Arghhhhh! I wrote a long, detailed post on just how horribly wrong these two developments are, but I watched it vanish before my eyes. Maybe if I get time tomorrow, I'll try to recreate it.
But in the meantime, for those Gay Republicans out there who think the GOP is improving on gay rights, think again. They may talk a kinder, gentler game these days, but they're just as virulently homophobic when push comes to shove. BTW, this is Trump's second anti-gay act since taking office. Previously, he rescinded the Obama guidance on transgendered students. And Trump actually said he was better on gay issues than Hillary Clinton ......... Talk about Fake News.
http://www.npr.org/2017/06/30/535021154/texas-sup … ex-couples
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-lgbt-pride-month-621206
Just like Roe v. Wade, the extreme right wing Republicans will keep going after Obergefell v Hodges in any way that's possible. It's going to start this next SC session when the justices hear out the case(s) for religious liberty. It will be interesting to read Clarence Thomas' contorted legal reasoning on why it's perfectly fine and legal to be a bigot and deny people equal rights and opportunity.
I agree with you too; I'm amazed that there are those in the gay community that will vote for these people knowing that they will be discriminated against and possibly be put in jeopardy both physical and financially with this legislation that allows for hate and bigotry to perpetuate. I'm bummed.
I'm sure you read it, but if not, here's the link to the Wright article. For sure it's a Texas' sized reading! http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/amer … e-is-texas
While the Texas Supreme Court's ruling Friday in Pidgeon v. Houston was hardly unexpected, the ruling, which said that the U.S. Supreme Court''s ruling legalizing gay marriage did not guarantee marriage benefits to same-sex couples, is the most cravenly political, wrongheaded and blatantly unconstitutional decision in recent memory.
There are several issues here. First, the U.S. Constitution. The Texas court, with this ruling, effectively says that it is permissible for state and local governments in Texas to discriminate against gay people by refusing to treat their marriages equally to those of heterosexual couples. Wrongly, the court concluded that because Oberkfell v. Hodges didn't explicitly address the issue of benefits, it didn't include them. Anyone who has been following the U.S. Supreme Court's string of rulings on gay rights issues can see the same basic thread that the Texas Supreme Court somehow missed: Government MAY NOT treat citizens differently on the basis of sexual orientation. I doubt the appeals of this case make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, because lower federal courts will rule against Texas so fast the Texas judges' heads will be spinning.
Secondly, this case NEVER should have even been accepted for trial. Two Houston taxpayers brought the case, arguing that the city of Houston was illegally spending their tax dollars against their religious beliefs. It is a settled matter of law (except in Texas, apparently) that taxpayers cannot sue the government on the basis of how their tax dollars are spent. How this case even exists is a matter of .....
Thirdly, politics. This case is purely about Gov. Greg Abbott's personal crusade to be re-elected. He doesn't want a challenge from the right and so with this bizarre case and the demand that Texas lawmakers pass an anti-transgender "bathroom bill," he's trying to prove his right-wing credentials to the religious right. Even the Texas Supreme Court knows this ruling was wrong. They originally had rejected the case, only to reconsider after some arm-twisting by Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
I urge all Texans who care about equal rights to vote against all the Republicans involved in this case: Abbott, Paxton, and the nine Texas Supreme Court justices (all Republican):
Chief Justice Nathan Hecht
and justices:
Paul Green
Phil Johnson
Don Willett
Eva Guzman
Debra Lehrmann
Jeffrey Boyd
Phillip Devine
Jeff Brown
As Texans, we deserve better from our state's highest court than a cave-in political ruling that denies thousands of Texans their basic civil rights.