Wash. Blade: FL Gear Up for Marriage Battle

Evan Wolfson's objections to the Arizona strategy are noteworthy:

"Fla. activists gearing up for costly marriage battle
Both sides expected to spend millions by November
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO | Dec 19, 2:45 PM, Washington Blade

Now that the signatures of the necessary 611,009 Floridians have been secured to get a state constitutional amendment defining marriage there as between only one man and one woman on November’s ballot, activists on both sides of the ideological divide are gearing up for an expensive, nearly year-long battle that, in many respects, has already been underway for two years.

. . .. .“There’s no question we’re looking closely at Arizona since they’re the only state that voted down one of these,” the source said. “But Florida and Arizona are not identical. There’s a much better contingent of Christian conservatives here, more Hispanics, there’s more of a libertarian streak there — I’d say we’re using certain pages out of their playbook but it’s not a cookie cutter campaign.”

Evan Wolfson, director of Freedom to Marry, a national group working to secure marriage equality nationwide, said the key to voting down the amendment in Florida will be “local faces and voices in a steady drumbeat over enough time in an echo chamber of reinforcement, not some last-minute burst.”

Wolfson, who calls same-sex marriage “enemy language” because gays should be fighting for marriage equality and an end to their exclusion from marriage, said opponents of the amendment must make it clear to Floridians that the fight isn’t about lofty ideological arguments, but that, if approved, the amendment will hurt same-sex couples and their children in practical, everyday ways.

Wolfson agrees that merely mimicking the Arizona argument isn’t a sure-win strategy.

“Arizona wasn’t the only state that used that argument,” he said. “Every state that has an amendment, has latched onto that strategy and most of the time, it hasn’t worked. You don’t win pretending this issue is not what it’s about.”

The outcome won’t be known until November, but one thing is certain — both sides will have spent millions by the end of next year.

Florida Red and Blue has raised $2 million and has plans for what Gaskill calls a “strategically timed” media campaign that could cost up to $10 million. Fairness For All Families estimates the cost of fighting the amendment at about $7 million. It could not be determined how much Florida Coalition to Protect Marriage expects to spend supporting the amendment. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:45 PM | link

Single-Parent Homes & the Black-White I.Q. Gap

From Malcolm Gladwell’s review of the book What Is Intelligence? by social scientist James Flynn (“None of the Above: What I.Q. doesn’t tell you about race,” New Yorker, December 17, 2007). (Flynn is best known for discovering that I.Q.s around the world have been rising by 0.3 points per year, or three points per decade, for as far back as the tests have been administered, a phenomenon now known as the “Flynn effect.”):

...Two weeks ago, Flynn came to Manhattan to debate Charles Murray at a forum sponsored by the Manhattan Institute. Their subject was the black-white I.Q. gap in America...

That gap, [Murray] seemed to think, reflected some inherent difference between the races. “Starting in the nineteen-seventies, to put it very crudely, you had a higher proportion of black kids being born to really dumb mothers,” he said...

Flynn took a different approach. The black-white gap, he pointed out, differs dramatically by age. He noted that the tests we have for measuring the cognitive functioning of infants, though admittedly crude, show the races to be almost the same. By age four, the average black I.Q. is 95.4—only four and a half points behind the average white I.Q. Then the real gap emerges: from age four through twenty-four, blacks lose six-tenths of a point a year, until their scores settle at 83.4.

That steady decline, Flynn said, did not resemble the usual pattern of genetic influence. Instead, it was exactly what you would expect, given the disparate cognitive environments that whites and blacks encounter as they grow older. Black children are more likely to be raised in single-parent homes than are white children—and single-parent homes are less cognitively complex than two-parent homes...

posted by Imapp Staff at 5:40 PM | link

US Fertility Rate Hits Replacement Level

From "Fertility rate in USA on upswing," USA Today, December 20, 2007:

The fertility rate among Americans has climbed to its highest level since 1971, setting the country apart from most industrialized nations that are struggling with low birthrates and aging populations.

The fertility rate hit 2.1 in 2006, according to preliminary estimates released by the National Center for Health Statistics. It's a milestone: the first time since shortly after the baby boom ended that the nation has reached the rate of births needed for a generation to replace itself, an average 2.1 per woman. [U.S. fertility hit its low of 1.7 in 1976]...

Fertility in the USA went up in every age group from 2005 to 2006, the biggest jump coming among those 20 to 24 years old...

"What matters is that the U.S. is probably one of very few industrialized countries that have a fertility rate close to or at replacement level," says [the] head of the fertility section at the United Nations' Population Division...

posted by Imapp Staff at 1:39 PM | link

VT Commission Hearing From Few SSM Opponents

From "Packed room supports gay marriage," Times Argus, December 19, 2007:

...Members of the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection heard only statements of support for moving past civil unions to same-sex marriage during the two-hour hearing at Montpelier's Statehouse.

