Tag: SCOTUS

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Hater Of The Day: Mat Staver Calls White House Rainbow Lights “Cloak Of Shame”

After the White House celebrated the historic same-sex marriage ruling from SCOTUS by lighting the White House in rainbow colors, hate group leader Mat Staver had this to say today on Christian radio:

“It’s unprecedented in American history that the president of the United States would be so in-your-face immoral and impose that immorality and sin on the rest of the country. I wept when I saw that and thought about what a horrible example that is to the rest of the world. I just felt shameful to be an American at that point in time, that this is my country and look what my country has come to. The president of the United States has put the cloak of sin over the White House, the cloak of shame over the White House.”

Seriously, folks. A rainbow – a symbol of diversity and unity – made this man weep.

Staver was so upset that more Americans now have equal rights he felt “shameful to be an American.”

Now, is that screwed up or what?

Listen below via Right Wing Watch.

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Vice-President Biden At Freedom To Marry Celebration: Same-Sex Marriage Decision Was “Inevitable”

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made a special appearance at a Freedom to Marry event in New York City last night, applauding those in attendance for their efforts to win the freedom to marry in the U.S., following the historic Supreme Court ruling.

Biden spoke of a moment when he was 17 and he and his father saw two men kissing. “He said ‘Joey, they love each other. It’s simple,’” he said, quoting his father. “That’s what it’s been about from the beginning. It’s never been that complicated for me.”

Biden went on to say he always knew the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality was “inevitable.”

Recounting the journey so far in the fight for LGBT rights, Biden added, “I want you younger people here to understand the shoulders you are standing on.”

Biden also made note that much work remains to be done in the LGBT arena for equality: while same-sex couples are now eligible for federal marriage benefits nationwide, 32 states don’t have anti-discrimination employment laws protecting sexual orientation.

Forward.

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White House Rainbow Lights Were Planned For Months

Politico reports that the fantastic rainbow lights on the White House in celebration of the historic SCOTUS ruling on marriage equality was an idea months in planning.

SPOTTED, at 4 a.m. Sat. at the White House: Jeff Tiller, 32, the White House director of specialty media (includes LGBT outreach) and former press-advance marvel, who had the inspired idea of bathing the North Portico (“The President’s Front Door”) in rainbow lighting.

The crowds were gone, sunrise was coming, and the lighting contractors who had installed the rainbow were long asleep. After spending the night at the White House in a lawn chair, Jeff climbed downstairs to the tradesman entrance to unplug the lights that he had conceived of months earlier.

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Caller To Radio Show: SCOTUS Marriage Decision Made Me Feel That I Matter As A Person Now

From the Michelangelo Signorile Show on Sirius XM Radio:

On Friday, the Supreme Court handed down it’s historic ruling on marriage equality in the US.

Michelangelo Signorile took calls from listeners and Robert in Wisconsin told him how his parents left him money is their will for him to finally get married.

Robert said during the call that the SCOTUS decision “Made me feel that I was valued, and that I matter as a person now.”

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Marriage News Watch – June 29, 2015

From Matt Baume at American Foundation for Equal Rights:

Last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protects marriage for everyone — including same-sex couples. It is a decision we have been waiting decades for.

And now, all our work is, well, actually, not quite done yet. Let’s take a look at what the court just decided, and what comes next.

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Matt Baume Debunks SCOTUS Marriage Equality Dissenting Opinions

Yes, it’s true that four Supreme Court justices dissented from Justice Kennedy’s ruling that granted the freedom to marry nationwide.

But that  doesn’t mean that everything those in the minority wrote makes complete sense.

Matt Baume takes a look at the reasons they gave for objecting to marriage equality — and why their reasoning really does not hold up.

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Read Justice Kennedy’s Closing Line Making Same-Sex Marriage Legal

From the majority opinion making same-sex marriage the law of the land as written by Supreme Court Justice Kennedy:

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death.

It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions.

They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed.

(h/t Towleroad)