Broadcast Of Prop 8 Trial?

[colinian]

California's Proposition 8 is being challenged in court on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage ban. Now the television networks want live coverage of the trial in U.S. District Court. A decision is expected prior to the start of the trial which is now scheduled on January 11.

Here's a link to the story on KTVU.com: TV Networks And Newspapers Seek Broadcast Of Prop 8 Trial.

Colin

[Drewbie]

Good luck guys :)

[colinian]

Judge Refuses Requested Delay Of Gay Marriage Trial

That's the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and they gave their "GO" to the YouTube broadcast plan for the Proposition 8 trial. More info here.

w00t!

Colin

[E.J.]

Follow the trail here:

Blog Link

[The Pecman]

The most amusing part of this story so far is that the anti-prop 8 people don't want the trial televised because then viewers will know their names and faces. They're afraid that they'll be harassed for being against gay marriage.

It seems to me that 1) the gay advocates for marriage could have the same concerns about harassment, and they don't seem worried about it, and 2) if you believe in something, you have to stand up for it, period.

To me, I think the anti-prop. 8 people are coming off as being opinionated, bigoted, and cowardly. Not a great combination.

[colinian]

The most amusing part of this story so far is that the anti-prop 8 people don't want the trial televised because then viewers will know their names and faces. They're afraid that they'll be harassed for being against gay marriage.

It seems to me that 1) the gay advocates for marriage could have the same concerns about harassment, and they don't seem worried about it, and 2) if you believe in something, you have to stand up for it, period.

To me, I think the anti-prop. 8 people are coming off as being opinionated, bigoted, and cowardly. Not a great combination.

What's even more amusing is that at the beginning of the pro-Prop 8 campaign there were some companies and wealthy individuals who contributed to the anti-Prop 8 campaign who were harassed by the pro side, and had damage done to their homes and businesses. There were pro-Prop 8 people who stood on street corners waving signs that read "Protect Our Children From Pedophiles! YES on 8". And they say they're afraid they might be targeted? I'm amazed by their duplicity.

Colin

[colinian]

Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 vote (the 5 votes being the conservative majority on the court) sided with the pro-Prop 8 attorneys and ruled that the Prop 8 trial cannot be recorded or broadcast. However, bloggers are providing the testimony on a near real-time basis.

There's an interesting article from Newsweek about gay marriage. The title is The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage. Here's a link to the article.

Colin

[The Pecman]

What's even more amusing is that at the beginning of the pro-Prop 8 campaign there were some companies and wealthy individuals who contributed to the anti-Prop 8 campaign who were harassed by the pro side, and had damage done to their homes and businesses.

Yeah. Let's not forget the Mormons (aka Church of Latter-Day Saints) and the Catholic Church, who spent millions in Maine, California, and New Jersey to defeat gay marriage bills.

I'm very, very tolerant when it comes to religious freedom, but very little pisses me off more than people who want to inflict their religious beliefs on me. Stuff like this really burns me up.

[colinian]

Yeah. Let's not forget the Mormons (aka Church of Latter-Day Saints) and the Catholic Church, who spent millions in Maine, California, and New Jersey to defeat gay marriage bills.

I'm very, very tolerant when it comes to religious freedom, but very little pisses me off more than people who want to inflict their religious beliefs on me. Stuff like this really burns me up.

I agree with what you said 1,000%, Pecman!

Colin

[DesDownunder]

Well I suppose, since I am agnostic, no one would be surprised to find out I agree with Pec and Colin, that when religious people start telling me what I should believe, I too get hot under the collar.

At the moment I see the world going backwards into a dark age of ignorance, devoid of logic, reason and compassion.

The fabric of society may well be breaking down, and it isn't because of people seeking or getting same sex equality, but it does have a lot to do with religious extremists abandoning, ignoring and twisting the text of their beliefs so as to demand their followers effectively, forsake intelligence for dogma.

Prepare ye for the return of the Inquisition. The indoctrination, the persecution are already underway. Human Rights are being sacrificed.

I'd add, "The end is nigh," but it seems wrong for an agnostic to say that.

[Cole Parker]

For those unaware of it, Mike Arram's Henry stories touch on this topic. Starting with Henry in the Outfield, posted here on AD, and then continuing on, story after story, on CRVBoy from that point, the stories move toward an apocalyptic ending for the world. They very much follow in a fictional context what appears to be happening in real life with the emergence of the power of evangelistic religion in our society.

C

[DesDownunder]

For those unaware of it, Mike Arram's Henry stories touch on this topic. Starting with Henry in the Outfield, posted here on AD, and then continuing on, story after story, on CRVBoy from that point, the stories move toward an apocalyptic ending for the world. They very much follow in a fictional context what appears to be happening in real life with the emergence of the power of evangelistic religion in our society.

C

I find this trend happening in not just our literature (Nifty included) but in other stories, movies and worryingly in discussions with sensitive people who might have once been called soothsayers or psychics. I'm not saying these people are ably predicting the end of the world, but they do feel some disaster is impending.

What, I wonder, is just how much of our concern is driven by the times in which we live, or whether our reality is responding to somehow manifest our concerns about our times.

Maybe it is bit of both, like some weird feedback mechanism for doom. Try thinking love and peace, it can't hurt...can it?

Another thing that interests me is, in all this apocalyptic carry-on (and apart from the great stories), will the depth of our plots be sufficient to stop them from being banned as subversive literature. More likely, we will be charged with sedition as well as being in possession of material offensive to whatever deity is currently in control of your cave / tree / bunker.

***************

Dan Kirk has a couple of terrific sci-fi stories predicting the future Earth as being under the control of a theocracy made up of the various Abrahamic religions.

Both Dreams of Humanity and the Dreams of a Father are worth reading. Dan has an uncanny ability to cleverly involve these realistic conflicts between human rights and religion without lecturing or preaching in a futuristic setting of space wars, political intrigue and clones with various pleasuring duties...

***************

Friends, have you ever given thought to where we would be today, without Stonewall, without gay liberation, such as it is? In light of the hysteria over HIV and AIDS, we might consider the current freedoms in those countries which recognise some degree of freedom of equality for same sex relations as most fortuitous.

As it is, the religious and bigoted condemnation of same sex relations must remain a concern for us all. A social upheaval in our political systems could conceivably render our freedoms void, and that is why we must press on with our claim for marriage equality, but above all, for same sex relationships to be accepted as the unalienable human right that they are.

I firmly believe that the human race depends on its same sex members for much of its sensitivity; indeed the sensitivity that makes the race human resides in no small measure of same sex relationships being not just accepted, but celebrated.

[Cole Parker]

You continue to do us all proud, Des.

C

[Guest Fritz]

For those following this thread, the Supreme Court blocked televising of this case. You can read about it in the Christian Science Monitor,

[DesDownunder]

Thanks Cole.