Homophobe liar Sam Arora is getting married. To a woman.

Interesting timing for the, up until now, very single homophobe with a secret. Read the rest of this post...

Arora adopts Obama talking point, says views on marriage have "evolved"

By now, everyone who pays attention knows that President Obama claims to be "evolving" on same-sex marriage. That evolution was first announced on October 27, 2010 in an interview I did with the President.

Guess who else is now claiming that his views have evolved? The despicable Delegate from Silver Spring: Sam Arora.

In the letter Arora sent to constituents, which Maryland Juice posted, Arora wrote:

This has been an emotional debate on all sides, and my own views on the best way to achieve equality under law for all Maryland families have evolved.

I think the more accurate term would be "devolved." And, he devolved rapidly.

As we've written many times, when Arora ran in the fall of 2010, he was for marriage equality. But, by the end of February of 2011, suddenly he was against it -- and still is.

Of course, in 1996, President Obama supported marriage equality as a state senate candidate. Then, a few years later, he didn't. Now, he's evolving. At least Obama is heading in the right direction now. Arora went backwards over the course of a couple months.

So, Arora is using Obama's talking point. It's bad enough when anti-gay Republicans say they have the same views as Obama -- when that is patently false. But, who wants to have the same message on marriage as a liar like Sam Arora? Read the rest of this post...

Constituent: "Sam Arora is a liar"

I've just received an email from Julie Tagen, a constituent of Maryland state delegate Sam Arora, who explains that Sam Arora is a liar for now claiming that he never fully considered the issue of marriage equality before the 2011 vote on the matter.  Arora, who ran on a platform of legalizing same-sex unions, voted against marriage equality legislation in Maryland earlier this year.

Julie Tagen is a former employee of the Human Rights Campaign and the Victory Fund, has a partner of 15 years, and lives in Sam Arora's district, the 19th. I've known Julie professionally for years. Here is Julie's letter:

John,

I am writing to you because I am incensed about the letter I received from Delegate Sam Arora yesterday. Sam was responding to my letter asking him to support the recent marriage equality bill in the Maryland legislature. He claims in his letter that before last year, 2011, he had not considered legislating same-sex marriage. That is an outright LIE! Maybe you can get the word out about this.

I am a constituent of Sam's in Silver Spring. When Sam was running for Delegate in early 2010, he knocked on my door and asked for my vote. We talked for some time and realized we have some mutual friends from the Hillary Clinton campaign. I asked him about his support for same-sex marriage, and told him that my partner and I have been together for 15 years and deserve the same rights as any other Marylander. He assured me that he supported same-sex marriage and would support it if he became a delegate. I was really impressed with him and encouraged my neighbors to vote for him too.

You can imagine my surprise when I received a voice message from Sam on his first day in the legislature in January, 2011. He said that he wanted me to know that he had become an original co-sponsor of the marriage equality bill and that he knew it was very important to me. I was blown away that he actually looked up my phone number to leave me that message. I told several people about this because I never had a politician remember our conversation and follow-up with me like that. It was extraordinary.

It was an even bigger surprise two months later when Equality Maryland called me to request that I call my delegate, Sam Arora, because he was wavering on the same-sex marriage bill. I told them that it was a big mistake; that Sam had personally told me he supported it and then called me about it. I told them that I would call him right away and I did. I called his office and his cell phone. I have since called him MANY times. He has never called me back. I have requested face-to-face meetings and have been ignored.

This is why i am so upset by this letter. He won't call me back, or meet with me, and then sends me a letter that is based on a complete lie. Sam Arora is a liar.  He is lying to his constituents and I think everyone should know. I think Sam Arora has no integrity and he should resign.

Thank you for listening.

Julie Tagen
Silver Spring, Maryland - 19th District

Read the rest of this post...

MD's Sam Arora lies to constituents about marriage betrayal

UPDATE: Read the letter we've just received from Arora constituent Julie Tagen, titled "Sam Arora is a liar."

Sam Arora has a secret.

