Civil & Human Rights

Questions for Martha McSally: Jim Nintzel doesn’t get an answer either

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In this new series, "Questions for Martha McSally," we pose questions to the McSally campaign about her positions on current hot topics — I am not going to give her a free pass until after the GOP primary like our local media did in 2012.

ChickenbunkerJim Nintzel of the Tucson Weekly and host of the Arizona Illustrated political roundtable tried to get Martha McSally to take a position on the current hot topic of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) and – suprise! – McSally is still hiding in the bunker with no ready answer to substantive questions. This is one incredibly ill-informed and ill-prepared candidate for someone who has been running for office since 2010. From

Republican Martha McSally, who hopes to unseat Barber next year, declined to take a position on ENDA.

"I haven't read the law, so I'd have to read it before I make a comment," she told the Weekly last week.

When she ran in 2010, McSally was opposed to "adding 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' or 'gender expression' to the protected classes of race, religion, age, sex, and ancestory in anti-discrimination law," according to a survey she filled out for the Center for Arizona Policy, a religious-right organization.

McSally said last week she filled the survey out early in her political career, so she would have to go back and review how the question was phrased before she could say whether she still stood by it. The questionnaire, she said, only let her say whether she supported or opposed various positions, and she felt she should have instead been given an opportunity to write longer answers.

[Note: This is B.S. Candidates frequently attach detailed responses to questionnaires when they have a nuanced or detailed position on an issue. I have to read these questionnaires all the time. A candidate does not need to ask permission to attach their response. Where is that proactive, take charge leadership skills McSally wants us to believe? She was intimidated by a "check the box" questionnaire from CAP?]

(Update) Hawaii Special Session for SB1 – Hawaii Marriage Equity Act approved by Senate. sent to the Governor

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hawaii becomes the 16th state to approve marriage equality after the state Senate approved the House revised bill and sent it to the Governor for his signature. Hawaii Senate passes gay marriage bill:

EqualThe state Senate passed a bill Tuesday legalizing gay marriage, putting Hawaii a signature away from becoming a same-sex wedding destination.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who called lawmakers to a special session for the bill and has vocally supported gay marriage, has said he would sign the measure. It will allow thousands of gay couples living in Hawaii and even more tourists to marry in the state starting Dec. 2.

Senators passed the bill 19-4 with two lawmakers excused. Cheers erupted inside and outside the gallery when the vote was taken, with a smattering of boos. Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, who voted against the bill, banged her gavel and told members of the public to quiet down.

More than half the chamber’s lawmakers spoke in support of the bill, with many urging the public to come together to heal divisions within the community.

“This is nothing more than the expansion of aloha in Hawaii,” said Sen. J. Kalani English, a Democrat from Maui.

An estimate from a University of Hawaii researcher says the law will boost tourism by $217 million over the next three years, as Hawaii becomes an outlet for couples in other states, bringing ceremonies, receptions and honeymoons to the islands. The study’s author has said Hawaii would benefit from pent-up demand for gay weddings, with couples spending $166 million over those three years on ceremonies and honeymoons.

The Senate took up the bill a second time because of changes made in the House, where the bill was amended and eventually passed.

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The House amendments delayed the dates ceremonies could begin, slightly expanded an exemption for clergy and religious organizations, and removed regulations determining how children of same-sex couples could qualify for Native Hawaiian benefits.

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The Senate vote puts Hawaii alongside Illinois, where a bill legalizing gay marriage is also awaiting the governor’s signature. Another 14 states and the District of Columbia already allow same-sex marriage.

Neo-Confederate ‘states’ rights’ opposition to Defense Dept. order re: benefits to same-sex partners

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Less than 0.5 percent of the U.S. population serves in its armed forces. Americans and Their Military, Drifting Apart – NYTimes.com (Karl Eikenberry, Army Lt. General, retired).

President Obama stated on the ending of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy:

Today, the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is
finally and formally repealed.  As of today, patriotic Americans in
uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve
the country they love.  As of today, our armed forces will no longer
lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and
lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those
who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply
values your service.

It took the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor, striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that denies federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married to end Defense Department regulations that discriminated against gay and
lesbian service members. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had the Armed Forces review their rules and regulations and bring them into compliance with the Supreme Court ruling by September of this year.

But several Southern states with anti-gay benefits state laws have chosen to defy the Department of Defense orders with respect to their National Guard units asserting the tired old Neo-Confederate "states' rights" defense. These states continue to discriminate against patriotic Americans — the few who volunteer to proudly serve in their country's Armed Forces to defend your feeedoms — simply because they are legally wed gay and lesbian service members. These states clearly do not respect nor value their proud military service.

House GOP: Congress just doesn’t have time to take up immigration reform this year

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The 112th Congress was the "less than do nothing" Congress, the least productive Congress in history. The 113th Congress is on pace to do even less than the "less than do nothing" Congress according to Pew Research earlier this year. And the 113th Congress announced it will be in session fewer days in 2014 (See, 2014 House Calendar).

Imagine my surprise (not) when House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy used a Friday news dump to announce that, "meh, Congress just doesn't have time to take up immigration reform this year." Here's an idea: less vacation days, more work, you lazy SOBs. ImmigrationVote Unlikely This Year, Lawmaker Says:

A top Republican lawmaker told protesters he met with in his home
district in California this week that the House of Representatives would
not have time this year to vote on any immigration measure.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the majority whip, told demonstrators in
his office in Bakersfield on Wednesday night that the 16 days remaining
on the House calendar in 2013 were too short a window for the House to
take up the complex issue. But he said he was committed to moving on
immigration votes in the House next year. [When the House is working even fewer days.]

The comments were reported by Angelica Salas, the executive director of
the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, who was one of
the protesters who occupied Mr. McCarthy’s office for 10 hours on
Wednesday. Mr. McCarthy came to the office to speak with the protesters
after 11 o’clock that night. His office confirmed the conversation on
Friday evening.

Mr. McCarthy’s comments cemented what lawmakers were already broadly
assuming on Capitol Hill. But they came after a week when an array of
groups who want to see a broad immigration overhaul intensified protests
across the country hoping to push Republican leaders to hold a vote
before the end of the year.

(Update) Hawaii Special Session for SB1 – Hawaii Marriage Equity Act approved by House, back to the Senate

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

News Release from Hawaii House of Representatives November 8, 2013
Hawai`i Free Press:

EqualThe state House of Representatives voted late Friday to pass SB1 HD1, relating to equal rights, on third reading.

The measure was approved by a vote of 30 to 19, with two members excused.

The House draft
includes amendments, modeled after similar language in Connecticut law,
significantly broadening exemptions for religious organizations and
clergy performing solemnization.

Religious
organizations and affiliated nonprofits would be exempted from having to
furnish goods, services, or its facilities or grounds for the
solemnization or the celebration of solemnizations if it is in violation
of its religious beliefs or faith.

It also
specifies that clergy and religious officers are not required to
solemnize if it is against their religious beliefs or faith.

The measure also
grants immunity from administrative, civil and legal liability to
religious organizations and officials for the failure or refusal to
provide services, goods, or facilities as described.

The issue was
discussed in House committee hearings spanning five days and nearly 57
hours of public testimony. There were 5,184 registered testifiers, with
over 1,000 people testifying, and nearly 24,400 written testimonies
submitted.

As far as House
members could recall, the public hearing on SB1 was the longest hearing
on a single bill in the modern history of the Hawaii House of
Representatives.