Same sex marriage legalized in Taiwan

Taiwan legalizes same-sex marriage in historic first for Asia - CNN - Julia Hollingsworth:

May 17, 2019 - "Lawmakers in Taiwan have approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, a landmark decision that makes the self-ruled island the first place in Asia to pass gay marriage legislation.

The vote came almost two years after the island's Constitutional Court ruled that the existing law -- which said marriage was between a man and a woman -- was unconstitutional. The panel of judges gave the island's parliament two years to amend or enact new laws.

"On Friday -- only a week off the two-year deadline -- lawmakers in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed a bill making same-sex marriage a reality. It will go into effect on May 24.

"Although the island has a large gay community and its annual gay pride parade is the biggest in Asia, the issue of marriage equality has bitterly divided Taiwanese society. In a controversial referendum in November last year, 67% voted to reject same-sex marriage....

"Tens of thousands of people braved pouring rain Friday to demonstrate in favor of same-sex marriage outside the parliament, as lawmakers began voting on three draft bills, one tabled by the island's Cabinet -- which would ultimately prove successful -- and two watered-down rival bills tabled by conservative groups.

"The successful Cabinet bill was the only one to use the word 'marriage.' It was backed by LGBTQ groups, despite the fact it could see same-sex couples denied rights enjoyed by hetrosexual couples, such as adoption and cross-national marriage....

"In 2015, veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei -- who has spent 30 years fighting for marriage equality -- filed a request to the Constitutional Court asking for a ruling on an article in the island's civil code stating that marriage is between a man and a woman.... In 2017, the court ruled the law violated the constitution....

"Taiwan's vote sets it apart from other parts of Asia where LGBTQ rights have regressed.... In April, the ruler of the tiny, oil-rich kingdom of Brunei announced he would introduce death by stoning for those convicted of gay sex. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has since said the death penalty will not be imposed, although he did not repeal the law. In Indonesia ... two men accused of being gay received 87 lashes for gay sex in the country's conservative Aceh province."

Read more: https://gdspoliticalanimal.blogspot.com/2018/06/taiwans-top-court-legalized-same-sex.html
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Libertarian ideas get co-opted, and that's good

Forum: The Libertarian Party: Bringing good ideas to America since 1971 - New Haven Register - Thomas L. Knapp:

June 25, 2018 - "‘"Abolish ICE!" [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is the new rallying cry for progressive Democrats,' reports NBC News’s Alex Seitz-Wald. It’s 'a radical idea and one that was confined to the fringes just months ago,' but one that 'left-wing insurgents can use to differentiate themselves from more established rivals in Democratic primaries.”

"Good idea. So good, in fact, that I wrote a column advocating exactly that three months ago. Welcome to the right side, Democrats.

"Like most Libertarians, I’m amused when our ideological opponents see a parade forming around one of our ideas and try to hustle their way to the front to 'lead' it. Unlike some Libertarians, I don’t follow up amusement with getting down in the mouth about being 'co-opted.' I’m just happy to see good ideas gain steam from any source.

"The Libertarian Party has supported same-sex marriage rights since its founding in 1971. Hillary Clinton finally joined us on that one in 2013.....

"We began calling for elimination of the federal income tax decades before the (even worse) 'Fair Tax' idea embedded itself in the Republican Party....

"Marijuana legalization? That was us too, fighting both old party establishments to get medical, then recreational, cannabis off the list of victimless 'crimes' from the early 1970s on....

"We beat the Democrats to putting abolition of the death penalty in our platform by mere weeks in 2016. It should have been there since 1971.

"The perceived gold standard for a political party’s success is winning elections, and I wish Libertarians won more of them. But a better standard is successfully pushing our values, ideas, and proposals into the public conversation and seeing them adopted. I’d like to see that happen more often as well, but I’m glad when it happens at least occasionally."

Read more: https://www.nhregister.com/opinion/article/Forum-The-Libertarian-Party-Bringing-good-ideas-13024456.php
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Taiwan's top court legalized same sex marriage

Lawmaker says same-sex marriage ruling ‘liberating’ for Taiwan | South China Morning Post:

June 13, 2018 - "Being the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage was a big step towards creating a 'broad-minded' society, a Taiwanese legislator said, referring to a ruling last year by the island’s justice system that guaranteed the right under Taiwan’s constitution. People have recognised 'the diversity of Taiwanese society' in the process of discussing the issue of same-sex marriage, 'and they have become aware of disadvantages sexual minorities face,' Yu Mei-nu said in a recent interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo.

