Mr. Chairman, we need to pass this bill. And when we do pass it, straight people aren’t suddenly going to become gay. Straight people aren’t going to stop getting married. We’re going to be just fine, really.
What will happen is that millions upon millions of lesbian and gay Americans aren’t going to suffer the indignity of having their own government tell them that their marriages are no good. What will happen is that it will be easier for those people to start and to protect their families.
Sen. Al Franken at today’s hearing on the Respect For Marriage Act.
Franken sums up the very real, human issues behind DOMA so well. Video here:
I feel Neil Patrick Harris cheering is appropriate.
(via cognitivedissonance)
(via kileyrae)
Bishop William Lori of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Oct. 26 about the “grave threats to religious liberty that have emerged even since June.” Lori specifically singled out the administration’s refusal to defend the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and state efforts to expand marriage equality to gays and lesbians:
The federal Department of Justice (DoJ) has ratcheted up its attack on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) by mischaracterizing it as an act of bigotry….If the label of “bigot” sticks to our Church and many other churches—especially in court, under the Constitution—because of their teaching on marriage, the result will be church-state conflicts for many years to come.
As I shared earlier this week, many Catholics do not share the views of the Church’s leaders on many LGBT issues.
