Hosting the Carnival of Bent Attractions

In a week that saw courts strike down the gay marriage ban in Georgia and the gay adoption ban in Oklahoma, I would like to bring your attention to the upcoming Carnival of Bent Attractions. I will be accepting your submissions from June 1 until June 10 and hope to post the final version of the seventh edition by the end of the day on the 10th.

We can be sure that the religious right will take the opportunity of these two court rulings to declare the errors of "activist" judges who "legislate" from the bench. This carnival will give you an opportunity to present your gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer views on life in these United States and in the rest of the World. Please take the time to write a submission for the Carnival and send it to me after June 1.

My own personal opinion concerning the right's view of "activist" judges is this: if laws are wrong, it is a judge's duty to declare that they are wrong. Had we not had judges willing to examine racism, sexism and inequalities from our past and to strike down the offending laws, then we would not have progressed as a society. The likes of Justice Scalia would prefer to see us interpret the law as if everything had been considered by and encoded by the original drafters of the Constitution. Luckily, they did envision the need for three independent branches of government, with the Judicial branch as an integral part of the system of checks and balances. Majority rule can be mob rule for those in the minority. I think our founding fathers knew this and anticipated the need for a strong Judicial branch that would speak for those without a voice. If the religious right were to find a judge willing to strike down all laws allowing abortion, or one who would interpret GLBTQ issues as illegal, she or he would be viewed as a hero, rather than as an "activist" by these same conservative spokespeople.

Categories: blog+carnival Carnival+of+Bent+Attractions gay lesbian bisexual transsexual transgendered queer gender+identity sexual+orientation