Quote Of The Day - Mark Joseph Stern

"The problem here, of course, is that an honest answer—'your honor, we believe gay people will destroy the marital institution altogether'—would undermine the supposedly secular, animus-free nature of these arguments. In developing them, anti-gay activists began with a conclusion—gay people don’t deserve the rights that we straight people have—then worked backward, camouflaging each prejudiced premise with a supposedly neutral talking point. Under any kind of scrutiny, these theories instantly fall apart, revealing their bigoted, constitutionally impermissible core. [snip]

"And yet the inanity continues full-throttle, because gay marriage opponents have backed themselves into the corner they’ve always dreaded. They can’t give up their quest now—but they’re barred from citing the explanations that they truly believe, deep down, to be correct. The result is the current tailspin of idiocy, a shifting argument with rootless standards roaming from rationale to rationale in a desperate attempt to find shelter from the storm of progress swirling around it. It’s a pathetic display, but not an unpleasant one to witness. Stripped of all logic and reason, the argument against gay marriage has been reduced to gibberish. Enjoy the babbling while it lasts." - Mark Joseph Stern, in a Slate essay titled When Did Arguments Against Gay Marriage Become So Silly?

Slate: Create Your Own Marriage Ruling

Mark Joseph Stern writes at Slate:

These judges know this is their shot at a very specific kind of immortality, and they seem to be in subtle competition with each other to write the one marriage equality opinion that history remembers. Now Outward is offering a chance to create the ultimate gay marriage opinion. We’ve taken the most notable portions from a number of these opinions; just choose the style and substance of your ruling, and we’ll give you an opinion to match. Every sentence is taken from a real gay marriage opinion, though some are lightly edited.

My result starts this way: "Where will this all lead? I know that many suggest we are going down a slippery slope that will have no moral boundaries. To those who truly harbor such fears, I can only say this: Let us look less to the sky to see what might fall; rather, let us look to each other … and rise." (Tipped by JMG reader Chris)

Straights Should Stay Out Of Gay Bars?

Slate vlogger and self-identified separatist June Thomas says that gay nightclubs are too few and "precious" to the community and therefore straight people should think twice about coming in. And gay guys should stay out of lesbian bars too.
(Tipped by JMG reader John)

Slate Launches "Gaysplaining" Section

Slate today announced the launch of Outward, a new section of the site that "won’t be just another one-note, mainstream 'gay news' blog." Um, ouch?

Being made of the same ornery stuff as the rest of Slate, Outward will be a haven for passionate expressions of underrepresented and controversial points of view that we hope will make you think, make you cry, and even make you mad, all in the service of expanding the limits of the this big queer conversation. If it’s not clear already, that conversation includes anyone who wants in, even if they don’t have a gay bone in their body. Though many (but by no means all) of us working on Outward are queer, it’s important to us that it speaks to—if not always for—everyone. In fact, we especially want to hear from straight readers who have questions about LGBTQ life and culture. Gaysplaining isn’t a bad word as far as we’re concerned, so, if there’s something you’d like to Ask a Gay Person, send your questions.

The first three Outward posts are here.