Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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7 replies on “Allen confronted on his civil rights votes.”
If marriage were a right, I might consider some of this kid’s arguments. But it is not, so it is a moot point.
Tully Satre for Senator!
I’m serious. It’s rare to see such articulate, civil arguments. We need more of that.
@CR UVa. If the issue was just about whether marriage is a civil right, then there would be no issue. (Add in civil unions, give them the same benefits as marriage, and voila, everyone’s happy.) Unfortunately, once HB 751 became Virginia law, any contract or agreement that provides marriage-like benefits to two people of the same sex is banned. That is way beyond ridiculous. It forcefully ties together sexuality and civil rights, so whether or not marriage is a civil right, it has become a civil-rights issue.
Great kid! Good role model for his elders!
Anyone want to take odds on whether we’ll see any adult Dems demand equality for all Virginians this year? (Note: That was a rhetorical question.)
Following Tully’s excellent example, I also have some questions for the Senator (more at Equality Loudoun):
Do you believe that terroristic threats are protected by the First Amendment? Are there exceptions? Please provide examples.
The organizers of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year refused to allow openly gay people to participate. If people had marched in the parade with buttons or signs identifying themselves as gay Catholics, is that protected speech? Would it have violated the rights of the parade organizers to freedom of assembly? If so, how does this example differ from protesters joining a Gay Pride event with bullhorns?
Can you explain exactly what it means to “elevate [a characteristic] to civil rights status”? Please describe the process by which other characteristics protected under hate crimes law were so “elevated.”
Is religion a characteristic that should be a protected class under hate crimes law? Why or why not? Is the belief in or practice of a particular religion an inherent trait of an individual?
Does the motivation for committing a crime ever matter? For example, would there be any difference between an incident in which a group of Americans visiting another country were killed in order to steal their money, and one in which they were killed because they were Americans, to send a message to other Americans?
There will be more of these Town Hall meetings, and Senator Allen should be afforded every opportunity to clarify his position before the national media.
Btw, if I’m not mistaken, in Loving v. Virginia the Supreme Court held that marriage is a civil right.
I enjoyed reading that post. He made some pretty excellent points on the issue.
I’m all for homosexual marriage. I think it’s an equal rights/ equal protection issue.
There is no comparision between a marriage and a civil union. They don’t come close to being the same.
The differences between ‘marriage’ and ‘civil unions’ are that marriage carries with it a large number of federal (and/or possibly state) entitlements that heterosexual couples take for granted, that are not and cannot be conveyed to a homosexual couple via a ‘civil union.’
For example-
1) As a legally married couple with 1 child (Man, Woman and Child) with the untimely death of one parent the child would be entitled to draw social security benefits as a survivor of the deceased parent.
2) A lesbian couple with 1 child in similar situation under a civil union there is no similar protection. The child gets nothing.
People have worked to get rid of other types of discrimination, there’s no reason to perpetuate this type of discrimination.
If marriage were a right, I might consider some of this kid’s arguments. But it is not, so it is a moot point.
Tully Satre for Senator!
I’m serious. It’s rare to see such articulate, civil arguments. We need more of that.
@CR UVa. If the issue was just about whether marriage is a civil right, then there would be no issue. (Add in civil unions, give them the same benefits as marriage, and voila, everyone’s happy.) Unfortunately, once HB 751 became Virginia law, any contract or agreement that provides marriage-like benefits to two people of the same sex is banned. That is way beyond ridiculous. It forcefully ties together sexuality and civil rights, so whether or not marriage is a civil right, it has become a civil-rights issue.
Great kid! Good role model for his elders!
Anyone want to take odds on whether we’ll see any adult Dems demand equality for all Virginians this year? (Note: That was a rhetorical question.)
Following Tully’s excellent example, I also have some questions for the Senator (more at Equality Loudoun):
Do you believe that terroristic threats are protected by the First Amendment? Are there exceptions? Please provide examples.
The organizers of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year refused to allow openly gay people to participate. If people had marched in the parade with buttons or signs identifying themselves as gay Catholics, is that protected speech? Would it have violated the rights of the parade organizers to freedom of assembly? If so, how does this example differ from protesters joining a Gay Pride event with bullhorns?
Can you explain exactly what it means to “elevate [a characteristic] to civil rights status”? Please describe the process by which other characteristics protected under hate crimes law were so “elevated.”
Is religion a characteristic that should be a protected class under hate crimes law? Why or why not? Is the belief in or practice of a particular religion an inherent trait of an individual?
Does the motivation for committing a crime ever matter? For example, would there be any difference between an incident in which a group of Americans visiting another country were killed in order to steal their money, and one in which they were killed because they were Americans, to send a message to other Americans?
There will be more of these Town Hall meetings, and Senator Allen should be afforded every opportunity to clarify his position before the national media.
Btw, if I’m not mistaken, in Loving v. Virginia the Supreme Court held that marriage is a civil right.
I enjoyed reading that post. He made some pretty excellent points on the issue.
I’m all for homosexual marriage. I think it’s an equal rights/ equal protection issue.
There is no comparision between a marriage and a civil union. They don’t come close to being the same.
The differences between ‘marriage’ and ‘civil unions’ are that marriage carries with it a large number of federal (and/or possibly state) entitlements that heterosexual couples take for granted, that are not and cannot be conveyed to a homosexual couple via a ‘civil union.’
For example-
1) As a legally married couple with 1 child (Man, Woman and Child) with the untimely death of one parent the child would be entitled to draw social security benefits as a survivor of the deceased parent.
2) A lesbian couple with 1 child in similar situation under a civil union there is no similar protection. The child gets nothing.
People have worked to get rid of other types of discrimination, there’s no reason to perpetuate this type of discrimination.