"Her comments came after the Council of Grand Justices ruled in May last year that a provision in the civil code, which stipulates marriage is the legal union between a man and a woman, was unconstitutional, making Taiwan the first Asian jurisdiction to allow same-sex marriage.

"Yu, from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, has greatly contributed to pushing forward the moves by stirring debates over the issue and submitting bills to parliament... She visited Japan to share the experience at a symposium organised by the Japan Association for Taiwanese Studies....

"Commenting on the moves in Taiwan, Ken Suzuki, a Meiji University professor of Chinese and Taiwanese laws, said: 'They indicate that changes in education could change a society in 10 years.' Suzuki, who was also present for the interview, was hopeful that Japan would follow the Taiwanese path to legalisation of same-sex marriage.

"Some Japanese municipalities, including Sapporo, Naha as well as Shibuya and Setagaya wards in Tokyo, have recognised same-sex partnerships.... Suzuki himself has been involved in a campaign to legalise same-sex marriage at the state level, arguing that excluding same-sex couples from the legal marriage framework constitutes discrimination against LGBTs....

"Among the Group of Seven industrialised nations, only Japan has not yet introduced a same-sex marriage or same-sex partnership system at the state level....

"In Taiwan, authorities concerned are required to amend or enact relevant laws within two years in accordance with the 2017 ruling of the court interpretation."

Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2150632/lawmaker-says-same-sex-marriage-ruling-liberating-taiwan
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SCOTUS dodges cake issue in ruling for baker

The Supreme Court's unexpected wedding cake verdict - Chicago Tribune - editorial:

June 4, 2018 - "In ruling for a Colorado baker who cited his religious objections in refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t decide the interesting question at the heart of the case: whether civil rights laws override such objections. The justices did not decide the issue everyone expected them to decide. But the decision they reached was nonetheless important and sensible.

"The two men who went to Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2012 to order a cake for their ceremony — despite a state law barring same-sex marriage — were surprised by the owner’s refusal. They filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission arguing that the owner, Jack Phillips, had violated the state law forbidding discrimination by businesses on the basis of sexual orientation....

"The Civil Rights Commission ruled that he had violated the law, a decision upheld by a Colorado appeals court. But on Monday, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 to strike it down — not because of the conclusion the CCRC reached but because of how it addressed Phillips’ objections.

"One commission member, the court noted, accused Phillips of 'despicable' claims, using his 'religion to hurt others' in the same way defenders of slavery once did. Another said he should put aside his religious beliefs 'if he decides to do business in the state'....

"The justices concluded that the commission’s handling of the dispute 'has elements of a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs that motivated his objection.' And that animus conflicts with the state’s obligation to act in a fair and neutral way on religious matters.

"This decision does not mean bakers can refuse to make wedding cakes for same-sex unions — or that they can’t. It leaves that question to the future.... 'The Supreme Court' ... noted Northwestern University law professor Andrew Koppelman “... said nothing that will prevent a new panel from ruling against the baker, as is the likely result under Colorado law.'

"But the court upheld a vital principle.... A government body can’t skew its treatment according to whether it likes a particular religious group or belief."

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wedding-cake-supreme-court-20180604-story.html
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Has the Libertarian Party rejected Ron Paul?

Has the Libertarian Party Rejected Ron Paul and Judge Napolitano? - Steve Byas, The New American:

February 5, 2018 - "The national Libertarian Party was back in the news late last week, with a dispute over whether the LP had refused to allow Ron Paul — probably the nation’s best-known libertarian — and Judge Andrew Napolitano to speak at the party’s 2018 convention. The convention’s coordinator, Daniel Hayes, said Paul 'has no idea what the LP represents.'

"Apparently, the Mises Caucus, a faction of the LP, had expressed interest in Paul appearing at the convention, but Paul typically has a speaking fee of $35,000. Hayes has denied that Paul would not be allowed to speak; rather, Hayes said, Paul could speak, if the honorariums for Paul and Napolitano (which would have totaled $70,000) were paid by someone other than the LP — though a question arose about whether an outside group can actually pay for a speaker at a political party event, under federal campaign laws.

"While the Libertarian Party may not have actually rejected Paul from speaking at the event, it is quite clear that the LP has moved to the left in recent years, and Paul's libertarianism is no longer the accepted brand any more among the more socially liberal leadership of the Libertarian Party.

"Incredibly, the LP leadership has even compared Ron and Rand Paul to the Bushes and the Clintons. LP Chairman Nicholas Serwark attacked the Ludwing von Mises Institute, comparing it to a Nazi organization. And while the Mises Institute has become somewhat controversial within the LP, the party does make room in its circle for a Socialist Caucus!

