Friday, July 29, 2011
New York Marriage Poll

Democrats and Republicans react in opposite ways to the new law, each facing stark internal divisions that may present challenges to building a winning coalition in 2012. Among Democrats, the divide is between the liberal base and those with conservative or moderate stripes. Liberal Democrats view the law positively by an overwhelming 74 to 25 percent margin. A smaller 54 percent majority of moderate and conservative Democrats say the same. Among African Americans, another loyal segment of the Democratic party coalition, more than six in 10 say the law is a negative development, while roughly one in three see it positively. Republicans broadly reject the law by a 2 to 1 margin, but alignment with the tea party movement complicates political calculations concerning the issue. More than seven in 10 Republicans who support the Tea Party movement view the New York law as a negative development.(Via - Towleroad)
ISRAEL: 3000 March In Jerusalem Pride
Over the strenuous objections of religious groups, yesterday about 3000 activists marched in Jerusalem's pride parade. The event coincided with the date of the murderous 2009 attack on a Tel Aviv LGBT youth center. The perpetrators of that attack have still not been apprehended.
TEXAS: Prayer Rally Suit Dismissed
The atheist group suing to stop Texas Gov. Rick Perry's prayer rally have lost their case.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop Gov. Rick Perry from sponsoring a national day of Christian prayer and fasting, ruling Thursday that the group of atheists and agnostics did not have legal standing to sue. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller said the Freedom From Religion Foundation argued against Perry's involvement based merely on feelings of exclusion but did not show sufficient harm to merit the injunction it sought. The governor has done nothing more than invite others who are willing to do so to pray," Miller said. Rich Bolton, who argued for the group, said he is considering an appeal. "I wonder if we had a Muslim governor what would happen if the whole state was called to a Muslim prayer," said Kay Staley, one of five Texas residents named as plaintiffs in the suit. "I think the governor needs to keep his religion out of his official duties."Perry says that the event's hate group sponsor, the American Family Association, have not yet given him his "marching orders" as to his role during the rally.
Circumcision Ban Cut From SF Ballot
Saying it is unconstitutional, yesterday a California judge struck a proposed ban on circumcision from the upcoming San Francisco ballot.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi confirmed a tentative decision she issued a day earlier and came after she heard arguments from proponents of the ban, which would have made San Francisco the first U.S. city to hold a public vote on whether to outlaw the circumcision of minors. Michael Kinane, an attorney for the proponents, told Giorgi that circumcision was not usually performed as a medical procedure. He also said the ballot measure included an exception in cases where circumcision was needed for health reasons. "If you bring in your son and say my custom, my religion requires circumcision of this little boy, the state hasn't said anything on the issue, so there is not a matter of pre-emption," Kinane argued.Already controversial, the proposed ban garnered additional furor last month when its primary backer published a comic book that many found to be anti-Semitic.
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