Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis have been deeply involved in the struggle to legalize same-sex marriage. They were two of the plaintiffs in the historic 2008 lawsuit that held California’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constitution. They have been together for 26 years and married in 2008 before Prop 8 passed. Both work at Marriage Equality USA: Gaffney is the media director, and Lewis is the legal director. In addition, Gaffney reflects on the legal challenges surrounding his parents’ marriage -- his mother is Chinese American, and his father is white. In 1948, the California Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage, but other states did not recognize their marriage.

John Lewis: "Well, I was very impressed and encouraged by the way he[Justice Anthony Kennedy] talked about the real lives of those 40,000 children of same-sex couples. I think that the evidence is actually quite clear that lesbian and gay people are doing wonderful jobs raising kids. There’s actually a tremendous amount of study having been devoted to the issue. There’s decades of experience. Last week, the American Academy of Pediatricians came out in favor of marriage equality, and that’s a very, very strong endorsement of how having the freedom to marry for a family is actually very beneficial to those children."

A full transcript of Gaffney and Lewis' exchange with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! is available here.

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act on Tuesday, despite the efforts of a group of Republican men who tried to block it.

Florida senator Marco Rubio led a group of 22 male Republicans who voted against the bill, which established a system for helping women in danger from domestic violence. No women or Democrats opposed the bill and it passed 78-22. That's right, the guy that Time magazine hailed this week as the "GOP Savior" voted against helping protect women from violence.

In fact, Rubio was also one of eight Republican senators who last week voted against moving to debate on the revived legislation.

One of the most contentious issues of the bill is that the updated version grants additional protections to immigrants which would encourage undocumented women to report assaults done to them.

Another issue some of the gang of 22 are hiding behind is that they object to the updated VAWA extending protections to LGBT and Native Americans.

The spending and grant provisions of the bill may have had something to do with the no votes, as well.

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A Brooklyn man has filed papers to sue the city over an alleged hate crime committed by the NYPD. The Daily News reports that on Sunday night around 2:50 a.m., two officers came to Jabbar Campbell's Crown Heights apartment following a noise complaint. Campbell was hosting a gay pride party for about 80 people and some of the party-goers were dressed in drag. Those officers left after telling guests outside the apartment to keep it down, but about ten minutes later another group of officers arrived and rang the buzzer. Campbell saw an officer turn a security camera in his vestibule, and when he went downstairs, they were banging on his door with flashlights. "There was a sergeant, he yelled ‘get him!’ and that’s when I got attacked," Campbell told the Post. “They kept saying, ‘stop resisting’ but I wasn’t resisting. I didn’t have any time to respond.”

Campbell claims that two officers held his arms back while one pushed his head down, and another officer repeatedly punched him in the face. “They were yelling ‘you f---ing fag!’ and ‘homo!’” he said. “I couldn’t block the blows. I was fighting to stay conscious but I was blacking out because of the hits I was taking.” Campbell was left with a concussion, a black eye, a split lip, and a bloody mouth, and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

According to the NYPD's account, Campbell refused to "discontinue a party," pushed an officer, attempted to flee, and behaved "belligerently" while police tried to take him into custody. He was charged with resisting arrest, attempted assault, and pot possession. Campbell has released footage of the officer tampering with his surveillance camera. “They were trying to conceal the evidence by turning the camera away,” says his lawyer, Herb Subin. “They committed a hate crime inside a gay pride event.”

Israelis try to extinguish flames from a protester who set himself on fire during a demonstration in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on July 14, 2012 to mark the first anniversary of last summer's social justice demonstrations that swept the country to protest the spiralling cost of living (AFP Photo/Ben Kelmer). The video contains scenes some viewers might find disturbing.

Thousands held protests to mark the anniversary of last year's tent city rallies against social injustice throughout Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, where one man covered his body with gasoline, then lit himself on fire. People in the crowds put the flames out before rescue workers arrived, but he still said to be in serious condition.

The man left a note at the scene that read:

"The state of Israel stole from me and robbed me. It left me helpless," it says according to the Haaretz newspaper. “Two Housing and Construction Ministry committees rejected me, even though I had a stroke.”

He also says that he blames "the state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, for the humiliation that the weakened citizens go through every day, taking from the poor and giving to the rich."

The rallies were organized by social activist Dafni Leef. That rally culminated in a large demonstration outside government offices on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv.

"We want a fair society,” Leef was quoted by Haaretz as saying. “Today we are also celebrating. Suddenly, when people take to the streets they understand that they have power and that they are right."

In another area of Tel Aviv, an event called "The Million Man March" was held, and in other cities:

Some 500 Jews and Arabs took part in another rally in Haifa, calling on the Israeli government to do more for social justice and spend less on the military. Slogans included “Money for the neighborhoods, not for the settlements” and “Money for welfare, not for wars.”

Around 200 protesters took part in a similar event in Jerusalem, while some 300 activists rallied in Be’er Sheva.

Tens of thousands pitched tents and joined in the protest against the rising cost of living, and demanded a return to the welfare state. The movement peaked in September when nearly half a million people took to the streets in one night. When the government promised to give in on some of the protesters demands, interest waned and finally police moved in during October to dismantle the tent city.

Leef and other activists tried to re-establish the tent city just last month, and were stopped by the police, and she was arrested during a scuffle with officers as she layed on the ground. The following night thousands returned to the streets protesting police brutality and social injustice. That rally turned violent as police attacked protesters, and protesters smashed windows and blocked highways.

[Via]

[Language may not be suitable for work]

This is your Moment of Clarity #150: An impressive number of gay hating Church services have come to light recently. ...And most seem to be in North Carolina. What the hell is going on down there??

[more at LeeCamp.net]

Because sometimes a dramatic performance of poetry is what it takes to make a difference in the world.

This is a promotional video for a yet to be filmed documentary that is the project of an independent filmmaker from Los Angeles, Ryan James Yezak.

The film will be funded entirely by donations that are accepted at a website set up by Yezak called "Second Class Citizens."

Yezak writes:

I want to make a documentary that encompasses all areas in which we are discriminated against. The general population is not aware that discrimination against the gay community goes beyond marriage & bullying. There is far too much hate directed towards our community and I want to capture that hate on camera. In addition, I want to explore where this hate comes from, why it continues to exist, and what we must do to get rid of it. A better solution is needed because the solution we have right now isn't working fast enough.

I am not a second class citizen. You are not a second class citizen. Right now, the laws in place (and lack thereof) say that we are. Let's change that.

Full transcript from the video follows.

I want to know what it's like...
To be normal. To be accepted. To be human. To be equal. To be free.

I want to know what it's like...
To be open. To be heard. To be loved. To be happy. To be me.

I want to know what it's like...
To feel like I belong.
To feel like I am strong.
That who I am isn't wrong.
I want to know what it's like...
To know that I am here.
That Iʼll make it through the year.
To know I wonʼt disappear.

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