Tag: same-sex marriage

Posted on

Minnesota: former House rep regrets vote for state DOMA

Former Minnesota House Rep. Lynne Osterman gave an emotional speech yesterday, explaining why she now regrets her vote for Minnesota’s version of the Defense of Marriage Act.

“I didn’t come to Saint Paul to single out same-sex couples and their families, but in my only term as a member,” she said, her voice trembling, “I cast a politically expedient vote in favor of DOMA and I regretted that ever since. It was not in my conscience, or my own compass.”

“I blew my vote and I’m imploring you, please get this right.”

(via good as you)

Posted on

New Zealand on the brink of marriage equality

It looks like New Zealand is THIS close to passing marriage equality. From the AP:

Lawmakers supported the bill 77 to 44 in the second of three votes needed for a bill to be approved. The second vote is typically the most crucial one. The third and final vote is likely to be little more than a formality and could be taken as early as next month.

Wednesday’s vote came after a committee of lawmakers considered emails and letters from thousands of New Zealanders.

More than 200 people crammed into the Parliament’s public gallery to watch lawmakers debate the bill before they voted at about 10:15 p.m. The mostly young crowd clapped and cheered for lawmakers who spoke in support of the bill, and sat in silence for those who spoke in opposition.

If passed, there is a four month waiting period before the law would go into effect.

Posted on

Michigan Indian tribe votes to recognize marriage equality

The legislative body of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians has voted to recognize same-sex marriage. The tribe is based in Harbor Springs, and the vote was held this past Sunday.

The 5-4 vote in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage sends the statute to the tribal chairman, who can either sign or veto it. The tribal council would need seven votes to override a veto.

Little Traverse Bay Bands Chairman Dexter McNamara told the Petosky News that “I’m going to have to think about it.” 

Two other U.S. Indian tribes recognize gay marriage: the Coquille Tribe in North Bend, Oregon (2009), and the Suquamish Tribe in Suquamish, Washington (2011).

Michigan voters passed a state constitutional ban on marriage equality in 2004, but Indian tribes are self-governing.

Posted on

Rhode Island: 60% support marriage equality

A new poll conducted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, found that 60.4 percent of respondents favored allowing same-sex couples to legally wed, a number that is nearly identical to the findings of a May 2009 poll by Brown.

The poll found 26.1 percent of respondents were opposed to same-sex marriage.

The poll surveyed 593 Rhode Island voters from Feb. 21 to 23, and has a 4 point margin of error. 

Posted on

Frank Rich: The die is cast on gay marriage

I’d say Frank Rich is dead-on with this one:

“The die is cast on this issue, and the signatories are belatedly getting ahead of history before it flattens them like a tank. Generational turnover alone assumes gay marriage will be a done deal in America; public opinion on this issue has moved faster than any civil-rights battle in our history.”