Comedian Ellen DeGeneres said she was “saddened beyond belief” at the decision by voters to ban the newly-won rights of gays and lesbians to marry in California.
But singer Melissa Etheridge sounds downright angry.
Etheridge, 47, who did not get to marry her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels before the Nov 4 ballot, suggested in a blog post that she would no longer pay her California state taxes because, as a lesbian, she did not now enjoy the same rights as as other Californians.
“Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen,” Etheridge wrote.
DeGeneres and her longtime partner, actress Portia de Rossi, were among the roughly 18,000 gay or lesbian couples who married in California in the five-month honeymoon between same sex marriage becoming legal and then being banned in a ballot initiative known as Proposition 8.
The popular chat show host married de Rossi in August in the most high-profile same sex marriage since such unions were declared legal in California in May.
“I was saddened beyond belief. Here we just had a giant step toward equality and then on the very next day, we took a giant step away,” DeGeneres wrote on her website
“I believe one day a ‘ban on gay marriage’ will sound totally ridiculous. In the meantime, I will continue to speak out for equality for all of us,” she added.
California authorities say marriages of gays and lesbians between June and November will remain legal. Hundreds of gay rights activists held street protests in Los Angeles and San Francisco after the Prop 8 vote and have filed several lawsuits in a bid to overturn the decision.
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Marriage isn’t a right. People have been living together and procreating out of wedlock for generations. Will the use of a word make a couple feel better? If a couple is in a committed relationship, do you think the state really cares what they are doing? To remendy the situation, the state can change the laws that these people are seeking to be changed. If it doesn’t happen, there is alway Canada.
- Posted by OrawekJean-Jeannie CA — Please re-read the Constitution. It DOES NOT give you freedom from religion. Rather freedom to worship as you see fit. Religion is and always will be part of civilized society so you will ALWAYS be exposed to it. Please don’t cry about, just understand that you have a right to worship.
Prop 8 was passed because a MAJORITY voted for it. In a democracy (or democratic republic to be correct) that is the way things work. It is supposed to work that way. It is a government “by the people.” If a court or official said “gays cannot marry” that is one thing, but when a majority vote is against something (something not specifically addressed by name in the Constitution) then get over it. It is law…and should be. This is still a democratic country. Good!
- Posted by GaeryThis whole issue would be better served if the government got out of the marriage business altogether. Every union should be a civil union. Any 2 people that want to cohabitate to raise a family, share assets or take care of each other should be able to have a civil union through the state. Marriage specifically was instituted by God and it should be kept in the church ONLY. This would satisfy all people as to equality and religious beliefs. The government should get out of the marriage business and respect separation of church and state.
- Posted by DavidThis doesn’t discriminate against anyone; everybody has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex. What could be more fair than that. Oh…you mean you want SPECIAL privileges due to the fact that you’ve decided to exercise your free will to live a gay or lesbian lifestyle! Why not! If you want this special privilege…move to Europe.
- Posted by DocSomeone alsked if we are going to live now by bibical principals. UMM..we Americans do live by bibical principals. Thou shall not kill, our judicial system says that murder is punishable by death. Thou shall not steal, our justice system say that stealing is a crime. To covet a neighbors goods, bibical principals, false witness agsinst a neighbor, is also a bibical principlal and a crime in the American jsutice system. SOOOOOO..if someone steals your car..is that their right, or is it a bibical principal/american law that you want enforced. If someone murders a loved one is that their right, or is it a bibical/american law that you want enforced? You cant have it both ways. And please tell me where exactly in the COnstitution odes it say that marriage is a right? It isn’t. Marriage is a priviledge.
- Posted by DianMarriage is and allways has been between one man and one woman, period! The voters have spoken twice now! The gays can have their union but they are not ‘entitled’ to marriage. Marriage is a sacred thing intended for procreation. The gays are trying to be equal yet they’re different. They can do their thing, just get out of the faces of those of us who believe in a traditional family. The voters have spoken - again!!
- Posted by MaryIf California civil unions are not on par with those of marriage, the efforts of the gay community should be placed on amending the rules, benefits, etc of “civil unions”, not the definition of marriage, which is between that which is between two people of opposite genders.
- Posted by SarahI agree with Scott Nebleman. It is interesting how many on this site are pro gay marriage, yet the majority of the people of California have said that this does not reflect their own beliefs. Obviously they do not believe that this is a matter of civil rights, but of moral beliefs. You can call someone bigoted or other choice names, yet that does not change the view. One of the problems is that there are some in the gay community who wish to promote their views in the education system regardless of the NO on 8 commercials. I am a christian who does not get to promote his views in public schools, nor should I. This was an opportunity to indoctrinate children in compliance with the law, should it have passed. I was not happy that Prop 4 did not pass. However, I am not going to send it to the CA Supreme Court so that they can overturn the decision of the people. However, now California voters have decided not once, but twice. Yet how many lawsuits are being proposed to overturn the decision on Prop 8. I guess that this is no longer a Republic any more. The voters no longer have a right to vote against what the “elite” think should be the law of the land. This is as much my state as it is yours. However, keep suing!! Maybe you can actually have a state that will by fiat determine all christians do not have a voice.
- Posted by PaulLlewd public behavior by any member of society is offensive. There have been many a straight couple engaging in sexual acts in public in San Francisco for decades. Recently a straight couple was witnessed having sex on the lawn of the court house in broad daylight at a street festival here. I was once visiting New Orleans and had the misfortune to walk past a straight couple having sex in a front doorway. Does this make anyone question the straight community’s legitimacy? This is just foolish behavior from a few individuals. How can you use something so isolated as justification for denying a group of people their civil rights. Just because you don’t notice the Gays and Lesbians who lead respectable lives, working hard, paying taxes, starting businesses, helping in the community and raising families does not mean we don’t exist. Regarding Gavin Newsom, we commend him for being brave enough to stand up and say discrimination is constitutionally wrong. As a mayor, he should be vocal on issues.
