There’s been a lot of shouting about the SCOTUS ruling about Colorado baker Jack Phillips demanding the right to refuse service to gay couples who want a cake for their wedding - which, as you may know, the bakery won.

The case was seen as a litmus test of sorts to settle the broader issue of business owners being able to discriminate against ( Read more... )

Yes, yes, I know.

Some quick comments:

1. It says a lot that the arguments now circulating on social media to support this ban are pretty much the exact same arguments we went through with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and women serving in combat units, with a bit of keyword substitution.

2. One key difference between then and now is that attitudes have ( Read more... )

ITEM: You know that Mississippi law passed in April that basically said you can legally discriminate against LBGTs and even unmarried hetero couples as long as it contravenes yr religious beliefs (provided those religious beliefs are Christian?

A federal judge just ruled it unconstitutional. Twice.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Court Judge ( Read more... )

If you have any kind of social media account, you know that state legislatures in North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi are dithering over The Gayz.

The one in North Carolina is officially law. The one in Georgia was dropped after Gov Nathan Deal decided not to sign it when The Walking Dead team said it would film elsewhere. The one in ( Read more... )

Yr Traditional Marriage lede of the day:


( Read more... )

As you know, the Supremes have been busy making part of America very happy and part of America very very sad and angry.

If you want commentary focusing strictly on the legal reasonings behind the Obamacare and gay marriage decisions, go to SCOTUSblog, though you will find commentary backing both the majority and the dissents - and they’re about as ( Read more... )

So I guess it’s okay to stop hating Indiana now?

A few additional observations from here:

1. In a sense the whole sorry episode illustrates how disconnected political leaders can be from reality. Mike Pence not only had no idea how different the Indiana law is from the federal RFRA he thought it was modeled after, but also seemed genuinely baffled ( Read more... )

There is dithering in (and about) Indiana.

The reaction has been pretty much what you’d expect, though I don’t know if even Mike Pence and his supporters expected Gen Con, the NCAA, Salesforce.com AND the Disciples Of Christ to come together on this.

I have opinions, of course. And I am required by constitutional law to post them online. So:

1. I ( Read more... )

You’ve heard about the passing of Fred Phelps by now - founder of Westboro Baptist Church, professional funeral picketer and coiner of the slogan “God Hates Fags™”.

Inevitably, some people have proposed picketing his funeral for heckling purposes, because irony/just desserts/fuck that guy.

I’d rather they didn’t. If it’s not cool for the WBC to do it ( Read more... )

Emergency unsolicited news analysis from Team Def Political Batshit Curator Lucky Bensonhurst

There is dithering in Kansas.

As you may have heard, the Kansas House of Representatives celebrated Valentine’s Day by passing a bill that essentially makes it legal for businesses to refuse to serve gay customers for moral/religious reasons. Moreover, it ( Read more... )