Tag: same-sex marriage

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Minnesota: Same-sex marriage bill to be introduced in “a month or two”

The Minnesota state senator who will take the lead in that chamber on a bill to legalize gay marriage says backers will wait at least a month or two into the upcoming legislative session before they start to push it hard.

Sen. Scott Dibble of Minneapolis says Wednesday that Democrats taking power at the Capitol next week plan to focus early in the session on what he called “kitchen-table issues” of improving the economy and creating jobs.

But he says gay marriage backers in the Legislature want a vote in 2013.

Dibble, who is gay, says he believes allowing same-sex couples to marry is a kitchen-table issue too.

(via CBS)

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Uruguay House Overwhelmingly Approves Same-Sex Marriage By 81-6 Vote

Uruguay voted today on same-sex marriage:

Legalizing gay marriage has long been a goal of the Broad Front, which has ample majorities in both houses of Congress. After the lower house votes, the project would go to the Senate. President Jose Mujica hopes to sign it into law early next year.

The “Marriage Equality Law” also would replace Uruguay’s 1912 divorce law, which gave only women, and not their husbands, the right to renounce marriage vows without cause. In the early 20th Century, Uruguay’s lawmakers saw this as an equalizer, since men at the time held all the economic and social power in a marriage, historian Gerardo Caetano said.

“A hundred years later, with all the changes that have occurred in Uruguayan society, this argument has fallen of its own accord,” Caetano said Tuesday. “It’s absolutely logical now that divorces can happen if either party wants it. And I really think it won’t have much of an impact.”

The AP adds that “The bill also would clarify rules for adoption and in-vitro fertilization, and eliminate the words ‘marido y mujer’ (husband and woman) in marriage contracts, referring instead to the gender neutral ‘contrayentes’ (contracting parties)” and the law “would let couples, gay or straight, decide whose surname goes first when they name their children.”

Uruguay joins The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina and Denmark as the 12th in the world to have state-wide marriage equality.

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Homeland Security issues written guidelines regarding deportation of binational same-sex couples

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The Obama administration has issued written guidelines to immigration officials whose job it is to determine potential deportation cases regarding same-sex relationships.

The guidelines indicate three criteria, the Washington Blade‘s Chris Johnson reports:

Same-sex relationships that rise to the level of “family relationships” are long-term, same-sex relationships in which the individuals:

• are each other’s sole domestic partner and intend to remain so indefinitely;

• are not in a marital or other domestic relationship with anyone else; and typically maintain a common residence

• and share financial obligations and assets.

(via Towleroad)

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Campaign ad: Zach Wahls on President Obama and marriage equality

Regular readers of The Randy Report know how much I admire this amazing young man. So thoughtful and well-spoken on what he feels and how he communicates to the world.

No hate or anger in this ad at all. Just a clear, fair-minded message from a guy who really represents middle America.

This is what makes the future of America look bright.

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Hungary Bans Same-Sex Marriage In New Constitution

Hungarian lawmakers approved a new constitution Monday that was blasted by rights groups and the political opposition for measures considered extremely conservative. Some of the changes to the current constitution include: * Ban on same-sex marriage * Protects the life of a fetus from conception opening the possibility to future ban or restriction on abortion * Ban on discrimination does not include age or sexual orientation * Tax and pension law changes require a two-thirds majority “We’ve just participated in a historical moment,” parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover said moments after the bill was approved 262-44. “The new constitution is built upon our past and traditions, but seeks and contains answers to current problems while keeping an eye on the future.” Hungary’s current constitution dates from 1949, near the start of the communist regime but it was almost fully rewritten during the 1989 transition to democracy. Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in January.

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Voices raised in Iowa over proposal to take away marriage equality

The Iowa State House was packed by hundreds of people who showed up to express their opinions on House Joint Resolution 6 which proposes an amendment to the Iowa State Constitution to overturn marriage equality in the state. The proposed amendment would specify marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union that is valid or recognized in the state. Civil unions and domestic partnerships would be banned. In 2009, a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court declared Iowa’s laws limiting marriage rights to opposite-sex couples unconstitutional. Now, almost two years later, legislators are attempting to put marriage equality rights on the ballot. The Resolution passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 13-8. While it is expected to pass in the House vote, the state Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal has vowed to block any vote on an amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. To make it to the ballot box, the issue must pass in two consecutive legislatures. Click here for more from The Iowa Independent. UPDATE: The Iowa House today, by a vote of 62-37, passed House Joint Resolution 6 that would deny any form of legal recognition for gay couples. The amendment seeks to prohibit not only the freedom to marry for gay couples, but also civil unions or domestic partnerships. More info here at One Iowa.