The marriage equality drumbeat has rumbled on with news that several states will be attempting to re-examine their state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and/or civil unions. Surprisingly, this hasn't received as much attention as I assumed it would in the LGBT blogosphere.
Thank you JMG for sharing this...San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders will be a witness in the upcoming federal court trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, according to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Herrera announced Sanders’ participation today at a San Diego fundraiser for Herrera’s reelection. Herrera said he traveled to San Diego last week to meet with Sanders and that Sanders readily agreed to testify in the case, which seeks to overturn the constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage narrowly approved by California voters last year.The City of San Francisco has been allowed to join the lawsuit, hence Herrera's involvement. In August a judge ruled in favor of Olson and Boies' request to block the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights from joining the suit after the groups' earlier denouncement of the attempt.
Labels: David Boies, Jerry Sanders, San Diego, Ted Olson
Love Honor Cherish has launched an internet drive to gather one million petition signatures in California to place the repeal of Proposition 8 on the 2010 ballot. The signature-gathering drive will use social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, organizers said in a statement. “We’re taking names,” said John Henning, who is heading the SignForEquality.com effort launched to collect the signatures. "People throughout California can now help us win marriage back by the simple act of signing and collecting signatures.” Prop. 8 was approved by California voters a year ago, reversing a California Supreme Court decision, which held that same-sex couples were guaranteed equal marriage rights under the state Constitution.The group has until April 12th to gather the names. Visit their site here.
Labels: 2010 elections, California, Love Honor Cherish, marriage equality, Proposition 8
Now THIS will give you a smile. When the guy hired to provide the sound system for yesterday's Power Rangers For Jeebus hate rally in DC found out what his customers stood for, he donated his fee back to the gay activists counter-protesting the event and even let them use the haters' own microphone! The Washington Post cannot restrain its glee:
Instead of getting arrested, the ministers got something else: A couple of dozen gay activists, surrounding them with rainbow flags and signs announcing "Gaga for Gay Rights" and "I Am a Love Warrior." By the end, the gay rights activists had taken over the lectern and the sound system and were holding their own news conference denouncing the ministers. "We're here to say, my love is legit!" announced David Valk, an organizer of the National Equality March for gay rights. Another speaker, Ian Thomas, went to the microphone and announced: "I was created a bisexual male. Just like many figures in the Christian Bible, I like boys and girls!" [Organizer Gary] Cass turned angrily to the AV guy. "We're not on the clock, are we?" He turned with equal anger to Valk. "You guys gonna help us pay for the microphones?" The gay activist smiled. "God," he said, "works in mysterious ways."Our hero for the day, Chuck Fazio! Event planners, activists, party promoters: please consider giving your future business to DC Podiums. And Chuck Fazio might be the guy to hire for your Washington DC wedding. FTW!
In this case, God took the form of Chuck Fazio, from DC Podiums. Fazio was hired by the religious conservatives to provide the sound system for the event, but upon learning of their cause, he decided to donate his proceeds to the gay rights activists and to give them a chance at the microphone before shutting down the amplifiers. "I don't want bad karma," he explained, noting with some pride that the lectern they were using was the same one used by Borat on a recent Washington visit. The conservative activists could not have anticipated this unusual turn of events when they arrived, some wearing "Fear God" T-shirts and one carrying a sign spelling AIDS from the biblical phrase "the wages of sin is death."
Labels: Chuck Fazio, DC Podiums, FTW, heroes, Washington DC
After a gay couple won their lawsuit charging that a city law banning same-sex marriage was illegal, the mayor of Buenos Aires says he won't challenge the court's ruling, bringing marriage equality to the capital of Argentina. The court ruled that two articles in the city's civil code that say only people of different sexes can get married are illegal. The court decision applies only to Buenos Aires. Same-sex unions in most of the rest of Argentina remain illegal. The legal challenge was initiated by a gay couple, Alejandro Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello. Judge Gabriela Seijas ordered the city's civil registry department to honor their union. "The law should treat each person with equal respect in relation to each person's singularities without the need to understand or regulate them," the judge said in her ruling. The city code prevents people from "enjoying the rights that couples who enter into matrimony are entitled to," she said. Those rights include inheritances, pensions and the ability to make decisions for the other person when he or she is incapacitated. Macri called the ruling a "very important step," adding that "we have to live together and accept reality. ... The world is headed in that direction."And soon, our own nation's capital! Congratulations Alejandro and Jose!
Labels: Argentina, Buenos Aires, LGBT rights, marriage equality
