Below The Beltway

I support gay marriage. I think gay people should be allowed to serve in the military and adopt children. I think people who refuse to hire people based on sexual orientation are stupid and bigoted. And, I thought that laws against sodomy were stupid unconscionable intrusions into individual liberty long before Lawrence v. Texas.
And yet, [...]

The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear the legal challenges to Proposition 8’s purported reversal of it’s decision permitting same-sex marriage:
The California Supreme Court voted 6 to 1 on Wednesday to review legal challenges to Proposition 8, the voter initiative that restored a ban on same-sex marriage, but refused to permit gay weddings to [...]

More than 100 retired military officers are calling for an end to the ban on gays in the military:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — More than 100 retired U.S. military leaders — including the former head of the Naval Academy — have signed a statement calling for an end to the military’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy, according to [...]

The passage of Proposition 8 in California on Election Day seems to have become a turning point in the debate over same-sex marriage, with yesterday’s nationwide protests being only the latest example:
SAN FRANCISCO — In one of the nation’s largest displays of support for gay rights, tens of thousands of people in cities across the [...]

Stephen Green links to this Op-Ed piece by a voter who feels his party left him behind:
I voted Republican in 1996, 2000, and 2004. I believe in limited government, individual rights, free market capitalism, a strong national defense, and the right to keep and bear arms - positions that one normally associates with Republicans.
But I [...]

The guys at Reason.tv take a look at smoking bans, including one town that prohibits people from smoking in their own homes:

H/T: Rick Sincere

These people are not helping their cause, and I say that as someone who generally supports what they claim to want to accomplish:
DELTA TWP. - A radical gay rights group is claiming responsibility for a protest Sunday at Mount Hope Church in Delta Township.
Protesters who entered the Creyts Road church along with worshippers surprised the [...]

Add another name to the small-but-growing list of states that authorize same-sex marriage:
NEW HAVEN — Bunches of white balloons and giant sprays of long-stemmed red roses festooned City Hall here Wednesday morning, as one of the eight couples who successfully sued the state to allow same-sex marriage became the first to obtain a marriage license [...]

According to the Sacramento Bee, it was a surge of voters for Barack Obama that helped seal the fate of same-sex marriage in California:

Supporters of same-sex marriage rights are fuming over California voters’ approval of Proposition 8, which would place a ban on such marriages in the state constitution – especially since in other respects [...]

The school bake sale has fallen victim to nanny state food regulations:
PIEDMONT, Calif. — Tommy Cornelius and the other members of the Piedmont High School boys water polo team never expected to find themselves running through school in their Speedos to promote a bake sale across the street. But times have been tough since the [...]