The Washington Post's Election 2012 blog:
House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Monday that he believes same-sex marriage should be legal — and the No. 3 House Democrat appeared to go further than President Obama in suggesting that a national policy, rather than a state-by-state one, is needed on the issue.
... “If we consider this to be a civil right — and I do — I don’t think civil rights ought to be left up to a state-by-state approach,” Clyburn said. “I think that we should have a national policy on this.”
... In Monday’s MSNBC interview, Clyburn drew a comparison between the gay marriage debate and the debate over interracial marriage.
“I will remind you that in my lifetime, it was illegal in some states — this state, one of them — for black and white couples to get married,” he said. “I think that we have seen in many churches that call themselves fundamentalist and Christian teach a theological tolerance of slavery and servitude.”
March 20, 2012 – 12:00 pm
As further sign of how previous arguments for redefining marriage have fallen flat, a left-leaning group that claims to be centrist is trying to circulate a new set of talking points to members of Congress hoping to coach and coax them into coming out in favor of same-sex marriage:
Third Way, an influential centrist Democratic group, on Thursday provided a new memo to all House and Senate lawmakers' offices that gives advice on how to change positions on the issue without being called a dreaded "flip-flopper." It outlines three rules that will help ensure a smoother transition in support of marriage equality: share a personal story about the people in your life who have influenced your position, emphasize that marriage is about a commitment instead of rights, and allow that other people's views may be "changing at a slower pace" but that they, too, could come around soon. -- The Huffington Post
The last two tips in the document [PDF] we find revealing:
Don’t say “gay marriage” or even “same-sex marriage.” These terms can reinforce the notion that gay couples are seeking a different kind of marriage, rather than simply trying to join the tradition that is already a fundamental building block of our society. Terms like “marriage for gay couples,” “allowing gay couples to marry,” or giving gay couples “the freedom to marry” are all good options—and all avoid using an adjective modifying the word marriage.
Exercise caution in explicitly comparing marriage and our country’s journey on this issue to the civil rights movement, or saying that not allowing gay couples to marry is comparable to anti-miscegenation laws. This direct comparison can hurt more than it helps, by causing people to think about the differences between the experiences of African Americans and LGBT people, not the similarities.
November 10, 2011 – 2:00 pm
The Associated Press:
Senate Democrats who back gay marriage have decided now is the time to repeal a federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The Democrats may satisfy their gay marriage supporters, but the bill won't get very far.
The repeal could be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but the next stop - the full Senate - could be a long way off. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says she doesn't have the votes for Senate passage, and the bill would have no chance in a House controlled by Republican conservatives.
The committee later passed the DOMA repeal bill on a party-line vote of 10-8.
Join our ongoing efforts to protect DOMA and marriage right here.
November 8, 2011 – 8:00 am
Florida press reports that the 2012 election season is already underway:
Key Largo maintenance and construction worker Jose Peixoto, who ran unsuccessfully for the Mosquito Control Board in 2010, looks to oust U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a veteran congresswoman who chairs the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ros Lehtinen, a Republican who lives in Miami but represents the Keys as part of District 18, has been in Congress since 1990. Peixoto, no party affiliation, says that's too long for anyone to serve.
Also filing in this race is Miami Republican Marcus Rivchin Jr.
November 4, 2011 – 8:00 am
National Journal's Influence Alley blog:
Ahead of today's Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up of legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the group Freedom to Marry has been holding closed-door "salons" over the past few weeks, trying to build a broad coalition in support of same-sex marriage.
The salons are designed to bring together groups of politically likeminded strategists, consultants and others who support same-sex marriage or are on the fence to discuss the issue and how to make it a reality. There was a salon on Oct. 11 for center-right politicos and one on Oct. 19 for Republicans, which brought together about 20 people at each gathering. Freedom to Marry wouldn't say who was there. There is a salon for Democrats on Nov. 16.
... The salons are also meant to show conservatives that support gay marriage they are not alone. Getting them to support the issue publicly, though, is another story.
...large majorities of Republicans remain opposed [to redefining marriage], putting political pressure on GOP lawmakers who support same-sex marriage to keep mum on the topic. (Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida is the lone Republican cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act out of the more than 150 cosponsors in the House and Senate.)
November 2, 2011 – 3:00 pm
From a press release by the office of Congressman Todd Akin (MO-2):
Congressman Todd Akin, Chairman of the Seapower & Projection Forces Subcomittee, today released a letter to Senate leadership calling for the inclusion of language protecting traditional marriage on the National Defense Authorization Act. The letter was signed by 86 members of the House, calling for language similar to the Akin amendment that was carried on the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed into law by President Clinton,” said Congressman Akin. “Unfortunately, this current administration is now directing the Department of Defense to ignore this law and perform gay marriages on military bases. I think this is wrong, which is why I offered an amendment to the House-passed defense bill making it clear that DOMA applies to the DOD. This letter calls for the Senate to add a similar amendment to their version of the bill. The Department of Defense should not be allowed to simply ignore laws they do not like.”
PDF of the letter here.
