gay marriage
BREAKING: Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional
Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday by a San Francisco appeals court, according to Reuters.
The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the rights of gays and lesbians. According to the report, a stay has been in place and gay marriages will not resume until the deadline passes for Proposition 8 sponsors to appeal.
![thedailywhat:
Here Comes The Bigotry of the Day: A Highland Park woman was denied the purchase of her “dream bridal gown” from a New Jersey wedding dress store because she is marrying another woman.
Alix Genter, who is set to marry her longtime partner next July, had her dress all picked out when Here Comes the Bride store manager Donna phoned her up and told her she couldn’t buy it because she was a lesbian.
According to Genter, Donna decried the marriage as “illegal” and said the store “do[es] not participate in any illegal actions.” (Genter and her partner are planning to get married in New York, which legalized same-sex marriages in June.)
“I was devastated,” Genter told Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky. “I was crying. I called her a bigot; I told her, ‘I am a happy person and you are a miserable person.’ Then she hung up on me.”
When Polaneczky followed up with Donna, she was told that Genter’s replacement of the word “groom” with “partner” on the customer-information sheet was a deliberate provocation in an effort “to show that she’s different.” The manager then went on to define lesbians as women who are experimenting with other women because “men can be difficult.”
Apparently Donna has been “persuaded” by a bad Yelp review from Genter to meet with her parents “to try to smooth things over.”
[philly / image: advocate.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq59olmEfP1qzpwi0o1_400.jpg)
Here Comes The Bigotry of the Day: A Highland Park woman was denied the purchase of her “dream bridal gown” from a New Jersey wedding dress store because she is marrying another woman.
Alix Genter, who is set to marry her longtime partner next July, had her dress all picked out when Here Comes the Bride store manager Donna phoned her up and told her she couldn’t buy it because she was a lesbian.
According to Genter, Donna decried the marriage as “illegal” and said the store “do[es] not participate in any illegal actions.” (Genter and her partner are planning to get married in New York, which legalized same-sex marriages in June.)
“I was devastated,” Genter told Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky. “I was crying. I called her a bigot; I told her, ‘I am a happy person and you are a miserable person.’ Then she hung up on me.”
When Polaneczky followed up with Donna, she was told that Genter’s replacement of the word “groom” with “partner” on the customer-information sheet was a deliberate provocation in an effort “to show that she’s different.” The manager then went on to define lesbians as women who are experimenting with other women because “men can be difficult.”
Apparently Donna has been “persuaded” by a bad Yelp review from Genter to meet with her parents “to try to smooth things over.”
US 2012 Election: Stances on LGBTQ Rights
Here’s visual confirmation of each 2012 presidential candidate’s plans on 12 issues that affect America’s estimated 31 million LGBT voters.
(via tyleroakley, marriageequality.org)
President Obama is throwing his support behind the Respect For Marriage Act - the bill to repeal the 1996 Defense Of Marriage Act, which banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even for couples married under state law.
The president has “long called for a legislative appeal for the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on families,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at Tuesday’s briefing. He said the president “is proud” to support the Respect For Marriage Act, “which would take the Defense of Marriage Act off the books for once and for all.”
The bill was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).
In February, the Obama administration announced that the Department of Justice will no longer defend DOMA in court.
On Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the new bill, which would repeal all three sections of DOMA — which federally defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman — including section 1, which is the name; section 2, which instructs states not to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; and section 3, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing legally performed same-sex marriages.
Representatives from both pro- and anti-gay marriage groups will testify before the panel.
America’s attitude on same-sex marriage broken down by age.
Anti-straight marriage PSA (video)
A team of writers known as Title Wave Creative just launched a parody PSA against heterosexual marriage, mocking the arguments against gay marriage. The PSA stars Derek James Baynham, Kelly Elise May, and Calum Worthy.
(via ItzJeffy)
Celebrate Valentine’s Day by purchasing a $3 marriage equality donation for $1
Fab.com is celebrating Valentine’s Day by “selling” $3 donations to Freedom To Marry for just $1.
Once purchased, Fab.com will make a $3 donation to Freedom To Marry on the purchaser’s behalf. The deal ends at midnight (PST) tonight.
According to the press release, “if a buyer gets three of their friends to also buy this deal, Fab.com will up their matching donation to $5 for the initial buyer. The deal ends at midnight tonight.”
Fab.com launched “The Big Gay Deal of the Day” on February 1st, a daily deal service similar to Groupon—but targeted to gays. Since its launch, the service has offered deals such as gay-themed magazine subscriptions, DVDs, vacation packages and other products.
Freedom to Marry is the United States’ leading marriage equality campaign.
Editorial disclaimer: Dan Leveille, the author of this post, is a Junior Advisor at Fab.com.
FCK BULLIES: A new PSA by FCKH8
(Video contains explicit language.)
FCKH8 just launched their second PSA, after the success of their first PSA, which launched two months ago. Since then, $200,000 was raised to support the fight for equal marriage rights. They campaign has sold over 40,000 t-shirts.
FCKH8 is a campaign directly supporting the groups leading the fight for equality, including; American Foundation for Equal Rights, Equality California, Courage Campaign, Lambda Legal. $5 from each shirt sold goes towards those groups.
The campaign was launched on October 10 by Luke Montgomery. Back in 1993, Luke changed his last name to “Sissyfag,” in an effort to make a point about discrimination against gays and lesbians.
“FCKED up Homo H8 has a lot to do with the suicide R8! FCKH8.com is at it again with “FCK BULLIES.” F-bomb dropping kids, drag queens, senior citizens & shirtless hotties take on anti-gay bullies at schools & churches as well as homo H8ing families & voters. T-shirt sales go to benefit queer youth counseling & suicide prevention.”
(via LaurenKitsune)
Two men use Skype to have a legal wedding in Texas
Mark Reed and Dante Walkup just got legally married in Texas, where gay marriage is not legal. How did they do it? It’s called “e-marriage.”
They found a creative way around inequality. The two men and their families joined together in Texas. The wedding was officiated by a woman who was in Washington D.C.—where gay marriage is legal—using Skype.
According to the report by Dallas Voice, the couple wanted to have their wedding in Texas to be with their families and friends.
“It was very important that all of our family came. It was the first time they actually met, even though we’ve been together 10 years. If we had to go to D.C., there’s no way we could have had the people there who we wanted to be there.”
The couple were married on October 10th, 2010 (10/10/10) at a hotel in Dallas, Texas, with a projection screen behind them.
According to the report, there are no laws against e-weddings in Washington D.C., so the men understand that their marriage could be debated in court.
The couple had to first go to Washington D.C. to register. The marriage license was then mailed to them a few days after their wedding.
Pope visits Spain, greeted by gay kissing flash mob
The Pope visited Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, and was greeted by gay kissing flash mob. Participants were protesting the Pope’s condemnation of gay marriage laws in Spain.
The flash mob, which was organized on Facebook, attracted around 200 participants, according to the New York Times.
“Many gay Spaniards don’t see why they should pay for the Pope’s visits, only to have their way of life criticized”
During the Pope’s homily on Sunday, he defended traditional families and denounced Spanish laws allowing gay marriage.
The protest gained more media attention last week, when Facebook shut down the event’s page, but was later reinstated. A Facebook official stated that the event was created by a fake account, which violates Facebook’s policies.
Gay marriage has been legal in Spain since 2005. A 2007 Pew Research study showed that 82% of Spain supported homosexuality and 9% did not (9% were unsure).
