Equality in America: Ding, Dong, DOMA’s Dead? Maybe…

While the debate inside the High Court continues, things heated up outside the court and across the nation. Of course no event would be complete without the Westboro Baptist Church. The Supreme Court is considering the constitutional challenge to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday and the debate has drawn protestors for the second day in a row even members of the fringe anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church who flanked two couples with their offensive, homophobic signs but kudos to couples for not letting their hate filled rants effect their public display of affection. Bravo! The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether Congress can withhold federal benefits from legally wed gay couples by defining marriage as a man and woman. Even former President Bill Clinton has called for the Supreme Court to overturn the law he signed as he believes that the Defense of Marriage Act is incompatible with the Constitution according to the Associated Press. He signed the law in 1996 to avoid legislation that would have been worse. In a Washington Post op-ed, Clinton writes society has changed and realizes that the law discriminates against gays and provides an excuse for other to do so too. The Obama administration stopped defending it as well as the Supreme Court will be the final say on what happens to the bill as well as California’s ban on gay marriage.

As the tensions rise outside the High Court, the U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday morning questioned the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and woman. and whether the decision is really up to them or not. This is the second day the High Court heard arguments with the main issue on Wednesday dealing with the United States v. Windsor and whether it was constitutional for the government not to recognize same sex marriages that have been recognized by the states. Justice Antohony Kennedy said Tuesday that children of same sex coupes “want their parents to have full recognition and legal status” had a hard time accepting that DOMA refuses to recognize those same sex unions recognized by the state according to Huff Post. Kennedy believes that DOMA does cause injury to these couples whose marriages are not recognized by the federal government but the state. Seciton 3 of DOMA, at issue on Wednesday reports Huff Post states “the word marriage means only a legal union between a man and woman as husband and wife” for the purpose of “any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States.”

The Plaintiff, Edie Windsor, 83, brought suit against the federal government after the IRS cited DOMA to deny her a refund for the $363,000 in federal estate taxes paid following the death of Thea Spyer in 2009 who was her partner for 40 years reports Huff Post. Windsor and Spyer married in 2007 in Canada and lived in New York. Windsor argues that she would have been eligible for the estate tax exemption had Spyer been a man therefore DOMA’s Section 3 violates her equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment. Two of the justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Kennedy, seem to side with Windsor with Ginsburg stating that DOMA creates two types of marriages likening same sex marriage to the skim milk version of straight marriage while Kennedy struggled to determine whether or not the federal government can regulate marriage. Solicitor Genral Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama administration ont he merits of the case chose to emphasize COngress’ discriminatory purposes in 1996 stating the law “is not called Federal Uniform Definition of Marriage Act. It’s called the Defense of Marriage Act.” Justice Elena Kegan shared simliar sentiments as she told Clement, defending DOMA on behalf of the House of Representatives’ Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, “that maybe Congress had something different in mind than uniformity” in the definition of marriage reading from the House Report which said DOMA was a reflection of Congress’ “collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality.”

Therefore, the key to this case may lie in whether the law singles out gays and lesbians through “heightened scrutiny” where a measure singles out politically disfavored and less powerful groups. Chief Justice Roberts along this line focused on the change in public opinion regarding gay marriage and how it happened unless gay and lesbian Americans had significant political power as it seems politicians are falling over themselves to support it. The main question on his mind was why did President Barack Obama enforce it for so long if he thought it was unconstitutional. Clement commented that 10 years from now the nine states don’t have gay marriage will be force by federal government to recognize these unions. According to Huff Post, after Wednesday’s oral arguments the case may be about whether or not the justices have the power to hear the case at all. In United States v. Windsor, the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit declared DOMA unconstitutional while the Obama administration agree Roberts asked Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan, arguing for the Obama administration, whether there was any cases where all parties agreed with the decision below, but the court upheld its ability to hear it. Clement on Wednesday faced some serious questioned from the Supreme Court’s liberal wing on why the House had any legal interest in represent the position that has been abandoned by everyone involved with DOMA especially the executive branch. As Justice Stephen Breyer commented, ” How is this case any different from enforcing general powers of the United States.” The fight will continue as so many things remain uncertain.

