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You are here: Home / Archives for Gay Rights

GOP Can’t Avoid Fights Over Gay Rights

April 7, 2016 at 6:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 60 Comments

Washington Post: “Battles erupting across the country over gay rights and other social issues have put Republican candidates in a pinch, deepening fissures between the business interests and social conservatives whose support they depend on and forcing them to go on the defensive nationally amid changing cultural winds.”

“In the past month, three states have passed laws intended to protect rights of those who oppose same-sex marriage and half a dozen have enacted new abortion restrictions. And in Tennessee this week, the legislature passed a law making the Bible the official state book.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights, State House

The GOP’s Other Convention Fight

April 4, 2016 at 6:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

“Republicans, already girding for their most tumultuous convention in decades, now have another fight brewing: a divisive battle over gay marriage on the party’s official national platform,” Politico reports.

“It’s an issue that drives intense passion, and one that splits the mainstream and evangelical wings of the GOP. With the convention less than four months away, both sides are mobilizing in anticipation of a bitter clash over whether the party should embrace a more moderate approach to gay nuptials in keeping with a public that is more open to it — or maintain the hard line the party’s base demands.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Gay Rights

Alabama Justice Insists Gay Marriage Ban Be Upheld

January 6, 2016 at 3:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 54 Comments

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the Birmingham News reports.

Filed Under: Gay Rights

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Pastor Explains Reaction If His Son Had Gay Marriage

November 9, 2015 at 5:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 160 Comments

Pastor Kevin Swanson, who led a conference featuring Republican presidential candidates, said at the same event how he would react to his son marrying another man.

Said Swanson: “What would you do if that was the case? Here is what I would do: sackcloth and ashes at the entrance to the church and I’d sit in cow manure and I’d spread it all over my body. That’s what I would do and I’m not kidding, I’m not laughing.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Pope Secretly Met with Kim Davis

September 30, 2015 at 7:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

Pope Francis secretly met Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis “who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and gave her words of encouragement,” Reuters reports.

A Vatican spokesman “said he would neither confirm nor deny the report and that there would be no further statement. This was unusual for the Vatican, which normally issues either denials or confirmations.”

Rick Klein: “It’s little surprise that this or any pope would stand up against gay marriage. But having spent time with this particular county clerk – the very public face of outright defiance of the US Supreme Court – has specific ramifications that surely the pope and those around him are aware of. Maybe that was the point – in which case conservatives have every bit as much of the right to cite this papal visit’s political message as their liberal friends.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights, Religion Tagged With: Kim Davis, Pope Francis

Scalia Blasts Gay Marriage Ruling

September 24, 2015 at 12:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 96 Comments

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia “criticized judges who believe the Constitution is a ‘living’ document, saying they amount to policy makers who are rewriting it and making moral decisions for the entire country about same-sex marriage and other issues,” the AP reports.

He also referred to this summer’s same-sex marriage ruling as “extreme.”

Said Scalia: “They’re not adhering to the text, they’re operating as policy makers. They’re not interpreting the constitution. They’re writing one, they’re revising one.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights, Judiciary Tagged With: Antonin Scalia

Huckabee Offers to Go to Jail

September 9, 2015 at 6:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

“Republicans rallied around Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis on Tuesday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, with longshot presidential contender Mike Huckabee going so far as to wish he could go to jail in her stead,” Politico reports.

Said Huckabee: “If somebody needs to go to jail then I’m willing to go in her place and I mean that because I’m tired of watching people being just harassed because they believe something of their faith.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Gay Rights Tagged With: Mike Huckabee

Bonus Quote of the Day

September 4, 2015 at 4:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 122 Comments

“Hey Donald Trump you can’t make America great again by throwing the Christians in jail.”

— Gov. Bobby Jindal, on Twitter, after Trump said the United States is a “nation of laws” and that it “would be nice to have other people in her office do what they have to do” by issuing marriage licenses in Kentucky.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Gay Rights

Judge Orders Kentucky Clerk Jailed

September 3, 2015 at 1:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 283 Comments

A federal judge “ordered a Kentucky clerk jailed for contempt of court because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples,” the New York Times reports.

Said Judge David Bunning: “The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order. If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems.”

