Constitution Day: Marriage Equality Is A Right The Constitution Demands
On National Constitution Day, let’s remember that the Supreme Court affirmed, in 1967, that marriage is, indeed, a civil right.
Today is National Constitution Day, marking the day in 1787 delegates to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia  — including our Founding Fathers — signed the Constitution. It would not be ratified for another two years.
Constitution Day, formally known as “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,†was created to recognize the ratification of our Constitution, and to acknowledge all those who have become citizens of our country.
The U.S. Constitution is an elegant, elastic creation (yes, Tea Party, elastic,) that has guided and inspired us since it was signed into being 224 years ago. And no, I don’t agree with it all — like our current interpretation of the Second Amendment — but, like some might say, you don’t run a country with the Constitution you want, you run a country with the Constitution you have.
And yes, a lot has changed since it was written. But the principles in our Declaration of Independence — upon which our country were founded: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — haven’t.
So, let’s talk about gay marriage.
Gay marriage, same-​sex marriage, marriage equality, whatever we want to call it, bottom line, it’s marriage. Someday, we’ll be able to say “marriage†unequivocally and without qualification.
The Supreme Court affirmed, in 1967, that marriage is, indeed, a civil right. In the unanimously-​decided Loving v. Virginia, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the court’s opinion:
“Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.… To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.â€
Make the obvious switch from racial terms to identity and orientation terms — all of which describe immutable characteristics — and the result is, well, obvious.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes this passage:
“…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.â€
Surely marriage is both a “basic civil right†and a “protection of the law?â€
Ted Olson and David Boies’ much-​heralded Prop 8 someday may make its way to the Supreme Court on two important Constitutional cases:
Romer v. Evans, the Supreme Court case that ruled against a Colorado constitutional amendment that had prohibited state protections for homosexual citizens. And Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws in Texas, and, therefore, in the United States.
So, where is all this taking us?
The battle for marriage equality has been fought at the state level, for several reasons. Many have said marriage is a states’ rights issue. Others have been disinclined to bring a case to the U.S. Supreme Court, concerned that a judgment against marriage equality by the conservative court would establish precedent that would be even more difficult to overturn.
Make no mistake — marriage is not a states’ rights issue. Marriage, as determined in Loving, is a civil right. Civil rights are not states’ rights, but federal. It is the FBI, for example, that investigates civil rights abuses. Civil rights are, simply, federal.
And we’ve been wrong to fight this battle at the state level. It is, in fact, a federal issue, a Constitutional issue.
Nevertheless, that’s what we’re stuck with. For now. Because at some point enough states will offer full marriage equality to make Article Four — U.S. Constitution’s full faith and credit clause — the elephant in the room.
Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, will make this more likely, as DOMA allows (unconstitutionally, in the opinion of a federal court judge, 20 U.S. bankruptcy court judges, the DOJ, Attorney General Eric Holder, and the President,) states and the federal government to ignore the legal and judicial proceedings of other states.
Which is all the more reason why it is critical we support, and work very hard to ensure that the “Respect for Marriage Act,†is passed and signed into law.
The Constitution is an elastic instrument subject to interpretation. It is not a black and white document without room for interpretation.
We will win marriage equality. It may be via language already in the Constitution. It may be via Congressional legislation. It may be, sadly, one state at a time. The one thing I do know: it will not be via inaction.
(Image: Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy.)
Editor’s note: This article is based upon one The New Civil Rights Movement ran in 2009.
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For almost a year Donald Trump inexplicably has been injecting the fictional character Hannibal Lecter into his re-election rallies. Now, far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has promoted white nationalism and appears to be influencing the ex-president, has introduced the serial killing cannibal into the latest, dangerous Trump controversy.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump falsely claimed during Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, referring to Haitian immigrants. “The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”
Despite multiple fact checks proving Trump (and his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, who has also promoted those pet-eating lies) wrong, the Republican presidential nominee doubled down – even after the debate moderator, ABC News’ David Muir, live on-air debunked his claims.
The City of Springfield, Ohio was forced to evacuate its city hall and an elementary school Thursday morning after a multiple-location bomb threat was received, but that did not stop Trump from promoting his false claims on his Truth Social social media platform hours later.
