Author: Randy Slovacek

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Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry

A new campaign plans to tap into and build upon the growing support for marriage equality expressed by young conservatives in the United States.

Freedom To Marry, the national advocacy group, launched the initiative, Young Conservatives for the Freedom To Marry, on Tuesday. The campaign intends to show the bipartisan nature of marriage equality by providing a platform for conservatives, Republicans and Libertarians under the age of 44 who believe the issue “fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community, as well as limited government and individual freedom,” according to a news release.

Recent polls show that support for marriage equality has grown across every demographic, including conservative voters, and in particular among young people. A poll from ABC News/Washington Post in May found that while 61% of Republicans thought that same-sex marriage should be illegal, 46% of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 44 supported marriage equality.

“Freedom and family are core conservative values,” said conservative commentator Margaret Hoover, a leadership committee member, in the group’s news release. “We have a historic opportunity to reaffirm these important values by supporting the fundamental freedom to marry for all Americans.  Now is the time for a rising generation of voters and leaders to embrace these virtues and join Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.”

Read more at the Advocate

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Family finds rare baseball card collection valued at $3 million

As the Toledo Blade reports, when Karl Kissner and his cousins were clearing out his grandfather’s home in Defiance, Ohio, on Feb. 29 they came across a box of very rare and very valuable baseball cards.

According to the Blade, “experts say the trove of about 700 nearly mint cards just might represent the greatest and rarest discovery in the sports card industry’s history. The best of the collection is expected to fetch more than $500,000 at the National Sports Collectors Convention next month in Baltimore while the entire stock could bring in $3 million.”

Via NPR

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The very handsome Thomas Roberts and fiance Patrick

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Thomas Roberts on WhoSay

Love Thomas Roberts on MSNBC. This is a public pic he posted from his engagement party.

And how about the fiance, Patrick Abner? Great looking couple here.

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Washington: Marriage equality folks seeing solid donations

Good news from the good guys – Washington United for Marriage – fighting for marriage equality in Washington state.

They shared some great financial news via press release:

Washington United for Marriage (WUM), the broad coalition working to defend the bipartisan marriage law and Approve Referendum 74, today announced that the campaign raised $952,267 in June, driven in large part by new in-state donors and representing the highest monthly intake for the campaign, bringing total contributions to over $2 million. At the same time, WUM now has more than 1,000 volunteers actively working to Approve Referendum 74, with 20 phone banks operational each week resulting in hundreds of conversations with voters every night.

Here’s a breakdown of the numbers:

– Total online contributions were $219,000, with an average donation of just under $70.
– 79% of overall June donors contributed $100 or less.
– June brought in 3245 new donors, bringing the total donor pool to just over 7300.
– There were 482 out-of-state donations, totaling $105,587, with the average gift just above $219.
– House parties across the state brought in $31,552 from friends, neighbors and family members, who gave an average gift of $35.
– Two significant major donor gifts of $100,000 apiece from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

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Phoenix mayor praises domestic partner benefits

Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton issued a statement Monday praising domestic partner benefits in the state’s capital city in response to Gov. Jan Brewer’s appeal to the Supreme Court to strip those benefits from same-sex couples.

Stanton issued the following statement in a press release:

“At the City of Phoenix, we recognize diversity as a strength, and we embrace it. Here it doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight; as long as you get the job done, you’ll get the same benefits. By offering competitive benefits, we are able to attract and retain the most talented people. Offering domestic partner benefits is not just the right thing to do; it is smart management practice.”

Gov. Brewer appealed to the Supreme Court last week asking the court to overturn a ruling that provided domestic partner benefits to same-sex spouses of state employees. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued their decision last September that under equal protections provisions, Arizona must continue to provide benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian state employees.

Via the Advocate

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Pat Robertson agrees that society can evolve on social issues

“We have moved in our conception of the value of human beings over the years…”

Hmm… so society evolves, is that what Pat is saying?

I’ve been saying for years, on the subject of marriage equality, that “society evolves” whenever anti-gay folks say “marriage has always been between a man and a woman.”

Certainly society recognized the wrongness of slavery (albeit far too late), just as it is now realizing the wrongness of marriage inequality.

Glad to know he agrees with me now.