Washington state Rep. Jim Moeller (D-Vancouver), who is openly gay, announced the upcoming legislation Thursday, reports The Columbian

From the Columbian:

Washington has one of the most sweeping domestic partnership laws in the nation. But gay marriage legislation has failed to pass repeatedly, most recently in the 2011 session, when a bill Moeller co-sponsored with state Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, failed to come to a vote. Moeller and Murray are among the Legislature’s openly gay members.

Moeller said he’s optimistic that the 2012 bill will make it into law.

“Our objective is to strengthen the social and legal protections for average, mainstream Washington families — the men, women and their children who make their homes in our communities and neighborhoods,” he said.

He emphasized that the legislation will protect the rights of clergy and religious institutions to determine for whom to perform marriage ceremonies and which marriages to recognize.

Washington’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman. It survived a legal challenge when the Washington Supreme Court upheld it in 2006.

But times have changed, and support for gay marriage is growing nationwide, Moeller said. “Four years ago, there were only a couple of states that actually offered marriage equality. Now there are six.”

Thursday marked another noteworthy day for same-sex marriage supporters, as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which would allow all legally-married couples to access federal benefits.

All the the committee’s Democrats approved the Respect for Marriage Act which would repeal DOMA and allow legally married couples to access federal benefits such as Social Security. Republicans countered that the repeal would undermine “traditional marriage.”

The bill was offered by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, and every Republican on the committee spoke out against it.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said, “The Fourteenth Amendment would probably never have been ratified if the public understood it to provide for same-sex marriage.

“This goes against the morality of many millions of Americans. I’ve always supported the definition of marriage between a man and a woman. It’s not about discriminating against anyone.”

It’s about “stable families, good environments for raising children and religious beliefs,” Grassley said.

“The Iowa Supreme Court made up a right to same-sex marriage. The people rose up and voted out all of the judges who were up for retention. In Iowa, the judges ignored the constitution,” Grassley added.

Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, a Democrat, said, “I support this bill because it takes the federal government out of the business of defining marriage.”

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said it would cost the government too much money if same-sex couples had access to Social Security like their heterosexual counterparts.

He also charged Democrats were out of touch by raising the issue.

“What’s changed since 1996? This is just another sign of how out of touch some of our friends across the aisle have been. I think it’s a transparent appeal to an interest group the other side needs in 2012.”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said even though he voted for DOMA in 1996, he realized his vote was wrong.

“I believe I was wrong and I readily acknowledge that my views on this issue changed. It’s not because of votes,” he responded to Coburn. “It’s the right thing to do. I don’t care if it costs me votes.”

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the repeal would “force states to recognize same-sex marriage.”

“Repealing Section 2 [of DOMA] means these sates may be forced to recognize valid marriage that their laws prohibit,” he said.

Cornyn said states have mostly chosen to affirm traditional marriage, adding he wished Democrats would support state’s rights in other instances. “I wish my liberal friends would pay attention to the prerogatives of the individual states in other situations.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said “repealing DOMA respects states right to make their own determination about marriage.”

On state-based bans on same-sex marriage, he said, “It’s not a question of if they are repealed, it’s a question of when.”

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said, “I was struck at the hearing on the bill last summer by the people who testified. They were discriminated against and unfairly harmed. They were denied protections like the ability to take off work to care for a dying partner and denied survivor benefits when a partner died.”

She also said the issue wasn’t about religion.

“Whatever we vote on today and whatever happens today, the bill doesn’t require any church or mosque or synagogue to perform same-sex marriage. As the debate on this continues, we cannot lose sight of that.”

“I have tremendous respect for Sen. Grassley,” Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, said. “I just believe you misstated the history of marriage. Marriage has not existed as a union between one man and one woman for thousands of years in every culture. In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and young girls. For centuries, women have been treated as cattle in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89-year-old widower and an 80-year-old widow? I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of marriage, the history of man and woman, the history of our institutions.”

Franken spoke about couples in Minnesota who have been harmed by DOMA including a young couple who met in divinity school and married in Connecticut who have to lie on their federal tax forms and say they are single.

He talked about another Minnesota couple that married in Iowa, John and Jeff Westerfied. John was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“Jeff won’t have the federal right to take a medical leave. If John passes, Jeff won’t see a dime from Social Security,” said Franken. “DOMA hurts people who love each other. DOMA hurts people who want to adopt kids and raise them and take care of them. DOMA hurts families.

“We need to pass this bill. Straight people aren’t suddenly going to become gay, Straight people aren’t going to stop getting married. We are going to be just fine. Really.”

Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum and Tim Walz joined 130 other members of Congress in filing a brief in a court case challenging part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The members are challenging Section 3 of DOMA that denies benefits to some legally married couples in Massachusetts that others are afforded and the members say it compromises states’ rights.

