Open thread and SCOTUS news
SCOTUS reschedules private conference for LGBT employment discrimination cases.
Continue 66 Comments November 27, 2018
Filed under: Uncategorized
Masterpiece Cakeshop oral argument audio is here
Audio of the argument is online.
Continue 35 Comments December 8, 2017
Sorry about the delay in service… [Update: A Note from Scottie]
Hold on through the weekend–we hope to have this resolved really soon!
Continue 35 Comments August 20, 2015
Marriage News Watch is Wrapping Up
By Matt Baume
With just a few exceptions, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry from coast to coast. We now face a backlash against equality that could close off LGBT access to housing, employment, or government services. But marriage is safe.
Only a few isolated locations in the country remain where same-sex couples can’t get married. Those opposed to equality are getting increasingly desperate, with stall tactics and long-shot legal games. We’re also likely to see renewed attacks on other civil rights, so there’s still going to be a lot of work to do in order to protect equality. But the story of marriage is changing from something we’re fighting to achieve to something we’re actually living. That’s why as of this week I’m wrapping up Marriage News Watch.
An organization like AFER exists so that someday we won’t have to fight for equality. It started in the aftermath of Prop 8, and since then a lot has happened: AFER gathered together a bipartisan coalition to challenge marriage bans nationwide. We won in district court, in appellate court, and when the Supreme Court ruled in 2013, marriage was restored across California. That win was proof that we’d found a winning argument: that the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and equal protection extends to all couples, no matter their gender.
Since then, that exact same reasoning has been upheld in dozens of rulings, in courts all across the country. In just the last few years, we’ve restored marriage in California, public support has climbed by about two percentage points per year, and the freedom to marry has spread from state to state until it now covers the whole country.
From lawyers to activists to couples to politicians to regular folks, it’s impossible to identify all of the millions of people who played a role in defending equality for all. This is a victory to which we all contributed, whether by attending a rally, writing about why marriage matters, sharing videos like these, or simply by living our lives openly and honestly. So when you see the country realizing the freedom on which it was founded, you can feel proud of being a part of that.
AFER’s channel will stay up, so you can always watch popular videos like the celebrity-studded broadcast of the play 8, or AFER’s journey to decision day, or this debunking of NOM’s crazy claims.
And although Marriage News Watch is wrapping up, I’ll still be around. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to see what I’m up to, and follow me @mattbaume on Twitter.
Huge thanks to all the thousands of people who’ve watched and shared Marriage News Watch over the last few years. It means so much that we’ve all been able to work toward marriage equality together. If there’s anything we’ve learned in that time, it’s that visibility is key. And so even a simple act like watching a video, commenting, and sharing helps change the world for the better, one person at a time.
It’s been a great couple of years. Keep in touch, and I’ll see you soon.
2 Comments July 6, 2015
