In Filing Pro-Prop. 8 Brief, 10 States Solidify Their Ass-Backwardsness

Yesterday, we mentioned how 10 terrified states -- Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming -- recently filed an amicus brief that supported Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban that's been deemed unconstitutional in federal court and is now working its way through the appeals process.

Well, that legal maneuver shouldn't be all that surprising if you take a look at those states' "Equality Scorecard" rankings, which are provided by eQualityGiving.org, an online gay rights group. Out of a top rating of 6, none of those states score higher than a measly 2.5.

While no state scores a perfect 6, California comes close with a 5.5. The scores for Alabama and the rest, however, offer further proof of those states' ass-backwardsness ... at least when it comes to treating human beings equally and fairly.

Florida and Idaho, where neither state has same-sex marriage or a non-discrimination law that protects gays and lesbians, rank the lowest out of the 10 pro-Prop. 8 states, with a horrible 1.5. No state has the lowest ranking of 1, so Florida and Idaho sit at the bottom of the heap.

Right behind them, Alabama, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming rank a miserable 2, and Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, and Virginia round out the field with a nowhere-near respectable 2.5. All of them lack basic protections that California offers to its gay and lesbian citizens.

It's no wonder that so many gay folks get the hell out of those states and move to California. Besides the sunny weather, this state has job protections, a hate crime law, and domestic partnerships that may soon give way to legal same-sex marriage. As one friend, who moved to West Hollywood from Michigan, recently told us: "I came here to be gay!"

But now state leaders in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming want to halt, even reverse, that progress in California, demanding that Proposition 8 and its gay marriage ban remain legal in the Golden State.

Those officials also have the willies that if the Proposition 8 ruling stands, legal gay marriage -- one way or another -- may soon be coming to their locales. A whole bunch of anti-gay politicians will not like that, but their states' embarrassing equality rankings will get a much-needed boost.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.