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.
The Minnesota Senate is expected to give final approval on Monday to a bill that would make the state the 12th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry and only the second in the Midwest.
Leaders in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 39-28 majority, have said they believe they have the support to approve a bill legalizing gay marriage. They set a vote for Monday on the measure that members of the state House approved last week.
Democratic Governor Mark Dayton has said he would sign the bill, which would make Minnesota the third state this month to legalize gay marriage after Rhode Island and Delaware. The law would take effect August 1.
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.
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Washington state’s governor signed into law on Monday the final piece of a six-year effort to rewrite state laws using gender-neutral vocabulary, replacing terms such as “fisherman” and “freshman” with “fisher” and “first-year student.”
While this may not have an immediate tangible effect, words and language play a significant role in shaping how we think, and mandating gender-neutral language in state statutes is a great first step in the right direction. The article notes that some words, such as “manhole,” won’t be replaced, because legislators couldn’t think of any other alternatives (whether or not “personhole cover” will ever gain traction remains to be seen).
France legalizes gay marriage despite angry protests
(Photo: AFP - Getty Images)
France became the 14th country in the world to allow same-sex couples to wed Tuesday, when its parliament approved a law that has sparked often violent street protests and a rise in homophobic attacks.
A big day for our French friends, no doubt. The law goes a step further than just marriage, as well — it also grants adoption rights to same-sex couples.
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?
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.
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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
See our full slideshow on changing attitudes towards gay marriage.
In 2001, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a 57% to 35% margin.
Today, there is slightly more support for same-sex marriage than opposition to it, with 48% in favor and 43% opposed.
Pretty straightforward.
Interesting to see the opposition spike temporarily in 2004 and 2009, the two times over the last decade that same-sex marriage was most politicized, foremost as a wedge issue in the Bush re-election campaign, and subsequently in the aftermath of California’s approval of Proposition 8.
Openly-gay mayoral candidate slain in Mississippi: Many local residents believed Marco McMillian, 35, to be the first viable openly-gay candidate for public office in the history of Mississippi. As of now, the murder, discovered on Tuesday and reported by police on Wednesday, is not being investigated as a hate crime; however, police do already have one suspect in custody. Though they have not been formally charged, the unidentified suspect was found in McMillian’s wrecked car on Tuesday, with the Clarksdale mayoral candidate nowhere to be seen. (photo by Troy Catchings/The Clarksdale Press Register)
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