It was a startling switch from the legislative hearings on civil unions in the same building seven years ago, which attracted hundreds of divided Vermonters who passionately argued both for and against a legal recognition of same-sex couples...

Tuesday's session – the sixth hearing the 11-member panel has held across the state this year on marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples – followed in the steps of previous meetings, at which few or no opponents of gay marriage spoke out...

The commission is charged with issuing a report to the Vermont Legislature in April 2008...

posted by Imapp Staff at 8:28 AM | link

Australian Labor Party Has No Plans for SSM

Story here.
posted by maggie at 11:35 PM | link

Canadian High Court Penalizes Jewish Husband for Refusing Religious Divorce

The majority said basic values like gender equality required interfering in religious practice, two justices vigorously protested what they saw as a breach in the separation of church and state, Globe and Mail story, here.
posted by maggie at 11:29 PM | link

New Study: SS Couples Wealthier than Married Couples

A just released "Census Snapshot" of ss couples in the U.S. from the Williams Institute reveals: a. men in ss couples earn less individually than married men b. women in ss couples earn more, individually than women with husbands. Since married men are married to married women, the net effect is that ss couples have higher income than married couples, on average. Given they are 8 years younger, on average, the gap is actually larger than it appears (because earnings increase typically in the lifecycle):

"The median income of same-sex coupled households in the U.S. is $63,600, more than that of married couples ($57,500). The average household income of same-sex couples is $80,610, more than $73,655 for married couples."

However, media accounts appear to be headlining the "gay men earn less than husbands" news.

UPDATE: Gary Gates, a scholar at the Williams Institute, comments:

"Thanks for the link to our study. As an FYI, while what you say is true for SS couples, it’s not for SS couples with children. Among those with children, even SS male couples have household incomes below that of married couples. For households with children, the order (for household income) is married, SSM, SSF, different-sex unmarried."

posted by maggie at 10:56 AM | link

Domestic Violence Afflicts Couples Straight and Gay

From "Domestic violence afflicts couples straight and gay," Birmingham News, December 16, 2007:

..."It's not any more unusual to see [domestic violence] in gay or lesbian relationships than in male-female relationships," [Carol Gundlach, executive director of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence] said...

In 44 percent of all domestic violence cases [in Alabama] in 2006, the victim was the girlfriend or ex-girlfriend of the offender, according to state statistics. The data does not break out how many of those offenders were women....

"It is such a hidden offense, but it may be even more hidden in gay or lesbian relationships," Gundlach said. "Not only is there the normal fear of calling police, but there's also the fear of being outed - with the partner threatening to tell Mom or the boss."...

posted by Imapp Staff at 8:42 AM | link

Study Examines Role of Tattoos in Construction of Personal Identity

From "Study Examines Role of Tattoos in Construction of Personal Identity," Newswise, December 18, 2007:

...[A] researcher says people use tattoos as a way to find meaning, permanence and stability – and thus a coherent identity – in an increasingly complex and fragmented world.

They do this through the power of story...Each tattoo can be viewed as a symbol of an episode or scene in the narrative of one’s life. [These stories can be seen] as personal myths...stories that bring together a wide range of experience into a purposeful and convincing whole...

[After in-depth analyses of a variety of individual life stories, researchers] identified two predominant themes: stories of redemption and stories of contamination. Narrative sequences of redemption moved from an emotionally negative or bad scene to an emotionally positive or good outcome....

Conversely, narrative sequences of contamination moved from good to bad. In this case, positive experience was spoiled or contaminated by a bad outcome...

posted by Imapp Staff at 8:30 AM | link

WaPo: How Do I Get a Good Divorce?

Some good advice, as far as it goes, from the December 18 Washington Post.

The experts recommend, for example, going to your husband or wife in a civilized way and saying something like, "Our marriage isn't working; I'm sorry, and it's sad. But we have kids and a job to do together for the next 10 or so years, and we have to make it comfortable for the children."

Personally, if my husband ever tried that stupid line on me, I'd be throwing frying pans in no time. Accept the facts: There just isn't any civilized way to explain to the person you promised to love for the rest of your life, that you are tired of being related to them any more, and plan to dump them no matter what they say. Pretending you are being nice is infuriating. (Hence the frying pans).

Some people handle abandonment better than others. And heck we're just talking about the adults.
posted by maggie at 12:16 PM | link

UPDATE HOAX:Death Threats Against Princeton Chastity Group, Student Beaten

UPDATE, it's apparently a hoax. One sick kid:

"Francisco Nava Confesses
By Ryan T. Anderson

Monday, December 17, 2007, 1:43 PM

Reports are coming in that Francisco Nava has confessed to Princeton Township Police. Apparently he was behind the threats and the assault. More to come."

