPREME COURT! In the last eight years, the court has decided on everything from women's reproductive rights to climate change to workplace discrimination to human rights to election results. And since the next President may very well appoint 2 or 3 or 4 or even 5 new Supreme Court Justices, it's crucial that we know what kind of judges the next President will appoint.

John McCain says he wants to appoint more "strict constructionist" judges like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, which would mean a hard-right shift in the court that could take away a woman's right to choose, dismantle labor and environmental and anti-discrimination laws, roll back the Bill of Rights, and allow a more "Imperial Presidency" that centralizes power in the Executive Branch. Barack Obama, on the other hand, would like to appoint judges that respect our Constitutional rights as well as balance of power and federal and state regulatory rights. The difference between Obama and McCain couldn't possibly be clearer here.

So what do we want? More erosion of the Bill of Rights? Another President who thinks he's above the Constitution? Another President that appoints judges who put extremist ideology over the principle of equal justice under the law? Or do we want real change?

Don't be fooled by McCain's "maverick" talk. His judicial philosophy is no different from Bush's. That's why Barack Obama is our only choice for real justice and real respect of our Constitution.