Congress To Vote On Gay Marriage

The next battleground over gay marriage could be the U.S. Capitol.

A preliminary vote by the District of Columbia city council to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere puts the issue on a path to Congress, which has final say over D.C.'s laws. That may force lawmakers to take up the politically dicey debate after years of letting it play out in the states.

"Let's be clear, this is a new era," openly gay D.C. Council member David Catania said Wednesday, expressing optimism that the city's law would clear Congress after a final council vote in May.

He said the measure is the first key step toward eventually allowing gay marriages to be performed in Washington, too.

The council's unanimous vote Tuesday came the same day Vermont became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage and the first to do so with a legislature's vote. Court rulings led to same-sex marriages in the three other states where it's legal: Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa.

Like the measure approved in D.C., New York also recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere but hasn't issued its own marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples.

The situation in D.C. is unique, though. After the legislation receives final approval from the council, which is supposed to come next month, the bill is then subject to a 30-day congressional review. That review could be the new Congress' first opportunity to signal its appetite for re-examining the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages and allows states to do the same.

Via AP

Openly Gay Bishop Opens Inaugural Weekend

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.

President-elect Obama is scheduled to attend the afternoon event, which is free and open to the public.

“The president-elect has respect for the Rt. Rev. Robinson, who offered his advice and counsel over the past couple of years,” an inaugural official said. “It also has the benefit of further reinforcing our commitment to an open and inclusive inaugural.”

Last summer, Robinson was united in a civil union with his longtime gay partner. The Concord (N.H.) Monitor reported at the time: “The day marked the five-year anniversary of the New Hampshire election that, once ratified, made Robinson the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church.”

Robinson’s bio on the diocese website says: “Gene enjoys entertaining and cooking, gardening, music and theater. He is the father of two grown daughters and the proud grandfather of two granddaughters. He lives with his partner, Mark Andrew, who is employed by the State of New Hampshire's Department of Safety.”

Via POLITICO

We Have The Right

The White Knot

The White Knot is a new way for supporters of gay rights to show their support everyday without having to carry a sign on the side of the street. Their saying (which I love) is "Because everyone should be able to tie the knot", simple yet moving, just like the color they use for the knot, white. White symbolizes everything that is beautiful and pure, like love and marriage. Visit their sight and get your own white knot. Until then make you own. Like they say everyone should be able to tie the knot. Whiteknot.org

Seven Weeks To Equality

I just found a new sight "Seven Weeks To Equality". They are fighting the fight for equality for all. Take the time to visit there sight for more info and sign the petition.

Here is some of what they are about in their own words:

We call on all supporters of equality to sustain and intensify the nationwide campaign of mass protests and non-violent civil disobedience, for seven weeks, starting on November 27, 2008, the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk, and to then gather together in mass, from all corners of our country, in Washington, DC on the morning of Tuesday, January 20, 2009, to honor the inauguration of our President, Barack Obama.

Elton John Is No Longer A Friend Of The Gays

Dear Mr. (Oops) Sir Elton John,

After your words about prop 8, with USA TODAY, I am going to suggest that the gay community bans you and your shitty out of date music. Why don't you do the gays here in America a big favor and hop on your big gay hatting piano and fuck off!

Here is what he had to say when asked about prop 8:

"I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership," John says. "The word 'marriage,' I think, puts a lot of people off.

"You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships."

Via USA TODAY

New Marriage Equality Poster

Street artist Shepard Fairley, who designed the famous Obama "Hope" posters, has put his support behind the protest of prop 8 by designing the marriage equality poster.

Via QUEERTY

Day Of Protest For Gays This Saturday

As many of you know, after all was said and done with the election, the gays in America lost a big fight. We all knew that Amendment 2 here in Florida was going to pass, but when prop 8 in
California passed, it was very disheartening. California...out of all places, I thought, had the majority of open-minded people in America. I am tired of being made to feel even less than a second class citizen. We should all have the right to be happy. We all should all have the right to show our love for the ones we love. I'm tired of feeling like I can't walk down the street and hold hands with my boyfriend because people don't think its "right". I'm tired of people thinking they can decide for me what is "right". I am a grown man that is in love with another grown man and there is nothing wrong with that. I want what everyone in America wants...to be free. I am going to fight for that right and I want all of you to join us.


This Saturday is going to be a day of protest across America.
Here is the link to find your state: Day Of Protest
Me and my boyfriend of 8 yrs plan on being one of the people speaking out in Pensacola. The sad thing about the protest in pensacola is as of now there are only 4 people willing to stand up and do something. The population of Pensacola alone (this is not including the surrounding areas of pensacola) is around 60,000 people. We know that at least 1 in 10 people are gay. That means that there are at least 6,000 gay men and women in Pensacola and only 4 care enough to do something. Please don't be one of those people who just sit back hoping things will change. We need everyone's voice to be heard.


Here is the link you need to go to so you can find out when and where you NEED to be in Pensacola: Day Of Protest


It does not matter if you are gay, friends of the gays, or just someone that believes all people should be equal. We need you there. Please don't let the injustice continue.


