Life Power Now - for gay men

I had the honor on Sunday evening of attending an intimate gathering of the SoCal Yale Association. It just so happens that Justice Carlos R. Moreno is a Yale graduate. It seems Justice Moreno has always been on the cusp of progressive movements as his class at Yale was the last all male class at the university. He was the association's guest of honor and speaker on Sunday night. He addressed his decision to participate in overturning the ban on gay marriage and took questions from the intimate group. I sincerely left the evening feeling grateful to have people like Justice Moreno as an ally in the court. He is open-minded, warm-hearted, and sincere.

Justice Moreno made some interesting points in regards to the marriage case. First, for those who have been arguing that the court overstepped its bounds in this case he reminded us that the Supreme Court does not seek cases. It only rules on cases that come in after they have been through trial court. They receive 200 petitions per week and can only accept about 3% of these cases. So, the claim that the court overstepped its bounds is bogus.

The justice declared very strongly that even though he had colleagues that voted against the overturn that they all have very good relationships. He also fervently declared that he doesn’t believe there to be a single closed-minded, homophobic person on the Supreme Court. You know what? After experiencing Justice Moreno in the flesh, I believe him! When you look at the marriage and domestic partnership laws they are not significantly different. The argument came down to the use of the word marriage. The bottom line is whether or not allowing one group to use this word is treating them as second class citizens. Moreno feels that it is.

We are very fortunate to live in California. It is the state constitution that allowed this overturn to occur because it does not overtly state that people of the same sex can not be married. In 1948 the California Supreme Court in Perez vs. Sharp ruled that the Californian anti-miscegenation statute violated the U.S Fourteenth Amendment. The key piece of this legislation that set a precedent for gay marriage is that the state constitution clearly states that a person has the right to marry the person of their choice. There is no specific limitation in this language.

On another positive note for Gay Marriage the way that Proposition 8 will be illustrated on the November ballot has been changed for the better. The Proposition originally stated that it would protect the institution of marriage. However, it has been rewritten to tell the actual truth, which is that it will take away the fundamental freedom to marry from same-gender couples.

We are headed in the right direction for Victory in November.
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Justice Moreno is the first Latino on the Supreme Court since Justice John Arguelles departed in 1989 and prior to that Justice Cruz Reynoso who served from 1982-1987. Moreno graduated from Yale University and received a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1975. In 1998, Moreno was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton and was confirmed by the Senate 96-0.
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Jason Mannino, MA - Life Coach and Career Coach helps you maximize full potential and achieve life balance physically, mentally, and spiritually. Through career coaching you are empowered to reach your career goals and gracefully transition through career changes and transitions. He leads various seminars and this August will be conducting "The Call: Realizing Your Mission, Grounding Your Vision", which takes people on an 8 week journey to realize their true life purpose. He is also a Creative Manager within the "Thank God I" book series (www.thankgodi.com). Explore how having a coach could add invaluable impact to your life by contacting him for a free 30 minute consultation @ www.jmannino.com