Time To Get Clerks Out Of The Marriage License Business For Good

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Kim Davis saga, it’s that it only takes one forgiven Christian (or hypocrite in more ecumenical language) to make a mockery of the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling.

Most times, county clerks are the keeper of the local records–in essence, the guardian of local government filing cabinets. But as we learned from Davis’s case, when it comes to marriage at least, clerks can take a routine matter and turn it into a public statement, at the expense of whoever happens to be in the way of their beliefs. And for this taxpayers are hit with her $80,000 salary plus benefits.

So here’s an idea: Let’s get clerks out of the business of issuing marriage licenses.

Ostensibly, the reason clerks issue marriage licenses is to verify that the couple getting married is who they say they are. The county also has a more-than-passing interest in collecting the license fee. But there’s no reason clerks have to be the arbiters of identity.

Think about virtually any other permit that you may require from your local government. In many municipalities, you can request the permit online and never have to show up in the clerk’s office. (Although let’s face it: Governments are not exactly AirBnb or Uber when it comes to technology.)  The county can collect the fee through its website (and is happy to do so, since it reduces staff time).

And what about verifying identity? After all, people could otherwise obtain marriage licenses fraudulently, claiming to be who they aren’t (or of age when they’re not).

Consider this: you can pay for an airline ticket to anywhere in the world, without ever interacting with a person who questions your right to fly. The proof point comes at the time of the event itself: when it’s departure time. Then the TSA agent checks to make sure that you are, indeed, you.

So why isn’t it the same with marriage? Officiants are the last stop before the event itself. Checking ID is no more complicated for them than for county clerks, but a lot more relevant. In fact, it’s done already. Why the redundancy in the system?

The answer, of course, is that there is no good answer. Perhaps it’s a vestige of pre-feminism days, when protecting the virtue of single women was a moral cause for government. Perhaps it’s just because it adds to the self-importance of bureaucracy or the public worker unions. Perhaps the government hasn’t heard about this thing called the Internet. Whatever the reason, it makes no sense.

Taking clerks out of the business of granting marriage licenses would mean we would never have had to deal with the likes of Davis–and we wouldn’t have to bend over backwards to accommodate the biases of her faith. Licenses would be granted automatically. The clerks just get the form returned to them after the wedding, so that the county can issue a marriage certificate. Of course, Davis and her ilk could refuse to issue marriage certificates, but at that point, the marriage is a done deal. There is no grandstanding possible for the petty bureaucrat.

The only downside of the idea is that Davis would pretty much get out of the mess she’s in. But perhaps that would be the ultimate punishment as well. Davis clearly wants to be a martyr to the cause.

Denying her that status by implementing a simple automation process might just well be the best revenge anyone could offer.

JohnGallagher

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Gay movie Desde Allá wins top prize in Venice

Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas’ powerful debut feature movie Desde Allá has won the Venince Film Festival’s top Golden Lion prize.

The drama set in Caracase, also known as From Afar, tells the story of a 50-year-old rich gay man who gets sexually involved with a 17-year-old leader from one of the city’s gangs.

Quietly but powerfully, the movie maps the currents of sex, money and violence beneath the surface of Venezuelan society in 93 minutes.

‘I want to dedicate this prize to my amazing country, Venezuela,’ Vigas said to an applauding audience. ‘I know we have a few problems, but if we talk about them we will overcome them.’

Venezuela is going through a serious economic crisis that resulted in months of street protests last year over the shortage of many goods.

Vigas, previously with only one short movie to his name, has made history by getting the first Venezuelan movie into the world’s oldest film festival and then winning its top prize.

‘Rarely taking the path of cheap exposition where convincing character psychology will do, this smart, unsensationalized examination of the slow-blossoming relationship between a middle-aged loner and a young street tough trusts auds to make the necessary connections in a narrative that merges its characters’ respective father complexes to moving, equivocal effect,’ reviewed Variety.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”www.youtube.com/embed/oZfQAYRlL0E&rdquo; frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Danish Girl, featuring Eddie Redmayne as pioneer transgender artist Lili Elbe, left Venice empty-handed, as the jury chaired by Alfonso Cuarón gave the best actor award to Fabrice Luchini, who played a judge in Christian Vincent’s L’Hermine, or Courted.

