The Courts

New York, Georgia, Nebraska, Tennessee... The hits just keep on comin'.

“No doubt it’s been a tough week,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “But each one of these decisions stands on its own. This isn’t some tidal wave against us.” Hmmmm, certainly feels like a tidal wave. But, then, he has to say that...

A snippet from the NYT:
"The Nebraska . . . . amendment, passed by 70 percent of voters, was more far-reaching than most other marriage bans because it denied same-sex couples who were state employees domestic-partner benefits, visitation rights and other benefits. In May 2005, Judge Joseph F. Bataillon of Federal District Court ruled that the amendment went “far beyond merely defining marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Judge Bataillon said it “imposes significant burdens on both the expressive and intimate associational rights” of gay men and lesbians “and creates a significant barrier to the plaintiffs’ right to petition or to participate in the political process.”

And Judge Bataillon added that the evidence suggested that the adoption of the amendment “was motivated, to some extent, by either irrational fear of or animus toward gays and lesbians.”

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit disagreed, ruling unanimously that “laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests and therefore do not violate the Constitution of the United States.”

It's not a reach for me to say I'm really hating this country right now. More on that another time.

Well, on to the work of the day... can't wait to see what's next from the sages of the nation.