Marriage Equality
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Polls in New Jersey Say Bring On the Gay Marriage
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It’s Okay, Some of My Best Friends Are Bigots
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The End of the Road for Carrie Prejean
Female Country Music Stars Love Them Some Gay Marriage
Published November 17, 2009 @ 08:33AM PT
*crickets*
OK, so it doesn't make the best punchline. But it is true that several country music superstars are making bold steps to speak up for LGBT equality. The latest is Dolly Parton, who not only said she's cool with gay marriage last week, but also dropped a bit of a sucker punch in the direction of Pastor Joel Osteen, who himself went on national television a few weeks back and said that homosexuality "wasn't God's best." Parton said that if Pastor Osteen were genuinely religious, he wouldn't be judging LGBT folks.
Huh, turns out that God's best may be a bunch of country music divas.
A Collection of Celebrities for Gay Marriage
Published November 15, 2009 @ 09:23PM PT
Turns out that when Shepard Fairey isn't being harangued by the Boston Police Department, or facing the wrath of the Associated Press, he's doing some very cool things for marriage equality. Fairey, the artist behind the iconic Obama image, has joined with a cadre of celebrities to create some artwork for gay marriage.
Maybe the best way to picture it is if a bunch of famous people went to art class. Fairey provided them with the image -- a powerful, fist in the air shot that became synonymous with gay marriage activism last year in the fallout from the passage of Proposition 8 -- and the celebs doctored them up. Some just gave signatures, others added some color and images and funk.
But all of them will be sold to benefit equality, with proceeds going to a southern California-based organization called FAIR. Virginia Madsen's image is there (and pictured here). Renee Zellweger's, too. And Ricki Lake, Robert DeNiro, Pete Wentz, Pamela Anderson, Chris Evans, and Natalie Portman, to name a few more.
Hands down it looks to be the largest collection of celebrities for marriage equality. Sadly, you won't find Jon Voight there. He's too busy hanging around with Rep. Michele Bachmann and accusing President Obama of moving the country toward socialism and causing "civil unrest."
But you will find dozens of other celebrities raising money for a good cause, and sending the message that same-sex marriage is one of the foremost civil rights issues of our time. And that's a sentiment that's easy to unite behind.
The Future of Gay Marriage in Latin America Begins in Argentina
Published November 14, 2009 @ 01:01PM PT
Gay marriage will become reality in Latin America, that's a fact. The only question is where it will happen first. Several countries have taken bold steps toward LGBT rights in the past few years, from Uruguay to Colombia. But this week Argentina took the boldest step of all, with an Argentine judge paving the way for Latin America's first legally recognized gay marriage.
The judge, Gabriela Seijas, ordered the city of Buenos Aires to recognize the marriage of two men, Alejandro Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello, who had sued the city's registry for failing to recognize their relationship as a marriage. In her ruling, Judge Seijas said, "The law should treat each person with equal respect in relation to each person's singularities without the need to understand or regulate them."
But the best quote of the day went to the mayor of Buenos Aires, who despite being part of a political party that is often reticent on LGBT rights, said that he would not stop the judge's ruling from taking effect.
"The world is heading in this direction," said Mayor Mauricio Macri. "What we have to learn is to live in liberty without violating the rights of others." Anybody want to see if this guy wants to be a politician up here in the U.S.?
The Highest Ranking White House Official for Marriage Equality
Published November 13, 2009 @ 05:15AM PT
Has the highest ranking White House official yet come out and signaled her personal support for the issue of marriage equality? Yes! Sort of. Well, that is, if the White House is OK with releasing the video tape of Obama's Director of Domestic Policy, Melody Barnes, speaking at a forum at Boston College where she let it be known that personally, she's OK with gays and lesbians marrying.
It's great news that someone so high up in the White House -- someone who literally has the President's ear almost daily -- supports same-sex marriage. The sad news? That instead of celebrating this as the rather monumental thing it should be, LGBT activists are left wondering why earlier this week the White House was trying to deny that Barnes supported gay marriage, and why it took nearly a week for video of the event to emerge.
Could it be that the Obama administration is nervous about a senior advisor saying that she supports same-sex marriage? Huh, now there's a question for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
A Happy Anniversary to Gay Marriage in Connecticut
Published November 12, 2009 @ 02:45PM PT
Today is particularly special for 1,700 same-sex couples in the state of Connecticut. That's because these folks have been able to get married thanks to a Connecticut Supreme Court decision 365 days ago that said the state's constitution called for equal rights, including equal marriage rights, for gays and lesbians. Happy Anniversary, gay marriage.
To honor today's one-year anniversary, groups that fought hard for marriage equality in Connecticut, including Love Makes a Family and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, held a rally on the steps of the State Capitol. It's sort of a fitting end for Love Makes a Family, which will be shutting its doors at the end of this month. Guess that means they did such a good job fighting for their cause, that they were able to put themselves out of business.
November is actually an historic month for gay marriage. In addition to this Connecticut anniversary, the state of Massachusetts also holds November as the month where its court case -- Goodridge v. Department of Public Health -- made the state the first in the union to recognize marriage equality.
Three States Eye Overturning Bans on Same-Sex Marriage
Published November 12, 2009 @ 11:51AM PT
What do Michigan, Ohio and Oregon have in common? Well, in addition to having the really delightful acronym, MOO, they are all three states where rumblings are afoot to overturn constitutional bans on gay marriage.
Overturning bans in these three states is an endeavor that's years away, and will be at the mercy of either state legislators or voters at the ballot box. But the fact that there's now space in the marketplace of ideas to push for overturning these bans -- all of which were just enacted within the past five years -- is a sign that marriage equality advocates have come a long way since the darkest days of this decade when gay marriage bans were as popular as ice cream. What a difference a few years can make.
Catholic Church Ready to Throw Homeless Under Bus in Order to Stop Gay Marriage
Published November 12, 2009 @ 06:15AM PT
The Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. has issued an ultimatum to the District's city council: approve same-sex marriage, and the Church will stop serving the city's disadvantaged, including the homeless.
Guess that Catholic Church commitment to the poor is only skin deep. For the Catholic Church to threaten the lives of homeless people and others who depend on church social services just to gain political points on the issue of gay marriage is sad, sorry, and a sign that no religious instutition in the country is willing to stand in the way of civil rights for gays and lesbians more than the Catholic Church.
The temper tantrum being thrown by the D.C. Church is being portrayed as a direct threat to the Washington, D.C. City Council. Listen to us, the church says, or we'll throw this city's poor and homeless in front of the closest Metro train.
