PHOENIX, ARIZONA – State officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to cancel insurance benefits for the domestic partners of state and university workers who are gay.
In legal papers filed in Washington, Attorney General Tom Horne said lawmakers should be allowed to deny such benefits because it “furthers the state’s interest in promoting marriage.” The petition also says the move eliminates the expenses and administrative burdens in providing health care benefits to the partners.
Anyway, Horne said, there is no evidence the state intended to discriminate against gays. He said the law treats all unmarried employees the same way, regardless of sexual orientation.
But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against the state last year, did not see it that way.
In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel agreed the state is not obligated to provide health insurance for its workers or their families.
“But when a state chooses to provide such benefits, it may not do so in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner that adversely affects particular groups that may be unpopular,” Judge Mary Schroeder wrote for the court. She noted there is no other way for gay state and university workers to get those benefits, especially as Arizona voters approved a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex nuptials.
Arizona provides various benefits to the dependents of its state and university employees. Until 2008, however, that did not include the domestic partners of its unmarried workers.
That year, at the direction of then-Gov. Janet Napolitano, the Department of Administration rewrote its rules to define who is a “dependent” to include someone living with the employee for at least a year and expected to continue living with that person. That rule contained no reference to the gender of the partner.
The rule also requires a showing of financial interdependence as well as an affidavit by the employee affirming that there is a domestic partnership.
In 2009, Napolitano left to become Homeland Security secretary in the Obama administration, elevating Jan Brewer to governor. That allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to put a provision into the budget limiting who is entitled to dependent coverage, specifically excluding the partners of unmarried employees, whether gay or not.
The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund then filed suit on behalf of the gay employees; coverage for unmarried heterosexual workers, not part of the litigation, expired two years ago. That led to last year’s 9th Circuit ruling.
In the brief to the high court, Horne said the state had a rational basis for doing what it did.
“The court of appeals’ decision … perverts the application of the rational basis test by ignoring the state’s bid justifications for (the law’s) classification — conserving state resources and fund and promoting traditional marriage,” the legal papers state.
But Horne warned the justices of more dire results if they do not overturn the 9th Circuit ruling, saying it “spurs challenges to other state constitutional and statutory provisions that protect — indeed, even recognize — traditional marriage.”
That issue of resources, Horne said, is important, with the state put the cost of providing domestic partner benefits at $5.5 million in the first full year of implementation. The legal papers said repeal of the domestic partner benefits was only one of a series of things lawmakers did to deal with a $1.6 billion budget deficit.
Brewer on Monday cited those financial problems in defending the decision both to repeal the benefits and to seek Supreme Court intervention.
“I was faced with the hugest budget deficit Arizona ever faced,” she said. “So when we were trying to come together to get our budget balanced, that was one area where we could go in and address.”
And Brewer said the repeal was not discriminatory.
“It wasn’t just against just a certain segment of domestic partners,” she said. “We took it away from all domestic partners.”
Attorneys for the state have argued Arizona is being forced to give some new constitutional rights to gays. But Schroeder, in the 9th Circuit ruling, said that is not the case.
“Rather, it is consistent with long standing equal protection jurisprudence holding that some objectives, such as a bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group are not legitimate state interests,” she wrote.
The appellate judges also rejected state arguments that the statute limiting who is a “dependent” promotes marriage, noting that makes no sense “since such partners are ineligible to marry” in Arizona.
from The Arizona Daily Sun
*
*
*

“Under most existing laws, if our findings were extrapolated nationally, several million teens could be prosecuted for child pornography,” explains a new study on teen sexting, which finds that a whopping 28% of teenagers text fully-nude pictures of themselves. We took a deep dive into the much reported Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine article, and found some weird insights into a 21st century trend that is quickly becoming the norm among teenagers.
1. White kids love sexting. More than any other demographic (Hispanic, African American, and Asian), white students reported sexting in the highest percentage (35%), nearly double that of Asians (19). African Americans were a somewhat distant second at 27%, followed by Hispanics (21%), and Asians.
2. “Several million” teens could be held liable for child pornography, as some states do not define inappropriate sexual behavior as only between an adult and a minor. The prevalence of sexting has put some experts in the awkward position of pressing for laxer child pornography laws, so that curious teenagers aren’t branded as pedophiles.
3. If you find sexting pics sent from your kid’s phone, there’s a strong possibility that he or she is sexually active. 77% of girls and 82% of boys who had reported sending a sext were also no longer virgins.
4. Gender stereotypes hold true with new technology: boys are bothered by being asked to sext much less than girls. Nearly all girls (~95%) were at least a “little bothered” by sexting requests and roughly 30% were bothered “a great deal.” Yet, nearly half of all boys didn’t mind “at all”, and less than 5% were bothered a great deal. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
5. The suburbs aren’t safe from the trend either: socio-economic status had virtually no effect on whether teens sexted. Parents with a high school diploma or less were only 2% more likely to have sexting teens compared to those with at least some college.
As sexting moves closer to becoming the norm, it begs the question of whether sexting will be seen as deviant to the next generation, just as out-of-wedlock sexual relations became the norm for previous generations. Until such time, sexting still poses distressing risks for teens whose pictures end up in the wrong hands, and suffer dangerous psychological damage from their cruel peers. In other words, talk to your kids about responsible use of technology.
from TechCrunch

