Looking Forward in 2011 - Hopes for Gay Rights Will Shift to Courts

With the pending GOP take over of control of the U. S. House of Representatives, the likelihood of more LGBT rights advances occurring legislatively - e.g., passage of ENDA - will certainly dim with a result that in states like Virginia, employment discrimination against LGBT citizens will continue to be legal and the norm. While some progress may occur on the state level, in many states such will not be the case. Certainly, here in Virginia the GOP will continue to prostitute itself to the forces of hate and bigotry that flows from The Family Foundation and similar Christo-fascist organizations that seem all too prevalent. The Boston Globe has a story that looks at this reality and what may be expected on the litigation front where DOMA in particular is under challenge. Note that hate group leader Porno Pete is lauding the advent of GOP control of the House (Note: the Globe all too typically, fails to identify LaBarbera's organization as a hate group) . Here are some highlights:
*
WASHINGTON — Gay-rights activists, acknowledging they will lose momentum for their agenda in Congress when Republicans assume control of the House this week, are pinning their hopes for further gains in 2011 on a series of incremental measures and a host of federal court cases.
*
[A]ctivists and observers caution against expecting anything as dramatic from the next Congress. For instance, a legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, is virtually out of the question in the near future because of the GOP’s rise to power in the House, advocates said.
*
The retrenching comes after two years of relatively steady progress. In addition to the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, Congress passed a hate-crime bill in 2009 that included protections for gays and lesbians. Obama issued a memorandum extending limited benefits to federal employees with same-sex spouses, such as sick leave to care for them. And in 2010, the US Census recorded same-sex married couples for the first time.
*
Americans for Truth, an Illinois-based advocacy group for heterosexual marriage, is hailing the new Republican majority control in the House as a huge victory that it hopes will put the brakes on further progress toward what it calls “taxpayer-funded homosexuality.’’
*
Focus will once again turn to the courts, where rulings against the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers had helped create a favorable political environment for repeal. There are five lawsuits pending across the country that challenge the Defense of Marriage Act, including two key cases in Massachusetts.
*
In both cases, US District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor last summer, saying that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it interferes with states’ right to define marriage. The federal government is appealing and is scheduled to lay out its reasoning this month in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, where formal arguments are expected this summer.
*
“The public is ready to accept full equality,’’ said Richard Socarides, who was senior advisor to President Clinton on gay civil rights and who last month became president of Equality Matters, a new advocacy group in Washington. “But we have to bring policy makers along.’’