Tag: same-sex marriage

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Report: Where Do Same-Sex Married Couples Live?

A new report from The Tax Policy Center gives us some clues about married same-sex couples in the U.S.

For instance, the average adjusted gross income of married male couples in 2015 was about $165,960, versus $118,415 for female couples and $115,210 for different-sex couples.

But catch this: male same-sex couples with dependent children had an average income of $264,000, more than double that of female couples and straight couples with dependent children.

When you crunch the numbers by state (plus the District of Columbia), D.C. wins hands-down with same-sex couples making up 4.17% of all married couples.

Massachusetts and Vermont tied in second place at 0.99%.

Sad trombone sound – North Dakota brings up the rear with 0.13%.

But what about city by city?

Here’s the report’s top 10 cities for married same-sex couples:

1. San Francisco, CA – 13,220 married same-sex couples (1.52 percent)

2. Santa Rosa, CA – 1,416 married same-sex couples (1.25 percent)

3. Seattle, WA – 9,281 married same-sex couples (1.09 percent)

4. Boston, MA – 9,458 married same-sex couples (1.04 percent)

5. Portland, OR – 4,006 married same-sex couples (0.97 percent)

6. Miami, FL – 5,131 married same-sex couples (0.92 percent)

7. Albuquerque, NM – 1,248 married same-sex couples (0.90 percent)

8. San Diego, CA – 845 married same-sex couples (0.88 percent)

9. New York, NY – 13,892 married same-sex couples (0.84 percent)

10. Portland, ME – 1,111 married same-sex couples (0.83 percent)

Did any of that surprise you? I’d have thought NYC would have been higher on the list, but the population of the city is 8 million, so…

Loving that Albuquerque is in there. New Mexico is a beautiful state that doesn’t get enough attention in my opinion 🙂

(source)

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Cher Apologizes For Selfie With Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Cher with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

As I recently reported, international superstar Cher thrilled the crowd of over 300,000 at the annual Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras this past weekend.

Not only did she dazzle the audience with a 20 minute set at the huge after-party event, she showed up at the Parade as well.

The only hitch in the whole magilla was a selfie she took with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during the parade.

It appears Cher was not up to speed on Australian politics and didn’t realize that it was Turnbull who put the entire country through the recent mail-in survey on marriage equality before he would allow legislators to take up the issue.

As we all know know, same-sex marriages happily began ‘down under’ in January.

But folks took the iconic Oscar winner to task for honoring Turnbull with a selfie.

In the end, Cher offered a sincere mea culpa adding “Guess that’s why I have FEW Friends Who Are Politicians.”

Check out the tweets below.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Oregon: Anti-LGBT Bakers Appeal To State Supreme Court

Melissa and Aaron Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery

You may recall back in February of 2013, Melissa and Aaron Klein as owners of Sweet Cakes bakery in Oregon refused to bake a cake for a lesbian couple.

The customers who were turned away, Rachel Bowman-Cryer and her wife, Laurel, filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries saying they had been the victims of discrimination based on sexual orientation which is clearly against the state’s public accommodation laws.

The Bureau of Labor and Industries agreed and fined the Sweet Cakes owners $135,000 for emotional damages suffered.

The Kleins took their case to the Oregon Court of Appeals and lost again as the appeals court agreed with the Bureau’s determination.

Now, the Kleins have asked the Oregon State Supreme Court to to overturn the lower court rulings.

The Kleins have paid the fine of $135,000 but it’s been held in a state escrow account until all appeal options have been exhausted.

While the Kleins have cried poor in the aftermath of their anti-LGBT bigotry being exposed, it’s quite noteworthy that a “Christian” crowdfunding campaign by fellow haters raised over $500,000 in support of the Kleins.

You can see the stories chronicling their windfall here and here.

So the couple has actually made money in this little escapade.

It’s time to leave it alone, Kleins. You broke the state’s public accommodation law, you make a butt load of money through the whole debacle.

Just – full stop.

(source)

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New iPhone X Ad Celebrates Marriage Equality In Australia – “First Dance”

After a long, long journey to marriage equality (that included an official mail-in survey of the entire nation showing over 60% approval), same-sex weddings have begun in Australia.

And in a nod to the idea that the best camera is the one you have on you, Apple has created a new ad featuring those most romantic of wedding moments – a couple’s first dance – captured at LGBTQ weddings that were shot entirely on iPhone Xs.

Watch the very sweet spot, titled “First Dance,” below.

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Former Australian Prime Minister (And Marriage EqualityFoe) Attends Sister’s Same-Sex Wedding

(image via Instagram)

Just weeks after Australia legalized same-sex marriage, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott attended the wedding of his sister Christine Forster to girlfriend Virginia Flitcroft.

Abbott told the media as he traveled to Sydney for the ceremony, “I’m looking forward to having a new sister-in-law.”

