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Johns Hopkins Med Students Call for Ben Carson’s Removal as Commencement Speaker (+video)

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Photo Credit: Media Matters

A group of students from the graduating class at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are calling for the replacement of Dr. Ben Carson as commencement speaker for the class of 2013 following his “deeply offensive” comments on marriage equality and other issues.

In a letter obtained by Media Matters, eight members of the school’s class of 2013, including a co-chair of the school’s LGBT organization, ask their fellow students to sign a petition describing Carson, a neurosurgery professor at the university, as “an inappropriate choice of speaker at a ceremony intended to celebrate the achievements of our class.”

The letter has been circulated across Hopkins School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Public Health, and other institutions, according to a signatory.

Carson, who has become a celebrity in recent months among the right-wing media, has come under fire in the media and from members of the Hopkins community since comparing gay relationships with pedophilia and bestiality during a Fox News appearance earlier this week.

His comments were condemned as “nasty,” “petty,” “ill-informed,” “rancid” and “reactionary” by Professor Todd Shepard, the co-director of the university’s sexuality studies program. Current and former leaders of the organization representing the LGBT members of the Johns Hopkins medical institutions told Media Matters they found the comments “hurtful” and “extremely discouraging.”

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Chief Justice Roberts’ Lesbian Cousin: He’ll Rule In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

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Photo Credit: AP

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts’ cousin, a lesbian seeking to get married in California who will have reserved seating for relatives at two upcoming cases, wrote that she believes her cousin will rule in favor of same-sex marriage in an op-ed posted on the National Council for Lesbian Rights.

A spokesperson for the court did not respond to questions about a potential conflict for Roberts.

“I know that my cousin is a good man,” Jean Podrasky, 48, of San Francisco wrote. “I feel confident that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality under the law.

“I believe he understands that ruling in favor of equality will not be out of step with where the majority of Americans now sit. I am hoping that the other justices (at least most of them) will share this view, because I am certain that I am not the only relative that will be directly affected by their rulings,” she added.

In her op-ed, Podrasky cited Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as a policymaker who was persuaded on the matter because of a family member who was gay.

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Murkowski’s Gay Marriage Views ‘Evolving’

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Photo Credit: U.S. Army Alaska

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday that her views on gay marriage are “evolving” and that she’s reviewing her stance on the issue “very closely.”

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that there is a change afoot in this country in terms of how marriage is viewed,” said Alaska’s senior senator, who has in the past voted to support proposed constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Murkowski’s comments came following an address to the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce in which she touched on a variety of topics, including sequestration, the Senate’s recently-passed budget and her efforts to end partisan gridlock in Congress.

When asked about same sex marriage — which is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court in two separate cases — Murkowski seemed to indicate a softening on her previous stance.

“I’ve got two young sons who, when I ask them and their friends how they feel about gay marriage, kinda give me one of those looks like, ‘Gosh mom, why are you even asking that question?'” When pressed to come out either for or against gay marriage, Murkwoski said her view is “evolving.”

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RNC Chairman Reince Priebus To GOP: Don’t Go ‘Old Testament’ On Gays

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Photo Credit: Washington Times

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, issued some words of advice for fellow GOPers: Get in the 21st century with same-sex-marriage issues.

“We do have a platform, and we adhere to that platform,” Mr. Priebus said in a USA Today video. “But it doesn’t mean that we divide and subtract people from our party” who favor gay marriage.

“I don’t believe we need to act like Old Testament heretics,” he said in the USA Today video. Rather, Republicans “have to strike a balance between principle and grace and respect.”

His statements come as the U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear two cases on gay marriage — one on a California-voted ban on same-sex marriage, and the other on the legalities of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans the federal government from giving marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

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States’ AGs Split on Constitutional Right to Gay Marriage

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Photo Credit: PewStates

When the Supreme Court hears arguments this week on same-sex marriage, it will confront an issue that has divided the public across the country and exposed fissures among the states.

One divided group could weigh heavily on the justices as they consider what could be a historic, once-in-a-generation constitutional decision: the briefs of states’ attorneys general.

More than half the states’ top lawyers have weighed in on the same-sex marriage issue before the court, underscoring the degree to which state officials and those they represent see their interests at work in the case. Depending how the justices rule, their decision could upend established laws in nearly every state.

As lawsuits over same-sex marriage have wound through the courts, the tangled web of state laws dealing with domestic partnerships, civil unions and same-sex marriage has become mired in the broader debate.

States’ rights and federalism could factor strongly in any decision the justices hand down as they consider two key questions: First, whether California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is constitutional. And second, whether the federal Defense of Marriage Act barring the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex unions is either unconstitutionally discriminatory or an infringement on states’ right to define marriage as they see fit.

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Polygamy (and Much Worse) will Follow Gay Marriage

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Photo Credit: Fibonacci Blue

With the Supreme Court set this week to hear two historic challenges to the traditional definition of marriage, pro-family advocates are charging that legalizing gay marriage would “inevitably” lead to the legalization of polygamy as well.

“No question about it,” Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, told Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview Monday afternoon. “If you make the ultimate value a person’s right to express their sexuality with another person and to have that identified as marriage, then how do you keep polygamy from happening?

“How do keep consensual adult siblings from getting married?” he added. “How do you keep a consensual father and adult daughter from getting married? Incest and polygamy will come right after it.”

Land’s conclusion: “You shatter the definition of marriage if you try to expand it to include same-sex marriage.” Land is far from the only social conservative making that argument. The Christian legal organization Liberty Counsel filed a brief with the Supreme Court that states: “Ultimately, there is no principled basis for recognizing a legality of same-sex marriage without simultaneously providing a basis for the legality of consensual polygamy or certain adult incestuous relationships.”

