Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)

For the past two years, House Republicans have attempted to use the National Defense Authorization Act to solidify some anti-gay principles into military codes, including a ban on same-sex weddings on military bases, a “license to bully” that encouraged anti-gay harassment, and redundant conscience protections for military chaplains. Some of these conscience protections advanced in the final version of the bill this past fall, and Obama criticized them in a signing statement, calling them “unnecessary” and “ill-advised.” Now, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) is once again trying to enshrine discrimination into the nation’s military.

His new bill, H.R. 914, the “Military Religious Freedom Protection Act,” contains more redundant protections for military chaplains, ensuring — as is already the case — that they cannot be penalized if their religious beliefs are not pro-gay. What seems evident is that those redundancies are simply a guise for the last little provision in the bill: a ban on same-sex marriages on military bases:

A military installation or other property owned, rented, or otherwise under the jurisdiction or control of the Department of Defense shall not be used to officiate, solemnize, or perform a marriage or marriage-like ceremony involving anything other than the union of one man with one woman.

Furthermore, if there is any concern that chaplains’ consciences are not already protected, it seems that these reiterated provisions could only serve to protect outright anti-LGBT harassment.

In the year after Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed, only two individuals — both chaplains — left the military in protest. Nothing about this bill supports the military or its members.

Delaware residents favor statewide legislation enacting marriage equality by a seventeen point margin, according to a new poll commissioned by Equality Denver. The poll, conducted by polling firm Global Strategy Group, found strong support among the state’s Democrats and Independents, leading to an overall majority in the generally blue state:

A clear majority of Delaware voter (54%) support the legislature passing a new law to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, while 37% oppose such a law…Support is nearly as high among independents (61%) as it is among Democrats (65%).

The poll backs up Gov. Jack Markell (D), who expects the state to move beyond its current civil union law to full equality this year, but will likely not be appreciated by Wilmington Bishop Francis Malooly, who recently criticized marriage equality on the peculiar grounds that it created a culture in which heterosexual couples were less likely to get married.

This new Delaware data bolsters a clear trend in the 2013 polling on marriage equality. Results from Rhode Island, California, Illinois, Nevada, Hawaii, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and the nation as a whole suggest the momentum behind equality in the United States isn’t slowing down.

Friday was the deadline for individuals and organizations to submit amicus briefs to the Supreme Court adding to the arguments for marriage equality. Ellen DeGeneres took to her blog to write a brief of her own, hoping that someone will tweet it to the Court on her behalf. Speaking of her marriage to Portia de Rossi, DeGeneres explained that for as happy as she is, they’re still not equal in society:

Portia and I have been married for 4 years and they have been the happiest of my life. And in those 4 years, I don’t think we hurt anyone else’s marriage. I asked all of my neighbors and they say they’re fine.

But even though Portia and I got married in the short period of time when it was legal in California, there are 1,138 federal rights for married couples that we don’t have, including some that protect married people from losing their homes, or their savings or custody of their children.

The truth is, Portia and I aren’t as different from you as you might think. We’re just trying to find happiness in the bodies and minds we were given, like everyone else. [...]

I hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing, and let everyone enjoy the same rights. It’s going to help keep families together. It’s going to make kids feel better about who they are. And it is time.

Here is the monologue DeGeneres shared on her show shortly after her wedding, in which she described the special day:

Today, GLAAD delivered 120,000 Change.org petition signatures to the National Geographic Channel urging the television network to denounce the anti-gay policy of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) before tonight’s premiere of Are You Tougher Than A Boy Scout? Gay Eagle Scout Will Oliver helped deliver the petitions and pointed out that National Geographic has a nondiscrimination policy that protects sexual orientation, so it’s hypocritical to not call out the Boy Scouts:

OLIVER: By failing to acknowledge the Boy Scouts’ discriminatory policy, National Geographic Channel is turning a cold shoulder to gay and allied viewers. Silence implies apathy towards all the Scouts and leaders who have been forced to hide who they are. Over 120,000 people have spoken — not to demand that the show be canceled — but to ask that National Geographic Channel reaffirm its core belief in non-discrimination.

According to the BSA’s internal documents, the partnership with National Geographic is part of a plan to make Scouting look “cool” with youth. Oliver believes that Scouting is cool, but is urging the the network to air the following disclaimer before the show airs:

The current membership policy of the Boy Scouts of America goes against the policy of National Geographic Channel and the National Geographic Society. National Geographic Channel is an equal opportunity employer and does not support discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Oliver and GLAAD are meeting with NatGeo executives today, and hopefully a disclaimer like this airs with the show:

The American Sociological Association filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to disregard arguments against same-sex parenting in the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act cases, but a coalition of other medical organizations also filed a brief explaining the consequences of denying gays, lesbians, and bisexuals the freedom to marry. The signers of this brief include the America Psychological Association, the American Medial Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the National Association of Social Workers, among other mental health professional organizations. In addition to reiterating the validity of same-sex couples’ parenting, the medical professionals argue that laws like Proposition 8 harm same-sex couples by denying them specific benefits that marriage offers:

Married men and women generally experience better physical and mental health than their unmarried counterparts. These health benefits do not appear to result simply from being in an intimate relationship, for most studies have found that married heterosexual individuals generally manifest greater well-being than those of comparable cohabiting couples. [...]