STAND UP AND LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD AS ONE!

Prop 8 For dummies

I know the election is over but there are many out there that were not able to see some of the shit that was on TV. Here is a video that makes me want to vomit and then eat it. I'm sure that would not leave such a bad taste in my mouth as this video did.

Vote No On Florida's Amemdment 2 Ads

Please make sure you watch the 3rd video.

Vote NO On Florida Amendment 2!!!!!!

I know this is just for Floridians, but Florida is where PETERPAN resides.

The god lovers and fag haters have gotten together to "protect" Florida's families from "The gays" getting married. Well, not true at all. The real reason behind this amendent is to block companies that provide benefits for unmarried partners -- regardless of whether such unions are homosexual or heterosexual.

I'm kinda glad this amendment is on the ballot. I think it will make stright people think and feel the way gay people do. Now, they will see what its like to have their rights taken away. Now maybe they will have a connection with us. Maybe now they will see all we want.... is our rights!

Take a look at this commercial that has been playing in Florida. Two old stright people talking about their rights getting taking away. Don't get me wrong, its kinda touching, but all they have to do is FUCKING get married. We can't do that. They have know idea. Well I will shut up long enough for you to watch this.



Oohhhh....Their rights might get taken away (sarcaism). I don't have any rights. If my partner goes to the hospital tonight I have no rights to see him. So yes Please vote No on 2. Not for the old dumbass couple that didn't get married, but for all of us that don't have any rights.

Thank you for listening or reading my drunkin rambling. NOW VOTE NO ON 2 (for the gays or the old people, I don't care as long as you vote no!)

Sarah Palin, Is She For Or Against Same-Sex Marriage?

Republican Senator John McCain has selected Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor and a little-known conservative with a slim record on gay and AIDS issues, to be his running mate in the 2008 presidential race.

"She's fairly socially conservative, she's fairly anti-choice," said Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU).

Palin became governor in 2006 after serving as a councilwoman and then mayor of a small Alaskan town. She made an unsuccessful run at becoming Alaska's lieutenant governor in 2002. Palin has confronted a single piece of gay rights legislation in that time.

In 2005, Alaska's highest court ruled, in a case brought in 1999 on behalf of nine couples, that the state could not deny benefits to the domestic partners of state government employees. The court ordered the state to implement that ruling in late 2006.

The ruling was seen by right wingers as conflicting with a 1998 amendment to the Alaska Constitution, passed by voters in a ballot referendum, that defined marriage as solely between one man and one woman. The Republican-dominated State Legislature passed a bill that barred the state's administrative agency from implementing the ruling. Palin vetoed it.

"The Department of Law advised me that this bill... is unconstitutional given the recent court order... mandating same-sex benefits," Palin said in a statement. "With that in mind, signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office."

The statement added, "The governor's veto does not signal any change or modification to her disagreement with the action and order by the Alaska Supreme Court. It is the governor's intention to work with the Legislature and to give the people of Alaska an opportunity to express their wishes and intentions whether these benefits should continue."

Eight days before signing the veto, Palin signed another bill that called for a "statewide advisory vote" regarding the ruling from Alaska's high court, saying in a statement, "We may disagree with the rationale behind the ruling, but our responsibility is to proceed forward with the law and follow the Constitution... I disagree with the recent court decision because I feel as though Alaskans spoke on this issue with its overwhelming support for a Constitutional Amendment in 1998 which defined marriage as between a man and woman. But the Supreme Court has spoken and the state will abide."

Get the whole story here Gay City News

LET THE GAYS MARRY!!!!!

Phyllis Lyon ,83, right, kisses her partner Del Martin, 87, after being married by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in a special ceremony at City Hall in San Francisco, Monday, June 16, 2008. Lyon and Martin became the first officially married same sex couple after California's Supreme Court declared gay marriage legal. Newsom picked the couple for the only ceremony Monday in City Hall to recognize their 55-year relationship and their status as pioneers of the gay rights movement.

"I'm tired of checking the single box," said Danielle Lemay, 34, who picked up a marriage license in Woodland with her partner, Angie Hinrichs. "I feared I'd be checking that my whole life."

"We're glad that we're living in this time when history is being made," said Sandy Mills, an Oakland physician who was getting married to her partner of nine years, Mar Stevens, an employee of the county district attorney's office.

Unlike Massachusetts, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, California has no residency requirement for marriage licenses. Many couples are expected to head west to wed.

"We might wait a long time in Tennessee, so this is our chance," said Robert Blaudow, of Memphis. He and his partner, Derek Norman, 23, decided to get married at the Alameda County clerk's office late Monday while they were in the San Francisco Bay Area for a conference.

“I didn’t have an equal marriage, so why wear it on the same hand that everyone else wears theirs?” Greenbaum, 37, said in an interview during the weekend, before he traveled to California. “Now I’m going to start wearing it on my left hand because, at least in California, I will have a marriage equal to everyone else’s.”

Via The Kansas city star