Marriage Equality

Akin with fellow culture warrior, Cynthia Davis

Rep. Todd Akin is making news today with his opposition to the recent decision by the Navy to allow its chaplains the freedom to perform gay marriages on Navy bases if they so choose, if that's allowed by local and state laws.

Akin says such a decision -- allowing clergy to perform ceremonies in accordance with local laws and their respective faiths -- violates the Defense of Marriage Act.  The hippies at the Pentagon, however, say this is nonsense.   As reported by the Navy Times:

The federal Defense of Marriage Act defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Responding to questions about the law and the new policy in an email, Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez wrote: “DOMA does not limit the type of religious ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military installation. Chaplains are authorized to perform religious ceremonies consistent with the practices of the chaplain’s faith group in chapels on military installations.”

Todd Akin has signed on to an amicus brief in D.C. Superior Court calling for a voter referendum on whether to legalize same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. Akin and 38 other Republican members of Congress have signed on to the brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, an organization founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. The Washington Post:

In the filing, U.S. senators James Inhofe (Okla.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) and 37 House Republicans align with Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church, in asking the court to reverse a D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics decision prohibiting the same-sex marriage question to be put before voters...

Representatives from more than thirty equality advocacy organizations gathered in St. Louis this weekend for The Equality Federation's summer meeting.  The conference -- to celebrate recent successes and discuss the continuing work to protect the lives of LGBT folks at the state and local level -- wrapped up yesterday.

"While we still wait for progress at the federal level on issues like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Employment protections and hate crimes, we have been very successful at moving things forward within our respective states," said AJ Bockelman. "For example, just this past spring, Columbia passed a domestic partner registry. It is limited in scope, but now at least registered couples can have some way to be recognized as a couple when one of them gets hospitalized or incarcerated."

A unanimous decision from the Iowa Supreme Court:

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Supreme Court says the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making it the third state where gay marriage is legal.

In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutional.

Still, because of Missouri’s 2004 anti-marriage constitutional amendment, same-sex marriages will not be recognized here in Missouri.

UPDATE: And the Missouri backlash begins