Marriage Amendment and Other Stuff

The federal marriage amendment failed last Tuesday. Good. What a waste of time though. From the ACLU (what's with their search engine BTW?):
- The House vote in 2004 was 49 votes short of the two-thirds required for passage; today, the House vote was 47 votes short of the two-thirds required for passage;
- In 2004, 27 Republicans in the House voted against the discriminatory amendment; today, 27 Republicans in the House voted against the discriminatory amendment;
- In 2004, 36 Democrats in the House voted for the discriminatory amendment; today, only 34 Democrats in the House voted for the discriminatory amendment.

And good for Tammy Baldwin (from first link):
"Today, as Americans focus on the grave situation in the Middle East, record oil prices and record federal debt, the leadership of the House continues to ignore the real challenges facing American families," said Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., one of the few openly gay members of Congress.

Unfortunately, a proposed amendment in her state may be gaining support.

In Kentucky, GOP state legislature may make a push for a state ban on domestic partner benefits. Republican state senator Dick Roeding doesn't like gay people:
Some lawmakers opposed the move [a benefits plan by the University of Louisville under which individuals pay their own premiums], including Sen. Dick Roeding, who called it "repulsive" and called homosexuals "the wrong kind of people," and said he would consider legislation to block the policy.

Here in NY senators Schumer and Clinton issued muted responses to the recent ruling by the state court of appeals allowing the state legislature to keep gay people from marrying. A statement from the Clinton office says the senator supports:
"full equality for people in committed relationships, including health insurance, life insurance, and pensions [sic], and hospital visitations,"
but not explicitly marriage.

Both Clinton and Schumer support politically safer civil unions.

It's seems like things are getting creepier for gay people in the US right now (have a look at the 365gay news page for a few weeks in a row). It's undoubtedly related to the upcoming midterm elections. It's one of the few issues GOP'rs feel they can win on. Republicans know they can freely push far-right coagulating anti-gay agendas using all the familiar scare tactics. They know that Democrats, on average, will be too cowardly to stand up to homophobic politicking on controversial issues.