Tag Archives: vaughn walker

Liberal Talk Show Host Thom Hartmann Says It’s Time for Gay ‘Reparations’

It’s one thing to have liberal guilt, but this is taking it way too far.  In a video posted to YouTube on Aug. 5 , popular liberal talk host Thom Hartmann, identified what he considered was the appropriate way to cope with this guilt type, specifically that of which came with the issue of LGBT rights. Hartmann hails himself as “the 10th most important talk show host in America, and the No. 1 most important progressive host, in their ‘Heavy Hundred’ ranking” according to Talkers Magazine . Hartmann laid out the reasoning chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used in an Aug. 4 ruling that overturn California’s Proposition 8 gay marriage ban, a ballot initiative approved by over 7 million voters in 2008 . Then he added his own unique solution. “Well yesterday, Judge Vaughn Walker, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, ruled that California’s Proposition 8, which said that it was illegal for gays to get married in that state, was unconstitutional,” Hartmann said. “He said that he based his ruling, although the right-wing is all over him for being gay himself – he said he based his ruling on the preponderance of scientific evidence that was presented to him in court, which indicated that the children of families of gay couples grew up every bit as normal, and in fact in some studies more normal and healthy, psychologically healthy, as the children of straight families and that gay couples and their relationships are every bit as psychologically, and socially, and economically significant and legitimate as are straight couples.” Hartmann, with his psychological expertise in hand, alluded to the reasoning in Walker’s ruling, added that the only basis for such a ban, despite the approval of those people, were “moral and religious views.” “He said that the evidence conclusively shows that moral and religious views form the only basis for the belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples,” Hartmann said. “Very, very interesting.” To rectify this situation – Hartmann made the incredible call for reparations, singling out the Mormon Church to pay for gay weddings in the California for the next years. “You know, I – gay people in this country have a long history of discrimination, of hatred, of murder,” he continued. “Matthew Shepard, you know – tortured, dragged, dragged you know dragged at the end of a truck, tied to a fence post left to die in the desert sun for example. I think that we should have reparations for gays. I think that the Mormon Church, which contributed a large chunk, maybe as much half of the money or maybe members of the Mormon church, as much as half of the money from out-of-state to fund Prop 8 for the next 10 years should have to pay for every gay wedding in the state of California.” The next step of this case is for it to be heard by the left-leaning Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then would likely be heard by the Supreme Court to determine whether it violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection” and “due process.”

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Liberal Talk Show Host Thom Hartmann Says It’s Time for Gay ‘Reparations’

Prop 8 overturned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/prop-8-overturned-gay-mar_n_671018.html In a major victory for gay rights activists, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday that a voter initiative banning same-sex marriage in California violated the Constitution's equal protection and due process rights clauses. After a five-month wait, 9th Circuit District Court Judge Vaughn Walker offered a 136-page decision in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, firmly rejecting Proposition 8, which was passed by voters in November 2008. Other links: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/04/california.same.sex.ruling/index.html?hpt=T1&am… http://advocate.com/Politics/Prop__8/Breaking_Prop_8_Overturned/ http://www.hrc.org/prop8decision/index.htm?utm_source=HRCorg&utm_term=Homepa… ~~ Finally. 🙂 added by: hektic

Octomom Nadya Suleman Expressed Refusal For A Reality TV Show

foxnews Known as the OCTOMOM in the media, Nadya Suleman feels that the moniker makes her like a “carnival attracttion”. In the Oprah Winfrey Show, Suleman – who gave birth to eight live newborns last January 2009 — said she would never allow her children to be the subject of the reality show. Via satellite from Studio City in California, Suleman spoke to Oprah and said she takes full responsibility for providing for her children, the oldest of which is 8. She called “Octomom” a fictional character that “completely is the antithesis of who I am as a person.” “That’s exactly what Octomom is, a carnival attraction,” Suleman said. Cameras have been trailing the Sulemans almost 24 hours a day.  Pictures were taken irrepressibly.  Trip to the park, Nadya giving her babies baths, reading to them and feeding them. All eight babies sat at a special table together as they ate. Suleman was shown running down the stairs with a bottle in hand. Suleman told Queen of Talk Winfrey that she would never participate in a reality television show. “That robs them of their childhood and I think it’s borderline abusive,” Suleman said. Last June, Suleman’s lawyer said she had signed a deal to star in a reality television series to be filmed by the Netherlands-based production company Eyeworks. Attorney Jeff Czech said instead of following the family 24 hours a day the show would document certain milestones. Court filings in Los Angeles show the company has sought to dismiss its petition for contracts that would pay Suleman’s children $250 a day for being in the series. Entertainment contracts involving children in California must receive a judge’s approval. Octomom Nadya Suleman Expressed Refusal For A Reality TV Show is a post from: Daily World Buzz Continue reading