"Paul, for his part, expressed disappointment.... 'It used to be that they would ask me, you know, quite frequently.' He added that he believed the LP has abandoned its principles, especially with its nomination of Gary Johnson and William Weld to head the ticket in 2016. 'When you look at the leadership, so often you see that they melted away.'

"Paul lamented that the LP 'failed to live up to what should have been its role as an ideological alterntive to Washington’s one-party system. As was quite obvious in the 2016 presidential election, the Libertarians yielded to prevailing attitudes on war, welfare, the Federal Reserve, and more. In believing that winning was more important than standing for something, they ended up achieving neither'....

"The 2016 LP nominee for president, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, hardly qualifies as a limited-government candidate himself. He opposes the abolition of the Federal Reserve System, and supports the Environmental Protection Agency, despite there being no authorization in the Constitution for either one.... More important, apparently, is support for same-sex 'marriage.' Johnson infamously dismissed concerns about forcing bakers to celebrate same-sex marriages, by saying, 'I just see religious freedom, as a category, as just being a black hole'....

"Liberty is apparently no longer the principle driving the Libertarian Party."

Read more: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/28209-has-the-libertarian-party-rejected-ron-paul-and-judge-napolitano
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Australian libertarian conservative makes case for same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage: A libertarian conservative case for voting ‘yes’ - Janet Albrechtsen, The Australian:

September 6, 2017 - "If the High Court decides the upcoming same-sex marriage postal vote can go ahead this month, I will vote Yes. Some will say that casts me as conservative charlatan.... Yet voting Yes is entirely consistent with anti-statist, libertarian and indeed conservative beliefs that the state should stay out of our personal lives. Here is the libertarian conservative case for voting Yes to same-sex marriage.

"Voting No because same-sex marriage activists in politics, the media and beyond have overplayed their hand is not a position of principle. It’s a reaction rather than an answer to the broader question of whether gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry....

"As a libertarian, social change that enables more freedom for people to mark their relationship by marrying, to seek the stability that marriage can offer, ought to be recognised rather than rebuffed. Same-sex marriage will become law eventually because higher numbers of younger people support same-sex marriage than older people.

"That generational tide won’t be held at bay. Younger members of my family, my daughters in their 20s, can’t see what the fuss is about. Of course same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, they say. To their credit, they convinced me of that.

"There’s nothing wrong with being on the slow side of history, but ultimately opposing same-sex marriage rubbed up against my belief that governments have no business policing private relationships that do no harm to others. First principles of libertarian conservatives start with John Stuart Mill’s essay On Liberty: “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.'

"As Mill explained, a government presuming to regulate us for our own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient to warrant interference in our lives. Who is to say what is 'good' for us better than what we choose for ourselves?

“'The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign,' wrote Mill. First principles don’t have an expiration date....

"Libertarian conservatives who believe in the liberal project where individual dignity flourishes with greater freedom will regard liberty as a good reason to support same-sex marriage and an even better reason to fight against these ideological bullies and the illiberal forces."

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/janet-albrechtsen/a-libertarian-conservative-case-for-voting-yes-to-ssm/news-story/599daae498499aaf6a40e37b82a63c13
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No right not to cater gay weddings, court rules

Florists Join Bakers, Photographers in Court Ruling Ordering Them to Serve Gay Weddings - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Scott Shackford:

February 17, 2017 - "Florists — at least those in Washington State — can be forced to provide their goods and services for gay weddings. That was the unanimous decision from the state's supreme court....

"The high-profile case ... pitted Baronnelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers in Richland, against a gay couple who had come to her seeking her flowers for their wedding. She declined, citing her religious opposition to recognizing same-sex marriage.... Washington forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

"Stutzman's argument was that she wasn't discriminating on the basis of the men being gay but rather refusing to participate in the wedding (which wasn't even legally recognized by the state when they started planning it in 2013). She argued that government mandating her participation by requiring her to provide flowers violated her constitutional rights to free speech, free exercise, and free association.

"The court roundly rejected all of her claims. The decision noted courts had previously rejected claims that attempted to separate 'status' from 'conduct' in similar ways, that, for example, discriminating against somebody who is pregnant falls under sex discrimination. As for her attempt to invoke her religious freedoms, they noted that the Supreme Court has set the precedent that 'that individuals who engage in commerce necessarily accept some limitations on their conduct as a result.'

"As for her free speech claim, the court [says] Requiring Stutzman to prepare flowers for a same-sex marriage is not actually compelling her to endorse said marriages. This is very similar to how courts have ruled on wedding cakes. They have declined to accept the argument that the creation of a wedding cake is in and of itself expressive speech, but a baker does have the freedom to reject orders to pass along a particular textual message.....

