We cheered last week when the Obama administration announced that it would no longer defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act, which is the subject of several lawsuits across the country. And although DOMA has not been repealed – yet – the end appears near for the discriminatory policy that continues to treat same-sex couples in the United States as second-class citizens.
The crux of the Department of Justice's decision is that Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama have concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex couples, cannot pass constitutional muster. Holder also said in his letter on the subject that DOJ attorneys would be instructed that the law should meet a strict scrutiny test. If that is accepted by the courts, it would almost certainly spell doom for DOMA.
State Attorney General Kamala Harris agrees. In a court filing this week for the federal Proposition 8 case, Harris told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that "the likelihood that the appeal will succeed on the merits has been substantially diminished both by the United States Attorney General's conclusion that classifications based on sexual orientation cannot survive constitutional scrutiny and by this court's order to the California Supreme Court, which seriously questions the court's jurisdiction to decide the merits of the case."
Harris filed a motion asking the appeals court to vacate the stay on Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. If the appeals court vacates the stay, same-sex marriages in California could resume immediately.
The Justice Department's decision not to defend DOMA has wide-ranging implications not only for the Prop 8 case, but for the other pending cases as well. It is significant that immediately after the news broke, Republicans who are considering running for president next year were decidedly muted, signaling that they know marriage equality will not be the hot-button issue it was just a few short years ago.
In recent days, congressional Republicans have begun making noise about entering the cases to defend DOMA. It's a losing effort, we think, and just another way for them to divert attention and resources from working to fix the economy. Poll after poll have found that the American people want Congress and the president to work on improving the country's economy. Trying to stop people from marrying the person they love is no longer the white hot lightning rod it once was; smart politicians should be able to get that message.
Alekseev should come to SF
Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev should come to San Francisco next week as scheduled so that local members of the LGBT community can hear from him. Numerous organizations supporting his appearances in the state pulled the plug on their sponsorships this week after it was discovered that he posted an anti-Jewish remark on a blog he owns.
Alekseev was scheduled to appear at the LGBT Community Center this Monday. While that venue may no longer be available, we're confident that a site can be located to accommodate him.
LGBTs across the country, but particularly in San Francisco, care a great deal about gay rights struggles in other countries. Alekseev is a pioneer in his native Russia, standing up to an authoritarian government both locally and nationally, and he has been arrested and detained for his activism. Last September, he was mysteriously abducted by government agents and held for more than two days.
This latest controversy stems from a post he wrote at the end of January: "The Jews and Mubarak ... The Israeli Prime Minister urged Western leaders to support Egyptian dictator Mubarak ... And who after this are the Jews? In fact, I always knew who they were." Ellipses are in the original.
When organizers discovered the post, they asked Alekseev to explain his words. Up until Tuesday, he had declined to do that. Unfortunately, Alekseev waited several days to respond, issuing a statement on Tuesday evening, after the episode had become a major topic on gay blogs and elsewhere. Alekseev spoke at Columbia University Tuesday, and the incident came up there as well.
While it's a positive step that Alekseev issued his statement, in which he affirmed that he is a "strong believer" in human rights and equality for everyone, it's worth noting that he blames others for the situation. He tried to deflect attention from his own actions by criticizing Scott Long, formerly of Human Rights Watch, who has denied there was any campaign to derail Alekseev's U.S. visit.
He also placed blame on California organizers, accusing them of exerting pressure on him. From the e-mails we've seen, that doesn't appear to be the case. California organizers did attempt to inform Alekseev of the recent history of LGBT activism in the Golden State, but we found no evidence of organizers trying to tell him what to say or what subjects to avoid, such as large LGBT agencies. In fact, in his interview with us before this controversy erupted, Alekseev did express his thoughts on the high salaries that some LGBT leaders earn. He also pointed out the fact that while LGBTs contributed millions of dollars to help defeat Proposition 8, international LGBT equality efforts are generally starving for donations. Many others have made similar observations, so we don't see why Alekseev seems to think he is being singled out.
Alekseev seems to be a determined activist, although his diplomatic skills need improvement. That said, we do encourage him to come to San Francisco as planned, where people here are very interested and involved in LGBT world affairs. He has a natural base of support here; however, people are wondering just what is going on and we think Alekseev should work harder on explaining his own actions rather than trying to cast blame on others. He is, after all, the person who wrote the post in the first place.