Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limited marriage to existing between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional and that there was no legal standing to appeal the overturning of Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. It didn’t take long for opponents of marriage equality to freak out about these rulings, which, apparently, signal the end of the world as we know. (And they don’t feel fine.)  Here are some of the best responses.

1. IT’S THE WORK OF SATAN!

In a blog post with the understated title of  Satan’s End-Time Strategy to Outlaw Traditional Marriage in Full Swing, Charisma editor Jennifer LeClaire writes:  “Today’s rulings set into motion a dynamic that could mainstream gay marriage in this nation sooner than later—and forward the satanic agenda to eventually end a godly institution that’s almost as old as the world itself.”

2. AMERICA IS IN ITS “DEATH THROES”!

Christian radio broadcaster Janet Mefferd said: “If you think this is just an attack on marriage, it isn’t; it’s an attack on your liberty, an attack on the rule of law and it’s an attack on every person in California…Look who you have running your state, all these people have done in the California legislature is it’s gay law here and gay law there and gay role models and ban gay reparative therapy for minors…it’s totalitarian.” She also said America is in its “death throes.”

Mefferd isn’t the only one with death on the mind. Rick Santorum fears that with the DOMA ruling, the Supreme Court will establish some sort of constitutional right or find that marriage is unconstitutional in its current form. “That to me will put the death knell in it.”

3. IT’S JUST LIKE PEARL HARBOR!

The American Decency Association’s Lisa Van Houten warned that the Supreme Court’s DOMA decision “will live in infamy” like Pearl Harbor:

As we look back on history there are dates which we now see were crossroads, turning points for nations and cultures. July 4, 1776; June 6, 1944. December 7, 1941; January 22, 1973. Battles fought, decisions made – some establishing goodness and justice, others are dates that ‘will live in infamy.’ I believe today, June 26, 2013, is the latter. A date when the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of same sex marriage, and undermined true marriage – one man and one woman – which was instituted, not by any government, but by God.

What do you expect, though, since, as Van Houten explains, “The homosexual agenda cannot and will not abide peaceably alongside the true, biblical institutions of marriage and family as ordained by God. As the homosexual agenda is legitimized – even by the United States Supreme Court – marriage, family, and our religious liberty will be undermined.”

Read more at Care2

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have been gathering in Tahrir Square since June 30, protesting against President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. And just minutes ago, the Egyptian Army announced it suspended the constitution and removed the president. Though much of the American media is calling this a coup, it certainly doesn’t look like a coup to the estimated 30,000 people in Egypt’s streets. As I watched the breaking news, I was Facebook-chatting with my friend, Sherif Joseph Rizk, a publisher and political organizer, who co-founded the organization The New Republic Group. I asked him if this was a coup and he responded, “it’s a people’s coup!” In the words of journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who is reporting from Cairo’s Tahrir Square: “We saw a rejection of Hosni Mubarak that threw him out of office, a rejection of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ruling Egypt, and now a rejection and a revolution against the Muslim Brotherhood. [The people] are revolting against these authoritarian elements that deny them political and economic agency … The more important struggle is the one that is coming from the ground up — and that is a rejection of authoritarianism and a paternalistic form of government.” Here are 15 striking photos posted on Instagram and twitpic of the popular movement that removed Egypt’s president.

1. Crowd at Night

2. Flags

3. Game Over

Read more at Policymic

Wendy Davis became a rock star Tuesday night after standing for 11 hours without going to the bathroom, sitting, or leaning, to block the passage of a bill that would have closed nearly all of Texas’s abortion clinics. But this rock star status is long overdue. Here’s why.

1. She Works/Worked Hard For the Money

 

 

 

 

 

She’s a hard worker. She had two jobs by the time she was 14 to help support her single mother and three siblings. By 19, Wendy was a single mother herself, and once again worked two jobs.

2. She Gets Awards Like Whoa

She received the “Bold Woman Award” from Girls, Inc., “Freshman of the Year” from AARP, “Champion for Children Award” from the Equity Center, and “Texas Women’s Health Champion Award” from the Texas Association of OB-GYNs. In 2009, Texas Monthly named her “Rookie of the Year.” And she was chosen by the readers of Fort Worth Weekly as the “Best Servant of the People.” Davis was recently listed among “12 State Legislators to Watch in 2012” by Governing Magazine.

Read more at Policymic

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand reproductive-freedom curtailing words. Here’s the lovely Ohio governor, John Kasich (R), surrounded by a bunch of dudes, of course, signing a budget which contains severe anti-chose provisions.

The new budget, which takes effect on Monday, and was signed Sunday, will defund Planned Parenthood clinics, reallocate family planning resources to “crisis pregnancy centers,” deny funding to rape crisis centers that deign to give out any information about abortion services, shutter abortion clinics by imposing restrictions, and force doctors to tell women who want an abortion about a b.s. study linking abortion to breast cancer and the “fetal heartbeat.”

Read more at Feministing.