"The Cato Institute submitted an amicus brief defending the florist's right to say no to the couple as a First Amendment issue.... The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the shop (and was just designated a 'hate group' by the Southern Poverty Law Center) is promising to try to get the case before the U.S. Supreme Court."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/17/florists-join-bakers-photographers-in-co
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Left & right misuse libertarian ideas for partisan gain

How conservatives and liberals are both hijacking libertarian principles for partisan gain -  Shikha Dalmia, The Week:

July 6, 2015 - "Libertarianism has been at the forefront of the gay rights cause from the get-go. Reason magazine, the flagship libertarian publication where I work, has always maintained that the government has no business regulating — much less criminalizing — what two people do behind closed doors so long as they don't hurt anyone....  As Cato Institute's David Boaz points out, libertarians were making arguments in support of gay marriage way before the cause became hip among progressives. The Libertarian Party demanded equality for gays back in 1972, when the Democratic vice presidential nominee was still referring to gays as 'queers,' and endorsed gay marriage in 1976....

"But now, in the wake of the gay marriage revolution, conservatives and progressives alike are turning to libertarian ideas — and both for the wrong reasons.

"Progressives are doing it to settle a vendetta against religious conservatives and reverse-persecute them for their private beliefs. And religious conservatives are trying to refight the wars of the sexual revolution.

"Let's begin with the left. As if on cue, no sooner did the ruling come out than progressives such as Felix Salmon started calling for scrapping the tax-exempt status of religious non-profits that preach against gay marriage, just as conservatives had feared would happen.... But since denying some faith-based organizations a tax exemption because of their faith would be a violation of their First Amendment rights ... Salmon hinted he would be fine with the 'libertarian' solution to 'abolish tax exemption for all religious organizations'....

"However, today's opposition to gay marriage ... is arguably more prevalent among blacks and Latinos than religious whites. Yet their churches perform vital services for minority children, offering a semblance of stability in a sea of poverty and family breakdown. Taking away their tax exemption ... would make gays-rights activists look like fanatical Jacobins willing to sacrifice living, breathing humans to satisfy a thin-skinned need to purge every last vestige of anti-gay animus.

 "But progressives are not the only ones misusing libertarian ideas when it comes to gay marriage. Conservatives are ... already looking for ways to flout the Supreme Court ruling. Since Justice Kennedy ruled that states can't selectively withhold marriage licenses from gay couples ... Rand Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican presidential aspirant from Kentucky, is calling on them to simply get out of the marriage business. What's more, Texas and Mississippi are heeding his call and have announced they might stop issuing marriage licenses altogether.

"Privatizing marriage is a long-standing libertarian idea whose whole purpose was to foster John Stuart Mill's 'thousand experiments in living.' Pulling it out now to deny gays an opportunity to get married — in a sense, keeping alive discrimination by privatizing it — will not just pervert the idea but also discredit it."

Read more: http://theweek.com/articles/564163/how-conservatives-liberals-are-both-hijacking-libertarian-principles-partisan-gain
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Rand Paul channels inner libertarian on western tour

Rand Paul 2016: Libertarian politics and his campaign - POLITICO - Matt Dixon:

July 1, 2015 - "Rand Paul’s raising money with the marijuana industry in Colorado. He’s holding private meetings with anti-government ranchers in Nevada. Ask him about same-sex marriage, and he’ll say the feds shouldn’t be in the marriage business anyway — it should be left for states to sort out.

"The Kentucky senator has always held libertarian views. But he’s leaning pretty hard into his anti-government cred during a campaign swing out West, championing states’ rights and excoriating Washington and federal overreach at every turn....

"The return to Rand Paul 1.0 comes after weeks of trying to break out of a crowded GOP pack. His poll numbers aren’t terrible — the Real Clear Politics average of national polls puts Paul at sixth place among 15 Republican contenders for the nomination, enough to put him on stage at the first GOP debate in August — but show a worrisome lack of upward momentum. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, he’s stuck in fourth place.

"Paul’s move back into his comfort zone also underscores a key priority for his presidential campaign: Lay the groundwork for a strong showing in caucus states where strong organization can pay off and where the live-and-let-live mentality thrives. An early state like Nevada is a plum target for any Republican in the field but holds special appeal for Paul, whose father won the second-most delegates in the past two Republican presidential caucuses there.

"A win there or even a strong showing would help Paul distinguish himself among a large Republican primary field that is clamoring to dominate in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina....