Maryland Delegate Sam Arora just issued a letter claiming that he never fully considered the issue of marriage equality before last year, 2011, and that's why he got so confused when the issue came up and flip-flopped on the issue, ultimately betraying his promise, his friends, and his constituents.

Only problem?  There's lots of proof that Arora considered the issue in 2010 and was fully in favor of marriage equality when he ran for election the first time.  So why is he so blatantly lying?

There is no other explanation I can think of to explain what is motivating than this guy other than to conclude that something happened behind closed doors that Maryland Delegate Sam Arora either will not, or can not, tell his constituents. Why? Because he just lied to his constituents about why he changed his position on marriage equality last year.

Via Maryland Juice, here is what Arora is now claiming in a letter to constituents explaining his flip-flop on marriage equality:

"[B]efore last year, I had not fully considered the issue of legislating same-sex marriage."

That is an outright lie. The year before, Arora ran on a campaign of, among other things, supporting marriage equality. He filled out a questionnaire endorsing marriage equality in 2010, and even added his own personal addendum.

Click to see readable version.

He told Maryland voters in person that he was going to support marriage equality. He cosponsored the bill at the beginning of last year, and called constituents bragging to them about how proud he was to cosponsor it. He tweeted about how happy he was to cosponsor the bill and how it didn't run counter to any religious concerns.

Sam Arora is a liar.  And a homophobe.  His career in Democratic politics is over.  And the ongoing lies only further the suspicion that something happened behind closed doors that Arora is refusing to admit.
Maryland Lawmaker Sam Arora's Letter to Constituents Explaining Marriage Equality Betrayal Read the rest of this post...

Sam Arora: So long, farewell

From Matt Arnstine, writing in the U of MD student paper, the Diamondback:

During his 2010 campaign, Arora raked in campaign donations from area progressives, many of whom he met while working on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. In a survey by Equality Maryland, Arora declared he would co-sponsor civil marriage legislation. Yet, during last year's legislative session, Arora backtracked and withdrew his co-sponsorship of the bill.

Years ago, before the netroots and social media were prominent in politics, Arora's betrayal would've been unknown to those who don't follow the minutiae of legislation and political leaders. However, in today's world of Change petitions, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages, there's nowhere for cowardly politicians to hide. Every political issue has dedicated bloggers who closely follow political developments. In short, Arora isn't going to get away with his betrayal.

When you spurn O'Malley, Clinton and McAuliffe, there isn't really a place for you in the Democratic Party. So long, farewell, we needn't say goodbye.

Never forget: Arora didn't just fill out a survey saying he's support marriage equality, he cosponsored the bill, he tweeted about how the legislation met the concerns of religious people, and he went out of his way, publicly and behind closed doors, to gush to gay constituents about how he was going to get marriage equality passed in Maryland. The guy didn't just change his mind on a vote, and he didn't simply do it for religious reasons. Something mysteriously happened during a three day period in February of 2011.

Joe recounts, via the link above, the story of one supporter with whom Arora shared his emphatic support for marriage equality. I know of another. A friend of mine who knows Arora. He called her the first day of the Maryland legislative session last year to say that he wanted her to know that he sponsored the marriage equality bill.

This wasn't some guy who had religious objections to the bill. He had already come to terms with any religious concerns he had a long time ago. He was an avid supporter of the legislation. He gushed to people about it. And then, suddenly he didn't.

Something happened during a three day period in February of last year. And the fact that Arora can't even explain why he changed his vote, or what happened during those three days, makes the entire affair that much more noxious.

This is not some guy who had religious objections to a piece of legislation. Something happened behind closed doors and Sam Arora is making clear, by his silence, that whatever it was, it can't have been good.

Sam's got a secret. Read the rest of this post...

A Sam Arora constituent speaks out

Sue Cohen, who lives in Sam Arora's district in Maryland, writes:

I have lived in District 19 since 1981, so trust me -- any talk Sam Arora spews about "constituency concerns over marriage equality" are bogus and outright lies. The only Republican (before redistricting) we have sent to Congress was that now-extinct species -A liberal Republican, Connie Morella).

