The Senate plans to hold hearing on the DOMA repeal in the Next Few Weeks

Sen. Patrick Leahy

Hot news from D.C. The Senate will take on the repeal of DOMA in the upcoming weeks.
Washington Blade has the scoop

A Senate committee is set in the next few weeks to hear testimony on repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, although details about the planned hearing were scant as of Thursday.

According to a Senate Democratic aide, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, intends to hold a hearing on DOMA repeal “in the next few weeks.” A more definitive date for when the hearing would take place or the individuals who would be invited as witnesses weren’t immediate known.

In a statement, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) praised Leahy for his decision to hold a hearing on DOMA repeal. Both Gillibrand and Leahy are sponsors of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA.

 This is good and possibly a turning point if this hits the ground running. I'll keep you posted.

WATCH: Highlights From the "Defending Marriage" Hearing

Last Friday, Maggie Gallagher and other bigots gathered in D.C. to discuss saving marriage from the evil gays and lesbians.

The Washington Blade reports: 

In testimony before the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Gallagher, NOM’s chair and co-founder, said marriage should restricted to one man and one woman because such unions are the only kind that can produce children and because state voters by referenda have affirmed 31 times that marriage shouldn’t be extended to gay couples.


“Marriage is the union of husband and wife for a reason: these are the only unions that create new life and connect those children in love to their mother and father,” Gallagher said. “This is not necessarily the reason why individuals marry; this is the great reason, the public reason why government gets involved in the first place.”

The hearing, which was titled “Defending Marriage,” took place on the heels of President Obama’s announcement on Feb. 23 that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and that his administration would no longer defend the anti-gay law against litigation in court.

Please watch this clip that has some highlights from this mess of a hearing

WATCH the Battle for Marriage in the Iowa State House

Many folks appeared at the Iowa State House to speak their opinions on Gay Marriage. Here are some clips for that hearing.

ENDA hearing is Today

Get the party started!

Watch it live here

ENDA is considered the Obama Admin's top civil rights priority.

Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy believes we end the human species

I don't know about the well being of people sometimes

NOM's Ken doll at the DC City Council Hearing

mess

Thanks to NG

Round 2 for DC Gay Marriage Testimonies

Thanks NG, he's one of the first to get this out.

Round 2 for DC Gay Marriage Testimony... Miss Copeland may be Back!

More of crazy religious fanatics and "purr" Gods today.

Over 150 people have signed up to speak at the D.C. City Council's hearing on gay marriage. As y'all remember, it was a circus last week. Hopefully, folks will think before they speak, in order to be taken seriously.

Any Miss Copeland-style mess will just erase any case for the opposition. However, it will be really funny to watch. I can't get over how funny that mess was.

Anywho, I will provide as much stuff as I can.

Prop 8 Hearings...Not so Cute

Well, we took a licking today during the Prop 8 hearings. While most folks in the courts believe Prop 8 is wrong, some find it hard to violate the voice of the people. I can understand that, however these are crazy, misguided people who voted for this.

Okay, I'll get back on track. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Justice Joyce Kennard, said the challenge to the Prop. 8's legality brought by advocates of same-sex marriage involved "a completely different issue" from the court's ruling that the marriage laws violated gays' and lesbians' rights to be treated equally and wed the partner of their choice.

"Here we are dealing with the power of the people, the inalienable right, to amend the Constitution," Kennard said. Speaking to a lawyer representing same-sex couples, she said that if advocates of same-sex marriage want to overturn the voters' decision, "you have the right to go to the people and present an initiative."

There were some indications of divisions among the justices on the validity of Prop. 8 during the hearing, which lasted more than three hours at the court's San Francisco headquarters. But on a separate issue, all seven appeared to agree that the 18,000 same-sex couples who married in California before Prop. 8 passed would remain legally wed.

"When the highest court of the state declares that same-sex couples have the right to marry ... how can one deny the validity of those marriages?" asked Justice Marvin Baxter, who dissented from the May ruling throwing out the opposite-sex-only marriage law.

Relying on that ruling, thousands of gays and lesbians "upended their lives, changed their property responsibilities with their spouses," said Justice Ming Chin, another dissenter from that decision. "Is it really fair to throw that out?"

If the justices' questions were any indication, the court will allow Prop. 8 to ban same-sex marriages as of Nov. 5, the day after it passed with 52 percent of the vote. A ruling is due within 90 days.

Okay...we have 90 days. But anything is possible, I have to remain positive and hopeful.

Prop 8 Update!!

The California Supreme Court will hear lawsuits filed by marriage equality advocates to overturn Prop H8, which banned same-sex marriage in Cali-Cal, though the court has refused to prevent the ban from going into effect.

So here we go, the historic moment starts here!!