"'Nevada is a very important state for Rand Paul’s campaign. The state has a very prevalent libertarian streak,' a Paul campaign official said. 'As far as the other Western states, Sen. Paul has made it a priority to reach out to nontraditional Republican voters. His goal is to turn purple states red by expanding the Republican Party.'

"And thus Paul’s Western swing. On Tuesday, Paul’s campaign was slated to meet privately with donors during the annual Cannabis Business Summit in Denver. A day earlier, Paul granted a private audience to Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the anti-government activist who clashed last year with federal officials and briefly became a celebrated figure on the right.... (The campaign denies that: 'There were no scheduled meetings at Sen. Paul’s stop in Mesquite. He spoke to many people who came to this public event, none for 45 minutes and none planned,' Paul spokesman Sergio Gor said.)

"Paul told the crowd, 'I think almost all land-use issues and animal issues, endangered species issues, ought to be handled at the state level.

'I think that the government shouldn’t interfere with state decisions, so if a state decides to have medical marijuana or something like that, it should be respected as a state decision,” he added.

"That came days after Paul, after initially staying silent, finally issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling. Paul, like the rest of the GOP field, made sure to note he considers marriage to be between a man and a woman but directed most of his fire at the federal government weighing in on the institution of marriage at all.

"'Since government has been involved in marriage, they have done what they always do — taxed it, regulated it, and now redefined it,' Paul wrote in an op-ed published on Time magazine’s website. 'It is hard to argue that government’s involvement in marriage has made it better, a fact also not surprising to those who believe government does little right.'"

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/rand-paul-2016-libertarian-platform-119619.html
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Libertarians ahead of the curve on gay rights

Libertarians and the Long Road to Gay Rights | Cato @ Liberty - David Boaz:

June 26, 2015 - "Justice Anthony Kennedy has been called the most libertarian member of the Supreme Court... So maybe it’s no surprise that in the Lawrence (2003), Windsor (2013), and Obergefell (today!) cases, Kennedy wrote a majority decision finding that gay people had rights to liberty and equal protection of the law.

"As I note in The Libertarian Mind and in an article just posted at the venerable gay magazine The Advocate, libertarians and their classical liberal forebears have been ahead of the curve on gay rights for more than two centuries:

As the Supreme Court prepares for a possibly historic ruling, most of the country now supports gay marriage. Libertarians were there first. Indeed John Podesta, a top adviser to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton and founder of the Center for American Progress, noted in 2011 that you probably had to have been a libertarian to have supported gay marriage 15 years earlier.

Just seven years ago, in the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton all opposed gay marriage. The Libertarian Party endorsed gay rights with its first platform in 1972 — the same year the Democratic nominee for vice president referred to “queers” in a Chicago speech. In 1976 the Libertarian Party issued a pamphlet calling for an end to antigay laws and endorsing full marriage rights.

That’s no surprise, of course. Libertarians believe in individual rights for all people and equality before the law. Of course they recognized the rights of gay people before socialists, conservatives, or big-government liberals.

"In the article, and more so in the book, I talked about some of the history of classical liberal-libertarian thinking on gay rights in earlier centuries, perhaps beginning with the pioneering criminologist and reformer Cesare Beccaria in 1764.

The Declaration of Independence promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to Americans. Of course, not everybody enjoyed those rights at first. But eventually those ideas took root and led to the abolition of slavery and later to civil rights and women’s rights. It took even longer for people to take seriously the idea of homosexual activity as a matter of personal freedom and to recognize gays and lesbians as a group deserving of rights.

It was the classical liberals, the ancestors of libertarians, who first came to that recognition. From Montesquieu and Adam Smith in the 18th century to the Nobel Prize–winning economist F.A. Hayek in 1960, it was libertarians who insisted that (in Hayek’s words) “private practice among adults, however abhorrent it may be to the majority, is not a proper subject for coercive action for a state whose object is to minimize coercion.”

"More in The Libertarian Mind and at The Advocate."

This work by Cato Institute is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Constitutional right to gay marriage, SCOTUS rules

Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Marriage Is A Constitutional Right - Forbes - Daniel Fisher:

June 26, 2015 - "Same-sex marriage is a fundamental constitutional right guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today, in a 5-4 decision that reflected Justice Anthony Kennedy’s individualistic, libertarian views and drew angry dissents from the rest of the court’s conservatives.

"Saying 'marriage is a keystone of our social order' and 'inherent in the concept of individual autonomy,' Kennedy’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges makes gay marriage the law of the land in every state. In so doing, the court went past even the arguments advanced by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and some gay-rights advocates who urged the more modest approach of merely striking down bans on gay marriage under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

"In a 34-page opinion that was matched in length by dissents by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Kennedy acknowledged that same-sex marriage is a relatively new concept, but said basic Constitutional notions of freedom mean 'same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry'....

