Greetings from the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire, where we recently enacted marriage equality into law.
That landmark civil right was not won easily. Lots of out-of-state money from haters like the National Organization for Marriage pumped millions into our state.
The point person, the highest profile spokesman for the anti-marriage crowd, was Cornerstone Policy Research's Kevin Smith, as a cursory glance at The Google will show.
So what does Kevin Smith get for working day and night to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry?
An appointment to the New Hampshire Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
No, this is not a joke.
Here's the text of the release:
WASHINGTON, June 16 PRNewswire-USNewswire -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has appointed 13 people to its New Hampshire Advisory Committee.
Martin Dannenfelser, staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, announced the appointment of Jerianne E. Boggis of Milford, Katherine L. Brown of Barrington, Jordan C. Budd of Concord, Anthony J. Epaphras of Manchester, Patricia M. Gormley of Portsmouth, Elizabeth S. Hager of Concord, Barbara J. Jago of Manchester, Rogers J. Johnson of Stratham, Rowell Shep Melnick of Amherst, Nabil Migalli of Manchester, Kevin H. Smith of Litchfield, Carol Stamatakis of Lempster and Alejandro J. Urrutia of Hudson to the New Hampshire Advisory Committee. Commissioners appointed Jordan Budd as chair. The appointments are for two years.
An independent bipartisan federal agency, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights conducts research and advises the President and Congress on civil rights issues. Its members appointed by the President and Congress, are Chairman Gerald A. Reynolds, Vice Chair Abigail Thernstrom, and Commissioners Todd Gaziano, Gail Heriot, Peter N. Kirsanow, Arlen D. Melendez, Ashley Taylor, and Michael Yaki.
Congress has directed the Commission to establish advisory committees in all states and the District of Columbia to assist in its fact-finding function. These committees receive reports, suggestions, and recommendations from individuals, public and private organizations, and public officials, and forward advice and recommendations to the Commission. Members of State Advisory Committees serve without compensation and conduct civil rights reviews and investigations, and report to the Commission.
What does it take to be a civil rights leader, you ask?
Well, if you're Kevin Smith, statements like this:
"When you change the definition of marriage to any two persons, you are making the distinction men and women are the same in every way," Smith said. "That's undeniably not true from a biological or social standpoint.
"You're also saying that you don't need a mother and father as the ideal way to raise children. This goes against common sense and it goes against social science. The other side wants to say this is about discrimination, but there's already discrimination built into marriage. You can't marry your cousin, you can't marry your cousin's sister, you can have polygamy, and on and on. The whole issue runs hollow if you scratch below the surface."
Granite State Progress is up in arms over this jaw-droppingly insulting appointment, and they've got an action item in play that I urge you to sign:
Remove Kevin Smith from the NH Advisory Committee on Civil Rights
To Martin Dannenfelser, staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:
As someone who cares strongly about civil rights, I'm asking you to remove Kevin Smith from the NH Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Kevin Smith is known in New Hampshire for his strong opposition to recognizing the civil liberties of gay and lesbian families, and he has actively worked to limit these rights.
In multiple media accounts, Smith has indicated that he will be running a campaign to limit or overturn the recent passage of marriage equality in New Hampshire. Smith's political interests interfere with the mission of the Civil Rights Commission and he cannot in good faith represent the people of New Hampshire who may rely on this program.
I am calling for his immediate removal.
UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE.
Adding: Listen here to civil rights leader Kevin Smith's NH Liberals (sic) Favorite Things (referenced in this post, h/t DD).