This is no doubt a momentous day for Hollande, who had pledged to legalize same-sex marriage during his first year in office, and succeeded in doing so despite vociferous protests from swaths of his citizenry. No actual same-sex marriage figures to be conducted until the 29th, as French law states that a marriage license must be filed ten days prior to the ceremony.
Delaware just became the 11th state to pass marriage equality!
Same-sex marriage licenses will be available starting on June 1st, the result of a 12-9 state senate vote to codify marriage equality in the state of Delaware. Democratic Governor Jack Markell signed the bill just minutes after its legislative passage, bringing to a conclusion the tireless work of activists within the state.
And he wasn’t the only one: Three other politicians who are outspokenly opposed to marriage equality voted for the “Marriage for All” bill. Guaino was mocked by his colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and subsequently changed his vote. However, it didn’t matter; the bill passed by over 100 votes and now heads François Hollande, the country’s Socialist president, who campaigned on the issue of gay marriage and will sign the bill. source
(AP) The gay marriage legislation easily passed the Rhode Island House in January, and the Senate vote was seen as the true test. The bill passed 26-12, and now returns to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, before going to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports the legislation.
The second piece of good news today for proponents of marriage equality. The legislation was introduced by House Speaker Gordon Fox, who himself is gay, and could take effect as soon as August 1st. Meanwhile, in Delaware, legislation legalizing marriage equality passed the state House yesterday and now heads to the senate for consideration.
TIME’s new issue, featuring the story, ‘How Gay Marriage Won,’ hits newsstands Friday. Two couples who were photographed to illustrate the story appear on two separate covers this week.
Read the story here.
(Cover photographs by Peter Hapak)
How the times have changed, no?
Have you been seeing red equal sign symbols popping up in your Newsfeed this week? Facebook did the math and estimates more than 2.7 million US users changed their profile pictures in support of gay marriage equality. (Some users even showed their support through equality strips of bacon, sideways cats, and red velvet cake.)
Above: Facebook’s marriage equality map
(via All Things D)
Who here was one of the 2.7 million?
Total minutes devoted to yesterday’s Prop 8 coverage on cable news.
Simple, effective, shareable.
Map of the week.
Today’s news has obviously been dominated by coverage of the Supreme Court’s hearing on California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages in the state back in 2008. And it’s worth keeping in mind just how the lay of the land looks for same-sex couples in this country. If this map looks familiar, that may be thanks to its resemblance of the electoral map from the 2012 presidential election — not a single state carried by the Romney/Ryan ticket so much as allows domestic partnerships, let alone civil unions or same-sex marriages.
If you look at it just from a legal standpoint there is nothing to argue. You can argue from a moral standpoint. You can say, ‘morally, I don’t like the idea of gay marriage’ because your church teaches you a certain thing. That’s fine. And we’re not asking anybody, or forcing churches to perform ceremonies. We’re not asking anybody to go outside of their religious beliefs. But marriage is not a religious right. It is a civil right. That is provided by the government. A church does not have a right to marry someone—except that it is given the right by the government. The government issues marriage licenses. The government decides who gets married and who doesn’t.Rob Reiner on the legality of gay marriage (via C-SPAN)
(Source: brooklynmutt)
LOVE THESE SCOTUS SIGNS! More here.
Morning reading on gay marriage and the Supreme Court: Politico’s contrarian what-if, “Can gay marriage survive SCOTUS loss?“
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
I have come to the conclusion that our government should not limit the right to marry based on who you love…Good people disagree with me. On the other hand, my children have a hard time understanding why this is even controversial. I think history will agree with my children.Sen. Claire McCaskill, becoming the 42nd senator to support marriage equality. Extra points for making the announcement on her Tumblr
At CPAC opponents of gay marriage spoke to nearly empty rooms while supporters spoke to a standing room only audience.
Great Chris Geidner piece.
You can say, ‘I believe my principles so much, I’m kicking you out.’ You can say, ‘I still believe in my principles, but I love you.’ Or you can say, ‘Gee, I love you so much, I am changing my principles.’ Rob picked the third path. That’s his prerogative.Newt Gingrich • Discussing Sen. Rob Portman’s decision to come out in support of gay marriage as a result of his relationship with his son, Will. Portman’s decision drew strong support from younger conservatives, but among older ones, it might be a tougher sell — just 30 percent of Republicans between 18 and 29 oppose gay marriage, while 68 percent of Republicans between 50 to 64 remain opposed. (In both cases, the total has gone down significantly in the past nine years.)
Obama Administration Urges Supreme Court To Strike Down DOMA
The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act’s prohibition on recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages in a Friday filing, arguing that laws that target gay people should face additional scrutiny by courts reviewing them.
Under such heightened scrutiny, as it is called, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli says that Section 3 of DOMA, which defines “spouse” and “marriage” under federal law as only those marriages between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional.
This paragraph in the brief is a part of history:
“BLAG makes an appeal to this Court to allow the democratic process to run its course. That approach would be very well taken in most circumstances. This is, however, the rare case in which deference to the democratic process must give way to the fundamental constitutional command of equal treatment under law. Section 3 of DOMA targets the many gay and lesbian people legally married under state law for a harsh form of discrimination that bears no relation to their ability to contribute to society. It is abundantly clear that this discrimination does not substantially advance an interest in protecting marriage, or any other important interest. The statute simply cannot be reconciled with the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. The Constitution therefore requires that Section 3 be invalidated.”
There you go, guys. Obama’s White House has called out DOMA and wants to see it struck down. Huge story.
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