"Kennedy’s decision, which was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, is surprising in its sweep, said William Eskridge, a constitutional law expert with Yale Law School who wrote a brief supporting same-sex marriage for the libertarian Cato Institute. The decision hews to Kennedy’s reasoning in Lawrence v. Texas, a 2003 decision striking down anti-sodomy laws as an unconstitutional intrusion into the private choices of individuals.

"'It is libertarian,' Eskridge told me. 'It’s like Lawrence. It’s the freedom for Americans to make choices regarding their relationships, their childrearing decisions, and to have those choices respected by the states the same as everybody else’s'...

"The decision raises some potentially uncomfortable questions, however, including whether religious institutions will be able to maintain their contrary views toward same-sex marriage, and whether states will also be forced to recognize polygamous marriages. After all, Roberts, wrote, the leap from two-person marriage to polygamy, in historical and cultural terms, is much smaller than the leap to same-sex marriage.

'"Although the majority randomly inserts the adjective "two" in various places, it offers no reason at all why the two-person element of the core definition of marriage may be preserved while the man-woman element may not,' Roberts wrote.

"Kennedy voiced strong support for the First Amendment protection of religious beliefs and said no one is trying to denigrate them....

"Kennedy relied on a string of cases that struck down limits on marriage as violating the 14th Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause, most importantly, Loving v. Virginia. the 1967 decision striking down laws banning interracial marriages....

"While voters and the legislators they elect have the right to dictate policy, Kennedy wrote, that doesn’t mean they can enact laws that infringe on personal liberty, or that members of an oppressed minority must wait for protection of the laws. 'The dynamic of our constitutional system is that individuals need not await legislative action before asserting a fundamental right,' he wrote."

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2015/06/26/supreme-court-rules-same-sex-marriage-is-a-constitutional-right/
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Why Stossel plans to vote for Rand Paul for POTUS

Why I plan to vote for Rand Paul for president | Fox News - John Stossel:

April 22, 2015 - "Sen. Paul confuses people. Some Ron Paul fans say Rand is not as committed to liberty as his father. But some of their complaints seem ambiguous.

"Yes, Rand avoids alienating conservatives because he wants the Republican nomination. But has he violated his principles?

"He doesn’t call for drug legalization but wants to decrease penalties, and he doesn’t rule out legalization.

"He voted for sanctions on Iran, which bothers hardcore libertarians, but of the policies under consideration, sanctions were better than war....

"He supported increases in defense spending, but at least he said they should be offset by reductions in other spending.

"Paul disappoints me by opposing gay marriage and saying a 'moral crisis allows people to think there would be some other sort of marriage'.... At least Rand did not ask the government to ban gay marriage. It’s a relief when a politician draws a line between what his religion tells him and what government ought to do.

"Where Rand Paul shines is in the clarity of his plans to shrink government.... Paul presented budget proposals (visible online) that left-wing critics like Vox say are 'the most radical vision of limited government ever presented by a major American presidential candidate (apart, perhaps, from Paul’s father, Ron Paul).'

"He wants to eliminate the Department of Education, Amtrak subsidies, the Department of Energy, foreign aid and other programs that do more harm than good. He would privatize Medicare and partially privatize Social Security.

"Paul criticizes crony capitalist subsidies, and, unlike most politicians who suck up to Midwestern farmers by offering ethanol subsidies, he proposes merely eliminating regulations that inhibit ethanol production. That’s libertarian.

"Paul’s practicing politics, but it’s still pretty libertarian politics. In fact, he seems to lean over backward to stick to libertarian principles – even while trying to sound like a mainstream politician."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/04/22/why-plan-to-vote-for-rand-paul-for-president.html
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Australian libertarian senator tables same sex marriage bill

Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm introduces same-sex marriage bill - Elise Scott and Rebekah Ison, Sydney Morning Herald:

November 26, 2014 - "Same-sex marriage is vital for three reasons: liberty, conscience and state power.

"That's the argument of Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm who on Wednesday introduced a private senator's bill to allow same-sex marriage.

"The bill would allow any Australian to marry regardless of 'sex, sexual orientation and gender identity'.

"However, it also gives non-government religious and civil celebrants the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples."

"The libertarian doesn't believe government should interfere in individual choices and freedoms, and also supports the medical use of marijuana and assisted suicide.

"Banning same-sex marriage diminishes people's ability to make life plans and marriage equality keeps state power in check, he says.

