Maggie Gallagher On The HRC

"To anyone who has been at the forefront of the marriage fight, there is little new in the extraordinary effort to punish a whole law firm because HRC doesn't like its client. Gay marriage advocates have again and again used class networks of power to attack individuals, livelihoods and whole business enterprises to make support for marriage so expensive that they can effectively silence opposition to their views. But this time it happened in full public view.

"In a truly Orwellian statement, HRC President Joe Solmonese praised King and Spalding's decision to abandon a client under fire as an example of putting 'principle above politics.' Oh Joe, oh Joe. It's important for all of us to remember that life for ordinary gay people can still be difficult, even as a powerhouse gay movement flexes its cultural, financial and behind-the-scenes political power to repress the rights of others to organize, speak, donate and now hire a lawyer to defend marriage. One thing is clear: This is not a movement that needs extraordinary intervention by the courts to protect its rights." - NOM chairman Maggie Gallagher, writing for Yahoo News.

NEW YORK: Five State Senators MAY Be Changing Their Minds On Marriage

Gay City News reports that five New York state senators who voted against same-sex marriage in 2009 are now "taking no public position" on the issue. Obviously, this could possibly bode well for the upcoming vote promised by Gov. Cuomo. At least six changed votes would be needed for the bill to pass.

According to statements on the record (to Gay City News and/ or other media), two Democrats who previously voted no –– Joe Addabbo and Shirley Huntley of Queens –– and three Republicans in the same category –– James Alesi of Fairport, Greg Ball of Brewster, and Joseph Griffo of Utica –– are currently taking no public position on the marriage bill. Griffo’s undeclared status first became known in an April 26 email message to Gay City News from his office. Rayan Aguam, the senator’s director of communications & community relations, wrote, “Senator Griffo won't comment until it's clear which bill will come before the Senate for a vote. He wants to see all the details of the legislative proposal laid out before him before he makes his decision. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Senator Duane's current bill is amended or if another bill is substituted.” The position of freshman Republican Jack Martins of Garden City is not fully clear from the public record, and he did not respond to Gay City News’ request for comment.

The most surprising name on the above list is Democrat Shirley Huntley, whom you may recall famously declaring in 2009 that she would never vote for gay marriage, "not even if you gave me a million tax-free dollars!" In her 2010 reelection campaign, Huntley claimed that she'd been the subject of death threats by gay activists. Last month the state Attorney General's office investigated Huntley for allegedly running a taxpayer-funded charity scam. That case is still ongoing.

MINNESOTA: GOP Legislators Introduce Marriage Ban In State Senate

Minnesota GOP state Sen. Warren Limmer:

"The proposed constitutional amendment asks voters to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman in Minnesota. This issue constantly comes up during legislative sessions and it’s time for the people to decide. Allowing a small number of politicians, or activist judges in St. Paul to decide the definition of marriage would not be acceptable. We propose an early passage in the legislature this year, followed by a year discussion in our communities statewide in order to be prepared to vote in next year’s General Election."

Minnesota Democratic state Sen. Scott Dibble, via press release:

"It’s disturbing that Republicans want to use one of the last weeks of the legislative session to marginalize one group of people and divide our state. We are facing a $5 billion budget shortfall, yet Republicans believe the biggest threat to our state’s welfare is who is allowed to be married. Minnesotans who are married legally have access to at least 515 laws that provide security, legal protections, and basic rights such as the ability to care for each other. As lawmakers, we should be focused on breaking these barriers that still exist for thousands of Minnesotans, rather than further isolating one group of people and wasting taxpayers’ time with unfounded fears."

Andrew Sullivan On King & Spaulding

"To put pressure on lawyers defending clients or laws because lobby groups don't like them is deeply illiberal. It remains disgusting, for example, that rightwing groups targeted lawyers defending terror suspects and Gitmo prisoners. When the far right did this, it was despicable. Now that the left is doing it, it remains just as despicable.

"Memo to the gay rights leadership: the ends do not justify the means. Let DOMA have the most robust defense it can possibly muster and let us argue just as passionately for its unconstitutionality. When civil rights groups bully, they lose the moral high-ground. When you have men like David Brock leading the charge - and there are no means he has ever eschewed to achieve his ends - the danger is that we prove the far right's point. We must be better than them." - Andrew Sullivan, writing for Daily Beast.

Bill T. Jones For New York Marriage

Prop 8 Proponents Move To Vacate Judge Vaughn Walker's Ruling Because He's Gay

They've been talking about it for weeks and today Prop 8's backers officially filed to vacate Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling overturning the ban of same-sex marriage in California. Because a gay judge cannot possibly be impartial about gay issues.

