Rep. David Jolly (FL-13) Becomes 8th Republican To Endorse Marriage Equality

Congressman David Jolly, Republican of Florida, became just the 8th member of his party currently serving in Congress to endorse marriage equality today. Just like Congressman Charlie Den of Pennsylvania did this past May, Rep. Jolly announced his position in light of a recent ruling striking down his state's ban on marriage equality.

Last week, a state judge struck down Florida's state constitutional ban on marriage equality. (Since it was just a state judge, and only applied in one county, I didn't even cover the news here at MadProfessah.com). No same-sex couples were able to get married as a result of the decision.

However, the more interesting political fallout of last week's marriage ruling was that Rep. Jolly (who recently won a special election to be the newest member of Congress a few months ago) was asked about his position on marriage equality and answered thusly:

“As a matter of my Christian faith, I believe in traditional marriage," said Jolly in a statement to The Post. "But as a matter of Constitutional principle I believe in a form of limited government that protects personal liberty. To me, that means that the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state. Accordingly, I believe it is fully appropriate for a state to recognize both traditional marriage as well as same-sex marriage, and therefore I support the recent decision by a Monroe County Circuit Judge.”

Peculiarly, even though there are just 4 members of Congress who have endorsed marriage equality, half of them are in the Senate. Just a few weeks ago Senator Susan Collins announced she is in favor of marriage equality (which her state has had since 2012). Jolly joins his fellow Floridian Republican Congressmember Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in supporting marriage equality, which is significant since all the other House Republicans who support marriage equality represent states which already have marriage equality, something Florida does not. Yet.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) Endorses Marriage Equality; 4th Sitting GOP Senator To Do So

Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins became the fourth sitting Republican Senator to endorse marriage equality on Wednesday. Collin, Republican of maine, joins her colleagues Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Collins told the Portland Press-Herald:

On Wednesday, however, her campaign issued a statement that many in the gay-rights community had expected much earlier from a lawmaker who is viewed as one of Congress’ friendliest Republicans on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. 

“A number of states, including my home state of Maine, have now legalized same-sex marriage, and I agree with that decision,” Collins said in the statement. “Today, same-sex couples can be legally married in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 44% of Americans live in a state where same-sex couples can be legally married, and I believe this number will only continue to grow.” 

Earlier Wednesday, Collins was endorsed once again by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization.

Many Democratic LGBT observers (like myself) are dismayed that HRC is endorsing a Republican who had not endorsed marriage equality yet when her opponent is someone who was a champion for marriage equality in Maine as head of the local chapter of the ACLU. Shana Bellows issued a statement in response to the news of the endorsement:

"I've been proud and very privileged to be a leader in the LGBT equality movement for many years. As executive director of the ACLU of Maine, I spent every day bringing Republicans and Democrats together to expand civil liberties and strengthen equal protection under the law. I believe in taking strong stances in favor of Constitutional protections and equal rights even when they're unpopular. Remaining silent on some of the biggest civil rights issues of our generation, even after the voters have spoken, isn't leadership, and it isn't how Maine became one of the most inclusive states in the country for LGBT rights. 

"My opponent, Republican Susan Collins, had the chance to speak up in favor of marriage equality in 2012 or any time in the previous decade. Two years after her constituents made their feelings known at the ballot box, she has refused to break her silence. I believe Mainers need, want and deserve more proactive representation on equal rights -- on allowing LGBT students to learn without fear of bullying, on applying for jobs and going to work without fear of discrimination, and on much more. I'm running for Senate to provide that proactive representation and to expand Constitutional protections for our LGBT community.

I understand that HRC feels like it needs to endorse Republican incumbents over Democratic challengers, but I disagree with the lack of political principle involved. The largest LGBT political organization in the country should make its endorsements based on which candidate actually has the best pro-LGBT record. By endorsing a Republican, HRC is endorsing someone who will vote for Mitch McConnell to be Senate Majority Leader, which will mean absolutely no legislative progress on LGBT rights while Republicans control the Senate.

ENDA Now Supported By Majority of U.S. Senate!

With the addition of Tom Carper of Delaware, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) now sports the public support of 51 Senators, a clear majority of the United States Senate. However, in order to become law, the measure will almost certainly need to clear a Republican filibuster, so the real level of support necessary for passage of this key legislative priority is 60 votes.

Astonishingly, ENDA has bipartisan support with moderate Republicans (Yes, Virginia, they do exist!) Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine supporting S. 815. However, there are still 5 members of the Democratic caucus who have not signed on:

The 5 Democrats who have not publicly said whether they oppose anti-LGBT discrimination are Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Bill Nelson of Florida, Tim Johnson of South Daoka, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia. It must be noted that Machin and Pryor are two of the three remaining Democrats who do not support marriage equality (the third is Mary Landrieu of Louisiana). Oddly, Johnson and Nelson and Rockefeller all do support the right of gay people to marry the person they love but not the right of gay people to hold a job without getting fired! (Cognitive dissonance, much?)

There's no question the clamor around full civil rights for LGBT Americans is going to get louder as the month of June continues and the Supreme Court weights in on the issue in the Hollingsworth and Windsor cases by the end of the month.

Lesbian Federal Judicial Nominee Confirmed 48-44

Ridiculous!! A;most every Republican Senator, even Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins voted against the nomination of out lesbian Ali Nathan to have a lifetime appointment as a federal judge on Thursday. The nomination was approved by the surprisingly close vote of 48 Aye, 44 No.

Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly's Poliglot has the scoop:

Nathan, an out lesbian, will be the second out lesbian federal judge with lifetime tenure in the country, joining U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts on the bench of the Southern District of New York.
White House spokesman Shin Inouye praised the Senate action, writing, "The President welcomes the confirmation of Alison Nathan. She will serve the American people well from the District Court bench."


Five members of the Democratic caucus did not vote for Nathan's nomination, and no Republicans voted for it. Less than three months ago, U.S. District Court Judge J. Paul Oeken, was confirmed with the support of 28 Republicans. Oetken also sits on the Southern District of New York bench and currently is the only out gay male judge serving in one of the lifetime tenure positions in the federal judiciary.


Four Democrats not voting today were Sens. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who caucuses with the Democrats, also did not vote. The three Republicans not voting were Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and David Vitter (R-La.).

It just goes to show you how much more seriously conservatives take the federal judiciary than liberals when they were willing to vote against this amazingly well-qualified person for basically illusory reasons.

ENDA Introduced in US Senate

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was introduced in the 112th Congress today with lead co-sponsors Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL).

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force sent out a press release praising the action:

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

"An overwhelming majority of Americans know it is wrong to deprive their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends, family and neighbors of the ability to earn a livelihood and provide for their families simply because of who they are. They know our entire country benefits when all people are allowed to contribute their talents and skills free from discrimination. ENDA will simply help ensure everyone is allowed to participate on a level playing field in the workplace, a core value of this nation. Let's get ENDA passed. Our community has provided statistics and shared personal stories; we've seen LGBT workers lose their foothold in a struggling economy, not because of downsizing or poor performance, but solely because of prejudice. Our country can and must do better. We thank Senators Merkley, Kirk, Harkin and Collins for reintroducing this critical legislation, and urge Congress and the administration to work toward its passage."

DADT Update: 61 Senators Support Repeal; Vote Date Uncertain

The latest news on DADT repeal is that there are now officially 61 Senators who have either voted for repeal or announced that they will do so if it comes up again this year. When the measure failed last Friday there were 57 votes in favor (and 40 against).

Since then, Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Scott Brown (R-MA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have all announced that they will support S. 4023, a stand-alone bill to repeal the military's anti-gay policy before the 111th Congress ends.

An identical bill to S. 4023 which would repeal DDT passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday 250-175.

It is expected there will be a final vote to send S. 4023 to the President's desk before the end of the Congress, but it has not been scheduled by Senator Harry Reid yet.

DADT Repeal Bill Passes House 250-175

Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweets that the stand-alone DADT repeal bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives 250-175.

Additionally, Senator Joe Lieberman, the author of S. 4023, the stand-alone bill to repeal DADT in the Senate, tweets that Senator Olympia Snowe has agreed to vote for DADT repeal. Currently S. 4023 has 44 co-sponsors, and one other Republican, the other Senator from Maine, Susan Collins.

DADT Repeal Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate

A standalone bill to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was introduced on Friday December 10th and currently has 27 co-sponsors, including Republican Susan Collins and Independent Joe Lieberman, who sponsored the legislation, called S. 4023.

After a bid to keep DADT repeal in the National Defense Authorization Act failed by a  vote of 57-40 on Thursday (since it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster) this last-minute federal legislation is the only vehicle left by which DADT can be repealed before the end of the 111th Congress.

There are currently 28 explicit supporters of the bill (including Lieberman):

Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Bennet, Michael F. [CO] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Coons, Christopher A. [DE] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Franken, Al [MN] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Harkin, Tom [IA] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. [AR] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Merkley, Jeff [OR] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Murray, Patty [WA] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Reid, Harry [NV] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Udall, Tom [NM] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 12/10/2010 
Sen Wyden, Ron [OR] - 12/10/2010

Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have agreed to move on the legislation before the end of the year.

Lieberman and Collins claim there are more than 60 votes to repeal DADT (Lisa Murkowki, Scott Brown, and Richard Lugar are all Republicans who have claimed to support the end of DADT). Even Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia who voted in favor of the filibuster has said that he would probably not vote that way again.

BREAKING: Senate Falls 3 Votes Short of DADT Repeal

The Senate has failed to invoke cloture on the NDAA including DADT repeal by a vote of 57-40.

Here is the president's statement:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2010

Statement by the President on the Senate Vote on the National Defense Authorization Act

I am extremely disappointed that yet another filibuster has prevented the Senate from moving forward with the National Defense Authorization Act.  Despite having the bipartisan support of a clear majority of Senators, a minority of Senators are standing in the way of the funding upon which our troops, veterans and military families depend. This annual bill has been enacted each of the past 48 years, and our armed forces deserve nothing less this year. 

A minority of Senators were willing to block this important legislation largely because they oppose the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’  As Commander in Chief, I have pledged to repeal this discriminatory law, a step supported by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and informed by a comprehensive study that shows overwhelming majorities of our armed forces are prepared to serve with Americans who are openly gay or lesbian.  A great majority of the American people agree.  This law weakens our national security, diminishes our military readiness, and violates fundamental American principles of fairness, integrity and equality.

I want to thank Majority Leader Reid, Armed Services Committee Chairman Levin, and Senators Lieberman and Collins for all the work they have done on this bill.  While today’s vote was disappointing, it must not be the end of our efforts.  I urge the Senate to revisit these important issues during the lame duck session.

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