"'The state is a wonderful servant but a terrible master,' he says. 'The state cannot discriminate, and if it does so, that is an abuse of power.'

"He claims Prime Minister Tony Abbott counselled him against introducing the bill because it would cause more trouble for the government....

"Mr. Abbott promised pre-election to empower his party room to decide whether the coalition has a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, and Senator Leyonhjelm believes there is enough support for that to occur."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-democrat-david-leyonhjelm-introduces-samesex-marriage-bill-20141126-11uolh.html
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Australian senator to move marriage equality bill

New senator David Leyonhjelm urges libertarian MPs to 'come out of the closet' and support same-sex marriage - Lisa Cox, Sydney Morning Herald:

July 14, 2014 -"Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm has called on 'true' liberals in the Abbott government to support same-sex marriage, confirming he will move a marriage equality bill as soon as the Coalition agrees to a conscience vote.

"Senator Leyonhjelm said on Monday that he would bring a private member's bill to the Parliament to redefine the Marriage Act, which currently defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

"'I ask you to understand that the liberties you care about should be available to everybody, and that there is no place in Australia for second-class citizens,' Senator Leyonhjelm told reporters in Canberra....

"He exhorted Labor leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Tony Abbott to support his bid to give same-sex couples marriage rights.

"'Today, I challenge Mr Shorten and Labor Party members to look Senator [Penny] Wong in the eye and tell her she does not deserve equal rights. Today, I challenge Mr Abbott and Liberal Party members to do the same with Mr Abbott's sister,' he said.

"Labor's leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, and Mr Abbott's sister, Christine Forster, a City of Sydney Liberal Party councillor, are both openly gay, with Ms Forster recently becoming engaged to her long-time partner.

"Labor Party MPs are permitted a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, but the Coalition is opposed to same-sex marriage and yet to grant its MPs a conscience vote, meaning any bill is unlikely to pass the Parliament."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/new-senator-david-leyonhjelm-urges-libertarian-mps-to-come-out-of-the-closet-and-support-samesex-marriage-20140714-3bw6w.html
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Bob Barr leading in GOP House primary in Georgia

Bring Bulldog Bob Barr Back to Washington: We Endorse Barr for Congress in GA-11 | ConservativeHQ.com:

May 16, 2014 - "Few people can say that the establishment of both political parties colluded to run them out of Congress.... Bob Barr can proudly claim that distinction.

"In 2002, Democrats in Georgia, aided by the Republican establishment, redrew district lines eliminating Congressman Barr’s congressional seat.... Democrats had a vendetta against Barr while establishment Republicans saw his unwillingness to toe the Party line as a large thorn in their side.

"Today, ... Barr is the leading candidate in a congressional primary next week in Georgia.  If he wins the primary and the possible run-off, Bob 'The Bulldog' Barr will be reclaiming his seat in the House of Representatives – a probability feared by the DC establishment of both political parties....

"While Barr has been criticized for voting for the Patriot Act by libertarians, few know that his vote came with a hard-fought provision to sunset the act – Bob has testified repeatedly to oppose the reauthorization of the intrusive set of laws.

"Another example of his refusal with go with the status quo is the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which ... was proposed and passed at a time when social conservatives were gaining ground on an ill-conceived constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.... DOMA was an end run around what would have been a historic mistake."

Read more: http://www.conservativehq.com/article/17261-bring-bulldog-bob-barr-back-washington-we-endorse-barr-congress-ga-11
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Cato Institute urges courts to recognize same-sex marriage

Liberals and libertarians join forces to defend gay marriage rights | MSNBC - Adam Serwer:

April 15, 2014 - "The liberal Constitutional Accountability Center and the libertarian Cato Institute don’t agree on much.... Where the two organizations stand on common ground: Same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.....

"Last year, the groups teamed up to file legal briefs in the challenges to California’s ban on same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in states where such couples are allowed to marry. Since [then], federal courts across the country have been striking down same-sex marriage bans based on the legal reasoning in those rulings. The liberal Constitutional Accountability Center and the libertarian Cato Institute are joining forces again, seeking to urge federal courts to recognize a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. They’ve filed a brief together in the Utah and Oklahoma same-sex marriage cases, and plan to do so in other pending same-sex marriage cases. "

"Both groups are in complete agreement about bans on same-sex marriage, which they write violate the 14th Amendment’s 'guarantee of the "equal protection of the laws" [which] is sweeping and universal'."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/cato-cac-divided-groups-defend-gay-marriage-rights
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LP candidate wants SC to be next state to legalize marijuana

Libertarian gubernational candidate Steve French is left of the Dems, right of the GOP | Features | Charleston City Paper - Paul Bowers:

April 23, 2014 - "For social liberals in South Carolina, the state Democratic Party can be kind of a letdown. Entrenched in red territory, its current nominee for governor, Vincent Sheheen, won't even come out in favor of marriage equality.

