France: Adoption article for same-sex couples passes in marriage equality bill

As the marriage equality bill is being debated and voted on article by article, tonight the French Senate approved the portion of the bill that guarantees adoption rights to same-sex couples.

Anti-gay groups had been hoping this aspect of the bill would be their last stronghold.

Happily, they were wrong.

From Le Monde:

Après l’adoption de l’article 1 du projet de loi sur le “mariage pour tous”, ouvrant la voie au mariage homosexuel, le SĂ©nat a donnĂ© son feu vert, mercredi 10 avril, Ă  l’adoption par des couples de mĂŞme sexe. Les dĂ©bats ont Ă©tĂ© monopolisĂ©s par les sĂ©nateurs de droite, qui ont affirmĂ© Ă  nouveau que l’adoption de ce texte ouvrirait la voie Ă  la procrĂ©ation mĂ©dicale assistĂ©e (PMA) et Ă  la gestation pour autrui (GPA) puisque, selon GĂ©rard Roche, “il n’y a pas assez d’enfants adoptables”.

Here’s what Bing translator says that means:

After the adoption of article 1 of the draft law on “marriage for all” paving the way for same-sex marriage, the Senate gave its go-ahead Wednesday, April 10, to adoption by same sex couples. The debates were monopolized by the right senators, who said again that the adoption of this text would pave the way to the assisted medical procreation (PMA) and surrogacy (GPA) since, according to GĂ©rard Roche, “there not enough adoptable children”.

In any case – Vive la France!

Forward!

Marriage equality passes in Uruguay

Blabbeando shares the news that Uruguay gave final approval to marriage equality tonight after its House voted 92-71 to pass the bill.

President José Mujica says he intends to sign it.

This brings the number of countries that offer marriage equality to 12 as Uruguay joins The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina, and Denmark.

Three countries – Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S. – offer marriage in parts of each respective country.

France: Marriage for all – Senators say ‘yes’

Sources are reporting that the French Senate has approved the marriage equality bill in France by a vote of 179-157.

This is the Google translation of the first article I could find:

In France today, the Senate approved by 179 votes against 157 the first article of the bill on gay marriage, the most important, who opens the marriage to persons of the same sex.
 
This article was adopted “in conformity”, that is to say, without modification from the first reading vote in the National Assembly.  

This vote becomes final unless the entire bill is rejected after consideration by the Senate. It will not be subjected to a second reading in the National Assembly.


“Despite attempts to obstruct the right, the Senate just adopted Article 1 which allows same-sex couples to marry, “said François Rebsamen PS in a statement after the vote.

“The adoption of this article by a vote of the entire Senate majority, puts an end to the discrimination that resulted from sexual choices of citizens,” he added. “Given the abuses that took place either by manifestations of violence in the street, either by verbal excesses in the chamber, the vote on this article marks a victory for the fight against homophobia, tolerance and the of democracy,” he concluded.

More from AmericaBlog:

“The French Senate just voted on the most important provision of the proposed gay marriage law, and passed it. That means we’ve basically won. But there are still a few more steps before gay marriage is legal. Apparently, the way it works over there — and I’ve been conversing with a friend in Paris via Facebook for the blow-by-blow — the law is broken up into its component parts. And each part of the law gets voted on individually. In this case, the marriage part just got voted on and passed. The next step is for the other parts of the law to be voted on (it’s almost like voting on amendments, to put it in American parlance). Then, once all the parts are voted on, the Senate will one more time vote on the ENTIRE thing. But since they already voted in favor of the gay marriage portion of the law, passage of the entire pack is all but assured.”

(source: AFP)

Glenn Beck: Marriage equality is about freedom and “the principle of it is right”

Glenn Beck took a sanity pill recently and gets to a place of clarity regarding marriage equality:

“We have been so foolish. It’s not about gays, it’s not about homosexuals. It’s about freedom. The reason why they have won is because they’ve made it about freedom….By not getting it and turning in to it soon enough, you’ve been painted into the corner of a bigot. That’s why they won. Because the principle of it is right. The principle is easy to understand: “Who are you to say?…”

Who knows how long the meds will last?

(via RightWingWatch)

South Dakota: Sen. Tim Johnson supports marriage equality

Sen. Tim Johnson (S.D.) leaves the Final Four. There are now only three Senate Democrats who oppose gay marriage—Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), and Mary Landrieu (La.).

“After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation,” said Johnson. “This position doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom.”

Johnson’s has announced he plans to retire at the end of his current term (which ends in 2014) which gives him some room to maneuver in his socially conservative state.

In 2006, South Dakota banned not only same-sex marriage, but also civil unions and domestic partnerships with a constitutional amendment backed by 52% of voters.

There are now 54 sitting Senators who endorse same-sex marriage.

(via Time)

Illinois: GOP State rep. Ed Sullivan Jr supports marriage equality

First we got Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk’s evolution to marriage equality

And now comes word that we have the support of Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr.

The Illinois House Republican came around to support same-sex marriage over the weekend, citing his gay mother-in-law as the impetus for his decision.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

State Rep. Ed Sullivan Jr., who is chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, said his decision to back same-sex marriage represented a personal and family evolution on the issue. Previously an opponent of civil unions, Sullivan told the Tribune that his mother-in-law, who lives in the southwest suburbs, has been in a same-sex relationship. “The first reaction from people might be, ‘Well he might be voting for that just because of his mother-in-law,'” Sullivan said. “The reality is, because my mother-in-law is gay, I have more of an understanding and familiarity with same-sex couples.”

A state representative since 2003, Sullivan and state Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove are the only House Republicans to publicly announce their backing of the same-sex marriage bill, which already passed the state Senate.

According to Rep. Sullivan, the Illinois House is still 12 or so votes shy of passing marriage equality.

But that could all change very quickly. “There is tremendous momentum leading up to this vote. I think we’re very close,” he said. “There’s many of my colleagues that have talked about this, that have said it’s the right thing to do.”