Gay Marriage

Feel Good Friday: Ellen Page Speaks, Comes Out

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

In a raw, moving speech to the Human Rights Campaign, actress Ellen Page, star of Juno and Inception, spoke about her sexuality, revealing her homosexuality.

Here are some of the most notable passages from Page’s speech:

I know there are people in this room who go to school every day and get treated like shit for no reason. Or you go home and you feel like you can’t tell your parents the whole truth about yourself. Beyond putting yourself in one box or another, you worry about the future. About college or work or even your physical safety. Trying to create that mental picture of your life—of what on earth is going to happen to you—can crush you a little bit every day. It is toxic and painful and deeply unfair. . . .

[T]his world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another. If we took just 5 minutes to recognize each other’s beauty, instead of attacking each other for our differences. That’s not hard. It’s really an easier and better way to live. And ultimately, it saves lives.

Then again, it’s not easy at all. It can be the hardest thing, because loving other people starts with loving ourselves and accepting ourselves. I know many of you have struggled with this. I draw upon your strength and your support, and have, in ways you will never know.

I’m here today because I am gay. And because… maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.

Maybe I can make a difference to help others have an easier and more hopeful time. … I also do it selfishly because I’m tired of hiding and I’m tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered. My mental health suffered. My relationships suffered. I’m standing here today with all of you on the other side of that pain. . I am young, yes, but what I have learned is that love, the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.

The excepts from the speech are taken from Upworthy.com, where it can be read in its entirety.

Grammy’s, Gay Marriage, “Same Love”

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Grammy’s, Gay Marriage, “Same Love”

During the Grammy Awards last Saturday, hip-hop artist and marriage equality advocate Macklemore performed the hit song “Same Love” with Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert.  During the performance, Queen Latifah  legally presided over the marriages of thirty-three couples, gay and straight alike. The song then resumed with Madonna transitioning to her song “Open Your Heart.”

As someone who cares deeply and has written academically about marriage equality, I found the performance to be quite moving.  It reminded how art can capture dimensions of ongoing public policy debates in ways politicians, lawyers and even advocates often cannot. What struck me is just how apt “Same Love” is in encapsulating the essence of the marriage equality movement.  Despite all of the legal arguments and political propaganda surrounding gay marriage, the debate, at bottom, boils down to a simple proposition:

  1. The reason the state, not only permits but, promotes marriage is to encourage love and loving relationships.
  2. Gay couples and straight couples share the “same love” and can enter into the same types of loving relationship.
  3. Therefore, the state should permit and promote same-sex marriage just as it does opposite sex ones.

Although the performance was a strong message of marriage equality, I question whether it was the best medium by which to purvey it.  Initially, I was inspired by the performance, but my second thought was “And, the entire state of Kansas just changed the channel.” Making matters worse, the entire first verse of the song calls out “right wing conservatives” being naïve, fear mongering and “paraphrasing” the Bible.  However, the marriage equality movement is currently turning its attention to more conservative populations.  In the coming months and years, the movement will be attempting to overturn state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage in more conservative party of the country (than say Los Angeles, where the Grammy’s were held).

If the marriage equality movement is to continue to be successful, it must adapt its message in such a way as to appeal to a potentially skeptical audience.  Once way in which the music community could assist in this re-branding there was a country version of “Same Love.” In past years, songs such as Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” have been successfully remixed by adding a hip hop element for broader consumption.  In this case, the reverse would be appropriate.  “Same Love” could be adapted by a country artist (excluding the first verse) for a more targeted audience.

In sum, while this year’s performance of “Same Love” at the Grammy Awards made an important statement (one that could not have been made just a few years ago); what will matter next year, and the years to come, is whether a pro-gay rights song can gain traction in the Country Music Awards.  For it will be those who listen to country music and live in more conservative areas that will decide the future marriage equality movement.

This post was originally published on the SLACE Archive.  For more public policy related video/audio, be sure to check out the SLACE Archive for daily podcast recommendations.

Grammy’s, Gay Marriage, “Same Love”

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6OVxPiZQDc

During the Grammy Awards last night, hip-hop artist and marriage equality advocate Macklemore performed the hit song “Same Love” with Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert. During the performance, Queen Latifah legally presided over the marriages of thirty-three couples, gay and straight alike. The song then resumed with Madonna transitioning to her song “Open Your Heart.”

As someone who cares deeply and has written academically about marriage equality, I found the performance to be quite moving. It reminded how art can capture dimensions of ongoing public policy debates in ways politicians, lawyers and even advocates often cannot. What struck me is just how apt “Same Love” is in encapsulating the essence of the marriage equality movement. Despite all of the legal arguments and political propaganda surrounding gay marriage, the debate, at bottom, boils down to a simple proposition:

  1. The reason the state, not only permits but, promotes marriage is to encourage love and loving relationships.
  2. Gay couples and straight couples share the “same love” and can enter into the same types of loving relationship.
  3. Therefore, the state should permit and promote same-sex marriage just as it does opposite sex ones.

Although the performance was a strong message of marriage equality, I question whether it was the best medium by which to purvey it. Initially, I was inspired by the performance, but my second thought was “And, the entire state of Kansas just changed the channel.” Making matters worse, the entire first verse of the song calls out “right wing conservatives” being naïve, fear mongering and “paraphrasing” the Bible. However, the marriage equality movement is currently turning its attention to more conservative populations. In the coming months and years, the movement will be attempting to overturn state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage in more conservative party of the country (than say Los Angeles, where the Grammy’s were held).