"Enter gubernatorial candidate Steve French, a pro-choice, pro-marriage-equality candidate who adamantly believes South Carolina should be the next state to legalize recreational marijuana use. If you want a social liberal in the Governor's Mansion next year, here's your guy.

"French is the Libertarian Party candidate, though, so he also holds some aggressively conservative views on fiscal matters. He likes school vouchers, for example, and he wants to replace income and corporate taxes with an across-the-board 7 percent sales tax with no tax breaks or incentives....

"'We have Republicans that talk about smaller government, but they'll kick your door in because you're playing a poker game,' French says. 'We've got the Democratic Party that talks about individual liberty, but then they want to unload all these taxes on us at the same time.'"

Read more: http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/libertarian-gubernational-candidate-steve-french-is-left-of-the-dems-right-of-the-gop/Content?oid=4907921
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The Libertarian Surge - Politico

The Libertarian Surge - David Boaz - POLITICO Magazine:

April 7, 2014: "Libertarianism — the political philosophy that says limited government is the best kind of government — is having its moment. Unfortunately, that’s mostly because government has been expanding in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the financial crisis. Somehow government failures lead to even more government.

"When the financial crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the politicians in Washington had one response: start printing money and bailing out big businesses. First it was Bear Stearns, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then most of Wall Street. But voters had a different response. Polls showed widespread opposition to the bailouts. When Congress prepared to vote on President George W. Bush’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, Americans made their opinions known in no uncertain terms. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown reported, “Like my colleagues, my phones have been ringing off the hook. The sentiment from Ohioans about this proposal is universally negative'....

"Meanwhile, the government’s response to the financial crisis sent people looking for answers. Sales of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom soared. The Cato Institute’s pocket edition of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution even hit The Washington Post best-seller list.

"Libertarian ideas often cross left-right boundaries. Lots of libertarians were involved in the tea party and the opposition to the bailouts, the car company takeovers, the 2009 stimulus bill and the quasi-nationalization of health care. But libertarians were also involved in the movement for gay marriage. Indeed, John Podesta, a top adviser to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and founder of the Center for American Progress, noted in 2011 that you probably had to have been a libertarian to have supported gay marriage 15 years earlier. Or take marijuana legalization, which is just now becoming a majority position: Libertarians have been leaders in the opposition to the drug war for many years."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/the-libertarian-surge-105446.html
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Krauthammer: Rising libertarianism top story of 2013 (after Obamacare)

Krauthammer's Take: Other than Obamacare, Biggest 2013 Story is Rising Libertarianism | National Review Online:

December 31, 2013 - "When asked what the biggest story of 2013 was, besides Obamacare, Charles Krauthammer said it is how American social attitudes are becoming more libertarian.

“The swiftness with which attitudes have changed on gay marriage is simply astonishing,” Krauthammer said. Beyond marriage, Krauthammer was also surprised by the advances of the marijuana legalization movement.

The only social issue bucking the libertarian trend is abortion, “in part because of the Gosnell trial, the fact that people are becoming aware that late term abortions are so near to infanticide,” Krauthammer said. “With everything else heading left, with this issue the movement has stopped and has reversed, especially among young people.”"

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367348/krauthammers-take-other-obamacare-biggest-2013-story-rising-libertarianism-nro-staff
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Slate claims LP failed to take stand on gay rights

Slate Wonders Why Libertarian Party Insists on Being Libertarian on Gay Rights Issues, Reveals Utter Ignorance of Party's History - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

December 30, 2012 - "Weird little piece up at Slate today, about an issue certainly none of their readers or pretty much anyone else cares about, but feeds a generic endless desire to scratch at the persistently annoying itch of libertarianism in these here times.

"It is called 'How Libertarians Failed Gay Rights' and its URL contains the phrase 'the party failed to take a stand' on gay rights. Its evidence for this is that on the LP's current website, author Tyler Lopez couldn't find a dedicated page about gay rights.

"The Party's platform does, though Lopez doesn't mention this, contain this:

Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government's treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships....

"Slate's piece combines confused thinking with near utter ignorance on its topic. However, it will, if read quickly and carelessly by equally ignorant readers, help make certain people think less of libertarianism, and that's all that matters."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/30/slate-wonders-why-libertarian-party-insi
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