Real Talk w/Bobby Hardy blogtalkradio.com/yasbow Wednesday's @ 7:00AM

DRAKE LOPEZ


Real talk with Bobby Hardy is a show that deals with everyday life. Bobby is a published poet, Recording artist, stage and film actor (He was a quiet man with Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthberg and William H Masy & Smokey Joe's Cafe the 5th Avenue Seattle). Bobby will interview celebrities and many other interesting guest. The main topics will be, Music, karaoke, celebrity talk, bobby hardy hollywood, i'll take you there.

My First Guest: Mr. Drake Lopez

The first show is an introduction too Bobby Hardy, the singer, the actor and poet. Bobby will also welcome Drake Lopez to the show to discuss the recent news regarding Prop 8. Drake is a California native and resident graduating from USC where he studied Theatre to pursue his life-long dream of being a performer. As a performer for Disney Character's and Parade Departments, Universal Studios Entertainment Division, and dancer for local clubs. He's been able to fulfill his dues as an entertainer. Currently, he's gracing the local karaoke stages where he met me. performing as a flautist and Choir member at Hollywood Lutheran Church, he's able to reach out to his community as an activist since the onslaught of California's Proposition 8, volunteering for Vote For Equality where he diligently canvassed and phonebanked to reverse the effects of Prop. 8. And now is celebrating the victory!

Boston judge: Federal ban gay marriage unconstitutional

A Boston judge has fired the latest salvo in the battle for gay marriage, ruling Thursday that a federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it violates states' rights.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in favor of gay couples' right to marry, the AP reports, challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the ground that it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage.

Same-sex unions have been legal in Massachusetts since 2004, but the state argued that DOMA discriminated against gay married couples by denying them access to the same benefits as heterosexual married couples.

Tauro agreed, ruling on two separate challenges to the law that the act forced Massachusetts to discriminate against its own citizens.

"The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state, and in doing so, offends the Tenth Amendment," Tauro wrote in a ruling. "For that reason, the statute is invalid."

In a second case, filed by Gays & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Tauro ruled that DOMA also violates the Constitution's equal protection clause.

Advocacy groups embraced Tauro's ruling Thursday. "We've maintained from the very beginning that there was absolutely no basis for this law treating one class of married Massachusetts couples different from everybody else and the court has recognized that," said Gary Buseck, GLAD's legal director.

Supporters of same-sex marriage also took to Twitter to cheer on the ruling, posting tweets like "Yessssss!!!!!!!", "RIGHT ON!", and "Holiday, celebrate! So, U.S. Judge in Boston rules that a federal gay marriage ban is unconstitutional... Party in Boston!"

The Justice Department argued that the federal government has the right to set eligibility requirements for federal benefits such as Medicare - including requiring that those benefits only go to couples in marriages between a man and a woman, the AP reported.

The lawsuit challenges only the portion of the law that prevents the federal government from affording pension and other benefits to same-sex couples.

Congress put DOMA on the books in 1996 when it seemed that Hawaii was on the brink of legalizing gay marriage, and opponents feared that the movement would become a nationwide trend.