New York Times: “Five of the six deputy county clerks for Rowan County agreed Thursday that they would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples hours after a federal judge ordered their defiant boss to jail because of her refusal to do so.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Bevin Moves to Make Gay Marriage Key Issue of Race

September 2, 2015 at 12:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 91 Comments

Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin (R) said that he fully supports County Clerk Kim Davis’ right to refuse gay couples seeking marriage licenses, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.

Said Bevin: “I absolutely support her willingness to stand on her First Amendment rights. Without any question I support her.”

“The strong defense of Davis’ actions underscores how the GOP nominee hopes to make the fight over gay marriage a centerpiece of the 2015 governor’s race, which polling shows is a tight race between him and Democratic nominee Jack Conway.”

Filed Under: 2015 Campaign, Gay Rights Tagged With: KY-Gov, Matt Bevin

Quote of the Day

September 2, 2015 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 159 Comments

“As a public official, comply with the law or resign.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, on the defiant Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Clerk Defies Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Marriage

September 1, 2015 at 7:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 113 Comments

“A county clerk in Kentucky who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds denied licenses to gay couples on Tuesday, saying she was acting ‘under God’s authority,’ just hours after the Supreme Court refused to support her position,” the New York Times reports.

U.S. News reports the clerk herself has been married four times.

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Supreme Court Says Clerk Must Allow Gay Marriages

September 1, 2015 at 8:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 89 Comments

The Supreme Court “refused to allow a county clerk in Kentucky who objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds to continue to deny marriage licenses to all couples, gay or straight,” the New York Times reports.

“The case concerns Kim Davis, an elected clerk in rural Rowan County, Ky. After the state’s governor told county clerks to issue marriage licenses to all eligible couples, a federal court rejected Ms. Davis’s argument that she should be excused from the obligation given her religious beliefs.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights

No, You Cannot Marry Your Lawnmower

August 5, 2015 at 4:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

“You could marry your lawnmower with this decision,” Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said last week about the recent Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, Iowa Starting Line reports.

“Something about that statement didn’t seem very… accurate. But hey, this is an elected member of the U.S. Congress, responsible for crafting the nation’s laws. So Starting Line decided to do a little fact-checking of our own on this topic. That’s right, I actually tried to marry my lawnmower.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights Tagged With: Steve King

GOP May Move On Gay Marriage Law

July 18, 2015 at 6:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

New York Times: “Legislation granting protections for tax-exempt organizations and individuals objecting to same-sex marriage on religious or moral grounds is gathering momentum in the House. The bills, drafted by Representative Raúl R. Labrador, Republican of Idaho, and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, already have 130 co-sponsors. On Thursday, the Republican Study Committee, the largest, most organized group of conservatives in the House, demanded a vote.”

“At the same time, wary Republican moderates have quietly drafted a novel alternative that would actually expand legal protections for gay men and lesbians. Their legislation would narrow the scope of protection offered to groups declining services to same-sex couples seeking to marry.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Missouri County Lowers Flags to Mourn Gay Marriage

July 14, 2015 at 6:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 36 Comments

A Missouri country voted unanimously to observe one year of “mourning” over the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision that gay couples have the constitutional right to marriage, the Salem News reports.

The observance will come in the form of lowering the flags at the county courthouse and judicial building to below half-staff for the next year.

Filed Under: Gay Rights

Santorum Points to Gay Marriage Divide in Walker Family

July 13, 2015 at 5:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 68 Comments

Rick Santorum warned that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s dissonance with his wife on same-sex marriage could cause him to be less “active” in his opposition, The Hill reports.

Said Santorum: “Spouses matter. When your spouse is not in-sync with you — particularly on cultural issues, moral issues — you tend not to be as active on those issues.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Gay Rights Tagged With: Rick Santorum, Scott Walker

Santorum Moves to the Right of Cruz on Gay Marriage

July 13, 2015 at 2:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 51 Comments

Rick Santorum said he wants “a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman in all 50 states,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Santorum: “I believe we need a national standard for marriage. I don’t think we can have a standard from one state to another on what marriage is,” adding that he wants “to define marriage the way it was defined for 4,000 years of human history.”

The remarks put Santorum to the right of rivals such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Gov. Scott Walker (R), “who are pushing a different kind of constitutional amendment that would allow states to decide whether to allow or ban same-sex marriage, rather than an amendment that would set a national standard.”

Filed Under: Gay Rights

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goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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