DADT Judge Virginia A. Phillips Is No 'Activist'

Colleagues of Judge Virginia A. Phillips have pushed back hard against the accusation by right wing activists who are trying to smear her.

The ruling, issued Thursday, was quickly dismissed by gay rights opponents, who labeled Phillips an “activist” judge.

“Once again, homosexual activists have found a judicial activist that will aid in the advancement of their agenda,” Tony Perkins, president of social conservative Family Research Council, said in a statement.

Oh, how typical of those conservative activist, like Tony Perkins, to smear any judicial officers who dare to follow the constitution in opposition to their desire to keep oppressing other Americans they happen to dislike. Judge Virginia Phillips' colleagues have a different take.

But Judge Phillips is anything but an ideologue, said Arthur Littleworth, her mentor at the Best, Best & Krieger law firm early in her career. “She is balanced,” he said.

Mr. Littleworth recalled being impressed with the quality of a “scholarly treatise” that Judge Phillips wrote on the power of the federal government in a major water-rights case, and noted that “now, in this current case, she held for the rights of the individual.”

I like this quote from the NY Times article, as well.

Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California, Irvine, law school, called the decision “stunning in its thoroughness,” and lauded the judge’s “careful job of explaining why don’t ask, don’t tell violates both due process and the First Amendment.”

That "activist judge" is just "stunning in her thoroughness," huh, Tony Perkins? Read More...

Lesbians' home burned in TN, arson suspected

It will be interesting to see if the administration helps.

Carol Ann Stutte and her partner, Laura Stutte, are afraid to return alone to what is left of their Vonore home in Monroe County.

After being victims of an arson and having the word “queers” spray painted on their garage, the lesbian couple is fearful for their safety.

“We would love to stay (in the area),” Carol Stutte said Friday. “But we will never, never rebuild (on that property) again. I take someone with me constantly — one or two people to make sure I'm OK while I'm up there.”

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Prop. 8 case 'might be the best hope for binational couples'

A reader explains why the Prop. 8 case matters to her family:

On the issue of standing for Prop 8 proponents: For me, the possibility that the 9th Circuit will decide they don't have standing is alarming. This is because I don't want the case to end with Judge Walker's decision, which, if it stands, will affect only Californians. I need this case to be appealed to the Supreme Court and I need the Court to decide that all Americans have a fundamental right to marry. I need that outcome because I am one-half of a binational couple. Marriage in California, DOMA being struck down in the District Court in Massachusetts, even the repeal of DOMA -- none of them will give me an affirmative right to marry my partner with the attendant right to bring her to the United States. I'm sure as a lawyer you understand that. I'm sure as a human being you also understand that 10 years of living like this really sucks.

I know occasionally you all write about UAFA (frankly, I have no hope for UAFA passing). So I thought I'd give you a nudge to explain to your readership that an appeal of Prop 8 --- with our hearts in our throats given the current makeup of the Court -- might be the best hope for binational couples.

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Saudi diplomat seeks political asylum from Obama administration for being gay and having a Jewish friend

Sounds like a two-fer. The gays and the Jews are involved. The Saudis want the man back, probably so they can hang him or cut off certain body parts. It will be interesting to see if the administration sides with the homophobes and the anti-Semites. From MSNBC:

The diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has informed U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials that Saudi officials have refused to renew his diplomatic passport and effectively terminated his job after discovering he was gay and was close friends with a Jewish woman.

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A politically-connected reader calls the administration's failure on gay rights 'morally offensive' and 'politically stupid'

From a reader active in gay politics:

I said back in 2009 that I could not believe we were several months into this administration, with likely the most liberal (or "liberal") president I'll see in my lifetime, with the largest majorities in Congress we are likely to see in our lifetimes, and we, the gay community, were utterly dead in the water. Because even in the first few weeks it became clear that doing anything on our issues was the lowest possible priority. It was hypothetically possible at some future point, but that point woud never arrive, because it was premised on an imaginary day on which it would not cost the administration anything politically (in their view). And the situation is the same or worse, almost two years into this.

I guess they think there is some other base of Obama voters who would be offended by actually doing anything about gay rights, and that other base is more important than their base among gay voters. They are wrong. I understand there are times when priorities have to be ranked; I wasn't born yesterday. But Barack Obama was very clear on gay issues in 2008, and the voters who didn't like that have already discounted him for that, but voted for him anyhow. They supported him in full awareness that he had promised to repeal DADT and DOMA, and pass ENDA, etc. Why would they be surprised or disappointed now, if he actually did these things? They wouldn't. So he is losing the gay community by inaction, and he's not even gaining anything in exchange for it. The administration's failure on this is not only morally offensive (even by Obama's own rhetoric, given his many statements about how the current state of gay rights is an injustice), but politically stupid.

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