Winners of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival:

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Derek Yiu

www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-movie-desde-alla-wins-top-prize-in-venice/

Elton John offers to meet Putin over gay rights

Elton John has expressed his desire to hold talks with Vladimir Putin over the Russian president’s ‘ridiculous’ stance on gay rights.

The Rock Man signer accused Putin of saying ‘stupid things’ in reference to his warning last year to gay people travelling to the Sochi Winter Olympics to leave the children in peace.

‘Give me a break. You are president of Russia, and you go and say stupid things like that?,’ John told the BBC.

He described Putin’s attitude to gay people as ‘isolating and prejudiced’ and ‘ridiculous’.

John admitted meeting Putin is like ‘pie in sky’: ‘He may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.’

The invitation to talk with Putin was extended in Ukraine, on the back of a meeting with President Petro Poroshenko to demand legislative changes to support LGBT rights.

John thanked Poroshenko for his ‘support’ on Instagram and said: ‘Specifically, I asked him to: 1. Ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity. 2. Provide criminal penalties for hate crimes.

‘We need Ukrainian businessmen and power brokers to create a more inclusive and tolerant society. We need this everywhere!’

See John’s speech at the Yalta Conference of business and political leaders in Ukraine below:

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Derek Yiu

www.gaystarnews.com/article/elton-john-offers-to-meet-putin-over-gay-rights/

Elton John Urges LGBT Acceptance in Ukraine, Russia

Elton John has called on Ukrainians to be more accepting of LGBT people, and he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to encourage him to improve the situation in his nation as well.

Policies “designed to repress LGBT citizens … hinder economic development,” the music star and activist told a meeting of business and political leaders in Kiev, the Associated Press reported Saturday.

Countries, even developing ones, that recognize LGBT rights have a higher per capita gross domestic product than those that are less tolerant, John said. “So being tolerant and inclusive is not only the morally right thing to do, for the new Ukraine, it’s the smart thing to do,” he said, accorrding to the AP.

John also met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and urged greater acceptance of LGBT people, and he would like to meet with Putin too, he told the BBC.

Putin’s attitude toward LGBT people is “isolating and prejudiced,” John told the BBC. The singer has often criticized Russia’s “gay propaganda” law, enacted in 2013, which essentially prohibits any positive discussion of LGBT people or support for their rights in forums accessible to minors. He has decried widespread homophobic violence in Russia as well (including at a 2013 concert, pictured), and has previously expressed a wish to talk with Putin.

He admitted his chance of having a meeting with Putin is slim. “It’s probably pie in the sky,” John told the BBC, adding that if such a meeting were to take place, “he may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.”

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/world/2015/9/12/elton-john-urges-lgbt-acceptance-ukraine-russia

Liam Payne: One Direction Gay Rumors ‘Drive Me Insane’

One Direction’s Liam Payne has had it with the gay ‘Larry Stylinson’ fanfics, saying that they drive him insane in the lastest issue of U.K. magazine Attitude. Payne says it’s not so much the fanfics themselves but the numerous rumors they give life to about bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, especially the rumor concerning Tomlinson’s baby with Briana Jungwirth as a coverup for his sexuality:

“When the [gay marriage] law changed in the U.S. there were loads of rainbow flags flying at our shows, but I think that was mainly because people think of the Louis and Harry thing, which is absolutely nuts and drives me insane. It’s like when you know the ins and outs of what’s going on with people, it’s just annoying when it’s so stupid…It becomes like a conspiracy or a cult.”

“He’s very happy about becoming a dad. But the funny thing is, there are some people out there who think that Louis getting Briana pregnant is fake. That’s it’s not real; it’s a cover up. And that’s the sort of s–t that gets to me. But you have to hold your tongue and that’s fine.”

Payne credits his girlfriend Sophia Smith for persuading him to do the interview and photoshoot for Attitude. Payne maintains that he’s not homophobic however, the teen heartthrob received widespread criticism last year over a tweet he posted supporting Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson’s “family values” even though Robertson is vocally anti-gay.