READ MORE: Trump Faces Increasing Calls to Participate in Second Debate
“Bernie Moreno has a very good chance of winning Ohio against a Radical Left Democrat, Sherrod Brown, with what is happening in Springfield, and other parts of the State,” Trump declared Thursday afternoon, referring to the far-right extremist Republican running to unseat Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, who is leading in the polls by low single digits.
Trump then invoked his racist Haitian immigrant rhetoric.
“Ohio is being inundated with Illegal Migrants, mostly from Haiti, who are taking over Towns and Villages at a level and rate never seen before.”
That too is false.
Legal immigrants from Haiti have come to Springfield, and have been a boon to the city’s businesses. Some city officials have complained that the number of immigrants ramped up too quickly, as the local government struggles to provide services due to the increase in population.
On Truth Social, Trump is also posting memes of cats, including one with them holding a sign that says, “Don’t let them eat us, vote for Trump.”
While Laura Loomer denies she is advising Trump, and she has been traveling with him this week, including to the presidential debate on Tuesday and to 9/11 ceremonies on Wednesday despite being a 9/11 truther. Some suggest she appears to have replaced U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as a Trump favorite. Loomer, according to NPR, has described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” and “pro-white nationalism.”
Semafor reports, “After a debate in which Trump shouted about false viral rumors of pet-eating Haitians in an Ohio town, her potential influence is drawing more scrutiny from both parties.”
Now she too is going all-in on the racist and false pet-eating Haitian claims.
“Haitian immigrants aren’t just eating cats and dogs. They eat HUMANS,” Loomer baselessly claimed Thursday. “Remember their leader? Known as ‘Barbeque’? Only Hannibal Lecter himself would want to bring more of them to the United States!”
“Don’t let the media say that concerns about illegal immigration are ‘conspiracy theories’. These aren’t rumors. It’s a FACT. When you import the third world, you become the third world, and we won’t allow it here in America. Donald Trump will stop our country from further becoming a third world nation. The media is obsessing over the Haitian migrants because even the most liberal voters are horrified over the animal abuse committed by so many of Kamala’s invaders.”
Just days earlier, Trump claimed in a rally that “Dr. Hannibal Lecter” is “a representative of the people who are coming into our country.”
Watch below or at this link.
Trump: When I say Doctor Hannibal Lecter, the press says, oh, why did he mention that? They say, he rambled and started talking about Hannibal Lecter. That’s a representative of people that are coming into our country. Doctor Hannibal Lecter pic.twitter.com/4KsrEdnu2t
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 7, 2024
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Just days after the Republican nominees for president and vice president promoted and doubled-down on false, debunked and racist claims about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio stealing pet cats and dogs and eating them, that town’s city hall and elementary school were forced to evacuate after a bomb threat targeting multiple locations was received Thursday.
“Due to a bomb threat that was issued to multiple facilities throughout Springfield today, City Hall is closed today,” the City of Springfield wrote in a Facebook post, saying it had “received a bomb threat that has prompted an immediate response from local and regional law enforcement. As a precautionary measure, the building has been evacuated, and authorities are currently conducting a thorough investigation. Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents. We are working to address this situation as swiftly as possible.”
The statement adds the bomb threat came via an email at 8:24 AM that was “sent to multiple agencies and media outlets.”
Just one day ago, City Manager Bryan Heck in a video denounced the rhetoric used in the presidential race, while promoting the city’s growth, which has been improved local businesses say, by the influx of immigrants.
READ MORE: Trump Faces Increasing Calls to Participate in Second Debate
“It is disappointing that some of the narratives surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric in the current highly-charged presidential election cycle, our Springfield community is making notable progress that contributes to its growing appeal among new residents, including immigrants, Heck said. “This development is underpinned by our city’s diverse and robust industrial base that encompasses the technology, automotive, food production and distribution sectors, the growth in our workforce population has supported the expansion of local businesses, contributing to the stabilization of our local economy.”
Donald Trump’s claims during the debate have sparked countless memes and auto-tuned videos mocking the ex-president.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” ex-president Donald Trump said at Tuesday night’s debate, a false claim that already had been debunked, including by city officials, as ABC News reports. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
A City of Springfield spokesperson “told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been ‘no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.'”
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
After being fact-checked in real-time during Tuesday’s debate, Trump doubled-down.
“I’ve seen people on television,” he insisted. “The people on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food.’”
