Gay Dads Get a Lift at Ikea

Since I really want to be a dad, I felt compelled to repost this from Bilerico Project's Dana Rudolph. It made me laugh but in a great way - a gleeful laugh of, "Oh wow, we're so commonplace now!"

Enjoy.

One more reason I love IKEA. Actual photo from the IKEA in Stoughton, Mass. (Slight color correction, but otherwise not Photoshopped.)

And yes, there was another elevator next to it with a "man" and a "woman" and a child—or at least that's what I assume it was intended to be. One of the figures was in a dress. Interpret it as you will. (And I know this crowd will.) That seemed less extraordinary, however, and since my son was dragging me away for meatballs, I didn't grab a photo.

One other item to note. Dana made a fan out of me with her comment, "Interpret as you will," in her reference to the other elevator with a figure in a dress. This is such an amazing awareness of our trans population whom I feel gets overlooked too much in our community.

Iowa Puts Pressure on California Supreme Court

Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and lead counsel for same-sex couples and Equality California in Strauss v. Horton, the challenge to Proposition 8 currently pending before the California Supreme Court, wrote a guest post on Bilerico Project about the implications of the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage for California's own high court.

Excerpts:

. . .the Iowa court repeatedly underscored that equal protection is one of the "basic principles essential to our form of government," part of our very "blueprint for government," essential to the continued existence of "our republican form of government and our freedoms," and the foundation of "the rule of law." That is the centerpiece of our argument in the Prop 8 case. What is at stake in the Prop 8 case is not just marriage for same-sex couples, but the foundational principle that all people are entitled to equal protection of the laws.

Today's decision from Iowa strongly reinforces that the California Supreme Court must not permit a simple majority of voters to jettison that defining hallmark of our government by eliminating a right only for an unpopular minority. . .

Especially in light of today's decision, it would tarnish the California Supreme Court's credibility and stature for the court to back away from its prior decision and pretend that Proposition 8 does not relegate same-sex couples and their children to a second-class status. Proposition 8 installs an invidious inequality in the heart of the California Constitution. There is no principled way for the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8 without compromising its prior decision in the Marriage Cases and causing grievous and unjust harm to an entire class of California families.

This is a defining moment for our state and for the California Supreme Court. The Court's decision in the Prop 8 challenge will either reaffirm the centrality of equality in our constitutional system, or it will hold, for the first time in our state's history, that a simple majority can amend the constitution to impose inequality on an unpopular minority.

Read the amazing full post at Bilerico Project.

Marriage Vs. Civil Unions

The Bilerico Project, recently the victim of an "internet hate crime" by hackers in Eastern Europe, are not backing down - they keep bringing up topics of great debate for the LGBTQ community.

Today, Michael Crawford, Managing Editor of Bilerico, wants to know what you think about the argument that the United States should only issue civil unions to all despite gender and sexual orientation. He refers to contributor John Shields' hot topic piece that stirred up a lot of response, Marriage Vs. Civil Unions in which Shields says:

"I argued then, as I do now, that the separation of church and state - enshrined in the American Constitution - demands that we separate the church from what should be a civic matter. Civil unions for all, and then you can (if you so desire) head to your house of worship and "enshrine" your love and commitment in any manner you and your partner so desire."

So, Crawford issued a poll. And I'm curious to know what you think too. Poll is directly beneath this post.