PFLAG Denounces DOJ's Arguments Supporting DOMA

[Zenlitened]

Press release:

PFLAG Denounces the Department of Justice’s Arguments Supporting DOMA
Organization Urges the Administration to Repeal the Defense of Marriage Amendment

Washington, DC – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) National expressed deep disappointment and strong opposition to the Department of Justice’s recent arguments regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the dismissal of a lawsuit filed on behalf of a gay couple who married in California.

“Since DOMA’s enactment in 1996, PFLAG has vocally opposed this blatant and malicious law, which enables legal discrimination against our gay and lesbian loved ones and denies them the right to protect their families and receive equal treatment under the law,” said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG. “We are deeply offended by the DOJ’s recent arguments and alarmed by the hurtful language that further denigrates our families and friends.”

“PFLAG continues to urge President Obama to explore options to repeal this immoral and unethical law that leaves our families and friends unprotected and unequal. DOMA hurts our families and friends by denying them more than 1,100 federal benefits legally recognized married couples currently receive from the federal government. When families are hurt, communities are weakened and all of America suffers. In the name of basic equality and fairness, we ask that the Administration fulfill its commitment to advancing equality for LGBT Americans by acting immediately to overturn this law,” Huckaby concluded.

Link:
http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=1152

[donco6]

1. Don't they realize it's just politics - nothing personal?

:sarcasm: like I really need it.

[Patsy Stone]

2. K&R

Justice delayed is justice denied.

[Ian David]

3. See also: Mormon Bush holdover filed anti-gay DOMA brief today

Mormon Bush holdover filed anti-gay DOMA brief today
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=137808&mesg_id=137808

[MNBrewer]

4. but of course, Obama could do NOTHING about it. His hands are tied!

[Ian David]

5. We'll see. It's only been like 100 days. n/t

[MNBrewer]

6. Oh dear! how long are you going to use that argument?

It's only been 7 years, 264 days!!!!

[Ian David]

7. That argument expires after the next midterm elections.

Two years is an eyeblink in politics.

[MNBrewer]

8. No it doesn't

There's the Obama re-election, then the NEXT mid-term elections, then there's the primaries and then the NEXT general election, then the next mid term elections, then the next General Election, etc, etc, etc.

[Ian David]

9. Well, that's when *I* will run out of patience by. n/t

[ThomCat]

11. By the time you start looking to see what he's doing

he will have already laid all his foundations and set all his policies in political stone. It will be too late to get him to change much of anything.

While you are giving him all this time, a lot of us recognize that you HAVE to get in there and influence many things while the initial decisions are being made or you aren't going to be able to have much influence at all.

But feel free to wait until later, after the lobbyists have had their say, after the policies are in place, after the staff members are assigned, after everyone is working on stage II or even stage III implementations on most issues and Start looking around to find out what has happened. See how much luck you have figuring everything out and getting any influence over issues at that point.

It will be too little, too late.

[Ian David]

12. I didn't mean that we should quietly sit on our hands in the meantime. n/t

[ThomCat]

13. Then what exactly DO you mean when you keep telling us that

it's only been X amount of time, and we should give Obama more time before we say or do anything?

[Ian David]

14. We should give him more time before we throw him under the bus. n/t

[ThomCat]

15. He's the one DRIVING THE BUS.

It would be nice if you provided a real answer instead of a slogan that means nothing in this context.

How long are you proposing that we sit back and do nothing? And why? What should we be doing instead of paying attention to what he's doing and critiquing it?

:shrug:

[Ian David]

16. I'm doing plenty. But calling him names doesn't solve anything. n/t

[ThomCat]

17. No, you're still telling people "It's only been 100 days"

and telling people to "give him more time" with out telling us what that means exactly. And dodging the issue when we ask. When you tell us to give him more time, using real English instead of slogans, can you tell us what you think it is that you think we're supposed to stop doing within the political process?

Give him more time by doing what? By not critiquing what he's doing? By not watching? By giving him free passes?

Are bad decisions early in an administration supposed to be ignored? Do they magically become good decisions at some later date? Do they disappear from history half way through his term?

Are we supposed to "give him a break" and let him attack LGBT equal rights? Or "show our support" by applauding while he insists on extra-judicial tribunals and secret evidence for prisoners who still don't know what they are charged with? Are we supposed to "give him more time" to develop an economic plan with input only from Geithner and other big bank lobbyists, and then only give him our input after the plan has been developed and put into place?

I really don't understand what it is you want, or how you expect it to do any good. It really seems to me like you are really just telling us to shut up and stay out of the way.

[bluedawg12]

10. Handing out candy to the right wing today.

http://thenewcivilrightsm...l-issues/2009/06/12/3409

Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children," John Aravosis of AmericaBlog writes,
Obama didn't just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn't motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn't be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other cases and battles). He argued that DOMA doesn't discriminate against us because it also discriminates about straight unmarried couples (ignoring the fact that they can get married and we can't).

He actually argued that the courts shouldn't consider Loving v. Virginia, the miscegenation case in which the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban interracial marriages, when looking at gay civil rights cases. He told the court, in essence, that blacks deserve more civil rights than gays, that our civil rights are not on the same level.

And before Obama claims he didn't have a choice, he had a choice. Bush, Reagan and Clinton all filed briefs in court opposing current federal law as being unconstitutional (we'll be posting more about that later). Obama could have done the same. But instead he chose to defend DOMA, denigrate our civil rights, go back on his promises, and contradict his own statements that DOMA was "abhorrent." Folks, Obama's lawyers are even trying to diminish the impact of Roemer and Lawrence, our only two big Supreme Court victories. Obama is quite literally destroying our civil rights gains with this brief. He's taking us down for his own benefit.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

18. You Know....

I was expecting this. Obama used us to help elect him and now we can go to hell. The community never seems to learn, does it? We keep supporting these assholes who have no goddamned intention of keeping whatever promises they made to us. Obama doesn't give a shit about us. That, folks, is the bottom line here. I am so disgusted with him that it's not even funny. Only 100 days, my ass! In about a week we will be to somewhere around 150.

[donco6]

19. Where's Kanye West when you need him? n/t