After running on a progressive Democratic platform including Marriage Equality and receiving the endorsement of Equality Maryland, District 19 elected Sam Arora to his first term as one of our three Delegates.

On Friday, February 17, Mr. Arora turned his back on the wishes of his constituents and was the ONLY Montgomery County Democrat to vote AGAINST marriage equality which narrowly passed the State House.

I have been trying to reach Mr. Arora since Friday evening to learn why he changed his mind and vote, especially since he was a co-sponsor of the legislation in last year's session in Annapolis.

Mr. Arora is apparently in hiding, and has refused to answer any phone or email messages. He has offered no public explanations for his change of heart and vote, other than to echo NJ Governor Chris Christie with a pathetic call for a referendum (the last bastion of the political coward).

I will do everything in my power to ensure that Del. Arora is a one-term delegate. District 19 has a proud history of progressive activism and we expect those who represent us to do just that!"

And remember, Sam's got a secret. He was for marriage equality - rabidly for it - and then, over 3 days in February of last year, something strange happened, and suddenly he was against it. No explanations. If it were his religion, that concern would have kicked in long before 3 strange days in February. He'd have been against marriage equality from the beginning, rather than bragging, publicly and privately, about how he was going to get marriage passed in Maryland. Instead, something happened behind closed doors, and Sam Arora is refusing to say what.

That's creepy as hell. And it means that on any other issue, Arora could be just as flaky, just as untrue to his word.  Sam Arora needs to come clean with his constituents about what is influencing him behind close doors.  And the Democratic party, in Maryland and nationwide, is now put on notice that Sam Arora is damaged goods.  They'd better not support a known homophobe for re-election. Read the rest of this post...

Sam Arora’s got a secret

Sam Arora has a secret.

One of Sam Arora's top aides just quit.  Good for him.  But don't be fooled.  Arora's vote against marriage equality had nothing to do with his religion.  Arora had the same religion when he was running for office and rabidly pro marriage equality, when he was sworn in and rabidly pro marriage equality, and the first two months of office when he was rabidly pro marriage equality.  Then, suddenly, over 3 days in February, something happened, no one knows what, and Arora magically had "religious" concerns, and voted against marriage equality.

How do you have religious concerns if you already considered those religious concerns, and dismissed them, multiple times over the preceding year?

Please folks, don't fall for the "it's his religion" crap.  If it were his religion, he'd have had a problem with marriage from the beginning, and he didn't.  He only had a problem after something mysteriously happened over a 3 day period in February of last year.  The very fact that Arora can't enunciate what happened, refuses to answer phone calls and emails from close friends about what happened, suggests that what actually did happen is a lot worse than simply "his religion."

Arora owes the voters a clear explanation of why over a three day period last February his vote on marriage equality suddenly changed.  He's not a liar.  He's someone with a secret.  And his constituents, and every one who donated to his campaign, deserves to know what Sam Arora's secret really is. Read the rest of this post...

The strange flip-flop of Sam Arora

Scott Wooledge over at DailyKos does a great job summarizing the tale of Sam Arora, a former Hillary staffer who got elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, claiming to be a pro-gay progressive, and suddenly within the course of three days, for no obvious reason, and for no clear reason that he's been able to enunciate, he changed into an anti-gay bigot.

Do check out this link again. It's one that I don't think Scott linked to.  And it's probably the most important aspect of this entire story.  Over the course of three days, the young man who has been bragging to gay friends privately of his support for marriage equality suddenly couldn't stomach the notion of gays getting "married."  I point this out because the evidence is so damning of something having happened during those three days, that a simple "he caved to his religion" simply will not due.

It's hard to believe that Sam Arora caved to his religious beliefs.  He already had those religious beliefs, and they were perfectly consistent in his mind with gays getting married - he even crowed in on tweet about how the Maryland legislation addresses the concerns of people of faith.  Then suddenly, over 3 days, all that changed.  Why?  What happened?  A few possibilities come to mind.

