CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT TO ANNOUNCE THEIR DECISIONS ON PROPOSITION 8

Today is Harvey Milk's birthday. He would have been 79. There are candlelight vigils planned for this evening from Sacramento all the way down to San Diego to commemorate this day. Queers United has posted the specifics for where and when each of these vigils will take place.

So how appropriate is it then that the California Supreme Court also published a notice today that their decisions on the three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 will be filed at 10:00am (pacific time) next Tuesday, May 26th?

After a long 3 month wait, we're finally going to find out whether we're going to have celebrations or demonstrations. This has been one of the most closely guarded decisions the court has ever issued. No one on the court or in their offices has leaked any information that might give a clue about those decisions so no one, outside of the court, is really sure which way they'll go.

Here in Phoenix (as well as across the country) a Day Of Decision action is planned for Tuesday evening. John Allard, who works with Marriage Equality and Day Of Decision, said this morning:

I'm thrilled that the California Supreme Court gave us an entire three day weekend to spread the word that DAY OF DECISION will be TUESDAY, MAY 26. In PHOENIX we will rally at 6pm Tuesday evening on 7th Avenue at Camelback, next to Charlie's. Please spread the word about this over the holiday weekend. It is important that we mobilize a large number of people in response to this decision.
See you TUESDAY!

If you would like to know where and when an action is planned in your area, go to: DayOfDecision.com

Looks like this is going to be a very long weekend.

KEITH OLBERMANN SLAMS RNC's MICHAEL STEELE

Michael Steele, the current Chairman of the Republican Party, made another incredibly lame but valiant attempt to redefine his party's opposition to gay marriage without resorting to hateful, homophobic bigotry. Unfortunately, his argument made absolutely no sense.

According to a Box Turtle Bulletin report, while speaking at the National Rifle Association's 138th Annual Meetings & Exhibits last Friday (May 15th), Steele said:

Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.

Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.

“Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,” Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. “So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

Now I could go into all the reasons why this is such a stupid argument but, as usual, Keith Olbermann did it in a far more entertaining way. Here's what Keith had to say:



I love this guy!

WHY DID IOWA HAPPEN

Several of my posts lately have addressed relatively heavy subject matters. Just to remind us that there are a lot of really good people out there who aren't trying to put us back in our closets or reindoctrinate our youth to believe that violence can sometimes be an acceptable answer, here's something on the much brighter side.

In accepting the Capitol Champions Award, Iowa State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal made it very clear why the Iowa Supreme Court decided the way it did and who was really responsible for that great victory.

Here's the video of the Senator's comments...

Of course, the Senator himself was the key person who shepherded the legislation that officially made the court's decision a reality through the State Senate.

Thanks to the Stonewall Democrats for sending me the email with this video.

I've posted several stories about Iowa's gay marriage ruling and background. The first was on April 3rd just after the ruling was handed down.

The others can be found at the links below:
IOWA SHOULD BE A BLUEPRINT FOR ALL GLBT CAUSES
BRILLIANT VIDEO BY ONE IOWA
IOWANS START GAY MARRIAGES