Best Soundbites from the Prop.8 Trial
The Supreme Court banned YouTubising the Prop. 8 Trial so I'm left with reading liveblogging at Prop. 8 Trial Tracker and FireDogLake.
Today the defense counsel (anti-gay marriage side) requested that even the tape recording of the trial cease. That would really ruin my fun. Because I'm really relishing collecting sound bites.
Most Anal/FAIL Cross Examination Questions from the Defense
Questions from David Thompson, anti-gay marriage attorney
Thompson: It is true that Americans believe that homosexuals are more likely to get AIDS than heterosexuals, correct?
After expert witness explains that gay people face hostility in the community
Thompson: Isn’t it true that some hostility to the LGBT community comes from attacks on Yes on 8 supporters?
I wish I could quit you!
Trying to argue that gays are not discriminated against enough to be a protected suspect class.
Thompson: Brokeback Mountain was a big success and won numerous awards, yes?
Conveniently neglects the end of Brokeback Mountain where main character is killed in hate crime for being gay.
Professor Chauncey does the snap!
Professor Chauncey, expert witness for the plaintiff (pro-gay marriage) kicks ass during cross examination.
Thompson: Shouldn’t parents who disapprove of gay marriage request that their kids not have to learn about it?
Chauncey: Well - what about parents who disapprove of blacks and whites being together? Should parents be able to prevent their kids from reading about that in public schools? Gay marriage is a fact of life in Massachusetts. If parents have a problem with that, they can send their kids to private school.
Thompson: The Federal government is prohibited from discriminating against gays and lesbians, is it not?
Chauncey: Not in the military.
Thompson:Isn’t it true that people voted for Prop 8 based upon their sincere moral values?
Chauncey: Many people opposed desegregation and interracial marriage based upon their sincere moral values.
Chauncey: The very fact that gay people want to have their relationships recognized as marriage is seen as an imposition on other people rather than an expression of their own civil rights.
Totally Calling it as it is
From the blog of Protect Marriage General Counsel Andy Pugno, commenting on the first day of proceedings.
Pugno: It is clear that our opponents are trying to re-characterize Prop 8-which simply restored the age-old meaning of marriage-as part of a agenda of hate and discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Marriage would become about love? How terrible!
Defense (anti-gay marriage) attorney Charles Cooper and Plaintiff (pro-gay marriage) attorney Theodore Olson, early on in the trial.
Cooper: Marriage is the sexual embodiment of the man and the woman who form the union. The sexual embodiment forms the institution. Only naturally procreated contact will bring forward life. It’s best when the child is brought into the world that the parents are together.
Olson: The quality of a parent is not measured by gender. It is measured by the content of the heart.
Judge Walker: How does same-sex marriage diminish procreation for heterosexual couples?
Cooper: Well, will marriage remain pro-child? Or will it gradually transform into a private relationship designed only for personal fulfillment,companionship and expression of love?
Ouch
Paul Katami, plaintiff and a gay man who wants to get married to his partner of 9 years, reacts to Yes on 8 campaign slogan "Protect Our Children."
Katami: When you protect children, you protect them from a pedophile or a criminal. You don’t protect yourself from a good or amicable person.
Kris Perry, plaintiff, on not having the right to marry the person she loves
Perry:There's something humiliating about everybody knowing you want to make that decision (to marry), and you don't get to.
Dumbest Question Asked in Cross
Nicole Moss, defense (anti-gay marriage) attorney, examines expert witness Dr. Peplau from UCLA
Moss: What’s your opinion on what impact gay marriage will have on the stability of heterosexual marriage?"
Peplau: It would have no impact. By “stability,” we mean two things. Does it mean fewer straight people will marry--entry--and does it mean we will have more divorces--exit?
...
Peplau: I have a hard time believing that a straight couple is going to say, "Gertrude, we’ve been together for 30 years. But now we have to throw in the towel because Adam and Stewart down the street are getting married."
Bill Tam Explains How Kids Become Gay
Tapes of Bill Tam's deposition are played, where he explains why he is against gay marriage.
Tam: My daughter told me her classmates chose to become lesbians and experiment with it after they noticed that same-sex marriage, they think it is a cool thing. They have some problem getting dates with boys, so same-sex marriage, since it is in the air, they think, 'Oh, why not try girls.'
Stigma and Prop 8 in a nutshell.
Expert Witness Ilan H. Meyer from Columbia testifies to help prove that gay people do face discrimination and stigma.
Meyer: Domestic partnerships do not have the same social meaning as marriage. I don’t know if it has any social meaning at all. It has legal value, but that’s not what I talk about with stigma.
Meyer: A gay couple has to monitor their behavior, such as holding hands, because someone can throw something at them even on a safe street. You have to have a third eye monitoring the environment. It’s stressful...the expectation is not that this particular person may harm you, but that my behavior may trigger something with someone.
Meyer:Prop. 8 achieved the literal aims of not allowing gay people to marry, but it sends a message via the constitution that it encourages prejudicial attitudes...Prop. 8 sends a message that it’s very highly valued by our constitution to reject gay people.