It's hard to believe that some outside influence wasn't at the core of the problem.  Whether it was an outside threat or an outside enticement, no one knows.  In politics, so often the threat is of scandal (sex or money), and the enticement is usually just money.  No evidence of either in this case, but there's also no evidence of anything at all that would explain the sudden erratic change in Arora's position. And Arora seems downright incapable of offering any kind of viable explanation whatsoever.

We have a mystery on our hands, but no matter.  Sam Arora's career in politics is over.  There are a lot of smart, resourceful, and connected people across the region who are now working together to ensure that this liar never works in Democratic politics ever again.

Stay tuned for more. Read the rest of this post...

Marriage passes in Maryland House of Delegates!

Kiss me, I'm a homophobe!

We got the one vote we needed. Initial reports are that Sam Arora, who ran on a marriage equality platform as a progressive Netroots-friendly candidate, voted against us. More on that below (including his contact info - please visit his Facebook page and Twitter account - again the info is below).

The bill had previously passed the state Senate, and no votes are expected to change there, so this is all but assured to go the Democratic governor, who has said he'll sign it.

The religious right has already said they're going to try to put the issue on the November ballot.

UPDATE: It's confirmed. Sam Arora, after reportedly taking calls from the Governor, Bill Clinton and Terry McAuliffe, still voted against us. All this after he run on a platform including marriage equality.

Something is up with that guy. As a junior member of a state legislature, it's just awfully strange that you would flip on an issue like this, right after taking office, with no good explanation why, and then resist appeals from your former employer's husband (Arora worked for Hillary), who just so happens to be Bill Clinton, and appeals from the current governor, who wants to run for president in 2016.

Rather than ingratiate yourself too all of them, as some junior state delegate, you screw them all.

Regardless of what Arora is hiding in his political closet, his career in Democratic politics is over. A number of high-level Democratic political operatives in DC are talking this evening about the best way, legally and politically, to move ahead with ending Arora's career, starting with his next election. We've taken down bigger bigots than a Maryland House delegate. If he thinks he's going to survive in Democratic politics as a known homophobe, and someone who poked his finger in the eyes of Bill Clinton, Terry McAuliffe and Maryland Governor O'Malley... well, good luck with that.

More from Democratic political consultant Karl Frisch, a former friend and supporter of Arora's:

"Discrimination against gay and lesbian couples is one step closer to being over in Maryland. The same can be said for Sam's career in politics."

"I've already been asked by several high level national and Maryland Democratic operatives to join a call tonight to discuss strategies for sending Sam packing. We -- and by we, I mean many people who helped elect our former equality supporting friend -- will do whatever it takes. Nothing will be left off the table."

Enjoy the next few years in politics, Sam. They'll be your last in elected office.

Twitter: @Sam_Arora
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Arora/334183772314
(410) 841-3528, (301) 858-3528
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3528 (toll free)
e-mail: sam.arora@house.state.md.us
fax: (410) 841-3011, (410) 841-3528, (301) 858-3528, (240) 245-0018

Here's the question on marriage where he said he was with us while running for office - again, he changed his mind weeks after being sworn in.  Suspicious much?
Read the rest of this post...

Bill Clinton, Terry McAuliffe reportedly making calls for marriage equality in Maryland

Tweet from Amanda Terkel at Huffington Post:

RT @aterkel: Heard that Bill Clinton, Terry McAuliffe called up Sam Arora to pressure him to vote for marriage equality.”

Sam Arora has been given a political gift by this vote. At this stage in his political career, you don't usually get calls from, a chance to endear yourself to, Bill Clinton and Terry McAuliffe. Read the rest of this post...

Dick Cheney is lobbying for gay marriage in Maryland?

Buried in Annie Linskey's Baltimore Sun story today about GOP Maryland Delegate Wade Kach coming out in support of marriage equality is this little tidbit:

[Kach] also became the target of a last-minute lobby effort, and said his voice mail was full of messages from important people, including Mehlman, Bloomberg and an offer to talk with former Vice President Dick Cheney, whom Kach regards as a "great man." All three are recognized for their support of gay rights issues.

Dick Cheney is personally lobbying on behalf of gay marriage? Really?

If true, that's freaking huge.