If the marriage equality movement is to continue to be successful, it must adapt its message in such a way as to appeal to a potentially skeptical audience. Once way in which the music community could assist in this re-branding there was a country version of “Same Love.” In past years, songs such as Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” have been successfully remixed by adding a hip hop element for broader consumption. In this case, the reverse would be appropriate. “Same Love” could be adapted by a country artist (excluding the first verse) for a more targeted audience.

In sum, while this year’s performance of “Same Love” at the Grammy Awards made an important statement (one that could not have been made just a few years ago); what will matter next year, and the years to come, is whether a pro-gay rights song can gain traction in the Country Music Awards. For it will be those who listen to country music and live in more conservative areas that will decide the future marriage equality movement.

This post was originally published on the SLACE Archive. For more public policy related video/audio, be sure to check out the SLACE Archive for daily podcast recommendations.

The Cheneys and Changing Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

The Cheneys and Changing Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage

If you are interested in the same-sex marriage debate as it relates to the actual policy issues underpinning the debate–as opposed to the rhetoric and politics of the debate–I wholeheartedly urge you to listen today’s episode of The Diane Rehm Show.  Not only does the show contain a great panel of guests (see below), it also has some fantastic, passionate callers and emails.

Here is a description of the show:

Polls show that about half of Americans approve of allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry. But among Republicans, that percentage drops sharply. This week a public rift in the family of former Vice President Dick Cheney thrust the issue onto the front page again. One of Cheney’s daughters is married to a woman. The other, Liz Cheney, is running for office on the Republican ticket in Wyoming. On national TV over the over the weekend, Liz Cheney said she believes in the traditional definition of marriage. That puts her in line with most other Republicans –- but not most other Americans. Diane and her guests discuss changing perspectives on same-sex marriage.

Guests

Jonathan Rauch: senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; author of “Denial: My 25 Years Without a Soul” and “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America.”

Michael Dimock: director, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Maggie Gallagher: American Principles Project and co-author of “Debating Same-Sex Marriage.”

Special thanks to Matt McKeon, a regular contributor to the SLACE Blog, for bringing this podcast to my attention.  Matt writes about LGBTQ issues. His blog posts can be found here. 

Following Windsor, Lawsuits Take Aim At Pennsylvania Same-Sex Marriage Ban.

/ Matthew McKeon / Leave a comment

Like many other states, Pennsylvania bars same-sex marriage by statute.  23 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 1102 and 1704 (1996).  Unlike other states, Pennsylvania’s ban is currently being challenged at all levels of government.  This drive is even visible at the local level: Reuters reported that the county clerk of Montgomery County issued more than 170 marriage licenses to same-sex couples between late July and mid-September, when a state court ordered him to stop.  In the state legislature, two representatives in the lower house plan to introduce a bill on October 6 that would override the existing ban and permit same-sex marriages.

While acts of civil disobedience and bold legislative proposals may inspire marriage equality advocates, the Republican governor and the Republican majorities in both houses of the state legislature are unlikely to be so moved.  In the end, the most significant threat to the state ban is a pair of lawsuits filed in two different federal district courts.  Both suits are the direct result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013).  In Windsor, the Court struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which permitted the federal government to withhold federal recognition for same-sex marriages entered into in states and jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.  Although Justice Anthony Kennedy based the Court’s holding in part on the traditional supremacy of states in regulating marriage, other parts of his reasoning paradoxically provided fertile ground for federal challenges to state same-sex marriage bans.        

The first challenge, Whitewood v. Corbett, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania just days after the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Windsor.  In their complaint, the plaintiffs challenge Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage on the grounds that denying same-sex couples the right to marry in Pennsylvania violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause.

Quoting Kennedy, the plaintiff’s complaint alleges that the state ban “‘tells [same-sex] couples and all the world- that their relationships are unworthy’ of recognition.”  The complaint also references the part of Kennedy’s reasoning which addressed a significant group of people affected by  government’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriage: the children of same-sex couples.  The plaintiffs claim that the state ban “‘humiliates the…children now being raised by same-sex couples’ and ‘makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.’” Governor Tom Corbett—himself the primary defendant in Whitewood–has moved to dismiss the case.

The second challenge, Palladino v. Corbett, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in late September.  Although a record of their complaint was not available at the time of this article’s posting, Alfred Lubrano of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the plaintiffs in Palladino are challenging the state ban on the grounds that it violates Full Faith and Credit.  The plaintiffs, two women who were lawfully married in Massachusetts, assert that it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania to not recognize their marriage.  While it remains unclear if the plaintiff’s will reference Kennedy’s reasoning in Windsor, they echoed Kennedy’s consideration for children of same-sex couples at a recent press conference, stating that their young son “doesn’t know he’s a second-class citizen in Pennsylvania, where we’re not considered married.”

On top of the suits themselves, a high-profile schism in Pennsylvania’s executive branch may complicate the state’s defense of the law.  Despite being named as a defendant in both Whitewood and Palladino, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, has publically denounced the state ban as unconstitutional and has stated that she will not defend it in federal court.  Kane’s position puts her at odds with Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican who supports the state ban and – perhaps at the suggestion of Rick Santorum – recently compared same-sex marriage to incest.  With developments in both cases on a weekly basis, Pennsylvania remains at the center of the nation’s debate over same-sex marriage.