The remarks of Land, a leading social conservative, came in the context of what is expected to be one of the most important weeks in the history of the battle that pro-family forces are waging to preserve the traditional definition of marriage, as the Supreme Court holds two hearings on gay-marriage cases.

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Supreme Court Tackles Gay Marriage As Advocates Line Up For Historic Argument

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Photo Credit: Lost Albatross

The front-lines of the gay marriage debate move this week to the Supreme Court, as it considers two cases which have the potential to redefine marriage on a national level.

The arguments come at a time of changing views, with support for gay marriage becoming a mainstream Democratic position and the issue causing a sharp divide among Republicans.

The first case the court will take up, on Tuesday, is California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The court on Wednesday weighs the Defense of Marriage Act, considering a provision that defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of deciding who can receive a range of federal benefits.

It is the California case, though, that could have sweeping implications for the states. The judges could, if they choose to rule broadly, overturn every state constitutional provision and law banning same-sex marriages. Or, they could set back the gay marriage movement by upholding California’s ban and continuing to leave the issue up to the states.

Signaling the widespread interest in the rulings, spectators have been lining up all weekend outside the court, camping out in Washington for a chance to hear the arguments. The issue has created fault lines within the Republican Party, as some prominent members drop their opposition to same-sex marriage while others stiffen it.

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Court Shouldn’t Rewrite Law On Gay Marriage

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Photo Credit: CNN

“Pediatrics Group Backs Gay Marriage, Saying It Helps Children,” proclaims a headline in The New York Times. But the advocacy group presented no new studies, no new data, to support this claim. And the studies the group cites have been shown to be insufficient to come to this conclusion about same-sex parenting.

Turns out the press release, picked up nationwide, was a PR stunt aimed at influencing the Supreme Court. The nine justices are set to hear oral arguments Tuesday and Wednesday in two cases about the constitutionality of marriage laws.

Today, 41 states define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Marriage is at the center of an intense national debate, a family-by-family, state-by state conversation that CNN substantively encourages by making room for varying perspectives and supplying state-based data. However, CNN risks obscuring that conversation about what marriage is by framing the issue as measurable by an “LGBT rights calculator.”

This writer is for equal rights for all Americans. But no one has the right to redefine marriage. It’s important to future generations that Americans understand what marriage is, why it matters, and the consequences of redefining it. The Supreme Court shouldn’t truncate the debate and redefine marriage by judicial decree to include same-sex relationships.

So what about that release from the American Academy of Pediatrics? Two eminent political scientists, Leon Kass (a professor at University of Chicago) and Harvey Mansfield (a professor at Harvard), filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court cautioning against accepting politicized science: “Claims that science provides support for constitutionalizing a right to same-sex marriage must necessarily rest on ideology. Ideology may be pervasive in the social sciences, especially when controversial policy issues are at stake, but ideology is not science.”

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RINO Fundraisers See Big Cash Opportunity In Gay Marriage Shift

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Photo Credit: AP

Republican fundraisers say the changing views of gay marriage in their party could unlock big money from GOP donors in places like New York, California and Florida — where some Republicans have kept their checkbooks closed over what they saw as misplaced priorities, at best, or intolerance, at worst, at the highest ranks of the party.

Several Republicans pointed to Sen. Rob Portman’s switch in support of gay marriage as a watershed moment for the party. And more than two dozen high-profile GOP-ers asked the Supreme Court to back gay rights. And even Foster Friess, Rick Santorum’s top benefactor, has softened his stance on domestic partnership.

“Republicans’ intolerance to marriage equality has been detrimental to winning,” said Aaron McLear, a California Republican strategist. “Big donors understand that they don’t want to invest in campaigns focused on a losing issue, and I think certainly the fiscal issues for Republicans are much more marketable.”

Republican fundraiser Jim McCray agreed. “I think it will open up donors across the board, because it demonstrates Republicans are trying to recreate the big tent they were known for,” McCray said.

It’s not clear how much money could come from donors supportive of the party’s move toward new thoughts on gay marriage. Pro gay-rights donors have long been an important source of campaign cash for Democrats, including after President Barack Obama pushed through a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred openly gay people from serving in the military.

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Conservatives Revolt As Gay Marriage Lobbyist Appointed Head of Ohio Republican Party

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Photo Credit: Lifestyle News

The Republican Party of Ohio has appointed as its executive director a registered lobbyist actively campaigning to redefine marriage in the state, deepening the conflict between voters and the party elite. The move triggered swift backlash, as a coalition of 80 conservatives from across the state issued a letter warning party bosses they “will not support them” in the future.

The new GOP leader is Matt Borges, a lobbyist for Equality Ohio, the group pressing to overturn the state’s constitutional amendment against same-sex “marriage.” He was hand-selected by retiring state GOP chairman Bob Bennett, who has led the party since 1988, and is seen as Bennett’s heir apparent.

“With this letter we put the party bosses on notice that we reject their betrayal of the party platform and our conservative values,” said Tom Zawistowski, the executive director of the Portage County Tea Party. “We will not support them going forward but will instead support those who are true to our cause.”

The letter represents the views of a broad coalition, “not just liberty group members and social conservative voters, but rank and file registered Republican voters,” it states.

“Some of our Republican officials seem hell-bent on alienating conservative voters and volunteers, which reduces voter turnout,” said Lori Viars, Vice President of Warren County Right To Life, who also serves as Vice Chair of the Warren County Republican Party. “They ignore the GOP platform, choosing to put themselves outside the mainstream of our party base.”

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