By Cathy Kristofferson, March 14, 2013. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) specializes in insults. Usually such insults are directed at the gay community – our love, our marriages, our families. But today they struck out against adopted children. And not just children in gay adoptions, but all adoptions! NOM’s chairman, John Eastman, said: “Certainly […]
Tag Archives: Defense of Marriage Act
Gay binational couple commit suicide within a week of each other
The suicide of this couple should be blamed squarely on the laws of the United States that specifically excludes gay spouses By Melanie Nathan, March 11, 2013. Wilfried Knight may be remembered as yet another adult industry porn star who happened to commit suicide; but there is much more and so that is not the […]
Obama Administration’s Historic Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court Opposing Proposition 8
By Melanie Nathan, February 28, 2013. Marriage Equality USA© (MEUSA™) and GAY U.S.A. the Movie, as well as other LGBTI activists are hailing the Obama Administration’s historic amicus brief which will be filed later today with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the Court to end Proposition 8’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. Prominent Republicans […]
Disney, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Adobe, New York Life and 273 other Employers file amicus brief to support marriage equality
By Melanie Nathan, February 27, 2013. A team of Bingham McCutchen lawyers today filed on behalf of 278 businesses, cities, and other employers and employer organizations an amicus brief in United States v. Windsor, the United States Supreme Court case concerning the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The brief, a copy […]
Links to Amicus Briefs filed in the Edith Windsor DOMA Case
United States v. Edith Schlain Windsor, in Her Capacity as Executor of the Estate of Thea Clara Spyer, et al. QUESTION PRESENTED: Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines the term “marriage” for all purposes under federal law, including the provision of federal benefits, as “only a legal union between one man […]
White House brief to strike down DOMA shows support of same-gender parenting
Same-sex couples who have committed to marriage are fully capable of responsible parenting and child-rearing. By Melanie Nathan Feb. 22, 2013 President Obama’s administration urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in a brief filed Friday, declaring the 1996 federal law to be unconstitutional. Arguing that Section 3 of DOMA, […]
THANK YOU President Obama for filing Brief to Strike Down DOMA
By Melanie Nathan, February 22, 2013. Activists in the U.S.A. have hoped that the Obama administration would take the imperative step of standing behind the promise for equality. Now we can truly thank President Obama as the administration urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in a brief filed Friday, […]
Same-sex couples and LGBT activists arrested at Valentines Day sit in at San Francisco City Hall
WATCH VIDEO Below – “I could have chosen to attend my children’s Valentine events at their elementary school — but I chose instead to get arrested in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience to take a stand for LGBTQ equality” Robin McGehee, Director, GetEQUAL! By Melanie Nathan, February 14, 2013 (Photos: Melanie Nathan) San Francisco City […]
Immigration reform and the complexities for same-sex binational couples
By Melanie Nathan, February 07, 2013. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage as between a man and woman only, and so a same-sex American spouse (citizen or resident) cannot petition for a foreign spouse to obtain a green card and citizenship. That means that married same-sex couples cannot benefit from the same Federal […]
Immigration Policy Snubs Binational Same-Sex Couples as UAFA is excluded from Bipartisan Plan
Bipartisan bound to snub binationals indicative of failed Immigration Equality strategy, as gays tossed under the bus. By Melanie Nathan, January 28, 2013 ([email protected]) A bipartisan group of Senators from both parties revealed today the framework of a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, including a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million […]
U.S. Federal Appeals Court Rules Victory for Same-Sex Marriage
See the Judgment – ” we conclude that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates equal protection and is therefore unconstitutional ” By Melanie Nathan October 18, 2012 The issue of same-sex marriage as a constitutional right for all Americans has been decided by the the Federal Appeals Court, for the Second Circuit […]
Lesbian Mom Answers Oprah Hurt Me to Oprah’s Weekly Lifeclass Question
Oprah Invites Rick Warren to teach Lifeclass – “Oprah perhaps you do not understand the extent to which LGBT Americans are impacted by the denial of our basic civil rights,” Melanie Nathan By Melanie Nathan, Oct 07, 2012. That lesbian mom is me. Oprah’s Lifeclass site asks its usual weekly question “Are you hurting an […]
Military Newspaper Rejects Lesbian Deployment Kiss
by Melanie Nathan, August 11, 2012. This photo depicts two women kissing goodbye, prior to a deployment to Afghanistan. The soldier who took the photograph submitted it for publication during Pride time to a military newspaper but was refused permission to use the picture in the article. The picture was apparently rejected because it shows […]
Obama ‘s Reprieve for DREAMers While Same-Sex Binational Couples Languish as Exiles & Outcasts
By Melanie Nathan, June 15, 2012. The DREAM Act has yet to be passed, but those who could benefit from its passage may well have found some progress today in some good news emanating from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano who informed reporters of a new policy of “deferred action” for certain young, undocumented immigrants […]
