[NON BLOG] I know him ...

[rfmcdonald]

Visiting the website of The Advocate, I was both pleased and surprised to recognize a name in the current case regarding same-sex marriage in New York State (see also The Leader and Newsday.

Attorneys for 25 Ithaca, N.Y., same-sex couples seeking the right to marry said Friday that the state's opposition to gay marriage is akin to the mentality that once allowed slavery and discrimination against women and minorities. "The basis of the [the state's] opposition is that it goes against tradition. If tradition carried on, we would still have slavery," said Mariette Geldenhuys, one of the attorneys for the same-sex couples, who have been dubbed the "Ithaca 50."

[. . .]

Many of the couples attended Friday's 45-minute hearing. "The state makes the same old tired arguments," said Jim Pelton, who owns a house with his partner of seven years. "Civil rights are civil rights."

I met Jim at a retreat in upstate New York this past spring. It's good to know that he's continuing the good fight.