Sweet sentiments, but a change in tone as Abbott had opposed marriage equality all the way up to the recent “vote-by-mail” survey of the entire country on the subject.

“However deeply affectionate or long lasting it may be, the relationship between two people of the same sex cannot be a marriage because a marriage, by definition, is between a man and a woman,” said Abbott during the nationwide debate. “Let’s celebrate all strong relationships, whether they are between a man and a woman or between people of the same sex—but let’s be careful about describing every lasting sexual bond as a ’marriage’.”

Abbott refused to allow a vote in Parliament on the issue while in power, but did say the question should be put to a national referendum.

The result of the survey? Sixty-two percent of Australians said yes to equal marriage, and Parliament overwhelmingly followed suit December. The first same-sex weddings began January 9.

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Wedding Bells: First Same-Sex Active Duty Couple Weds At West Point

Capt. Daniel Hall (L) and Capt. Vincent Franchino (R)
Image via Facebook

Great news to end the work week!

Last Saturday, West Point’s Cadet Chapel hosted it’s first same-sex wedding between active-duty service members.

Captain Daniel Hall and Captain Vincent Franchino, both Apache helicopter pilots, were wed in Cadet Chapel in a ceremony officiated by a Unitarian Universalist minister.

From NewNowNext:

The two met at the academy in 2009, when Hall was a senior and Franchino was a freshman, and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was still a year away from being repealed.

“We’ve experienced everything from people feeling awkward around us to being called faggots while holding hands and walking down the street, stuff like that,” Franchino told The New York Times. “But despite what we’ve been through, nothing was worse than having served during the ‘ Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ years.”

Through those years he and Hall had to keep their sexuality—and their relationship—secret.

“We couldn’t tell the truth for fear of what would happen to us,” Franchino says. “So we put it in our minds that we were never going to say we were gay. We were never going to get made fun of, and we were certainly never going to get kicked out of the Army.”

“It’s really frustrating when two people have feelings for each other but are not allowed to act on them,” he tells the Times. “We were serving under a policy that was telling all of us—perfectly capable soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines—to lie about ourselves.”

And then came the end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in 2011 and a gateway to “happily ever after.”

Thirty-four military officers attended the couple’s wedding and honored them by raising their sabers in a military arch for the couple.

It’s important to note that this wasn’t the first same-sex wedding at West Point. That distinction goes to Sue Fulton and Penny Gnesin in 2012.

In 2013, Larry and Daniel Lennox-Choate became the first male same-sex couple to wed at the military academy.

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Same-Sex Marriage Officially Begins In Australia

Ring them bells! Same-sex couples began to legally marry in Australia on Tuesday.

Back in November, over 60% of Australians who responded to a non-binding postal plebiscite said “yes” to marriage equality.

Less than 3 weeks later, the Australian Senate voted “yes,” and on December 7 the House of Representatives agreed in a lopsided, nearly unanimous vote.

In Australia, there is a required 30 day waiting period once an application to marry has been made. A few couples were given special permission to wed early due to unusual circumstances.

Australia is now the 26th country to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

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Australia Rings In The New Year With Rainbow-Colored Fireworks In Honor Of Marriage Equality

Rainbow-colored fireworks at Sydney's New Years celebration

Australia rang in the new year with an estimated 1.5 million attending the awesome fireworks show over Sydney harbor.

This year’s show included a section with rainbow-colored fireworks in honor of the recently passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

Although a few couples received special permission to wed early, the official start date for marriage equality down under is January 8.

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Podcast: SCOTUS Refuses Houston Same-Sex Marriage Benefits Review; “Call Me By Your Name” Racks Up More Awards; Tom Goss Has A Musical Message For Christmas

In this week’s podcast:

• The US Supreme Court denied the city of Houston’s request to review a court decision saying marriage equality doesn’t mean equal benefits.

• Bermuda is the first nation to legalize then repeal marriage equality.

• Gay coming of age movie “Call Me By Your Name” continues to rack up awards and nominations

• My suggestions for end of the year charitable donations.

• New music from Tom Goss “Gay Christmas”

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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First Same-Sex Weddings Take Place In Australia

Amy Laker and Lauren Price

History was made today in Australia as the first same-sex marriage, between Lauren Price and Amy Laker, took place in Sydney.

The couple had been planning a commitment ceremony on the date for a long time. But with Ms. Price’s family having already traveled from Wales in the UK and the recent legalization of same-sex marriage, the couple asked for special permission to marry before the new law is to take effect next month.

Another couple, Amy and Elise McDonald, surprised their 60 guests gathered for a commitment ceremony with marriage vows today as well.

Originally planned as a commitment ceremony, the couple realized they qualified for an exemption from the waiting period on financial grounds in that McDonald’s family had traveled from Asia and the United Arab Emirates for the ceremony.

Watch the TV coverage below.

Congrats to the happy couple! And to Australia!