Watch House Hunters Season 40 Episode 12 Online Stream

Watch your favorite Reality TV series “ House Hunters ” with its new episode entitles “ Traci and Josh are First Time Buyers Who Try to Navigate the Competitive Real Estate Market in Lubbock, Texas ” that released April 21, 2010. It’s a best show that you gonna wish to watch all the time. Get it free through streaming online. Current show and replays are always available on the specified television online. To get access, visit and watch it here: House Hunters Season 40 Episode 12 Traci and Josh are First Time Buyers Who Try to Navigate the Competitive Real Estate Market in Lubbock, Texas or Watch it HERE . Watch House Hunters Season 40 Episode 12 Online Stream is a post from: Daily World Buzz Continue reading

The Prop 8 Judge Is Gay, and It Doesn’t Matter

Once upon a time, gay activists hated Vaughn Walker for legally squashing the Gay Olympics. But this weekend The San Francisco Chronicle definitively revealed that the Prop. 8 judge is gay. Judge Walker’s sexual identity has overlapped with his public life before. Appointed to the bench by the first President Bush in 1989, he spent his early career battling the perception that he was anti-gay after he represented the U.S. Olympic Committee in a trademark infringement battle with San Francisco’s Gay Olympics. Nancy Pelosi accused him of “insensitivity.” (Putting a lien on the Gay Olympics’ AIDS-ravaged leader during the man’s dying days didn’t help.) Walker had “no comment” on Chronicle political gossip duo Matier and Ross ‘ question about his sexuality, but did note that “Life is full of irony” when they brought up the Gay Olympics debacle. Matier and Ross’ headline is both report and conclusion: ” Judge Being Gay a Nonissue During Prop. 8 Trial .” It’d be cool if the relative quiet on Walker’s orientation was because America recognized that Judge Walker’s sex life doesn’t affect his job. ( Minimal MSM and right-wing pickup so far .) As SF Weekly points out , even calling the Chronicle ‘s article an “outing” is misleading: Walker has never tried to hide his orientation, and it’s pretty common for judges to keep their personal lives away from the spotlight, in the interest of perceived impartiality. But I tend to think a slightly funnier explanation for the relative quiet—that the right-wing bullies who usually drive a story like this forward simply don’t read the San Francisco Chronicle or gay blogs like Queerty , which has been reporting this story for months—is at play. Recall that six months ago right-wingers feared Sonia Sotomayor incapable of fairly judging white men. When it comes to minority judges, plenty of people are still idiots. Hard-right hangouts like The Corner are just warming up so the wingnut freak-out machine still has time. The most cynical guess would be that the right measured the risks and calculated that luck of the draw (which is how the Prop. 8 trial landed in Walker’s courtroom) is still in their favor. Here’s why: A Republican appointment, Walker is believed to lean conservative, albeit by way of libertarianism, which could make him gay-friendlier. Almost everyone agrees that, after 21 years on the bench, Walker is fair. There is no reason to believe he’d change now—if anything, the Gay Olympics debacle demonstrated an imperviousness to public pressure. (And resisting the urge to scream But I am one in Nancy Pelosi’s face was probably hard.) If he rules against Prop. 8, the homophobes will have their big, nasty appeal primed and ready. It goes without saying that Judge Walker’s sexuality is irrelevant. Assuming gay judges always side with other gays (or “Wise Latinas” with other Latinas) is a flawed logic that assumes neutrality lies with heterosexuals (or whites, or males). The rabbit hole of identity-based speculation is infinite (What if Judge Walker is self-hating? What if he overcompensates? What if one of the lawyers looks like his ex-boyfriend who was such a jerk , and he can’t judge fairly because he just hates that guy’s face so much? ) and pointless. As Queerty elegantly states , “Immutable characteristics do not disqualify a person from exercising justice.” Also, if you write a law that so offends an entire class of people that you cannot trust them ever to discuss it fairly, then perhaps there is something wrong with your law. SF Chron: Being Gay a Nonissue During Prop. 8 Trial SF Weekly: Chron Hardly ‘Outed’ Judge Vaughn Walker Above the Law: Prop 8 Judge May be Gay: Does It Matter? WSJ Law Blog: Prop. 8 Judge Reported Gay: What to Make of That? SF Chron: Editorial: Gay Judge Has Proven Record of Impartiality Queerty: Remember When the Gays Hated Prop 8 Judge Vaughn Waker?

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The Prop 8 Judge Is Gay, and It Doesn’t Matter