[h/t E! News]

Related, One Direction’s Liam Payne Says He’s ‘In No Way Shape or Form Homophobic’ 

The post Liam Payne: One Direction Gay Rumors ‘Drive Me Insane’ appeared first on Towleroad.

Anthony Costello

Liam Payne: One Direction Gay Rumors ‘Drive Me Insane’

Ellen Page: Ted Cruz And Mike Huckabee Seem Like 'Homophobic People'

Actress Ellen Page said that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) seemed homophobic and had failed to adequately address questions about their stances on LGBTQ issues.

Page confronted Cruz at the Iowa State Fair last month and asked him why he wouldn’t stand up against discrimination toward LGBTQ individuals. Cruz responded by telling Page that Americans shouldn’t be forced to do things that were against their religious beliefs. The Republican presidential hopeful also tried to pivot away from domestic LGBTQ issues and asked why the Obama administration wasn’t doing more to stand up for gay people killed in Iran or by ISIS.

Even though Cruz said that he was “happy to answer [her] question, but not to have a back-and-forth debate,” Page — who came out as gay last year —  said that the Texas senator’s answers weren’t satisfactory.

“I’ve seen multiple videos and read multiple quotes of Ted Cruz discussing gay issues, as well as Mike Huckabee, and it goes exactly as you’d expect. They don’t answer the question,” she told The Daily Beast in an interview published Saturday. “They say you’re cutting them off when you try to ask the same question again because they’re not answering it, because the reality is that they might be homophobic people. To me, it seems like they’re homophobic people.”

Page said that the GOP was ignoring public support in its own party for same-sex marriage. In May polls, a record high percentage of Americans expressed support for gay marriage, though that support did differ among party lines. While a majority of Democrats and independents supported same-sex marriage in a May Gallup poll, just 37 percent of Republicans in the Gallup poll were inclined to support it.

“We live in a culture where even the majority Republicans are in favor of same-sex marriage — and I mean Republican constituents, not the people running for president,” Page said. “I don’t know what to say other than it went exactly as expected. It just goes to ISIS and Iran and who knows where.”

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REM slams Cruz and Trump for using song

Republicans Ted Cruz and Donald Trump should look elsewhere if they want music to rev up the crowds.

According to the Daily Beast, Trump used REM’s 1987 song “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) as he hit the stage at the Stop the Iran Deal rally in Washington, DC. Founding member Mike Mills was not feeling fine at all.

‘Personally, I think the Orange Clown will do anything for attention. I hate giving it to him,’ Mills tweeted.

Leader singer Michael Stipe was slightly more colloquial.

‘Go fuck yourselves, the lot of you—you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men,’ Stipe said in a quote to The Daily Beast.

Trump and Cruz were the two Republican presidential contenders who spoke at the rally.

‘Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign,’ Stipe continued.

On Facebook, the group sounded a little less Trumpy.

‘While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here. The media and the American voter should focus on the bigger picture, and not allow grandstanding politicians to distract us from the pressing issues of the day and of the current Presidential campaign.’

For our younger readers (we know you exist), below is the song’s video. If you never heard of REM,  now is a good time to start.

The post REM slams Cruz and Trump for using song appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/rem-slams-cruz-and-trump-for-using-song/

Billboard Reminds Kim Davis Marriage Definition Has Changed

Kim Davis is getting a pro–marriage equality message in her hometown, courtesy of a billboard put up by Planting Peace.

The nonprofit group has erected a billboard in Morehead, Ky., the seat of Rowan County, reminding the recalcitrant county clerk that marriage has not been defined the same way throughout history. “The fact that you can’t sell your daughter for three goats and a cow means we’ve already defined marriage,” it reads.

Planting Peace is the group that has a rainbow-colored house across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church, an infamously antigay congregation in Topeka, Kan. The house has hosted same-sex weddings and other events promoting acceptance.

“The intent of this billboard is to expose how the anti-LGBT movement is selective in what rules to follow and how they choose to define ‘traditional’ institutions or values,” Aaron Jackson, president of Planting Peace, told The Huffington Post.