From Ryan Anderson at First Things, December 17, 2007, reports (including on the victim's past history of a false allegation while in high school):

Death Threats and a Student Assaulted at Princeton

"Last Wednesday, at Princeton University, vicious emails were sent to four students and a professor, threatening their lives because of their conservative political and religious views. The students—all members of the Anscombe Society, the intellectual family-values organization on campus—were Sherif Girgis, Jonathan Hwang Kevin Joyce, and Francisco Nava. The professor was Robert P. George (a First Things board member, whose lecture “Law and Moral Purpose” is featured in this month’s issue).

On Friday, the situation escalated dramatically, as one of the threatened students, the junior Francisco Nava, was attacked and beaten, and possibly suffered a concussion. Nava told the Princeton police that while he was walking to the home of a boy he regularly mentors, he was grabbed by two men who held him against a brick wall, punched him, and repeatedly hit his head against the bricks. He was taken to the University Medical Center at Princeton (the town hospital), treated and released—but was admitted to the campus health center the next day for further treatment. Though the University acknowledges that the initial threats fell through the cracks, administrators are responding to this assault thoughtfully and professionally.

. . .The story of threats begins, however, with Princeton undergraduate Francisco Nava. He is well-liked by his peers, volunteers with University Big Brothers and Sisters, is involved in his church (he is an adult convert to Mormonism), is a member of the University’s interfaith Religious Life Council, and has compiled an impressive academic record. The Daily Princetonian reports that when Nava returned to campus this fall, he committed himself “to a kind of political coming-out, deciding that he would . . . ‘no longer mask [his] views on contemporary moral issues.’ And so he joined the Anscombe Society as an active member. He spoke up in class and precept in order to defend the beliefs that do not just belong to him—they define him and his faith.”

Nava was selected to serve as a residential advisor in Butler College (one of Princeton’s residential colleges), and earlier this fall, as part of his duties there, he led a discussion of two academic articles taking opposing positions on same-sex marriage. Apparently the discussion led to a loud debate, and Nava’s personal opposition to same-sex marriage quickly became a subject of discussion in the college. Shortly thereafter, he reports, he received a hand-written note in his mailbox reading: “YOU HAVE FOUND THE WRONG CAUSE.” . . .

Based on some of the arguments Grossman made about how administrative efforts to prevent sexually transmitted disease actually lead to more sexual activity, more disease, and more psychological distress, Nava penned an op/ed for the Daily Princetonian questioning the campus’s programs on condom distribution and sexual health titled “Princeton’s Latex Lies.” . . .

Two days after the article appeared in print, Nava reported finding another hand-written note (in the same green and black ink): “ONE MORE ARTICLE AND YOU WON’T LIVE TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY.” . . .

Then, last Wednesday an op/ed appeared in the Daily Princetonian that attacked the Anscombe Society, claiming the group “promotes discrimination against fellow Princetonians,” that “the literature from the Anscombe Society serves only to reinforce anti-gay bigotry,” and that the group believes that “working mothers are ruining the country.”

. . . Later that day, Professor George and four of the officers—Girgis, Hwang, Joyce, and Nava—received a death threat by e-mail. In fact, they had been sent two death threats, but the first was caught by the University’s spam filter because it used an expletive. (It was discovered the following morning.)

The threat that was blocked by the spam filter read: SHUT THE [expletive] UP WE WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU WE ARE WATCHING YOU YOU DONT BELONG HERE WE WILL KILL YOU.

The one they received read: jonathan, robert, kevin, francisco and sherif:: i am telling you know that we are watching you all. we will destroy you. you are not welcome here. you will suffer…all of you. shut the [expletive] uP!!! (In this email, percentage signs, “%,” were inserted between the letters of the expletive, so that it passed through the university’s spamcatcher.)

. . .On Friday evening Nava was attacked.

At 6:55 that night, George received a call from Nava, who was in the Emergency Room at the University Medical Center. George reports that Nava’s speech was slurred and his thoughts seemed confused. Once at the hospital, George and the other students say they met the mother of the child Nava tutors. She reports that Nava entered her house badly beaten and bleeding. She called the police and Nava was transported by ambulance to the emergency room. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:07 AM | link

AP re NJ SSM & NOM

From "Gay marriage debate intensifies as conservatives get organized," AP, December 15, 2007:

New Jersey's well organized gay rights advocates are finding their adversaries are also getting prepared for a coming legislative debate over gay marriage.

The National Organization for Marriage, established earlier this year in Princeton, made itself known over the past few weeks with radio advertisements urging people to call their lawmakers to tell them that allowing gay couples to marry would undermine the institution.

The group set up in left-leaning New Jersey because it is one of a few states where there's a realistic chance in the next few years that lawmakers will vote to allow gay marriage. That makes it a battleground for the issues nationally.

"If our side continues to increase in its activism, I think we can stop this in 2008," said Brian Brown, the executive director of the new organization...

posted by Imapp Staff at 9:06 AM | link