Trump’s Republican running mate U.S. Senator JD Vance, who represents Springfield and the entire state of Ohio, also promoted the false claim, and when confronted, also doubled-down.
“In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants,” he wrote on X Tuesday, CNN reported. “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
CNN explained, “The unsubstantiated claims appear to be the result of an unwieldy game of telephone that began as a rumor in a local Facebook group before spiraling to reach the highest echelons of conservative media and the Republican Party. They spread widely on X, whose owner, Elon Musk, has embraced the false rumors and posted several memes that promoted them.”
RELATED: No, Haitian Immigrants Aren’t Eating Cats in Ohio
As for the origin of the racist and false dog and cat-eating migrants trope, New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait calls it a “lie,” that “originated from white-supremacist sites online, which relentlessly promote the idea that non-white immigrants are dirty and dangerous. It quickly worked its way from the far right into mainstream conservative channels. Republicans seemed to think the idea gave them a potent meme.”
Chait says Vance is “an important bridge between the GOP and elements of the radical right that have been activated by Trump,” and “played a key role.”
“Before Vance,” NPR reported, “neo-Nazis helped spread the debunked claims.”
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country,” Vance had tweeted.
Watch MSNBC’s report on the bomb threats below or at this link.
Springfield, Ohio’s city hall was evacuated this morning due to a bomb threat.
This comes two days after former President Donald Trump boosted the baseless rumor that Haitian immigrants there were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” pic.twitter.com/VnCwYE5Zpy
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) September 12, 2024
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Donald Trump is refusing to commit to a second presidential debate despite a series of polls that found viewers say Vice President Kamala Harris won this week’s debate by a huge margin, but some top Republicans and at least one top Trump benefactor are pushing him to participate in a second round. The Harris campaign immediately called on Trump to do a second debate after Tuesday’s apparent rout.
“I don’t know that I want to do another debate,” Trump told Fox News Wednesday.
“So you don’t know if you want to do another debate – it sounds like you’re a no,” host Steve Doocy responded.
“Well, I’d be less inclined to, because we had a great night. We won the debate,” Trump claimed, contrary to CNN’s flash poll and even top GOP pollster Frank Luntz (video), who predicted Trump’s debate performance will cost him the election.
“We had a terrible a terrible network,” Trump complained. “I think they were terrible. They should be embarrassed. I mean, they kept correcting me, and what I said was largely right, or I hope it was right, but what they said was absolutely wrong.”
How strong was the Vice President’s performance?
“Harris’s margin was bigger than 20 other polls CNN has conducted after [other presidential] debates, dating back to 1984,” The Washington Post reports. “Harris was also deemed the winner of the debate by 31 percent of Trump supporters — similar to the 30 percent of Biden supporters who said Trump won the June 27 debate.”
U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), a top Trump surrogate facing his own tight re-election race, is urging Trump to go another round, while suggesting he doesn’t have much choice.
“I think it would be an opportunity,” Senator Scott said, The Hill reports. “If I was in Trump’s position, I would.”
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) also supports Trump debating Harris again.
READ MORE: MAGA World Threatens to Boycott ABC After Trump’s Disastrous Debate Performance
“I believe we missed a lot of opportunities last night,” Senator Tillis told reporters Wednesday.
“It makes a lot more sense to, instead of talking about cats and dogs, talk about 1.5 million got-aways,” he said, referring to immigrants crossing the border. “That’s a lot more frightening to me, and it’s a real threat.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top Trump supporter who co-founded a pro-Trump Super PAC and has a “fast-evolving political friendship” with the ex-president, according to The New York Times, also wants Trump to do another debate.
Responding to a post on his social media platform X announcing the Harris campaign wants a second debate, Musk wrote: “Excellent, a second debate would be great.”
But hours after his Fox News telephone interview Wednesday, Trump compared himself to a prizefighter, claimed he had won the debate and asked, “why would I do a Rematch?”
And Wednesday, Trump falsely told reporters the polls show him winning the debate. He added, “when you win, you don’t necessarily have to do it a second time.”
"Are we going to do rematch? I just don't know, we'll think about it," Donald Trump discusses the possibility of a second debate with Kamala Harris.
"Right now, we have to determine whether or not we even want to do it." pic.twitter.com/hYoHxlvx6h
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) September 11, 2024
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