The lawsuit began in 2009, when the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) filed suit on behalf of eight legally married same-sex couples and three surviving spouses after they were denied federal legal protections.

133 House members added their support for the couples’ lawsuit.

“Some [House members] voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) while others voted for it; still others were not in Congress when DOMA was enacted. But all believe, today, that Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage for all federal purposes as ‘only a legal union between one man and one woman,’ lacks a rational relationship to any legitimate federal purpose and accordingly is unconstitutional,” the brief said.

Fourteen of the 133 House members signing the brief voted for the original law that they now view as unconstitutional. The only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation to have voted for DOMA in 1996 is Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, who has said he continues to support the law and voted to “reaffirm” it earlier this year.

Walz, Ellison, and McCollum have all been elected to Congress well after that vote. All three have also sponsored legislation to repeal DOMA.

The brief said, in part, that it was a response to House Speaker John Boehner’s decision to expend federal time and money on the Defense of Marriage Act.

“[The members] also wish to make clear that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (“BLAG”), which has intervened in this case to defend Section 3’s constitutionality, does not speak for a unanimous House on this issue.”

The brief concluded that DOMA was a federal overreach into the individual states’ rights to determine marriage.

“Prior to DOMA, Congress achieved its legitimate federal interests in promoting the welfare of American families by working cooperatively with the states and respecting state marriage determinations. Congress’s radical departure from that federalist practice was a mistake; because Section 3 violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee, it is also unconstitutional. The decision below should be affirmed.”

The case is being heard in the First Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals.

Here’s the full list of members who signed the brief:

Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, James E. Clyburn, Jerrold Nadler, John Conyers, Jr., Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, David N. Cicilline, Gary L. Ackerman, Robert E. Andrews, Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra, Shelley Berkley, Howard L. Berman, Timothy H. Bishop, Earl Blumenauer, Robert A. Brady, Bruce L. Braley, Lois Capps, Michael E. Capuano, André Carson, Judy Chu, Hansen Clarke, Yvette D. Clarke, Wm. Lacy Clay, Emanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Gerald E. Connolly, Joe Courtney, Joseph Crowley, Danny K. Davis, Susan A. Davis, Diana DeGette, Rosa L. DeLauro, Theodore E. Deutch, Lloyd Doggett, Michael F. Doyle, Donna F. Edwards, Keith Ellison, Eliot L. Engel, Anna G. Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Marcia L. Fudge, John Garamendi, Charles A. Gonzalez, Raúl M. Grijalva, Luis V. Gutierrez, Janice Hahn, Colleen W. Hanabusa, Alcee L. Hastings, Martin Heinrich, Brian Higgins, James A. Himes, Maurice D. Hinchey, Mazie K. Hirono, Kathy Hochul, Rush D. Holt, Michael M. Honda, Jay Inslee, Steve Israel, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr., William R. Keating, Dennis J. Kucinich, John B. Larson, Barbara Lee, Sander M. Levin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Nita M. Lowey, Carolyn B. Maloney, Edward J. Markey, Doris O. Matsui, Carolyn McCarthy, Betty McCollum, Jim McDermott, James P. McGovern, Jerry McNerney, Gregory W. Meeks, Brad Miller, George Miller, Gwen Moore, James P. Moran, Christopher S. Murphy, Grace F. Napolitano, Richard E. Neal, Eleanor Holmes Norton, John W. Olver, William L. Owens, Frank Pallone, Jr., Ed Pastor, Donald M. Payne, Gary C. Peters, Chellie Pingree, David E. Price, Mike Quigley, Charles B. Rangel, Laura Richardson, Steven R. Rothman, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Bobby L. Rush, Tim Ryan, Linda T. Sánchez, Loretta Sanchez, John P. Sarbanes, Janice D. Schakowsky, Adam B. Schiff, Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, José E. Serrano, Brad Sherman, Louise McIntosh Slaughter, Adam Smith, Jackie Speier, Fortney Pete Stark, Mike Thompson, John F. Tierney, Paul Tonko, Edolphus Towns, Niki Tsongas, Chris Van Hollen, Nydia M. Velázquez, Timothy J. Walz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxine Waters, Henry A. Waxman, Peter Welch, Lynn C. Woolsey, John A. Yarmuth.

The Department of Defense, in the wake of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, has indicated that it will allow chaplains and same-sex couples to use facilities on a “sexual orientation-neutral basis,” something Republican members of the U.S. House oppose.

The letter was authored by Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri and was signed by 86 members of the House.

“The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed into law by President Clinton,” Akin said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, this current administration is now directing the Department of Defense to ignore this law and perform gay marriages on military bases. I think this is wrong, which is why I offered an amendment to the House-passed defense bill making it clear that DOMA applies to the DOD. This letter calls for the Senate to add a similar amendment to their version of the bill. The Department of Defense should not be allowed to simply ignore laws they do not like.”