The sponsors of California's same-sex marriage ban said Monday that the recent disclosure by the federal judge who struck down Proposition 8 that he is in a long-term relationship with another man has given them new grounds to have his historic ruling overturned. Lawyers for the ban's backers filed a motion in San Francisco's U.S. District Court, arguing that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker should have removed himself from the case or at least disclosed his relationship status because his "impartiality might reasonably be questioned." "Only if Chief Judge Walker had unequivocally disavowed any interest in marrying his partner could the parties and the public be confident that he did not have a direct personal interest in the outcome of the case," attorneys for the coalition of religious and conservative groups that put Proposition 8 on the November 2008 ballot wrote.

Lambda Legal's Jon Davidson reacts:

To say that Judge Walker's should have disclosed his ten-year relationship with another man or that it made him unfit to rule on Proposition 8 is like saying that a married heterosexual judge deciding an issue in a divorce proceeding has to disclose if he or she is having marital problems and might someday be affected by legal rulings in the case. Or that any judge who professes any religious faith is unable to rule on any question of religious liberty or, at a minimum, must disclose what his faith teaches. Much like a suggestion that a female judge could not preside over a case involving sexual harassment or an African American judge could not preside over a case involving race discrimination, Proposition 8's supporters improperly are suggesting that a judge will rule in favor of any litigant with whom he shares a personal characteristic.

American Foundation for Equal Rights reacts:

"This motion is yet another in a string of desperate and absurd motions by Prop 8 Proponents who refuse to accept the fact that the freedom to marry is a constitutional right. They're attempting to keep secret the video of the public trial and they're attacking the judge because they disagree with his decision. Clearly, the Proponents are grasping at straws because they have

NCLR's Shannon Minter reacts:

"This is a desperate and ill-advised move that underscores their inability to defend Prop 8 on the merits. This is not likely to win them any points with the courts, who understandably do not appreciate having the integrity of judges called into question based on such outrageous grounds. This is part and parcel of the underhanded way the Prop 8 campaign itself was run-based on lies, insinuations, and unsupported innuendo."

GOP Praises Paul Clement, Disses King & Spalding Over DOMA Withdrawal

"I want to express my gratitude to former Solicitor General Clement. I admire his unwavering commitment to his clients and his dedication to uphold the law – qualities that appear to be inconsequential at King and Spalding where politics and profit now appear to come first. King and Spalding’s cut and run approach is inexcusable and an insult to the legal profession. Less than one week after the contract was approved engaging the firm, they buckled under political pressure and bailed with little regard for their ethical and legal obligations. Fortunately, Clement does not share the same principles. I’m confident that with him at the helm, we will fight to ensure the courts – not the President – determine DOMA’s constitutionality." - Rep. Dan Lungren, chairman of the House Republicans Study Committee.

Paul Clement Quits King & Spalding To Continue House DOMA Defense

Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement has resigned from King & Spalding in order to continue as the GOP's defense attorney in the House DOMA battle. Earlier today Clement's now-former employers announced their withdrawal from the cases.

"I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client's legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters. Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do," Clement wrote to King & Spalding chairman Robert Hays. "I recognized from the outset that this statute implicates very sensitive issues that prompt strong views on both sides. But having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it."

Read Clement's full resignation letter. (PDF)

BREAKING: Law Firm King & Spalding Backs Out Of House DOMA Defense

No confirmation is yet available, but the above HuffPo tweet is blowing up on Twitter right now. If true, stand by for NOM to get the vapors.

UPDATE: Politico confirms the story. King & Spalding has issued the below statement.

Today the firm filed a motion to withdraw from its engagement to represent the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives on the constitutional issues regarding Section III of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Last week we worked diligently through the process required for withdrawal. In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate. Ultimately I am responsible for any mistakes that occurred and apologize for the challenges this may have created.

Stand by for the screaming outrage! I can't wait!

UPDATE II: The Human Rights Campaign reacts.

“King & Spalding has rightly chosen to put principle above politics in dropping its involvement in the defense of this discriminatory and patently unconstitutional law. We are pleased to see the firm has decided to stand on the right side of history and remain true to its core values. Speaker Boehner is likely to pursue continued defense of this odious law. However, law firms that value LGBT equality should remain committed to those values.”

UPDATE III: Lambda Legal's Jon Davidson reacts.

