NOM's Brian Brown wants to impeach VA attorney general for support of marriage equality

I'm such a bad boy for enjoying this but I can't help myself.

One of the delights of the recent announcement of VA's Attorney General Mark Herring's recent announcement that he will be fighting against the state's ban on marriage equality is the reaction of anti-gay groups.

Particularly the National Organization for Marriage, whose president, Brian Brown, threw a hissy fit and called for Herring's impeachment:

Virginia gives Brian Brown something to weep about.

"The Attorney General swore an oath that he would 'support...the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia' and faithfully discharge his duties, which include defending duly enacted laws like the state's marriage amendment," said Brian Brown, NOM's president. "Yet now Attorney General Herring is participating in a lawsuit against the very people he is sworn to represent, the citizens of Virginia who preserved marriage in their constitution. This malfeasance and neglect of duty is not only a disgrace, it's an impeachable offense under the constitution."

Nice try, Bri-Bri, but according to Think Progress, Herring's decision is not without precedent:

The oath of office for the Attorney General of Virginia — which Herring took earlier this month — includes a solemn vows first to “support the constitution of the United States” and second to support “the constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution makes clear that the federal constitution takes precedence over state constitutions — so when the two are in conflict, it is absolutely up to the Attorney General to make that decision. As the person duly elected to make that judgment, Herring, rather than an un-elected lobbyist or state legislators who choose to ignore the federal constitution’s supremacy, is exactly the person tasked by Virginia’s citizenry with determining which laws to defend.

Moreover, two recent Republican Attorneys General of Virginia — both Family Foundation favorites who had the support of Howell and Marshall — also made clear that they would not defend what they believed to be unconstitutional. In 2003, then-Attorney General Jerry Kilgore joined dozens of his counterparts from other states in signing a brief claiming that he was duty bound to challenge any statute he believed be unconstitutional. A year later, the Family Foundation’s Cobb donated to his gubernatorial campaign and she even served on one of his advisory boards.

Herring’s immediate predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli II, also refused to defend laws he deemed unconstitutional. Last year, one of his spokesmen noted, “If the attorney general’s analysis shows that a law is unconstitutional, he has a legal obligation to not defend it.” Indeed in 2009, Cuccinelli himself said in a debate, “I will not defend what I, in my judgment, deem to be an unconstitutional law.” “If I determine it not to be constitutional,” he explained then, “I will not defend it. My first obligation is to the Constitution and the people of Virginia.”

Don't you just love it when members of the anti-gay right throw useless tantrums. Maybe we will be lucky the next time things go our way. Perhaps Brown will threaten to hold his breath.

'NOM ally REALLY despises same-sex families' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Lopez

Robert Oscar López remains hopeful that kids of gays will grow up to resent them - Meet and familiarize yourselves with Robert Oscar Lopez. He is allegedly a bisexual man who was raised in a same-sex households. And one more thing - he absolutely DESPISES same-sex households. He isn't that well known but pretty soon he probably will be. The National Organization for Marriage and other anti-gay groups will no doubt be utilizing his "services" to the fullest in order to demonize same-sex families.

Lopez has also:

-- Equated same-sex adoption with "cultural genocide once used against blacks and Indians": "The gay community is now entirely allied to the cultural genocide practices once used against blacks and Indians, since they are determined to say that, in the words of Nancy Polikoff, genetics doesn't matter as long as an adoptive couple can sway the powers that be to award them children. It all feels new and shiny to the gay community, because to them it's a way to overcome past inequality. But they are repeating the same genocidal practices of the past."

-- Without any evidence, claimed that the late Tyler Clementi probably "had liaisons with men who were older than eighteen and committing statutory rape."

-- Slurred same-sex parents as "slavers buying children from poor surrogate mums overseas": "The testimonials from happy children of same-sex couples are obviously handpicked and staged to maximize the value of propaganda, but a gullible populace won't ask what isn't being printed or broadcast. A gullible populace prefers ingesting whatever is printed or broadcast. 'Love' is a meaningless mantra, like 'nobody is really listening to your phone calls' or "we need drones for national security purposes" out of the mouth of Obama; but in a country where people are swayed by Obama's silky voice, why would people not be swayed by gay couples saying, 'we aren't slavers buying children from poor surrogate mums overseas, we love our kids'?

In other news: 

Harvey: 'Gays Are All Closeted Heterosexuals' - Girlfriend, have I got news for you . . .  

Nigeria: Thousands of protesters throw stones into court urging executions of gay men - Simply barbaric! 

Indiana GOP Leader Moves Failing Marriage Equality Ban To More Conservative Committee (UPDATE) - Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt do underhanded sneaky stuff when you can't get your way through fair means.  

"Transgender Dysphoria Blues" Is Proof That Rock Still Matters - Love this post!

Virginia attorney general will fight against marriage equality ban

Herring

In Virginia comes a reminder to the lgbt community how important it is to vote.  Just a year ago,  state officials were hostile to the idea of marriage equality.  After last year's election in which Democrats swept into high office, a new administration is embracing the idea. This includes a new attorney general who has publicly vowed to fight the anti-marriage equality law.

From the Washington Post:

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down, according to an official close to the attorney general with knowledge about the decision.

The action will mark a stunning reversal in the state’s legal position on same-sex marriage and is a result of November elections in which Democrats swept the state’s top offices. Herring’s predecessor, Republican Ken Cuccinelli II, adamantly opposes gay marriage and had vowed to defend Virginia’s constitutional amendment banning such unions, which was passed in 2006 with the support of 57 percent of voters.

No doubt anti-gay groups aren't exactly happy over this news and we will be hearing their nonsense momentarily.