Brian Arsenault, a straight jock raised by two moms, speaks out for Question 1 in Maine, in a new ad by Mainers United for Marriage in support of marriage equality.
Brad Pitt donates $100K in support of marriage equality
Brad Pitt has donated $100,000 to the Human Rights Campaign’s marriage equality fund. They report via press release:
“Brad Pitt’s partnership with HRC in this closing week delivers vital resources into these campaigns and we’re proud to be working with him as we show that fundamental fairness will win at the ballot box,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.
“With his commitment, Brad joins HRC in a tremendous coalition of religious leaders, business leaders, labor groups, civil rights organizations and everyday, fair-minded Americans supporting marriage for gay and lesbian couples.”
“It’s unbelievable to me that people’s lives and relationships are literally being voted on in a matter of days,” said Pitt in an email today to HRC members and supporters. “If you’re like me, you don’t want to have to ask yourself on the day after the election, what else could I have done?”
Minnesota anti-gay marriage amendment is close in polls
A new poll on Minnesota’s Amendment 1, a measure that would write marriage discrimination into the state’s constitution, shows that the race is still extremely close.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that 47% of registered voters oppose the amendment, an unchanged number, while 48% of voters support amending the constitution to define marriage as one man, one woman. That’s down one point from the previous polls. Five percent of people remain undecided, the paper says. Over 50% is needed one way or the other, and skipping the question qualifies as “no”.
Not surprisingly, most of the people who oppose the amendment know someone who is LGBT: 54% of people who are voting no know someone who is gay or lesbian. Surprisingly, 40% of those who say they want to enshrine discrimination know someone who is gay or lesbian. Those are Michele Bachmann’s people.
Minnesotans United for All Families, a group trying to stop the unnecessary and hateful amendment, remain hopeful that Minnesotans will see the amendment for what it is.
“When Minnesotans go to the polls, they’ll measure this amendment against their values of freedom and treating others as you would want to be treated,” said the group’s campaign manager, Richard Carlbom. “This amendment just doesn’t stack up to our values as Minnesotans.”
(source)
Marriage is already redefined
President Obama supports pro-marriage equality ballot initiatives
Neal Broverman reports at the Advocate:
According to Paul Bell, press secretary for Obama’s re-election efforts in the northwestern state, “While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect. Washington’s same-sex marriage law would treat all Washington couples equally, and that is why the Presdient supports a vote to approve Referendum 74.”
Mainers United has released a message identical to the one above for Maine’s Question 1, as has supporters for Maryland’s Question 6 and the opposition “good guys” working against Minnesota’s anti-gay ballot measure.
Chris Kluwe’s “lustful c*ckmonster” phrase now a radio spot for marriage equality in Minnesota
This is FABULOUS! If you don’t know the backstory, I wrote about this on The Randy Report here.
(Don’t worry – the ‘word’ is bleeped out…)
Could Chris Kluwe get any cooler?
Google employees for marriage equality
The same team that produced Google’s ‘It Gets Better’ video have put together a great new clip for The Four, in which Google employees speak candidly about their support for marriage equality and urge people to get behind the same-sex marriage battles in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington.
Washington: Bill Gates makes $500,000 donation to support marriage equality
Bill and Melinda Gates have donated $500,000 to support the approval of Referendum 74, the ballot measure that would put the state’s legislatively-passed marriage equality law into effect, the AP reports:
The donation was announced Tuesday by Washington United for Marriage, which is working to approve Referendum 74. The donation was made on Oct. 15, but didn’t publicly post online with the Public Disclosure Commission until Tuesday. Referendum 74 asks voters to either approve or reject the law allowing same-sex marriage that was passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
Bill Gates had made a $100,000 contribution to the campaign earlier this year.
Minnesota Vikings Chris Kluwe to debate marriage equality with an empty chair
Vikings punter and marriage equality advocate plans to debate an empty chair on the subject of marriage equality this evening if nobody materializes to sit in it, Gannett reports:
Billed as “Chris Kluwe vs. The Chair,” Kluwe will take the stage at downtown Minneapolis’ The Brave New Workshop Comedy Theatre to share his views against Minnesota’s Same Sex Marriage Amendment, Amendment 1, which if passed, would limit legal marriage in that state between a man and a woman.
In addition to Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and numerous other politicians who support the amendment, organizers also invited Kluwe’s former teammate Matt Birk to discuss the amendment. Since none of those people agreed to come to the event, Kluwe decided to appear with the chair and a local radio host serving as moderator.
The debate is being streamed live at The Uptake starting at 5 pm (CT, we presume, since it’s in Minneapolis).
(via Towleroad.com)
Knights of Columbus waste $15.8 million fighting equal rights
Since 2005, the Knights of Columbus has spent $15.8 million to keep gays and lesbians from having equal rights.
The excellent graphic above from Freedom to Marry gives us just a few options of how that many could have been better spent.
In related news, Speaker of the House John Boehner’s “defend DOMA” account” – originally budgeted at $1.5 million – is almost empty. Another bad use of funds that could have helped Americans.
The trend and truth of marriage equality is clear. The question remains: how much and for how long will anti-gay political forces oppose equal rights for all?