I Am Alive!!

This is probably the longest stretch I've gone without writing anything on the blog. Again, not for lack of wanting to, but I have been preoccupied and tired and just haven't had it in me to do it. Rather than force myself to write, I chose to just pause.

However, with the closing arguments coming up today in California in the Proposition 8 lawsuit... and a Mickee Faust staged reading performance of the Prop 8 trial transcripts... it's time for me to break the silence and simply say, "Let's do this thang!"

Judge Walker has taken time to read through the 12-days of testimony from this past January, and has submitted a lengthy list of questions to the attorneys to answer. The sense from the plaintiffs attorneys, which includes Ted Olson and David Boies, is that the judge will likely rule in favor of the plaintiffs. This wouldn't be a complete shock if you paid attention to the testimony during the two week trial. Apparently, the defendants (those who were the sponsors of Proposition 8) initially had a dozen expert witnesses slated to testify. However, when they got to trial... they decided to dump all but two of their witnesses. And those two, David Blankenhorn and William Tam, both sounded... well... not very convincing. In fact, Blankenhorn's testimony about the political clout of the LGBT community at times was laughable, and was doing more to make the case FOR gay marriage rather than against.

How do I know what they sounded like? Weren't broadcast media banned from the trial?

Yes! But not the Courage Campaign and their Twitter and Facebook friends who kept blogging about the highlights of the trial made sure the community was informed. And they have provided transcripts of the trial for performance artists, including the Mickee Faust Club, to videotape staged readings and get the words of the testimony out there (have I mentioned that we will be doing our staged reading this coming Sunday at 8pm?). It's a wonderful way to subvert the attempt to maintain the hush-hush nature of the hatred they pushed at the polls. With exposure of their pretzel logic comes the whittling away of popular support for the measure.

Should the Judge rule in favor of the plaintiff couples who brought this case, it would seem that gay marriage could be legal again in those states that are in the ninth federal judicial circuit. The prediction is that no matter which way this case goes, there will be an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

What of us in states where the voters have already banned gay marriage "or the substantial equivalent thereof"? I imagine a ruling in our favor in California could aid in any suits to overturn the vote that took place here. But isn't our Florida Supreme Court conservative? Yes, over time, it has become increasingly so. However, it has been the behavior in the past of the LGBT rights groups to be shrinking violets rather than purple panthers when it comes to fighting back. At the rate that all these groups continue to raise lots and lots of money, I am expected to see some action rather than talk.

Today, however, will be primarily more talk: the closing arguments. Stay tuned!