MICHAEL'S RANT: 8/1/14

Friday, August 15, 2014

ROBIN WILLIAMS (1951-2014)

News broke today that actor Robin Williams died on Monday.

President Obama released this statement on the passing of the actor:

Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between.

But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien -- but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.

He made us laugh.

He made us cry.

He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most -- from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets.

The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.

The following is the poem O Captain! My Captain! written by Walt Whitman in 1865 after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The poem was featured in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society starring Williams which he earned an Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance.

LONG OVERDUE (Letter To Denver Post, 10 August 2014)

The picture above is a couple and their son I met while volunteering at the annual Denver Pride Fest in late June. They were one of the first couples to receive a marriage license by the Denver County clerk after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals announced that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional. Colorado is in the 10th Circuit.

I stand up for them and countless other gay and lesbian couples because they are being denied equal protection as expressed by the 14th Amendment of our constitution which I swore to support and defend 12 years ago this past 6 August.

As of this time court rulings in the state court have ruled Colorado's 2006 ban on same-sex marriages to be unconstitutional. The rulings led to county clerks in Denver, Boulder, and Pueblo to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but Attorney General John Suthers has issued a stay on those actions.

A federal judge for the district of Colorado ruled that our state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The judge stayed his ruling until 25 August to allow defendants the chance to appeal this case. Already the 10th Circuit ruled that Utah and Oklahoma banning same-sex couples from marrying was unconstitutional so it is likely that the court would rule the same for Colorado.

Those cases might get heard by the Supreme Court as soon as this upcoming term, and there could be a resolution on an issue that I have been involved in for the last few years.

For some, you know why I have been involved in this issue. The letter that appears in the 10 August 2014 edition of the Denver Post explains why.