Today the defense counsel (anti-gay marriage side) requested that even the tape recording of the trial cease. That would really ruin my fun. Because I'm really relishing collecting sound bites.
Most Anal/FAIL Cross Examination Questions from the Defense
Questions from David Thompson, anti-gay marriage attorney
Thompson: It is true that Americans believe that homosexuals are more likely to get AIDS than heterosexuals, correct?
After expert witness explains that gay people face hostility in the community
Thompson: Isn’t it true that some hostility to the LGBT community comes from attacks on Yes on 8 supporters?
I wish I could quit you!
Trying to argue that gays are not discriminated against enough to be a protected suspect class.
Thompson: Brokeback Mountain was a big success and won numerous awards, yes?
Conveniently neglects the end of Brokeback Mountain where main character is killed in hate crime for being gay.
Professor Chauncey does the snap!
Professor Chauncey, expert witness for the plaintiff (pro-gay marriage) kicks ass during cross examination.
Thompson: Shouldn’t parents who disapprove of gay marriage request that their kids not have to learn about it?
Chauncey: Well - what about parents who disapprove of blacks and whites being together? Should parents be able to prevent their kids from reading about that in public schools? Gay marriage is a fact of life in Massachusetts. If parents have a problem with that, they can send their kids to private school.
Thompson: The Federal government is prohibited from discriminating against gays and lesbians, is it not?
Chauncey: Not in the military.
Thompson:Isn’t it true that people voted for Prop 8 based upon their sincere moral values?
Chauncey: Many people opposed desegregation and interracial marriage based upon their sincere moral values.
Chauncey: The very fact that gay people want to have their relationships recognized as marriage is seen as an imposition on other people rather than an expression of their own civil rights.
Totally Calling it as it is
From the blog of Protect Marriage General Counsel Andy Pugno, commenting on the first day of proceedings.
Pugno: It is clear that our opponents are trying to re-characterize Prop 8-which simply restored the age-old meaning of marriage-as part of a agenda of hate and discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Marriage would become about love? How terrible!
Defense (anti-gay marriage) attorney Charles Cooper and Plaintiff (pro-gay marriage) attorney Theodore Olson, early on in the trial.
Cooper: Marriage is the sexual embodiment of the man and the woman who form the union. The sexual embodiment forms the institution. Only naturally procreated contact will bring forward life. It’s best when the child is brought into the world that the parents are together.
Olson: The quality of a parent is not measured by gender. It is measured by the content of the heart.
Judge Walker: How does same-sex marriage diminish procreation for heterosexual couples?
Cooper: Well, will marriage remain pro-child? Or will it gradually transform into a private relationship designed only for personal fulfillment,companionship and expression of love?
Ouch
Paul Katami, plaintiff and a gay man who wants to get married to his partner of 9 years, reacts to Yes on 8 campaign slogan "Protect Our Children."
Katami: When you protect children, you protect them from a pedophile or a criminal. You don’t protect yourself from a good or amicable person.
Kris Perry, plaintiff, on not having the right to marry the person she loves
Perry:There's something humiliating about everybody knowing you want to make that decision (to marry), and you don't get to.
Dumbest Question Asked in Cross
Nicole Moss, defense (anti-gay marriage) attorney, examines expert witness Dr. Peplau from UCLA
Moss: What’s your opinion on what impact gay marriage will have on the stability of heterosexual marriage?"
Peplau: It would have no impact. By “stability,” we mean two things. Does it mean fewer straight people will marry--entry--and does it mean we will have more divorces--exit?
...
Peplau: I have a hard time believing that a straight couple is going to say, "Gertrude, we’ve been together for 30 years. But now we have to throw in the towel because Adam and Stewart down the street are getting married."
Bill Tam Explains How Kids Become Gay
Tapes of Bill Tam's deposition are played, where he explains why he is against gay marriage.
Tam: My daughter told me her classmates chose to become lesbians and experiment with it after they noticed that same-sex marriage, they think it is a cool thing. They have some problem getting dates with boys, so same-sex marriage, since it is in the air, they think, 'Oh, why not try girls.'
Stigma and Prop 8 in a nutshell.
Expert Witness Ilan H. Meyer from Columbia testifies to help prove that gay people do face discrimination and stigma.
Meyer: Domestic partnerships do not have the same social meaning as marriage. I don’t know if it has any social meaning at all. It has legal value, but that’s not what I talk about with stigma.
Meyer: A gay couple has to monitor their behavior, such as holding hands, because someone can throw something at them even on a safe street. You have to have a third eye monitoring the environment. It’s stressful...the expectation is not that this particular person may harm you, but that my behavior may trigger something with someone.
Meyer:Prop. 8 achieved the literal aims of not allowing gay people to marry, but it sends a message via the constitution that it encourages prejudicial attitudes...Prop. 8 sends a message that it’s very highly valued by our constitution to reject gay people.