Independent congressional candidate Bruce Teich says only that he’s “pro-marriage”, but what does that mean? Does it mean that he’s in favor of marriage, and therefore supports the equal right to marry for homosexual as well as heterosexual couples?

Congressman Jason Chaffetz is aligned with the Religious Right, and the Religious Right demands that there will be no marriage equality for same-sex couples, so if opposing marriage equality means adopting a pose of allowing democratic choice for the definition of marriage, Chaffetz will do it.

The same inconsistency is there when it comes to the relative power between federal and local governments. Right wing activists say that local governments should have power above the federal government’s power, when local governments want to deny people rights. When local governments seek to protect constitutional rights, however, the same right wing activists show no respect for local decisions.

It is in this spirit that yesterday, the following 39 Republican members of Congress signed their name to a legal brief urging a court to block D.C.’s legalization of same-sex marriage.

If Larry Gause’s change to marriage law were to be accepted, only religious Americans would be allowed to get married. No atheists could get married. Even people who don’t belong to a church might not be able to get married.

For Democratic voters in Virginia’s 1st district who care about equality, the choice in the 2010 congressional primary is clear: Vote Krystal Ball, not Scott Robinson.

Marriage equality is the social norm in Washington D.C., with strong majority support. Why does Congressman Jim Jordan want to impose contrary values on the district, using the power of the federal government to interfere?

There are some in Congress, like Representative Barney Frank, who want to keep the movement for equality hidden in the Congressional closet, taking place in whispered tones with paid lobbyists behind closed doors. The extreme antipathy of some members of Congress, such as Louie Gohmert, demonstrates that a soft, meek, deferential approach has not been enough.

U.S. Representative Barney Frank may have advised that equal rights activists need to keep their message quiet, with behind-closed-doors lobbying, but the new generation of activism is unashamed and out in the open on the National Mall.

Thanks to William Lacy Clay and Judy Chu for doing the right thing, to protect the legal rights of all Americans. Shame on the many Democrats who have yet to cosponsor the Respect for Marriage Act.

These 92 cosponsors of the Respect for Marriage Act only make up 37 percent of the Democrats in the House of Representatives. Nearly two-thirds of House Democrats are withholding their support for this marriage equality legislation.