“The actions of Kim Davis and the messages from the anti-LGBTQ movement are not simply about a political or religious debate,” he continued. “There are LGBT youth across the world who are taking their lives at an alarming rate because of these messages from society that make them feel broken or less than. … Our message to our LGBT youth is simple: You are loved, valued, supported, and beautiful. There is nothing wrong with you, and we will stand by you. You are not alone.”

Davis, released from jail Tuesday after serving time on a contempt of court charge because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She is expected to be back at work Monday, under orders not to interfere with licenses — but she is still trying to avoid serving gay couples, having filed an emergency request in federal appeals court Friday.

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/marriage-equality/2015/9/12/billboard-reminds-kim-davis-marriage-definition-has-changed

Kim Davis Asks Appeals Court To Let Her Refuse To Issue Marriage Licenses

MOREHEAD, Ky., Sept 12 (Reuters) – The county clerk from Kentucky who was jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples has asked an appeals court to let her continue her stand until a lawsuit against her is decided.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, due back at work Monday after six days behind bars, has said her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and her attorneys have said the 49-year-old woman will not violate her conscience when she returns to work.

In her absence, deputy clerks have been issuing licenses and have said they would continue to do so.

Davis was jailed when she refused to comply with U.S. District Judge David Bunning’s order to issue licenses. He ordered her released when the deputy clerks began issuing the licenses.

In a Friday motion filed with the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Davis’ attorneys asked that she be allowed to continue banning marriage licenses for her entire office until the case is settled.

Davis’ attorneys argued that Bunning’s initial order had only covered couples who were suing her. They said he violated her right to due process during her appeal when he expanded his initial injunction to include any couple legally eligible to marry, the filing says.

She should thus be allowed to continue her ban now that the couples covered under the first order have been issued licenses, the attorneys argue.

In a separate filing on Friday, her attorneys said “this case would be over” if the governor, using the same authority that allowed him to change the certificates to be gender neutral, would simply remove her name from the documents.

Bunning warned Davis in his release order that there would be consequences if she interfered with the issuance of marriage licenses when she returned to work. A deputy clerk has said he will continue to issue licenses.

On Tuesday, Davis walked out of the Carter County Detention Center to a roaring crowd. Her supporters continued protests last week after her release, demanding the firing of any deputy clerks who provide marriage licenses without Davis’s permission.

Her attorneys have said marriage certificates issued without her authority have been void.

The issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Kentucky and other states has become the latest focal point in the long-running debate over gay marriage that has continued even after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June allowed the practice nationwide.

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Kim Davis files another appeal

Kim Davis‘ legal team is piling up the billable hours to keep her from doing her job. Yesterday, 11 September, lawyers for the Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage certificates to LGBTI couples, filed another appeal.

According to MSNBC, the legal team for the Rowan County clerk filed papers with the Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals. The Liberty Counsel lawyers maintain because the gay couples who sued received certificates when Davis was in jail, the office should not be required to process licenses for other LGBTI couples.

‘I hate to use a religious metaphor, given the circumstances,’  Sam Marcosson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Louisville, said to MSNBC, ‘but this strikes me as a Hail Mary pass.’

Liberty Counsel is a Christian law firm.

Since the Supreme Court ruled marriage equality is legal in all 50 states, Davis has balked at the decision citing her religious faith. Last month, US District Judge David Bunning ordered her to follow the law. The Democrat appealed to the Supreme Court, but the highest court in the country denied her emergency request to not issue certificates to any couples – gay or straight – as she fought in the lower court.

She continued to ignore the judge’s ruling. Bunning placed her in jail, for contempt, earlier this month. She was released on 8 September, but warned not to interfere with issuing of marriage certificates. Deputy clerks filed papers when she was away.

If the Sixth Circuit does not reply to Davis by Monday, the day she plans to return to work, she has two options: either allow the office to issues certificates, or ignore Bunning a second time.

Deputy Rowan County clerks promise they will file applications, even if Davis interferes.

Davis has been applauded by many on the religious right, including Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

The post Kim Davis files another appeal appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/kim-davis-files-another-appeal/