Westboro Baptist and Equality House: The Lion and the Lamb

Equality House: Find out more about Planting Peace’s Mission and Westboro Baptist.

Appropriately titled considering the Westboro Baptist church strong stance on almost anything really but especially their holy war so to speak on the LGBT community with their anti-gay sentiments. If you are not familiar with the group let me help you out. The church has a sign hanging outside their church (the building above on the left) that reads, “GodHatesAmerica.com” and a fun fact for all of the newbies out there is the Westboro Baptist church is famous or I should say infamous for their protests of military funerals where they will shout slogan and carry signs within hearing or seeing distance while the funeral is underway making an already very unfortunate situation worse. Their slogans range from stick figures having sex to “God hates fags” or “Thank God for dead soldiers.” The church as well as its founder have become infamous for their protests and media attention drowning out their opposition however they can. Many groups have tried to drown out the noise with singing or their own peace loving slogans, but my favorite would be the group of bikers who showed up to a funeral of a soldiers whose young bride was scared of the group and already distraught over the death of her husband. In order to shield her from the verbal onslaught, the bikers drowned out the noise by revving the engine of their motorcycle cleverly protecting the young woman from the abuse. Apparently, several groups of bikers have made it their mission to show up to these funerals and the latest promise was for the Sandy Hook victims funerals in order to protect the innocent from the Westboro Baptist members.

The newest group who have decided to take on the church just happened to buy a house across the street…their name, Equality House, and Planting Peace’s mission is to directly challenge teachings of the church. How can he do this? Simple he has turned the house into a giant gay flag painted in bright colors with prime viewing directly across the street from the church. Aaron Jackson, one of the founders of Planting Peace, a charity that wears many hats in the past focused on rainforest conservation, opening orphanages and deworming programs, bought the house six months ago in Topeka, Kansas, and on March 19 the team of volunteers painted the house to match the gay pride flag. Jackson told the Huff Post about why he purchased the house:

“I read a story about Josef Miles, a 10-year-old kid who counter-protested the Westboro Baptist Church by holding the sign that says ‘God Hates No One.’ I didn’t know anything about the church or where they were located, but that story kept popping up. And one night I wondered, Where is this church? I got on Google Earth, and I was ‘walking down the road,’ and I did a 360 view. And I saw a ‘For Sale’ sign sitting in the front yard of a house. Right away it hit me, Oh my gosh, I could buy a house in front of the WBC! And immediately I thought: And I’m going to paint that thing the color of the pride flag. The reason I haven’t gotten into the gay rights activism is because, in a sense, it’s almost silly — it’s 2013, are we really still in this position? It just seems ludicrous,” he said. “But it is a real issue and kids are killing themselves. I’ve wanted to do something, and I knew when I saw that house for sale that it all came together. Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a little crazy and there’s no red tape in my charity. When I want to do something, I do it.”

Jackson, according to Huff Post, believes the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family is well aware of his presence in the town and expecting some sort of action as he has already encounter members of the group and the Phelps family who has run the church since 1956. Surprisingly enough, he told the Huff Post that the family member have been quite pleasant toward him especially Shirley Phelps, the daughter of the church leader Fred Phelps, but Jackson has already seen several church member taking photos of the house especially the industrial flagpole he installed  that is in direct line of site of the Westboro Baptist Church’s pole that flies the pride flag and American flag upside down. The mission according to Jackson will be for Equality house not just to be symbol but take the negative attention of the Westboro Baptist Church and make it a positive by teaching people where there is hate, there is love. One last thought on the subject from Jackson himself reported by the Huff Post: “I love seeing all of these Republicans and all these people who have been anti-gay all this time jumping ship because they know they’re on the wrong side of history. It’s an amazing thing to see. I know we have a long way to go in fighting bigotry, but we all know the gays are going to win. It’s going to happen.”