The Illinois House is voting on marriage equality right now.
You can watch or listen to the debate at this link. Video is kind of choppy with so many people watching history.
Go Illinois!
Illinois: State House voting on marriage equality now
Kids react to gay marriage
From the folks behind the “Kids React” series:
We spoke with 13 kids ages 5-13, presenting them with 2 viral videos of same sex marriage proposals, and then had a very frank and honest conversation to get their thoughts about it all. As you will see there is a mixture of negativity, confusion and support from our panel, with a running theme of not understanding why inequality continues to exist in our world, and that equal rights is very important.
It’s a thought provoking episode that will stir controversy, but we believe it’s important to have these types of conversations openly, and hope we captured a moment in time that showed what the state of this issue was in our society in 2013.
West Point Chapel to host first same-sex male wedding
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| West Point Chapel |
Two graduates of West Point are set to become the first men to marry each other at the storied military academy.
Larry Choate III, class of 2009, will marry Daniel Lennox, class of 2007, on Saturday at the U.S. Military Academy’s Cadet Chapel. West Point hosted two same-sex weddings of women in late 2012, more than a year after New York legalized gay marriage. But this is the first time two men are being wed at West Point.
“It’s maybe one more barrier that’s pushed over a little bit, or maybe one more glass ceiling that’s shattered that makes it easier for the next couple,” Choate said Friday.
Choate, 27, said the landmark Gothic chapel at the Hudson Valley academy is a special place and it’s an honor to be wed there. He taught Sunday school at the chapel as a cadet and always thought of it as the place he would get married, if he could.
The pair did not know each other as cadets, but met later through a mutual friend.
Both men are out of the military. Lennox, a 28-year-old from Washington, D.C, is getting his master’s degree in business administration at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Choate, from Seattle, works at the business school there and is applying to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
(source)
President Obama supports marriage equality in Hawaii
The White House has released a statement expressing the president’s support for the passage of same-sex marriage in his home state.
A White House spokesman said Tuesday that Hawaii-born President Barack Obama would welcome a decision by the state Legislature to approve marriage equality:
“While the president does not weigh in on every measure being considered by state legislatures, he believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect,” Shin Inouye, a White House representative, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “As he has said, his personal view is that it’s wrong to prevent couples who are in loving, committed relationships, and want to marry, from doing so.”
Should the legislation, having passed in the state Senate and now before the House, get the required votes, it would head to the desk of Gov. Abercrombie who has stated he intends to sign the bill into law. Marriage equality could begin as soon as November 18th.
(via Advocate)
Third same-sex marriage in Oklahoma celebrated thanks to Native American ancestry
The third same-sex marriage has been celebrated in Oklahoma thanks to Native American ancestry.
Darren Black Bear, a member of the Arapaho Cheyenne tribe, married his partner of 9 years, Jason Pickel. They were married by Darren’s father, who marched in the civil rights marches with MLK Jr.
In Oklahoma, a marriage license is available from the Arapaho Cheyenne tribe as long as both people be of Native American descent and live within the tribe’s jurisdiction. Nowhere does it specify gender.
Oklahoma City’s KFOR has the story:
After dating for nine years, Darren Black Bear & Jason Pickel Wedding were able to get married because Darren is part of the Arapaho Cheyenne tribe.
The ceremony was held in a sacred place on sovereign land on Fort Reno Post Chapel.
The couple made their way down the aisle to Darren’s father, a minister who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.
They exchanged vows, rings and then prayed for blessings from above.
While the couple was overjoyed, not everyone was celebrating.
“I find it kind of sad that this tribe is not willing to recognize what 75 percent of the voters of Oklahoma declared years ago, that marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” State Representative Sally Kern said, (R) District 84.
“Those of us who are Christians, who believe the Bible, are we going to have to give that up to satisfy the minority group that wants to redefine marriage,” Kern said.
The couple addressed the opposition.
“We heard some of the negativity but we have had far more support from people than anything else,” Pickel said.
He had advice for other couples who aren’t part of the tribe.
“I think they could go to another state, get married and spend their tax dollars there since Oklahoma doesn’t want same-sex marriage right now.”
Darren said he believes the Sooner State will one day legalize marriages like his.
“You just have to keep dreaming and hope that day will come,” he said.
Hawaii: Marriage equality passes in state Senate 20-4
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Happy dance time!
Hawaii: State Senate to vote on marriage equality – watch live
Popular thought is this vote is a done deal for the good guys, but it’s sometimes fascinating to watch history happen. I think it’s quite moving to be present when these steps forward in society happen.
The vote is expected to be in the realm of 21-4, but we never know what the real numbers will be here.
The real drama will be in House, although there are some reports that we have the necessary 26 votes there.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor officiated same-sex wedding at Supreme Court
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| Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor |
The Associated Press is reporting that retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor officiated the wedding of a gay couple at the Supreme Court yesterday:
Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says O’Connor presided over the private ceremony Tuesday in the court’s lawyers’ lounge for Jeffrey Trammell and Stuart Serkin of Washington.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiated at a weekend ceremony at the court in which two New Yorkers, including a former Ginsburg student at Columbia Law School, were married. Ginsburg has officiated at three same-sex weddings.
The Daily Show – Which state will legalize marriage equality last?
The Birmingham News has a recap of The Daily Show’s funny assessment of “which state will be the last to legalize marriage equality”:
Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” put its satirical eye on Alabama Tuesday night, asking what people in Alabama – a state the show noted “still has segregated sororities” – and our cousins in Mississippi really think about gay rights. One segment of the show, “Last Gay Standing,” was built around a prediction made by Nate Silver, likely the nation’s most famous elections and sports statistician, that a majority of voters in a majority of states would approve gay marriage in a ballot initiative by 2020.
“The states that are probably going to be the slowest to move toward legalization are mostly in the South, particularly in the Deep South,” Silver told The Daily Show correspondent Al Madrigal. “In particular, Alabama and Mississippi are maybe the last two.” Former U.S. Attorney for North Alabama Doug Jones and Mississippi newspaper columnist Slim Smith told Madrigal the same: each suggested that their respective states would be the last to approve gay marriage in the U.S. But then The Daily Show started pushing real buttons.
Hawaii: Marriage equality bill passes out of Senate committee
After 12 hours of hearing from hundreds of people on both sides of the contentious gay marriage issue, the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee passed Senate Bill 1 allowing same-sex couples to marry in Hawaii.
The committee voted 5-2 shortly after 10 p.m. Sens. Sam Slom, a Republican, and Mike Gabbard, a Democrat, voted against the bill.
The bill heads to the full Senate where many believe it will pass with vote close to 21-4. From there, it’s the House’s turn.
HawaiiNewsNow has polled the state reps and there appear to be 27 votes FOR the bill. Twenty-six are needed for passage. There are 7 undecided votes at this time. All are from Democrat districts.
Stay tuned.
(source)