The rap duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis has broken records with their hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us.” And now, with their pro-marriage equality hit “Same Love,” which features out lesbian Mary Lambert, they’re shattering stereotypes.

Just as “Same Love” supported this movement, the recent Supreme Court rulings on DOMA and Prop 8 are helping the song become an even greater hit. The song hit the charts in February, when several states were voting on marriage equality and the Supreme Court was considering challenges to DOMA and Prop 8. Wednesday, when the Supreme Court ruled on  both cases, “Same Love” rose to No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, up from No. 65 three weeks ago. Sales of the song rose by 23 percent last week from the week before to a total of more than 788,000 copies, and views of the single’s video on YouTube had approached 53 million by Sunday.

Read more at Feministing.

As I wrote on Wednesday, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis (a Democrat, duh) is a rock star. Not only did she stand for 11 hours to block a draconian anti-choice bill, she kept her cool in the face of some seriously ridiculous statements and actions from her opponents.

1. When a Congresswoman Gets Confused

Rep. Jodie Laubenberg (R): “In the emergency room they have what’s called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out … The woman had five months to make that decision, at this point we are looking at a baby that is very far along in its development.”

2. When An Anti-Choice State Senator Says He Loves Women

State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. explains he’s anti-choice but also says, “I love women.”

Read more at Policymic

12-year-old Madison Baxter has been playing football since second grade. She played on her football team in sixth grade. But this year she was told not to come to tryout for the seventh-grade team because she is provoking “impure thoughts.” Baxter’s mother says this was the explanation offered by Patrick Stuart an administrator at the Strong Rock Christian Academy private school Madison attends. Cassy Blythe, Madison’s mother, told Atlanta’s WXIA-TV,

“In the meeting with the CEO of the school [Patrick Stuart], I was told that the reasons behind it were one, that the boys were going to start lusting after her and have impure thoughts about her and that the locker-room talk was not appropriate for a female to hear even though she had a separate locker room from the boys.”

Read more at Feministing

In a nightmare for all hateful bigots, two lesbians got married across the street from the hateful, bigoted Westboro Baptist Church, famous for protesting funerals and their oh-so-biblically inspired “God Hates Fags” signs. Kimberly Kidwell, a 31-year-old EMT, married Katie Short on the front lawn of the Equality House in Topeka Kansas, the rainbow-painted residence owned by Aaron Jackson, one of the founders of the charity Planting Peace. Jackson used Google Earth to find the location of of the Church. He noticed a “for sale” sign on the house across the street and decided to buy it. The website for the House says, “To combat [WBC’s] messages of hate and to support equality and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and in our community, Planting Peace has established the Equality House.” The house will “serve as the resource center for all Planting Peace equality and anti-bullying initiatives and will stand as a visual reminder of our commitment, as global citizens, to equality for all.” Jackson says Equality house attracts 150 a day.

Kidwell and Short live in Arkansas, where same-sex marriage is illegal, as it is in Kansas. They planned to forgo a wedding and wait until it would be legal. But when Jackson posted on Facebook that he was looking for a couple to get married, they jumped at the opportunity. Kidwell and Short were wed by Robin Lunn, an ordained Baptist minister and executive director of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, in ceremony consisting of approximately 100 family members, friends and supporters from the community. Local businesses and individuals donated almost everything from the flowers, to the wedding cake.  And in lieu of gifts, the couple asked for donations to a Planting Peace marriage equality fundraiser.

Read more at Feministing

 

There were just so many good quotes from Republican politicians this week, so I apologize to any nut-job I overlooked. It’s impossible to keep up with all the gems coming from Republican and conservative lunatics. Consider this a mere sampling — a tasting menu, if you will.

1. Paul LePage Makes Jokes About Rape

We brought you part one of our Feministing Five with the amazing Martha Plimpton. In case you missed it, you’ll want to read about Martha and her A is Fororganization. And now, without further ado, the Feministing Five, part two, with Martha Plimpton.

Katie Halper: You’re going to a desert island, and you’re allowed to take one food, one drink, and one feminist. What do you pick?

Martha Plimpton: Hahahaha. This is really hard. Let’s see. If I’m on a desert island. I mean how desert is it? Does it have coconut trees? Because then I can have coconut water and I don’t have to bring coconut water with me.

KH: Sure. Coconut trees galore.

MP: For food, probably some type of soy based protein, like tofu or something.

KH: Wow. Healthy choices.

MP:  I’m just being practical here. But it’s hard to keep tofu fresh. That’s a major drawback. Maybe just soybeans? I’m never good at these desert island questions. Never, ever good. And then one drink. Well I guess I would bring, well, you know, vodka.

KH: Does that mix well with coconut water?

MP: I can mix that with the coconut water.

And one feminist, this is really tough. Oh man. It’s hard to say that I want to bring Bella Abzug. I mean, she’s an amazing woman and I really wish I had ever gotten to meet her. But I could really see how she could get on your nerves after a while. On the other hand, she’s a pretty self-motivated human being and could probably protect me against predators. And she’d be really good at taking charge and knowing what to do.

Read more at Feministing