It would be interesting to know who made the offer to Kach on behalf of Cheney.  Was it Mehlman?

I don't want to put the cart before the horse, since it would be nice to confirm this first, but it's hard to believe that someone just made this up when talking to Kach, though I suppose it's possible (albeit dumb).   If Dick Cheney is actually lobbying for gay marriage, that is simply huge.  Not only is he a huge heavyweight, but he also provides a good deal of cover for other Republicans, like Governor Christie in New Jersey, who says he's going to veto marriage equality legislation just passed by that state's legislature.

Oh what a difference a few years makes.  It was only 2004 that I launched DearMary.com, a Web site begging Mary Cheney, Dick's daughter, to intercede with her father regarding the planned effort to push for the Federal Marriage Amendment.  You'll recall that the Cheneys weren't saying boo about gay rights or their daughter being a lesbian.  Then, four months or so into the campaign, Mary's mom, Lynne Cheney, suddenly is on CNN opposing the marriage amendment. This is a woman who basically denied her daughter was even gay in an interview a few years earlier.

If this is true, the Cheney family has come a long way.  And as much as it will annoy some to admit it, they deserve our thanks.

Also, this poses a bit of a dilemma for Democrats in general, and the President in particular.  If this story is true, then Dick Cheney will be doing more than the Democratic party to help on marriage equality.  That's not a terribly helpful message for Democrats walking into an important election. Read the rest of this post...

Maryland House preps for marriage debate, GOP delegate who switched to yes has State Police protection

Looks like the Maryland House of Delegates debate on the marriage equality bill will begin at 11 AM ET.

Via email from Equality Maryland:

As you may have heard, HB 438 was not debated last evening on the floor on the House of Delegates. More than 200 amendments have been offered to the bill and the joint committee chairpersons asked for some time today to review all of these. The full House agreed and that is why debate did not occur.

Today we are expecting the joint committees to plow through these amendments and try to get the bill back on the full House floor for debate (called Second Reader) later in the day. Depending on how quickly the floor debate goes, they may get to the final vote late in the day.

Listen get to the audio of the debate here when the session begins.

Some background from Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey. LInskey is on twitter here. The GOP Delegate who switched his vote to yes, Wade Kach, got lobbied by some GOP heavyweights. He is also under the protection of state police:

By far the biggest boost came in the morning when Republican Del. Wade Kach, who was considered a sure-fire no vote, threw his support behind O'Malley's bill. Kach had voted against the bill two days earlier in committee.

The Baltimore County delegate said he reached his decision after mulling the testimony he'd heard during a nearly 11-hour hearing on the bill last week and watching how same-sex couples supported one another. "I thought to myself, if my constituents were here, they'd have a different perspective on the issue," Kach said. "I'm sure of it."

He also became the target of a last-minute lobby effort, and said his voice mail was full of messages from important people, including Mehlman, Bloomberg and an offer to talk with former Vice President Dick Cheney, whom Kach regards as a "great man." All three are recognized for their support of gay rights issues.

Like all of the delegates interviewed, Kach said the out-of-state calls didn't have an impact on his decision making. As of Thursday morning, he had not returned any of them. "I'm more interested in talking to my constituents and my colleagues here," said Kach. "I just didn't call them back."

After announcing his position, the state police offered to provide Kach protection, aides to the delegate said. He accepted and was accompanied by a trooper in the State House on Thursday.

Read the rest of this post...

Update on marriage in Maryland from the Washington Post

They start again at 11am, apparently. The Washington Post has a good summary. I thought this argument was interesting. Though I think it's based on racial stereotypes. But it might help sway African-American legislators.

Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore), the only openly gay African American member of the legislature, has been working a different angle. She’s offering not so much an emotional appeal as a logical one.

“I want to talk about equal treatment under the law,” she explained. She’s a little tired of African Americans who dismiss the issue as one that matters only to a bunch of well-to-do gay white men.

Rich gay white folks, she argued, can hire expensive lawyers to write complex legal contracts to protect partners when it comes to benefits, medical issues and so forth. Marriage is nice, yes, but they don’t need necessarily need it to protect themselves.

