Tag: gay marriage

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Petition: Ask President Obama to file brief to uphold Prop 8 repeal

Equality California is asking their supporters to sign a petition urging President Obama to file a brief in the upcoming US Supreme Court case:

When the President acknowledges your love during his inaugural address, when he makes your equality a benchmark of America’s promise, when he draws commonality from our struggle for dignity and justice to Seneca Falls and Selma, it is impossible not to surge with gratitude and wonder at the progress we have made within the span of a generation.

But, as President Obama said, our journey is not complete. We cannot yet enjoy the freedoms promised; while we can see the hill, we can’t yet rest there. For all of us who heard those powerful words yesterday, thankful and hopeful, we can now help President Obama take the next step on our journey, a journey that is incomplete until all Americans can marry the person that they love.

Please, take a moment and urge President Obama to file an amicus brief in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Proposition 8 case. He knows that this is the path the country must take to achieve the promise of equality; take a moment to encourage his hand to follow his heart.

Sign the petition here

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Parody ad pokes fun at anti-gay marriage ads

Good As You points up a new parody ad that makes the case for traditional “mammy/daddy marriage”.

“People can do whatever they want. Even weirdos, so long as we agree with them. Unless they’re women. Women always need to be told what to do, even if the issue is medial. And what women should do, is mainly baking. Come on ladies, you can always find an oven in a hospital.”

“Paid for by someone in America who’s never met you but knows what’s best…”

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Conservative gay group GOProud now supports marriage equality

 During the last election, GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia called gay marriage a “distraction” issue as he made the media rounds pumping the group’s support for Mitt Romney.

Now, however, GOProud has officially announced it’s support for marriage equality.  Buzzfeed reports:

“We support same-sex marriage, civil marriage,” GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia said.
The move follows a decision by the GOProud board earlier this month to expand the group’s mission to include state-level work. It also comes after, LaSalvia noted, the re-election of a president who supports same-sex couples’ marriage rights, while some in the Republican Party are urging their party to reassess their position on the issue.
Since its founding in 2009, GOProud has always opposed the federal Defense of Marriage Act, calling the law a “federal power grab,” but it avoided the underlying issue of marriage rights. In the course of a 285-word statement provided to BuzzFeed on “marriage and relationship recognition” being released publicly Friday, though, the group declares, “Where civil marriage is possible, we support civil marriage.”

Read GOProud’s full press release.

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Rhode Island: NOM runs full page anti-gay marriage newspaper ad

Well, it wouldn’t be the same fight for equality without the National Organization for Marriage twisting facts into lies, would it?

Rhode Islanders United For Marriage ticks off the lies:

Claim: Faith organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, will be forced to host same-sex weddings in their facilities against their will.

Fact: A Vermont inn refused to host a same-sex wedding and was penalized. However, the legal repercussions were not due to Vermont’s marriage equality law, but rather a state anti-discrimination law. The inn owners cited “personal feelings” to justify their decision not to host the wedding of a lesbian couple. But Vermont’s Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act prohibits public accommodations, such as inns, restaurants and schools that serve the public, “from denying goods and services based on customers’ sexual orientation.” Rhode Island law currently prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and HB5015 will not
change affect that protection.

Claim: Small businesses that oppose marriage equality will face lawsuits.

Fact: A Seattle Times investigation “failed to turn up any evidence that same-sex marriage had produced a rash of suits involving businesspeople.” The Times “also checked with human rights commissions in four of the six states where marriage is legal; the commissions said there was not an increase in discrimination findings or suits involving same sex marriage.”

Claim: People have been fired from their job for opposing marriage equality.

Fact: NOM claims Canadian sportscaster Damian Goddard was fired from his position with Rogers Sportnet after tweeting his opposition to marriage equality. Sportsnet denied that assertion, noting “well documented” reasons for his termination, saying it ”had already made the decision to terminate Mr. Goddard for cause.”

JoeMyGod has it right: “The debunking goes on for several more paragraphs, but really, none of this is news to us here.  NOM is a lying group of compulsive lying liars for whom no lie is too petty or even too outrageous if they believe it furthers the goals of the Vatican.”

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Maryland delegate Don Dwyer: Drinking “exploded” because of gay marriage

Don Dwyer, Maryland state delegate, last August was involved in a boating accident while alledgedly over the legal alcohol limit.  The accident ed to a five-year-old girl’s skull being fractured.

He now says his problem with alcohol is due to same-sex marriage

The Advocate writes, “Dwyer claims the August 2012 crash was not his fault, even though alcohol was found on his boat and his alcohol limit was three times the legal limit at the time. The politician claims his casual drinking exploded after he separated from his wife of 31 years and after what he called “betrayal” over his stance against same-sex marriage. Two Republicans who he believed would help him stand in the way of marriage equality legislation ended up changing their vote and supporting the bill, which passed (Maryland voters reaffirmed the vote at the ballot in November).

“That betrayal really affected me,” he said. “I was physically ill. You pour your heart into an issue like that and it’s devastating.”

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Rhode Island: Governor Chafee launches marriage equality campaign from local church

House Speaker Gordon Fox has called a vote on gay marriage legislation in his chamber by month’s end, making Rhode Island the latest state to address an issue whose supporters see things swinging their way after last November’s election.

The House Judiciary Committee is set to hear testimony from supporters and opponents on Tuesday.

If earlier hearings are any indication, it’s likely to be a long, contentious day filled with protest signs, tears and sometimes bitter arguments over one of our culture’s most basic institutions.

Via YahooNews

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Wyoming to consider LGBT marriage or other protections

Marriage equality, or some form of legal protections for gay and lesbian couples, could become a reality in Wyoming sometime soon.

The Jackson Hole Daily reports on a pair of bills that have been introduced with bipartisan support, backed by Jackson Republican Rep. Keith Gingery and Laramie Democratic Rep. Cathy Connolly:

House Bill 169 would change the state’s definition of marriage to say that marriage is a civil contract between “two natural persons.” Current law says that marriage is a contract between “a male and a female person.”

This piece of legislation would plug gay marriage into the state’s existing framework for marriage, Gingery said. It simply would open the rights afforded to heterosexual couples to gay couples as well.

“Legally speaking, I would prefer the gay marriage bill,” he said. “We already know how it works.”

House Bill 168, which Connolly filed Monday, would create a legal framework for domestic partnerships, allowing same-sex couples to “obtain the rights, responsibilities, protections and legal benefits provided in Wyoming for immediate family members.”

The law would consider a member of a domestic partnership to be a spouse under all state rules and laws.

Gingery is a Catholic and says the bills protect church policy.

(via Towleroad)

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NOM chair Jon Eastman has the sadz that National Cathedral will allow same-sex marriages

NOM Chair John Eastman calls the Episcopal Church “cavalier” for allowing same-sex marriages at the National Cathedral.

Says Eastman: “The step that [the National Cathedral] has taken… is directly in violation of international Anglican law and the Book of Common Prayer. So they can do this if they want but redefining marriage to be something it was never understood to be is going to have dramatic consequences both in this country and in their church… They should realize that their own doctrine says this is not proper.”