- Posted by DeanaGavin Newsom and the radical, in-your-face, gays of San Francisco have done tremendous damage to the gay agenda in the eyes of people who are working toward a more accepting view. The activities of the San Francisco Pride festival where participants actively engage in sexual acts on the streets, in broad daylight, along with other repugnant actions causes extreme damage to the gay community’s efforts toward legitimacy.
- Posted by CarolThe people of Califorinia have spoken.
- Posted by Don SanchezWho care what Ellen and all the rest of these deviants think? They are perverts and want normal people to accept them so they don’t have to face up to their perversion. In the end God will judge them, and it’s clear that they will spend eternity in torment for their disobedience.
- Posted by El gatoLike those who voted for Obama tell those who voted for McCain, this is what the voters decided. Get over it.
BTW, if Melissa Etheridge doesn’t want to pay her taxes, that’s her right. Oh and she can go to jail for it too. Actions have consequences, you know.
- Posted by chiefpayneAlthough the passage of Prop 8 was a hurtful and stinging defeat, gay people can take solace in the fact that it passed with only a small majority (much smaller than Prop 22), that millions of Californians voted for gay marriage equality, that under-30s (a bellweather for the future) were overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage, and that the highly effective Yes on 8 campaign had to resort to squalid lies and fearmongering to secure victory. Those who want gays and their supporters to ’shut up’, ‘get over it’ and ‘move on’ are going to find exactly the opposite will happen. You’re going to be hearing MUCH, MUCH more from the gay community now that we have been relegated to second class citizens than you would have done had Prop 8 failed. I, personally, in the past few days have gone from feeling hurt, to feeling angry, and now I just feel strong and detemined. Very, very determined.
- Posted by AndrewThe people of the state of CA voted to prohibit marriage between gays. gays went to the court and got to court to negate the will of the people. The people of CA have AGAIN said NO to gay marriage this time in the form of a amendment to the state constitution yet gays again are trying to force their views on everyone and overturn the state constitution - all the while telling people to not force their beliefs on them - while that is EXACTLY what they are trying to do. Marriage has been between men and woman for millennia for many very legitimate reasons - in many religions and many cultures and because we’re unwilling to wipe that out in our generation we’re narrow minded? I think people will look back at this whole debate and laugh - at those cultures that were so narcissistic and short sighted as to throw out the rules and boundaries that have allowed societies to function.
At the heart of this debate though is the lie of the left. Gays are free to marry, they choose not to. No one is saying you’re gay you can’t get married. No, gays are saying we don’t like what you call marriage. We want to change it to suit us and if you’re unwilling to warp marriage to something it has never been we’ll insult and smear you until enough of you bend to our desires. Thankfully CA has seen through these lies and said no - again!
- Posted by bobequal rights??ellen can go anywhere she wants within the law do anything she wants within the law.how is this an equal rights issue??lets say i want to sue womens groups for cornering the market on having babies,you would say thats stupid because only women can have babies well this is the same thing.
- Posted by victorThere is a natural order: One man plus One woman equals one flesh. Out of this one flesh comes children and a family. This is an eternal, inviolate order that must be defended and protected. For the sake of a society and for the sake of the children . . . \’gay marriage\’ is an unnatural parody of that which is natural and cannot not be tolerated in a society that values it health as a whole.
- Posted by EdOkay. So marriage has meant a union between a man and a woman forever, right?
Tell me this: What does the word “mate” mean in terms of human beings? A couple male and female, right?
.
.
.
What does it mean in the UK or Australia between two friends?
Do Aussie’s only say “G’day mate!” to people of the opposite sex with whom they have a relationship with?
How about “lady”? A proper woman, British royalty? Look up the etymology it means a servant who makes bread or “bread kneader”.
What’s that thing your internet comes through? The modem? Modem is an acronym that means “Modulate/Demodulate”. That thing that your internet comes through does modulate or demodulate anything. It’s throw back word from the dial-up days.
I do have a point. Spoken language is human. WE define it. There is no “god of language” who dictates that the meaning of words must remain the same. Definitions of words change. When we start using them to mean other things the meaning changes. Language serves us, not vice versa.
When I worked as a waiter we used use a method of combining bottles of less than full condiments. It’s commonly refered to as “marrying”. Someone call the Mormons and tell them they need to hit resturants next!
We get the same rights with civil unions? Really? Okay, well suppose you are shorter than 5 feet tall. Since you are shorter than most people you can not be called a person any more. You must now be refered to as “subperson”…or “sentient biped”…or “shorty”. You still get the same rights, though! How’s that work for you shorty?
I’m rambling because I’m angry, so let me trail off here. 62% in 2000, 52% in 2008, 42% next time and we win. It’s just a matter of time and we have proven we’re patient people…..and by “we” I mean Americans. Keep fighting California. Those of us in places like Alabama depend on you to lead the way in civil rights issues. In 2000 the Alabama constitution was amended to remove a clause that prohibited interacial marriage. You guys did that in 1959. Get equal marriage legalized and maybe I can get married here in 41 years
- Posted by ShawnGays already have the right to marry just like everyone else, a member of the opposite sex. What they are asking for is EXTRA rights and no group should get extra rights the rest dont have.
- Posted by VincentSorry, it is Romans 1:26, not 2:26
- Posted by Robin Spencer