[Vision2020] Otter can't stop inevitability of marriage equality

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today's (October 8, 2014) Lewiston Tribune.

--------------------------------------
Otter can't stop inevitability of marriage equality
Marty Trillhaase
Monday, the U.S. Supreme court stopped the appeals of Utah - and four other states - against federal court decisions recognizing a constitutional right to marriage for gay and straight couples.
As Utah goes, so goes Idaho - although for the moment, the Supreme Court left unaddressed the anti-gay marriage amendment Gem State voters attached to their state constitution in 2006.
Just five months ago, U.S. Magistrate Candy Dale struck down that provision for virtually the same reasons her colleagues in Utah and other states voided similar measures - that Idaho's law denies "same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional and spiritual benefits of marriage, relegating each couple to a stigmatized, second-class status. Plaintiffs suffer these injuries not because they are unqualified to marry, start a family or grow old together, but because of who they are and whom they love."
Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Idaho's challenge to Dale's ruling.
Where this is heading is obvious. As of now, same-sex couples are marrying, establishing households and forming families in more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.
Clearly the Supreme Court is not going to invalidate those unions and throw the fate of couples - and their children - into disarray.
Nor is the court going to reverse the emerging national consensus about same-sex marriage. Not only did a majority tell Gallup it supported marriage equality for the first time in 2011, but the idea is catching on across all age groups - including those older than 65 years of age.
But Otter shows no sign of backing away from the stance he took last month when he authorized Boise attorney Monte Neil Stewart to argue before the 9th Circuit tribunal that same-sex marriage is bad for children: "Each married woman-woman couple and the children connected to their relationship embody the official message that 'fathers are not necessary or even valued in child-rearing.' Each married man-man couple and the children connected to their relationship embody the official message that 'mothers are not necessary or even valued in child-rearing.' "
Social doctrine masquerading as legal strategy backfired.
In response to Stewart's assertions, Judge Marsha Berzon said that "train" - meaning the traditional nuclear family - "has left the station."
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says he can't pick and choose what's in Idaho's Constitution. The people passed it. He's obligated to defend that decision in court.
At least Wasden has kept his defense to what's in the law and Idaho's history - and he spent no more than $2,569 to have his deputies make those points before the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
Otter, on the other hand, lavished Stewart with almost $69,000 of your money to make his ludicrous claims.
Tuesday, the governor said he would evaluate his next move.
Why can't he back off?
Other governors - notably Nevada's
Brian Sandoval and Virginia's Terry McAuliffe - declined to defend their state's same-sex marriage bans.
Otter can see gay marriage is coming to Idaho. He can see the anti-gay amendment to Idaho's constitution is about to become a relic - and an embarrassing one at that. He can see that he has already wasted tax dollars and helped tarnish Idaho's reputation.
Surely a man with Otter's decades of political experience recognizes when the unimaginable has become the
inevitable. - M.T.
--------------------------------------



Sing it, V-Peeps ! ! !

http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Sing_It.mp3

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 


Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20141008/152a45b5/attachment-0001.html>