The backlog of personal happenings I’d like to blog about has its natural counterpart in lots of links to articles I’d like to comment on here. Several are related to same-sex marriages:
A French mayor refuses to wed same-sex couples under the new French law, claiming “For me, marriage is for a woman and man to have children. I am not discriminating as a same-sex couple is sterile. It’s a parody of equality, it’s a big lie.” Well unless he also refuses to wed opposite-sex couples who can’t procreate, it’s himself who is a big liar. Despite his stance, I wouldn’t be surprised if he added he was no homophobe. That phrase has become such a mantra that even the President of Senegal claims his country is not ready to change its laws (consensual gay sex between adults punishable by up to 5 years in prison), but that “does not mean we are homophobic”.
Meanwhile, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill has been published at Holyrood, and we can expect more Lillian Ladeles in our own country, as it’s very likely to pass. The Herald brought out a list of those 11 MSPs who have publicised their opposition. It’s sad to see there Alasdair Allan, but he probably had to if he wanted to call himself a representative of his constituency. On the other hand it’s also sad to see the format in which the names were published, which looks as if they were caught doing something clandestine.
While in the States, the Supreme Court struck down the notorious Defense of Marriage Act and effectively also the even more notorious Proposition 8. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the ban imposed by the latter unexpectedly soon and gay weddings in California promptly recommenced. This angered the other party, which claims it should have waited for 25 days, during which time they could challenge the Supreme Court ruling. I always thought that the Supreme Court was a court of last resort, but it seems that in the US you can appeal till the end of time.
