Tag Archives: California

“To the 7,001,084 Californians who exercised their constitutional right to protect marriage, the President’s decision is a deep betrayal of the democratic process and America’s identity of political diversity. Making matters worse, the President’s plan for disenfranchising these millions of voters is bringing the full weight of the government to bear against its own people! By enlisting the Justice Department, …

From the brief’s conclusion: “Proponents lack standing to pursue this appeal. If this Court has jurisdiction over their appeal, it should affirm the decision below.” NOTE: Today is the deadline for amicus briefs on both cases and AFER tells us that there will be an avalanche of filings. I’ll pull out the most interesting ones and provide a recap later …

Click over to Zack Ford at Think Progress for the rest of the results.

The Liberty Counsel has filed its final reply brief in their battle to block California’s ban on “ex-gay” torture for LGBT minors.  Via press release: The Reply Brief points out that SB 1172 is unconstitutional because it bans one viewpoint on same-sex sexual attractions, behavior, or identity. Affirming homosexuality is permitted, but counsel to change is banned. The Reply Brief …

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, openly gay California Assembly Speaker John Perez is on the short list to replace Hilda Solis, who resigned as Secretary of Labor last month. If chosen and approved, Perez would become the first-ever gay member of a presidential cabinet.  Typical for these situations, Perez is being cagey about his prospects. “Look, I’m always …

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which successfully lobbied for a condoms-in-porn law in Los Angeles County, has filed workplace safety complaints against several California-based gay porn companies that specialize in unprotected sex scenes.  Via press release: AHF this week filed formal ‘Notice of Safety or Health Hazards’ complaints with Cal/OSHA (California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health), …

The Los Angeles Times breaks the story: In the midst of renewed public outrage over its handling of the priest molestation cases, the Los Angeles Archdiocese is considering a $200-million fund-raising campaign. The archdiocese has hired a New York company, Guidance in Giving, to study the feasibility of a capital campaign that would shore up the church’s finances. The archdiocese …

Multiple law enforcement agencies across southern California are conducting a joint manhunt for a former Los Angeles cop suspected of murdering three people, including a member of the LAPD. Local news outlets have published a lengthy manifesto from Christopher Dorner, 33, in which he vows revenge on lesbian, Latino, and Asian members of the police. An excerpt: Those Hispanic officers …

Yesterday parishioners at every church in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles were read a letter of apology for the Catholic Church’s role in cloaking pedophile priests from law enforcement.  The letter was written by Archbishop Jose Gomez.  An excerpt: My brothers and sisters in Christ, This week we are releasing the files of priests who sexually abused children while they …

The Catholic Church has terminated Cardinal Roger Mahony for his role in cloaking pedophile priests from law enforcement. Just hours after a court-ordered massive release of priest personnel files revealed the extent of Mahony’s role in covering up for known sexual predators, Archbishop José Gómez announced Thursday night that he has relieved Mahony of his remaining duties. A former top …

Catholics for the Common Good has filed a Supreme Court brief against the overturn of Proposition 8, claiming that doing so constitutes “an attack on religion.” Here’s an excerpt from their summation: When the courts below held the People of California violated the Constitution when they voted to reaffirm the unique biological and cultural status of the only civil institution …

Protect Marriage, the primary backers of Proposition 8, is reportedly so in debt to their lawyers that it may affect their ability to defend their Supreme Court case. ProtectMarriage.com, the advocacy group defending a California gay marriage ban now under review by the high court, showed a $2 million deficit in its legal fund at the end of 2011 – …

Get your holy toner here! St. Andrew’s Abbey is a Benedictine monastery, a religious community of Catholic men who are vowed to a life of constant conversion & witness to the Gospel. The monastic community was founded in China in 1929 by the Abbey of Sint Andries Zevenkerken in Brugge, Belgium. The monks prayed, taught, and worked in China until …

The Fontana School District in San Bernadino County, California has purchased fourteen AR-15 assault weapons in order to “protect” students and staffers from potential attacks. FUSD Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks approved the acquisition of the rifles, which are being stored on campuses in locked safes for responding police officers in the event of an attack. Fontana Police Chief Rodney Jones and …

Today the legal team representing Protect Marriage, the backers of Proposition 8, filed their first brief at the Supreme Court. Chris Geidner has the story at Buzzfeed: Arguing that the case brought by same-sex couples seeking to marry was unlike past gay rights cases where the court struck down anti-gay restrictions and also unlike Loving v. Virginia, in which the …

Transwoman Kylan Arianna Wenzel, 26, will compete in this weekend’s Miss California pageant. Karen Ocamb reports at Frontiers: In April, following international fallout when pageant officials disqualified 23-year-old Miss Canada Jenna Talackova after learning she was a transgender woman, Donald Trump and his Miss Universe Organization announced a significant rule change to allow trans women to compete for any of …

God’s Gentle People in Chico, California didn’t like the “Don’t Believe In God?” message of the above billboard. Also vandalized was the website for the local atheists group.

“The day we’ve been waiting for is finally here. Today we scored a MAJOR victory for traditional marriage in the Supreme Court of the United States!! Just moments ago, the Supreme Court GRANTED our petition seeking the Court’s review of the Ninth Circuit’s erroneous decision striking down California’s Proposition 8. Thankfully, now we finally have a fighting chance at a …

Liberty Counsel’s suit to block California’s “ex-gay” therapy ban was shot down today by a federal judge who reached the opposite conclusion of the judge who yesterday temporarily ruled differently in a separate suit brought by others. Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights: The Court’s decision was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the National Association …