"Today, we learned once again that it is a bad idea to defend antigay bias and discrimination in court, and fewer and fewer people are willing to do it. We welcome the news that the law firm, King and Spalding, has decided to withdraw from the engagement to represent House leadership in defending DOMA. We were very surprised and disappointed when King and Spalding accepted this assignment, because they have been supporters of LGBT equality in the past. We thought we might have to face them in court as adversaries in our case, Golinski v. OPM - and we were ready to do that. But I guess their sense of justice got the better of them - and that's good news for all of us. Some attorney will no doubt accept this job and defend DOMA in court on behalf of the House leaders - that's the way the legal system works. We're just glad it is not a law firm that has shown respect and support for their own LGBT attorneys, for our community and for our fight for equality. We welcome the firm back to the right side of history."

Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch

Quote Of The Day - Sen. Ruben Diaz

"If the affront to my personal safety wasn't enough, it was embodied in an article that was so poorly researched. The two factual errors come to mind: first of all, if as you say my chief-of-staff is gay, no one has bothered to tell her. Also, if any of your readers are interested in attending a counter-demonstration, they shouldn't bother taking your directions to gather at 181st Street expecting the end of our rally there, I and the thousands of New Yorkers who believe in respect for human life and sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman will be found praying near the Bronx County Courthouse at 161st Street and the Grand Concourse. It's so sad to see people in journalism abuse their positions, but it's outrageous to see how the editors of the Village Voice use their editorial discretion to facilitate and encourage homicide." - New York state Sen. Ruben Diaz, responding to a Village Voice blog post in which a commenter made a death threat against him.

RELATED: On May 15th Diaz, who signed the above letter "Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz," will stage what may be the largest anti-gay rally in state history. A similar rally in 2009 brought over 20,000 Hispanic evangelicals to midtown Manhattan, most of whom arrived via out of state church buses. LGBT groups have noted that Diaz' rally is scheduled to conflict with NYC's annual AIDS Walk in order to diminish counter-protests.

ALSO RELATED: Please do not leave comments making even the most idle of threats of physical harm or property damage against any persons or places. Longtime readers may recall that in late 2009, anti-gay and Christianist websites launched a campaign against JMG, claiming that readers were making "terrorist threats" against supporters of Proposition 8. Please contact me via email if you see any threats or calls to violence and I will dispatch them at once. Our enemies are reading every word you write.

Richard Socarides On DOMA Battle

Iowa GOP Files Impeachment Charges Against Pro-Gay State Supreme Court

Thanks to a truckload of money funneled to them by Newt Gingrich, last year hate groups were able to unseat three of Iowa's seven state Supreme Court justices over their backing of same-sex marriage. Yesterday GOP lawmakers in the state House filed impeachment charges against the four remaining justices. Here's an excerpt of the charges against Justice David Wiggins:

By his action in the Varnum case, Justice Wiggins has created a constitutional imbalance and confusion within the State of Iowa as to the proper constitutional function of each department, thus undermining the integrity of the tripartite separation of powers among the departments and creating social disorder and unrest. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE, That the conduct of Supreme Court Justice David S. Wiggins, in committing malfeasance in office, warrants impeachment, trial by the Senate, and removal and disqualification from any office of honor, trust, or profit under the state pursuant to the procedures set out in Iowa Code 3 2 chapter 68.

The latest move has the backing of Family Leader, Iowa's most prominent anti-gay Christianist group.

NOM Defector Louis Marinelli: Brian Brown Told Me To Make The Gays Look Crazy

In his latest blog post, NOM defector Louis Marinelli reveals how Brian Brown told him to make sure that his photos made gay counter-protesters look "crazy." According to Marinelli, that tactic backfired.

What you don’t know is that in an e-mail I received from Brian Brown, he essentially instructed me to specifically take ‘crazy’ photos of gays and lesbians. His short and to the point e-mail dated July 19, 2010 wrote: "I need crazy pictures of our opponents." What is particularly necessary to point out is that his call for ‘crazy photos’ of NOM’s opponents was in response to an e-mail I sent to him six minutes earlier that simply wrote: “Here is a picture of our supporters before the protesters arrived.” The photo I took showing the size and location of our supporters wasn’t enough. Mr. Brown was dedicated to painting the LGBT community and their supporters as crazy. They used that word themselves in public on their blog! To this day, I still don’t condone the actions that some of the counter-protesters took to stand against us. They were wrong when I opposed marriage equality and still believe so today. From that point forward my job was, among other things, to take those ‘crazy’ photos that would be used as propaganda against the LGBT community. At least until the propaganda backfired, anyway. Many people who would have otherwise came out to support us, let us know that they were scared of what the counter-protesters might do and decided to stay home the day we were coming to town.