When you look at the socioeconomics of it, Washington said, it’s black gays and lesbians who are more likely to be struggling with finances and unable to afford a lawyer to help them secure their lifetime partner’s pension, get access to medical insurance or untangle housing issues.

“I try to tell them that this is also about protecting our families, our poor and working- class people,” she said.

I know some "white gays" who couldn't get married, had a kid, and now are splitting up, and it's a mess because they were never able to get legally married in the first place.  (I'm also betting that there are a lot of "white gays" in Alabama and Mississippi who aren't any richer than anyone else in those states.)  Also, interesting that it was black gay leaders at CAP who recently tried to diss marriage equality's impact on the black community. Read the rest of this post...

Marriage vote in Maryland delayed until Friday at 11am

Per a tweet from Marriage Equality. Read the rest of this post...

Maryland's Governor explains his evolution on same-sex marriage

UPDATE: Debate was supposed to begin at 11 AM. But, according to a tweet from The Baltimore Sun's Annie Linskey, there's a delay: "There is some kind of delay on marriage bill. House to go back in at 5 or 6" We'll keep you posted.
____________________________
The Governor of Maryland, who like Governors Gregoire and Cuomo is Catholic, expounded upon his evolution on the marriage issue publicly last night, the eve of the House marriage vote. The Baltimore Sun called it "his most detailed explanation to date for the evolution of his stance on gay marriage":

During the hour-long conversation in front of roughly 120 people, the governor said that his long-held private belief in civil marriage for same-sex couples was sacrificed for political goals. When running for governor in 2006, he said, he decided to publicly support civil unions because at the time most Marylanders supported a distinct form of union for gay couples.

"I was mayor of the city of Baltimore then and my political advisers and friends went absolutely nuts and said 'There is no such term as "civil marriage" … if you use the term "civil marriage" you are going to jeopardize whatever hope we have to defeat the current officeholder and make the sort of strides, in any number of areas, that [then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is] opposed to on these things," O'Malley said.

In July, O'Malley announced that he would throw his support behind a bill to legalize marriage for same-sex couples in Maryland. When asked at the announcement why he changed his position on the issue, O'Malley declined to elaborate, except to say that growing up in the Catholic Church influenced his early thinking on the topic.

Wednesday night, he said, "So I stuck pretty much to civil unions, believing honestly that that was the place where a public consensus could be forged that could move us forward. ... I have since seen that this debate is moving much more quickly."

The debate has moved much more quickly. Even President Obama, who has yet to evolve, said on October 27, 2010, "The one thing I will say today is I think it’s pretty clear where the trendlines are going."

Let's not forget, it's a smart political move. O'Malley is often mentioned as a possible 2016 presidential candidate. Andrew Cuomo, who is also on that list, set a pretty high bar on marriage equality. In 2016, it will be politically untenable for any Democrat running for President to be on the wrong side of marriage. Given the polling and the momentum, that should be the case with our nominee in 2012, too. (Just #evolvealready, it is the right thing to do morally and politically.) Read the rest of this post...

Gay marriage bills face key votes in NJ and MD

The big story is in Maryland.  Will Sam Arora save the day?

Reuters:

Bills to permit gay marriage in New Jersey and Maryland face key legislative debates and votes on Thursday, highlighting a hot-button issue that is one of several social matters gaining prominence in the election year debate.

Reuters details what's happening in each state - it's not a long article, so no point in quoting it, just go read it. Read the rest of this post...

Sam Arora’s chance to be a statesman

You're all familiar with Sam Arora. He ran for the Maryland House of Delegates a few years ago as a progressive Netroots candidate, promising, among other things, to be a strong voice for the gay community, including supporting marriage equality. But something happened after Arora got elected and he changed his vote. With today's marriage equality vote, expected as early as 11am Thursday, in the House of Delegates, Arora has a chance to turn back time and re-cast himself as a hero.

The lastest vote count shows that we have 70 votes in the state House, and need 71. Arora is a key, if not the key, vote. He hasn't said what he'll do. I'd argue that the smart thing politically, and obviously the right thing morally, is for Arora to return to his roots and support the full and equal civil rights of all of his constituents.