Being married also is a source of stability and commitment. Marital commitment is a function not only of attractive forces (i.e ., rewarding features of the partner or relationship) but also of external forces that serve as constraints on dissolving the relationship. Barriers to terminating a marriage include feelings of obligation to one’s family members; moral and religious values; legal restrictions; financial concerns; and the anticipated disapproval of others. In the absence of adequate rewards, the existence of barriers alone is not sufficient to sustain a marriage in the long term. Perceiving one’s intimate relationship primarily in terms of rewards, rather than barriers to dissolution, is likely to be associated with greater relationship satisfaction. Nonetheless, perceived barriers are negatively correlated with divorce and thus the presence of barriers may increase partners’ motivation to seek solutions for problems, rather than rushing to dissolve a salvageable relationship.

Lacking access to legal marriage, the primary motivation for same-sex couples to remain together derives mainly from the rewards associated with the relationship rather than from formal barriers to separation. Given this fact, and the legal and prejudicial obstacles that same-sex partners face, the prevalence and durability of same-sex relationships are striking.

In other words, same-sex couples are forming lasting relationships even in spite of the fact that many of the protective factors for keeping families together are not present due to discrimination like Prop 8. Conservatives have argued that gay people shouldn’t have access to marriage because they want it for the selfish reason of validating their intimacy. But as these social science experts argue, the opposite is true — there are benefits to marriage beyond intimacy and commitment, and it’s for same-sex couples’ own well-being that they deserve access to those benefits.

It’s hard to argue there’s a compelling societal benefit for discrimination when social science shows there’s actually a compelling societal benefit for equality.

Last week, the United Kingdom’s highest ranking Catholic official, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, resigned after accusations came out that he had inappropriate sexual relationships with several priests. At first, O’Brien contested the claims, but admitted in a statement this weekend that he is culpable for the allegations:

In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them.

However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.

To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no furtherpart in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

One of the five priests that accused O’Brien of misdeeds has said that he’s felt a “cold disapproval of the church hierarchy for daring to break ranks,” adding, “I feel like if they could crush me, they would.”

The British gay rights group Stonewall had named O’Brien their “bigot of the year” in 2012 for his relentless condemnations of gay people and their families. In response to his statement, Stonewall noted that he “didn’t find it in him to apologize to gay people, their families and friends for the harm his vicious and cruel language caused.”

This year, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) booked Train and Carly Rae Jepsen to perform at the National Scout Jamboree this July. Derek Nance, an Eagle Scout and Scout Leader who recently came out on YouTube, started a petition calling on the two performers, both of whom have expressed support for marriage equality and other LGBT issues in the past, to condemn the BSA’s policy of banning gays. Train has already responded to the petition, stating on their website that they will not perform at the Jamboree unless BSA changes the policy before then:

When we booked this show for the Boy Scouts of America we were not aware of any policy barring openly gay people from participation within the organization. Train strongly opposes any kind of policy that questions the equality of any American citizen. We have always seen the BSA as a great and noble organization. We look forward to participating in the Jamboree this summer, as long as they make the right decision before then.

Jepsen has yet to respond to the petition. When she was asked about the gay twist at the end of the music video for her breakout hit “Call Me Maybe,” she told Time Magazine, “If my video is encouraging that mind frame with other children and other people – well, it’s about time, I guess!” Hopefully, she also follows through on that commitment to LGBT acceptance and takes a similar stance against the Scouts’ policy.

The British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) has released a new report showing that there is no difference between opposite-sex and same-sex parents in the United Kingdom. The study included 49 opposite-sex couples, 41 gay male couples, and 40 lesbian couples, all raising children. According to Professor Susan Golombok of the Centre for Family Research — not a conservative organization like its similarly named counterparts in the U.S. — stereotypes about gay parents are “unfounded”:

GOLOMBOK: Overall we found markedly more similarities than differences in experiences between family types. The anxieties about the potentially negative effects for children of being placed with gay fathers seem to be, from our study, unfounded.

This report just adds to the many studies that already show same-sex couples are just as capable of raising children as opposite-sex parents. Unfortunately, conservatives who believe kids benefit from the sex stereotypes of a mother and a father are often disinterested in such facts.