New York Sen. Ruben Diaz

Three New York Senators today introduced a bill that actually takes rights away from same-sex families. Their proposed bill, S 5416, would end the state’s recognition of marriages performed out-of-state, as such:

Section 1. Section 6 of the domestic relations law is amended by adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
4. MARRIAGES  CONTRACTED BETWEEN TWO PERSONS OF THE SAME SEX, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH MARRIAGE IS RECOGNIZED, SOLEMNIZED OR LEGAL IN ANOTHER JURISDICTION, SHALL BE CONSIDERED VOID IN NEW YORK.
S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

New York state currently recognizes the marriages of same-sex couples from other states. The push for marriage equality there should be nothing more than a debate about whether New York should profit from the tourism and fees of issuing those marriage certificates in-state. Polls consistently show a majority of New Yorkers support marriage equality and opponents even admit that “nothing would happen” if it passed.

It’s never been more clear that opponents of marriage equality are explicitly trying to harm same-sex couples by taking away important rights and protections. The bill’s sponsors, Sens. Martin Golden (R), Tom Libous (R), and Ruben Diaz (D) are not merely trying to “protect marriage”; they are openly attacking same-sex families. It should be no surprise that Diaz welcomed a religious leader to his anti-equality rally who, referring to gays and lesbians, declared “those who practice such things are worthy to death.” Proponents of this measure are ignoring the will of the people, the New York constitution, and common decency.

Sen. Stacey Campfield (R-TN)

Today the Tennessee Senate may take up the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which, though it cannot become law this year because it didn’t make it through the House committee schedule, could eventually prevent any recognition of same-sex families in grades K-8. Still, another bill is working its way through the legislature that could also limit students’ access to resources related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities.

SB 0426, which is also sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), would give parents control over what extracurriculars students can participate in. The bill seems to target Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), clubs that serve as support groups or educational advocates for LGBT teens but are often opposed by school districts and communities. The bill was considered with an “opt-in” provision, which would have required parental permission to join any club, but passed out of the Senate Education Committee with an “opt-out” provision, which reads (PDF):

(b) No school shall permit a student to become a member or participate in any activities of a club or organization if the parent or legal guardian of such student has tendered a written communication prohibiting such student from such membership or participation. In order to be valid, the written communication shall be signed and dated by the parent or legal guardian.

The distinction seems negligible. Even if students can join a club without needing permission, this would still allow parents to pull them right back out. It’s unclear, as written, whether parents would be notified of what clubs students are participating in, but regardless, the bill would make students feel much less free to explore interests or access resources they might need.

Though numerous individual school districts have tried to prevent the formation of GSAs by threatening to cancel all clubs at the school (a strategy that the ACLU successfully legally opposes each time), only one other state has taken legislative steps to try to stymie the growth of the clubs. Utah passed Student Clubs Amendments in 2007 designed to create numerous obstacles to forming clubs, but GSAs are thriving there nonetheless, with now more than 32 statewide.

In 2009, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) studied the climate of schools for LGBT students, and though rates of bullying and harassment were quite high, students at schools that had GSAs experienced fewer homophobic remarks, less victimization because of sexual orientation and gender expression, less absenteeism because of safety concerns, and a greater sense of belonging to the school community. By trying to limit students’ access to GSAs, Campfield and other supporters of the bill are essentially advocating against safer schools for LGBT students.

Scott Keyes provided the video for this report from Pompano Beach, Florida.

Several potential GOP presidential candidates have promised to re-impose Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell if they win the White House in 2012, despite the ongoing training and imminent repeal of the 1993 ban against open gay service in the armed forces. But not all Republicans believe that reinstating the ban is a practical or even desirable solution.

On Tuesday, during a town hall in Pompano Beach, Florida, Rep. Allen West (R) — a strong supporter of the policy — suggested that the debate over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was over and that he would not work to bring back the ban:

Q: What are you doing to prevent Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell from being repealed?

WEST: I’m not doing anything to prevent Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The thing that I’m doing is…Look, a decision has been made. You have a military to salute the flag….Let’s see what happens. I can tell you being a commander in the United States military, I would not have supported changing that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Now it has been done. I will sit back to see what happens.

Watch it:

As West indicated, Republicans have included an amendment in the defense authorization bill that would add the service chiefs to the certification process for repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Currently, the law cannot be repealed until 60 days after the president, the defense secretary and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify the U.S. military is ready for open service. The amendment passed in a vote of 33-27, with two Republicans voting against and one Democrats supporting the measure.

The service chiefs have previously indicated that they trusted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to address their concerns before eliminating the policy and warned Republicans that expanding the certification process could actually undermine the chain of command.

President Obama is said to be still “evolving” in his support for marriage equality, but Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — one of the most vocal proponents of LGBT rights in the Senate — believes that he may come out in favor of the policy before the 2012 election. In an interview with the Advocate’s Andrew Harmon, Gillibrand predicts that advocates could “get a very strong public statement” of support from Obama:

HARMON: So I’d have to pose the same question for President Obama. Do you think it’s possible that he could come out in support of marriage equality …

GILLIBRAND: Yes.

HARMON:…before the 2012 election?

GILLIBRAND: Definitely. He put the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in his State of the Union address. So there’s no reason why he can’t lean into marriage equality in a public speech or through some action he could do through the White House. I’d be thrilled if he decided to do that. He did take the step of not [defending] DOMA through his Department of Justice, which is a fantastic step because it was one that he was unwilling to do in “don’t ask, don’t tell.” So it shows a shift in his willingness to use the power of the White House — the power of the administration — to change public perception and to change policy.

So I think we could get a very strong public statement out of him.

During a separate event in Seattle on Tuesday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) seemed to agree, telling a small group of activists, “This is just my intuition, but I think the President will be supportive of marriage in the states that offer it before the 2012 election.”

Nationally, a majority of Americans already favor marriage equality. According to NYT’s Nate Silver, “If support for gay marriage were to continue accelerating as fast as it has in the past two years, supporters would outnumber opponents roughly 56-40 in the general population by November 2012.”