The moral argument is easy, and Arora already knows it, or he wouldn't have supported our full civil rights when running for office in the first place. He knows many gays and lesbians personally, and he knows his vote will have a profound effect on the lives and families of friends and colleagues across the state of Maryland and beyond.

But let's talk politics. I can think of little better for a young politician looking to his future in Maryland Democratic politics (what other politics is there in Maryland?) than to ingratiate himself to the Democratic governor and party, and to one of the most powerful and tenacious constituencies in the Democratic base, the gay community.

Sam Arora has been given a rare gift in politics - the chance to do it all over again and wipe the slate clean.

I'm sure there's a lot of bad blood all around on this issue, and understandably so. But politics is the art of the possible. Some days you're at each other's throats, and the next you find a way to put aside your differences and move forward to everyone's benefit.

Sam Arora has been given the opportunity to fulfill his promise to his constituents, his party, his friends and his governor, to put a year of strained relations behind him, and to quite literally be a hero.

Sam Arora has the chance to do something few politicians at his age, or any age, can do - make history with one vote.

The question is, will he? Read the rest of this post...

Should marriage equality go in the Dems' 2012 platform

Very interesting idea.

From Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports the 2012 Democratic Party platform including, for the first time, language in full support of marriage equality, her spokesman told Metro Weekly on Tuesday evening, Feb. 14. ... The platform, a detailed statement of the party's positions that will be finalized at the Democratic National Convention this September, has never included language in support of the right of same-sex couples to marry. And the leader of the party, President Obama, opposed marriage equality in the 2008 campaign

Not that platforms matter in the world at large. They do, however, matter in terms of defining the party's overall mission, goals, and soul.  Fascinating idea.  And gives us all something to fight for. Read the rest of this post...

If it’s Tuesday, Sam Arora must be for civil unions

More on Arora here, here and here.

It's far past time for Maryland Delegate Sam Arora to come out of the closet and admit why he suddenly had a 180 degree reversal on marriage (he was for marriage, then opposed to marriage, now he's for civil unions - so far).

If someone has something on him, which is one of the possibilities, then he ought to come clean, because his constituents deserve to know if their local representative has been compromised. And if he hasn't been compromised, then he still needs to come clean and admit what changed his mind? What made him change from an ardent and proud fierce advocate of marriage equality, a guy who openly bragged about his support for gay marriage, to the mealymouthed wimp he's now become?  There are a lot of rumors about what happened, and none of them are good.

It's always suspicious when politicians have death-bed conversions, and they're not even on their death bed.  It leaves far too many questions, none of which cast a good light on the politician in question.

Sam Arora is a homophobe.  But worse, he's a liar.  Democrats need to ensure that this far right Republican in Democratic clothing loses his re-election, and never steps foot in Democratic politics again.

Remember this face and name.  Because we surely will. Read the rest of this post...

Maryland Marriage Bill Passed House Committees tonight. Sam Arora didn't vote.

Tonight, Annie Linskey, who covers Annapolis for the Baltimore Sun, tweeted:

Bill passes 25-18. Arora passes. Does not vote.

Basically, this means two things: 1) the marriage equality bill in Maryland took a big first step tonight by passing in the combined House Judiciary and Health and Government Operations Committees ; and 2) Delegate Sam Arora, who ran as a pro-equality candidate and purports to be a progressive, is acknowledging his conversion to homophobia.

More on Arora here, here and here.

In 2011, the marriage bill passed the Senate, but didn't make it to the House floor. This year, it will get a House vote. Keep an eye on Arora for that one. He has to realize that anti-gay behavior by elected officials who ran as allies of our community will not stand. This all begs the question we asked last year: What happened to Sam Arora's support for marriage? Still wondering.

UPDATE: Andy Towle reports there is still work to do:

At a rally last night before an evening of lobbying lawmakers, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley told marriage equality supporters they still need a few votes in the House to pass the measure.

Read the rest of this post...