The House members complain that guidance by the Department of Defense General Counsel would make resources available to all members of the military. The general counsel guidance said that the “use of DoD real property and facilities for private functions, including religious and other ceremonies, should be made on a sexual orientation neutral basis.”

“This clear and deliberate violation of established U.S. law sets a dangerous precedent,” the letter states. “[The Defense of Marriage Act] makes it clear that for purposes of the federal government, marriage is defined as between one man and one woman. The use of federal property or federal employees to perform anything but opposite-sex ceremonies is a clear contravention of the law.”

The letter comes as same-sex couples in the military filed suit to overturn DOMA on Thursday in order to secure military benefits denied to them by the federal government.

“For me, the right to life has never been political,” Boehner said.

Boehner, the first political leader to take the stage at the three-day conservative Christian conference, began speaking about jobs and the economy, telling the room of flag-T-shirt-wearers that it is time to “liberate our economy from the shackles of this government.”

But he switched gears to abortion politics soon after, eliciting strong reactions from the crowd when he accused the administration of using taxpayer dollars to fund elective abortions, a policy that is prohibited by the longstanding Hyde Amendment. Still Boehner called for the end of publicly funding abortions and said the House GOP was working on a bill to make permanent the Hyde Amendment.

“Beyond the life issue, we must defend the Defense of Marriage Act,” Boehner said, censuring the president for ignoring the “law of the land” and promising to take money away from the Department of Justice for refusing to defend DOMA.

This week, Boehner’s office announced it is raising a $750,000 spending cap to $1.5 million to former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who is defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Senate Minority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) speech followed the same blueprint as Boehner’s – jobs, abortion, same-sex marriage. He announced that a bill would be introduced next week to Congress that would “ensure no taxpayer dollars to abortion” and that would broaden so-called “conscience rights” to health care workers and pharmacists, to allow them to refuse abortion services and emergency contraception to women based on religious objections.

But what ultimately won Cantor a standing ovation was a proposal to “eliminate government funding for any and all organizations that perform abortions.” This effort – largely aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood, which receives more than $300 million annually for its family planning and reproductive health services – has already begun with the House’s recent introduction of a controversial Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill (PDF).

Abortion has already proved to be a star in this year’s summit, with every speaker addressing it in some form. Members of Susan B Anthony List are stationed throughout the Omni Shoreham Hotel handing out a joint voter guide introduced Friday by the SBA List and the National Organization for Marriage that list the anti-abortion/anti-same-sex marriage rights of the presidential hopefuls based on pledges they have signed.

Boehner and Cantor followed Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council Action, the lead sponsor of the Values Voter Summit. In his speech, Perkins introduced a theme that is likely to pervade the conference and how presidential candidates campaign for the support of the Christian voters in attendance.

Referring to a recent speech the President Barack Obama gave about values before the LGBT lobby the Human Rights Campaign, Perkins challenged the current president in his absence.

“Mr. President, you’re right, this is a contest of values. And I tell you what, this Marine has never backed away from a contest. … This election is too important to elect a Republican. We need to elect a conservative …”

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by roaring applause.

Stay tuned for more Values Voter Summit coverage from The American Independent.

In a release, the Christian Family Coalition writes that “Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) has embarrassed and ridiculed herself by becoming the first Republican to co-sponsor on a deceptive bill to overturn the bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This new fraudulent legislation seeks to overturn the will of the people in Florida and all across America, by imposing so-called ‘homosexual marriage’ on all fifty (50) states.”

The release adds that Ros-Lehtinen lied and misled her “own constituents, donors and volunteers by kowtowing to an extremist agenda.”

Ros-Lehtinen, the first and only GOP congressperson to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, has earned the support of Log Cabin Republicans and Freedom to Marry.

Equality Florida, which works to secure “full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community” writes that “Ros-Lehtinen is a longtime Equality Florida supporter and a 2010 Voice for Equality Award honoree for her work to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and as a founder of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. She’s stood her ground against these extremists in the past but this time they are coming after her like never before.”

Last week, the National Organization for Marriage called on supporters to fund a new campaign that targets Ros-Lehtinen for her decision to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act.

A letter crafted by Organization for Marriage for supporters to send to Ros-Lehtinen states, “I am writing to express my disappointment and deep concern that you would abandon traditional Republican principles of marriage, family, and democratic self-government. Marriage is a bedrock of our society, and I urge you to re-consider your position on DOMA.”

]]> http://washingtonindependent.com/113044/christian-family-coalition-attacks-ros-lehtinen-for-marriage-equality-support/feed 0 http://washingtonindependent.com/112652/nom-targets-ros-lehtinen-over-support-for-same-sex-marriage http://washingtonindependent.com/112652/nom-targets-ros-lehtinen-over-support-for-same-sex-marriage#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:47:28 +0000 admin http://washingtonindependent.com/112652/nom-targets-ros-lehtinen-over-support-for-same-sex-marriage

In its latest appeal for donations, the National Organization for Marriage is calling on supporters to fund a new campaign that targets U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, for her recent decision to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of

More...