Adam Lambert

What the next season of American Idol will look like is anybody’s guess right now.
The  latest name to be floated around at Fox as a possible new judge is—get ready for it—Idol alum Adam Lambert!
“They have been talking about Adam for over a month,” a source exclusively tells E! News. “He personifies the show, and will be a popular choice right from the start. He knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the judges’ comments, he has a human touch, and they know they can’t go wrong if they bring him on. He would be able to bring a unique perspective to the show. People love him.”
As E! News first told you, Jennifer Lopez has no plans to return for a third time at the judges’ table.
As for Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler…
A source tells us that they are not necessarily going to be back either.
“Randy is great, but he’s part of the old Idol,” the source said. “They want to keep the soul of the show but have a new look, and for that reason he may well not be part of the new line up.”
A Tyler source confirms the Aerosmith frontman isn’t sure of his future. “All up in the air,” the source said. “We shall see.”
Fox will, multiple sources confirm, try to change Lopez’s mind. “I don’t know if they can afford Jennifer, but they have let it be known that she has a guaranteed spot if she wants it,” one of the sources said. “She appeals to everyone so the big bosses are in favor of keeping her on.”
Producer Nigel Lythgoe says he’d love to be there for season 12, but “as of this moment in time, we are still in negotiations as we are with everybody. Everything is up in the air.”
Lythgoe, whose new reality series Opening Act premieres tonight on E!, also said, “There will be changes for sure, but nothing that stops it from what it is, which is an out and out talent show.”
A rep for Fox declined to comment for this story.
Critics have complained that Lopez, Tyler and Jackson haven’t been as harsh as past judging panels. “People are saying they’re too sweet and too nice, but once you’ve put somebody that you love in the top 10 and they’re coming every week and being good, it’s hard to critique,” Lythgoe said. “It’s not like dancing, where you can say point your toes, spread your legs. It’s more like, ‘When you hit that top note, just smile.’”
from E!Online

Episcopal bishops approved an official prayer service for blessing same-sex couples Monday at a national convention that also cleared the way for transgender ordination.
At the Episcopal General Convention in Indianapolis, the House of Bishops voted 111-41, with three abstentions, to authorize a provisional rite for same-sex unions for the next three years. The liturgy next goes to convention’s deputies for their authorization.
In a separate vote Monday, the full convention approved new anti-discrimination language for transgendered clergy candidates and church members. Some dioceses already ordain transgendered people or elect them to positions of parish leadership. However, advocates for the amendment argued they needed an explicit statement of acceptance as the churchwide policy.
The Rev. Carla Robinson, who is transgendered and a vicar of All Saints Church in Seattle, said she was lucky to have the backing of parishes and bishops when she was considering ordination, but she said others haven’t had the same support.
“I stand here as a priest today because my diocese specifically said that my gender identity and expression didn’t disqualify me from the discernment process,” Robinson said from the floor of the convention. “I ask that as a church we do the same for my trans sisters and brothers.”
While critics of the different measures registered their opposition during the convention debate, many conceded ahead of the vote that they were in the minority.
Episcopalians blazed a trail – and caused an uproar – in 2003 by consecrating New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican world. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. body of the Anglican Communion. Episcopal conservatives responded by creating a rival denomination under the guidance of like-minded Anglican leaders overseas.
Worldwide, the 77 million-member Anglican Communion, which has its roots in the Church of England, has been splintering ever since. Anglican leaders had asked Episcopalians for a moratorium on electing gay or lesbian bishops as the communion struggled to stay together. However, after a few years, Episcopalians voted to lift the temporary ban.
On Monday, several Episcopal bishops who spoke against the same-sex unions trial liturgy warned about the repercussions overseas.
“I believe it will put us, put the Episcopal Church, out of the Christian mainstream,” said Bishop Edward Little of the Diocese of Northern Indiana. “They will interpret that the Episcopal Church has endorsed same-sex marriage.”
However, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde argued that an official service was needed to honor and bless the “lifelong same-sex couples” who she said “have served Christ and Christ’s mission in ways incalculable to measure.”
The official liturgy for same-sex blessings has been in development since 2009, when it was authorized by the last General Convention. Some bishops had already developed rites for the ceremonies for use in their own dioceses. If the deputies approve the proposal before them in Indianapolis, it will be the first such official prayer for use by the entire church.
The rite is called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant.” It includes what one bishop described as a conscience clause, explicitly stating that no one in the church would be forced to perform the ceremony or punished in any way for barring its use.
Like other mainline Protestant groups, Episcopalians have been debating the Bible and homosexuality for decades. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), have in recent years struck down barriers for clergy living with same-sex partners, while the United Methodist Church has maintained its ban on ordination for openly gay and lesbian candidates.
The New York-based Episcopal Church has 1.96 million members. The convention in Indianapolis runs through Thursday.
from The Associated Press
*
*
*

*