Letter to Eric Holder as Senators Urge Protections for Same Sex Binational Couples Facing Deportation
By Melanie Nathan, May 11, 2012. BOSTON – Following President Obama’s announcement to support same sex marriage, Senator John Kerry, along with 16 of his Senate colleagues, today renewed their call for the Obama Administration to protect married gay and lesbian couples facing possible deportation. In a letter sent to the U.S. Attorney General and […]
DOMA Bans Green Cards for Gay Couples Notes Andrew Sullivan on CNN
No one should have to choose between Spouse and Country By Melanie Nathan, April 23, 2012 It is a rare day that we find an opportunity to declare the plight of binational couples on mainstream television. Andrew Sullivan had that chance and although he spoke eloquently to his personal journey toward immigration in the USA, […]
Speaker Boehner Wastes Taxpayers Money as he Loses to Lesbian in Ruling
By Melanie Nathan, February 22, 2012. San Francisco – Speaker Boehner had made an attempt to fight the Karen Golinski’s case in her quest to seek health care benefits from the court when her Federal employer had declined to provide them, citing the Defense of Marriage Act as reason for its denial. The speaker lost […]
U.S. Department of Justice Fights DOMA in Golinski Case
by Melanie Nathan, Dec 18, 2011 “Tony West Assistant Attorney General from the U.S. Department of Justice notes one of the greatest moments in his career was when Karen Golinski thanked him for the DOJ position in her case.” SEE UPDATE Below – case has been ruled. On Friday in San Francisco, the Justice Department […]
Breaking President Obama Endorses DOMA Repeal
July 19, 2011, Melanie Nathan, Today White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced the President will endorse the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, (The Defense of Marriage Act, which discriminates against same-sex marriage) ! The White House endorsing legislation that has yet to pass either house of Congress — is extremely rare, […]
Binational Spouse Obtains Deportation Reprieve from San Francisco Immigration Judge
July 13, 2011, Posted by Melanie Nathan, SAN FRANCISCO, CA – This morning in San Francisco, Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol — a married binational same-sex couple — appeared before Immigration Judge Marilyn Teeter for a deportation hearing and were permitted to remain in the country despite the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the law […]
Senator Patrick Leahy Announces DOMA Repeal Hearing
July 12, 2011, by Melanie Nathan, Today, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced a hearing on the Respect for Marriage Act, the bill that would overturn DOMA, scheduled for Wednesday July 20th. The hearing will be the first time Congress has heard testimony on legislation that would end federal marriage […]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Signs Marriage Equality Act into Law – Asking Obama to go Cuomo on DOMA!
June 24, 2011, by Melanie Nathan In thirty days same-sex couples will be able to marry in New York State. The Marriage equality Bill was signed into law today mere hours after it was passed by the New York State Senate, in a 33 to 29 vote, exceeding the swing by more than the expected […]
Apartheid Against LGBTI Americans – A View via the Hate Speech Ruling for South African Envoy to Uganda Jon Qwelane
06/02/2011, by Melanie Nathan, When I immigrated to the United States in 1985, I marveled at the U.S. Constitution. It protected everything. I left a place where it was constitutional to discriminate – in fact it was required that one discern between races when it came to where people could live, who could vote and […]
CRUSADES vs. GAYS – The Manhattan Declaration- where does it lead? Church’s Hate Gay Agenda
I wrote this Article for Lez Get Real and have received many anti-gay comments.:Feel free to go to LGR site and comment – thanks for your support UPDATED: By now we have all heard about the Manhattan Declaration put out by various religious right figures and groups urging, among other things, non-cooperation with laws that […]
Melanie Nathan Calls for Moratorium as US Citizen’s Brazilian
Tuesday 27th October I blogged for : Melanie Nathan Calls for Moratorium as US Citizen’s Brazilian same-sex husband denied asylum .. Tagged with: Brazil Brazillian Defense of Marriage Act DOMA John Kerry Junior Oliveira Kerry Marriage Melanie Nathan Obama Same-sex marriage Tim Coco UAFA United States Uniting American Families Act USA BOSTON — Associated Press reports today that a gay Brazilian man has been denied asylum by the Obama administration […]
I AM HERE WITH YOU IN THAT FIGHT and yet I give as much as the law allows?
I was skeptical about President Obama’s speech and yet hopeful. The short version of this post is that I was generally pleased. Of course I could highlight what was left out and the uncertainties that remain for our full equality, yet my ‘glass half full’ beckons and I succumb! Admittedly, the strongest language yet from […]
AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
“Hun, we live in a world where peoples are often so full of fear which is usually because of ignorance, – there are all sorts of different families – but they have usually only experienced their own. The unknown teririfies them; so they lash out in this way. What you heard on that ad, was unfair and contorted, but that is how the people who are against the idea of same-sex marriage think they can get other people to join their way of thinking.”
I provided more reassurance as best I could. A few more questions and answers later we arrived at school, and went on with the next two weeks, during which time HC and my four year old accompanied me to various “NO ON 8” rallies; “no on 8, no on 8,” a battle cry still performed by my 4 year old whenever she sees the number 8, whether in the market, at school or in the movies.
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