You may recall that at the protest shown in the above photo, NOM claimed that the man with the two elderly dogs brought them to intimidate attendees.

IRELAND: Marriage Campaign Launches

The Irish LGBT rights group Noise has launched a new marriage campaign with ads appearing on Dublin's public transit.

A controversial poster claiming “Jesus had two Dads” will appear on Dublin transport today to highlight the continuing campaign for gay marriage. The gay rights group Noise, a group campaigning for marriage equality for same-sex couples, is launching the new poster campaign on Dublin city public transport this Monday. The posters highlight the difference between Civil Partnership and Civil Marriage, pointing out that Civil Partnership, which was recently legalized in Ireland is not equality. The group also unveiled its new-look website to coincide with the launch.

Ireland's civil partnerships law went into effect earlier this month.

Another Obama Hint On Gay Marriage?

Much was made of President Obama's statement late last year that his position on same-sex marriage was "evolving." At a San Francisco fundraiser yesterday, another possible hint on that evolution may have been dropped.

Obama was talking about how his work is not finished. He said it would take more than one term "for us to finish everything we need to do." As he was talking about the unfinished work left to do, someone shouted out, "gay marriage!" Obama said--as if that person had just proved his point-- "our work is not finished." So, is Obama saying gay marriage is part of that 'unfinished business'?

NEW YORK: Log Cabin Republicans To Join Coalition For Marriage Equality

Yesterday I reported that Freedom To Marry, Marriage Equality New York, the Empire State Pride Agenda, and the Human Rights Campaign were joining in an unprecedented coalition to bring marriage equality to New York. You can now add the Log Cabin Republicans to that list. Via press release:

With the addition of the Log Cabin Republicans, the coalition now includes all five leading LGBT rights organizations operating in New York State. The announcement by the Log Cabin Republicans of New York–representing Republicans who support fairness, freedom and equality for gay and lesbian Americans–reflects the bipartisan support in New York State for allowing all loving and committed couples to marry. Support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be needed for passage. “Marriage is not a progressive or conservative issue. It’s an issue of equal rights for taxpaying citizens of this state,” said Gregory T. Angelo, Chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans of New York State. “For the first time, we are truly united in our fight to ensure every single New Yorker has the right to marry the person he or she loves.”

NEW YORK: Sen. Ruben Diaz Denounces Gov. Cuomo For Gay Marriage Push

"I am deeply offended that during this Holy Week, which is a most sacred time to millions of New Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo is working hard to mobilize elected officials to legalize homosexual marriage in New York. We all know that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget, which was done in haste to beat the clock, will cause tremendous suffering to countless New Yorkers – especially Black and Hispanic communities. His cuts will hurt students, senior citizens, the sick, the poor and the needy. Now Governor Cuomo is targeting communities of faith in an effort to redefine marriage. The most basic tenets of New York’s largest faith communities include defining marriage as between one man and one woman. These religions that cherish these values include Catholic, Christian, Jewish and Muslim." - Anti-gay New York state Sen. Ruben Diaz, in a statement issued yesterday.

RELATED: In 2009 over 10,000 Hispanic evangelicals protested against same-sex marriage in Manhattan. Organized by Diaz, it was the largest such anti-gay rally in the history of the state.

Marriage Opponents Now In Minority

Nate Silver looks at the latest polling trends on same-sex marriage.

Republican candidates, who have placed less emphasis on gay marriage in recent years, probably cannot expect their opposition to it to be a net electoral positive for them except in select circumstances. If support for gay marriage were to continue accelerating as fast as it has in the past two years, supporters would outnumber opponents roughly 56-40 in the general population by November 2012. Past trends, of course, are no guarantee of future ones, and it’s always possible that the momentum toward increasing support for gay marriage could flatten out or even reverse itself. But this does put Republicans in a tricky position. Their traditional position on gay marriage is becoming less popular. But to the extent they disengage from the issue, they may lose even more ground. One way to read the trends of the past few years is that we have passed an inflection point wherein it is no longer politically advantageous for candidates to oppose same-sex marriage, which in turn softens opposition to it among the general public, creating a sort of feedback loop and accelerating the trend.

Release The Prop 8 Tapes!

The American Foundation for Equal Rights requests your signature on an open letter demanding the release of the Prop 8 trail videotapes, something NOM has been fighting for years. What are they so afraid of? I think you know.