Civil & Human Rights

Questions for Martha McSally: What is your position on same-sex marriage?

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Blog for Arizona's Pamela Powers Hannley wrote a richly detailed post about Martha McSally in October 2012, after McSally avoided giving her an interview that she had scheduled with her campaign. Martha McSally: Warrior woman hides from questions, constituents, inconsistencies.

As I recall, Pamela was criticized for her reporting on McSally's annulment of marriage in Santa Cruz County, and "Rumor has it that McSally and Henry had a sham marriage of convenience." And then there was this:

There are multiple rumors on the Internet about McSally being a Lesbian. I don't care if she is gay and is in the closet. I do care
if she had a sham marriage to avoid being outed– since Don't Ask Don't
Tell was in full swing in the late 1990s. I also care about this issue
because McSally's rhetoric is decidedly anti-gay— particularly
when it comes to gay marrriage– yet another "cookie cutter" Republican
issue. Is McSally another one of those Republicans who talks loudly
against gays and then turns out to be one?

I for one do not care what a person's sexual preference is, but I do care if a candidate for office is "pulling a Mehlman."

California Supreme Court denies request to reinstate Proposition 8

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The California Supreme Court has denied a request by backers of Proposition 8 to reinstate the measure. California High Court Refuses to Revive Gay Marriage Ban:

Proposition 8 supporters filed a lawsuit July 12 asking the
state’s high court to order county clerks to enforce the gay-marriage ban, claiming the measure was still valid because a
U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month didn’t find it was
unconstitutional. They sought an immediate injunction
reinstating the law while the lawsuit proceeds.

* * *

The court denied the request for an injunction reinstating the law in a one-sentence filing that didn’t give a reason.

Great Britain to approve same-sex marriage

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

What will all the Anglophiles in America do now? If Parliament and Her Majesty the Queen can sign off on same-sex marriage in Great Britain, what objection do these Anglophile Americans have to same-sex marriage in the "colonies" on the other side of the pond?  

The Guardian reports, Gay marriage bill expected to complete passage through House of Commons:

Legislation to introduce same-sex marriage is expected to complete its passage through the House of Commons on Tuesday, with the first weddings under the law to take place in England and Wales next summer.

Jubilant gay rights campaigners were celebrating the successful passage of the marriage (same-sex couples) bill through the House of Lords on Monday night – and vowing to take the fight for marriage equality to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

MPs
will debate amendments made to the legislation in the upper house on
Tuesday evening, but this is expected to be little more than a formality
and is unlikely to delay its progress into law, with royal assent
within the next few days.

The face of voter suppression in Arizona

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Reagan_mugSenator Michele Reagan (R-Scottsdale) wants to be Arizona's next Secretary of State. Her role models are Katherine Harris (R-Florida) (2000), Ken Blackwell (R-Ohio) (2004), and Scott Gessler (R-Colorado) (2012), Republican Secretaries of State with notorious records for voter suppression.

Sen. Reagan is the sponsor of the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, and she is damned proud of it. Last Friday, The Arizona Republic published a "My Turn" guest opinion by Sen. Reagan that can be boiled down to her shouting "voter fraud!" as the reason for her Voter Suppression Act. Reagan:
3 oft-forgotten election-bill facts.

This despite the fact that our current Secretary of State, Ken "Birther" Bennett, testified to a U.S. Senate panel in December last year that Arizona prosecuted a whopping fifteen cases of voter fraud in the last eighteen months. And none of these were cases of non-citizens voting, but rather "snowbirds" who voted in Arizona and in another state. 2.3 million ballots were cast in the 2012 election in Arizona. Ken Bennett's passion for voter fraud turns up fifteen cases.

A citizens referendum (or "citizens veto" in other states) has been filed by the Protect Your Right to Vote Committee to block Sen. Reagan's Voter Suppression Act. The Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Democratic Party, the non-partisan League of Women Voters, organized labor, and a wide array of Latino and voting rights organizations are in the process of collecting enough signatures to be filed by September 12.

John Oliver Nails George Zimmerman & Florida’s Racism (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley Over the weekend, George Zimmerman, the now infamous gun-toting neighborhood watch volunteer, was found not guilty after he shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Like many others, I was shocked at the verdict, I don’t agree with it, but I am sadly not surprised. I have not written about this because I … Read more