The appeal espouses the notion that LGBT-rights groups are “desperate to divide the Republican Party,” given Ros-Lehtinen is the lone Republican joining 124 Democrats co-sponsoring the repeal of DOMA.

In a newsletter emailed to donors Tuesday evening, NOM President Brian Brown asked supporters to tell the congresswoman they are “outraged that she would abandon marriage and the millions of voters who have adopted state amendments to protect marriage.”

To make it easy, NOM has crafted a letter for supporters to send:

Dear Rep. Ros-Lehtinen,

I am writing to express my disappointment and deep concern that you would abandon traditional Republican principles of marriage, family, and democratic self-government. Marriage is a bedrock of our society, and I urge you to re-consider your position on DOMA.

By co-sponsoring Rep. Nadler’s bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, you are placing in jeopardy the laws of marriage in more the 40 states, threatening to impose same-sex marriage on voters across the nation who have resoundingly rejected same-sex marriage at every turn.

I urge you to drop your support for the repeal of DOMA, and to respect the voice of the American people, including the people of Florida, who have already voted to keep marriage as it has always been — the union of a husband and wife.

In a statement issued by the Log Cabin Republicans last week, Ros-Lehtinen explained that she co-sponsored the repeal of DOMA because, ”I firmly believe that equality is enshrined in our constitution and in our great democracy.”

The Florida representative has consistently co-sponsored LGBT-friendly legislation and recently joined the brand-new Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus.

“Gay marriage activists know they don’t need to persuade the Republican grassroots to support same-sex marriage – they just need to split off enough GOP elite opinion to provide cover as they force SSM on the entire nation,” Brown writes in Tuesday’s newsletter. “Several prominent GOP elites have already signed on, and gay marriage activists are spending millions of dollars to pressure and persuade more Republican lawmakers that they can support same-sex marriage without consequence.

“And maybe it’s time Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen started looking for a new job,” he added.

While accusing groups such as the Human Rights Campaign, the Log Cabin Republicans and Freedom to Marry of using money and influence to sway lawmakers on the same-sex marriage issue and to “gut the [Republican Party] platform of its traditional support for life and marriage,” Brown reminds supporters that NOM has committed to spending $2 million “to defeat the turncoat senators” who broke party ranks to vote for the marriage equality in New York in June.

NOM has taken credit for former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat in New York’s 9th District recently going to Republican Bob Turner rather than Democrat David Weprin — because NOM donated money to the race.

The Washington Blade reports on the letter:

“As Members who believe that DOMA is unconstitutional and support the President’s decision to stop defending it, we believe that the law is not factually or legally justifiable and were interested in hearing what arguments might possibly be made in its defense,” the lawmakers write.

Congress picked up the tab and defense of the law, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing any marriages except those between one man and one woman, when President Barack Obama announced in February that he believed the law was unconstitutional, and therefore indefensible.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R- Miami, has become the first member of the GOP to co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

Respect for Marriage was filed by Rep. Jerald Nadler, D-N.Y., and has 124 co-sponors, until now all Democrats.

The Miami Herald reports today that Freedom to Marry and the Log Cabin Republicans announced Ros-Lehtinen’s support for the bill. According to the Herald:

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said, “I’m pleased to join the Log Cabin Republicans in our fight for marriage equality. I co-sponsored the repeal of DOMA because I firmly believe that equality is enshrined in our constitution and in our great democracy.”

Ros-Lehtinen is also a member of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, created last week ”to examine methods by which the United States can maintain global leadership in the response to the epidemic in the U.S. and around the world.” Ros-Lehtinen, the only Florida Republican in the HIV/AIDS Caucus, joins all of Florida’s congressional Democrats: Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Frederica Wilson.

Florida has some of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS reported cases in the United States and currently has the longest AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list in the country.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (known as ADAP) provide medications for the treatment of HIV and AIDS for people who cannot afford to pay because they are unemployed, uninsured or underinsured. It has been in a funding crisis since last year.

The National Alliance of States and Territorial AIDS Directors’ latest ADAP Watch (.pdf) indicates that, as of Thursday, at least 8,800 people in 10 states were on AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list. With almost 4,100 people, Florida has 47 percent of the people on a Drug Assistance Program waiting list in the U.S.

Florida’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS reported that through 2010, the total number of people living with HIV and AIDS in the state increased to about 98,000. The report also shows that HIV incidence was by far highest among black men who have sex with men. The state Department of Health defines HIV incidence as the “number or proportion of new HIV infections within a specific population during a defined time period”

In 2008, Florida ranked third among states in the number of reported AIDS cases and third among 38 states that reported HIV cases.