MERI APPLAUDS FORMER U.S. REP. BOB BARR

(Cranston, RI) Now that the author of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has reversed his opinion, Marriage Equality RI calls for this discriminatory law to be repealed.

The former U.S. Rep from Georgia and 2008 Libertarian party’s nominee for President has come to realize that the intention of his legislation in 1996, which was to meet principles of federalism, never materialized. Federalism calls for federal, state and local governments to interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than creating policies separately or clashing over a policy in a system dominated by the federal government.

In Barr’s LA Times editorial (January 5, 2009), he stated, “In effect, DOMA’s language reflects one-way federalism: It protects only those states that don’t want to accept a same-sex marriage granted by another state. Moreover, the heterosexual definition of marriage for purposes of federal laws… has become a de facto club used to limit, if not thwart, the ability of a state to choose to recognize same-sex unions… It is time to get the federal government out of the marriage business. In law and policy, such decisions should be left to the people themselves.”

Barr also echoes President-elect Obama’s 2006 vote against the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment (also referred to as the Marriage Protection Amendment), which defines marriage as union of one man and one woman. Barr further stated, “He (Obama) was right then; and as I have come to realize, he is right now in concluding that DOMA has to go.”

“The federal DOMA has long been an unfair strangler of state’s rights and Marriage Equality RI calls on Congress to repeal this law,” said Susan Heroux, MERI Board Chair. “This law has a direct negative effect on married same-sex couples living and working in RI who are forced to take actions such as filing their taxes under the single category… This law causes a legal nightmare for those of us who are married because our marriages are recognized on the state level but not the federal level. DOMA has always been used to discriminate against gay people and it is time for it to go.”

Recently re-elected Rep. Frank Ferri, the first openly gay, married R.I. state legislator commented, “DOMA’s purpose was to directly prevent U.S. citizens from their inalienable rights guaranteed by the constitution. Fortunately the backers of this legislation are now realizing the damage that such laws have on the foundation of our great nation. “

Hans Johnson, President of Progressive Victory and a contributing editor to In These Times magazine, recently noted, “Conservative opposition to marriage equality continues to crumble. The ferocity of extremists who insist on intruding into the lives of committed same-sex couples and denying basic equality to gay people is turning some true conservatives into allies.”

There Go The Brides!

Check out the Newport Mercury Jan. 14th issue. MERI’s very own Board member, Tiffany Rauch-Dickson, discusses her wedding and how Rhode Island is losing millions without marriage equality. The Newport Mercury highlights some very interesting statistics about how Rhode Island is handing over millions in wedding dollars to Massachusetts, and now Connecticut.

Newport Mercury Articles (by Jamie Merolla)
There Go the Bride’s (PDF)
Gay Marriage Proponents Look Two Years Ahead (PDF)
Newport On the Street: Marriage Equality

Focus on the Family Announces More Layoffs

While we usually try not to focus to much on those that ardently fight against marriage equality, our thoughts do go out to the over 100 Focus on the Family employees and their families that started this week without a job.

As I’ve watched the market continue to fall, I have wondered if there would be any internal fallout from the huge amount of money that the Prop 8 supporters raised from organizations like Focus. Sadly, we see the effect here. This organization, purportedly focused on families, decided to support a hateful ballot measure over their own working families. Focus spent $539,000 in cash and $83,000 in non-monetary support to pass Prop 8, making them the 7th largest donor. Additionally, they called on wealthy members to donate large amounts of cash, including Elsa Prince who gave $450,000. To put that in actual impact perspective, the cash contribution by Focus alone is equal to 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.

From the Colorado Independent

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.

“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”

Time for Focus on the Family to start focusing on their own families and to stop focusing on ours.

Massachusetts and Marriage 5 Years Later

The Boston Globe has an article out this week about the state of views on marriage five years after marriage equality became a reality. It’s a good read and there are some very interesting details throughout, but two paragraphs in particular caught my attention.

“The Legislature’s July 31 decision to repeal a 1913 law banning out-of-state couples from tying the knot here appears to have resulted in an increase of weddings among couples from Rhode Island and New York, which recognize same-sex marriages officiated in other states. Betsy Wall, executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, said that in Provincetown, the number of marriage licenses for same-sex couples increased from an average of 30 per month in May through July to an average of 100 per month in August through October; Barnstable County has seen a 12.7 increase in hotel revenue between August 2007 and August 2008.”

We often talk about the best way to quantify the economic impact to Rhode Island by not having marriage equality. I think the excerpt above sums some of that up… how many of those revenue dollars are Rhode Islanders spending outside the state at a time when we could us all the revenue we can get.

“…there are signs that the number of people opposed to same-sex marriage is waning in Massachusetts. In February 2004, a survey of 400 voters found that 42 percent were in favor of same-sex marriage and 44 percent opposed it. In a similar survey completed this August, approval sprang to 59 percent and opposition sank to 37 percent, said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, which conducted the polls.”

Public opinion is changing and the most effective tool for that to happen is for people to see and know those affected.