Some quick thoughts on the wonderful California decision (still reading it): It took me forever to find the actual decision of the court. I had to skim through the first seven pages before I found something resembling a ruling. Then on the next page it said something about not needing to deal with the word “marriage” and I thought maybe it was more like the New Jersey decision, pro-rights but not mandating the word. Thoroughly confused and figuring I wasn’t going to find anything definitive in the next few pages, I tried to find the end of the opinion but couldn’t ...

A happy day here in California: the state Supreme Court has overturned the state's ban on gay marriage and stated that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. From the opinion (PDF): Under these circumstances, we cannot find that retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest. Accordingly, we conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional. It's not over though. Gear up to battle the possible constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall. But for now, pop the champagne! ...

CA marriage case San Francisco -- California's highest court today ruled that the state's ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional. The court writes: [W]e determine that the language of section 300 limiting the designation of marriage to a union “between a man and a woman” is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute, and that the remaining statutory language must be understood as making the designation of marriage available both to opposite-sex and same-sex couples. In addition, because the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples imposed by section 308...(read more) ...

Whether or not the California Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage equality today, Californians will probably be voting this fall on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex couples’ marriages. Apparently, 1.1 million signatures have been submitted, and only 694,354 need to be found valid in order for the amendment to get on the ballot — about 63% of those submitted. What I don’t understand is why it’s so easy for Californians to amend their constitution. It merely requires a one-time majority vote by the public — the state legislature has no involvement. The process is exactly the same ...

A viral promo was just released for the movie Swing Vote which is due out at the beginning of August and stars Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, and Kelsey Grammer. The promo features Grammer as a candidate whose platform apparently includes same-sex marriage. Predictably, its punchline is littered with a fair amount of swishiness. Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP... ...

According to PageOneQ, the California Supreme Court has announced that it will rule on the equal marriage cases it heard back in March. No indication yet as to how the court will rule. ...

For the past few months, some bigoted members of the Arizona legislature have been attempting to place another marriage equality ban on the state's November ballot. Up until recently, some expert political wrangling by equality-minded legislators, notably Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (pictured), have kept the hate-motivated ballot measure at bay. However, two days ago on May 12, the house passed SCR1042 in a vote of 33-25.Immediately upon passage, however, Rep. Sinema again showed her political expertise by invoking House Rule 8 (J), which requires that, upon a motion by any legislator, any bill which is "not a proper ...

We're not sure what, exactly, is going on with this promo video for the upcoming film Swing Vote. But it's gay-centric and political, so -- good enough for us! Have a looksie: Now, since the movie's plot involves two candidates quite literally fighting for one citizen's vote, we're assuming it has something to do with Kelsey Grammer's Republican candidate stepping outside his comfort zone in order to cater to that citizen (played by Kevin Costner). But why is marriage equality the issue at hand? Is there a gay character? That we don't know. Whatever the case, we have to say that support ...

Lexington, KY (PRWEB) — Jordan Palmer, co-founder and president of Kentucky Equality Federation has been unanimously elected to the Board of Directors of Marriage Equality USA. Marriage Equality USA was founded in 1998 and has chapters operating across the U.S.. Marriage Equality USA seeks to “secure legally recognized civil marriage for all, at the federal [...] ...

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel , Associated Press via San Jose Mercury News CA marriage case SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court will release on Thursday an eagerly-anticipated decision on whether the state's constitution requires marriage equality. The justices today posted a notation on the court's Web site that the ruling in the civil rights challenge to the same-sex marriage ban will be posted at 10 a.m. Thursday. Justices heard oral arguments in a series of cases brought by gay and lesbian couples, the city of San Francisco and two gay rights advocacy groups in early March...(read more) ...

Oh my god. The California Supreme Court has announced that it’s going to issue its decision on same-sex marriage equality tomorrow, 10 a.m. California time, 1 p.m. Eastern. I’m going to be on pins and needles. (Here’s the official notice.) ...

Hold on to your hats, marriage-craving gays: We've just learned that the California Supreme Court will rule TOMORROW on whether or not to embrace marriage equality in the Golden State! EEK! Non-ring-adorned fingers crossed, everyone! **SEE ALSO: To prepare yourself, you can listen to audio of the presented arguments. Doesn't that sound fun? ...

In a piece chastising ABC's "Brothers and Sisters" for recently airing a same-sex commitment ceremony, Kristen Fyfe of the Culture and Media Institute makes the following offensive connection between gays who pledged a lifetime of monogamy and siblings who schtup each other (highlighting our own): Entertainment TV has long been a vehicle to bring controversial cultural topics into the living rooms of American families: Maude's abortion aired in 1972 before Roe v. Wade entered the cultural lexicon, Murphy Brown opted to have a baby out of wedlock, and homosexuality came into homes weekly via Will and Grace. Weddings – ...

ABC series “Gray’s Anatomy” recently aired a gay story line involving two soldiers in a relationship. One has a tumor and is facing surgery. His partner is his former officer. The two must hide their relationship during the ordeal, although they are caught “in the act” by the sick soldier’s father. The clip is to the right (the last song was added by the YouTube user who posted the video… although not original, I looove the song). Here, my friends, is where the rubber meets the road for this nation, its citizens, the LGBT community and the radical right. Perfectly and emotionally ...

A good colleague of mine from Kentucky has just been elected (unanimously, to boot!) to the National Board of Directors of Marriage Equality USA: Jordan Palmer, co-founder and president of Kentucky Equality Federation has been unanimously elected to the Board of Directors of Marriage Equality USA. Marriage Equality USA was founded in 1998 and has chapters operating across the nation. Marriage Equality USA seeks to “secure legally recognized civil marriage for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation.” Marriage Equality USA has made headlines in recent years for their fight to legalize equal marriage ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - When Phil Miatkowski created an online group to support civil union legislation in Illinois, it was meant to be just an easy way to keep friends informed. A year later, the group on the social networking site Facebook has swelled to nearly 9,000 members. The legislation's sponsor sought their help to lobby for the measure which would be the first of its kind in the state. And they've generated thousands of faxes and e-mails to state lawmakers, organized rallies and circulated petitions. "Every time I log on, it's getting larger, so it's exciting to see," said ...

I know, I know...but it's a worthy cause. I can remember working with the Task Force back when I was in college when it first got started. It's a great organization and Vermont has a real opporunity to have full marriage equality in the near future if we keep working on it.The final chapter has begun! We are back in Montpelier!Together, we made quite an impression on the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection. In its April 21st report, the Commission emphasized that it heard loud and clear that:-“Civil unions are separate, but unequal,”-“The differences in language between civil ...

In regards to the news that New York state will continue to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed in other states, Focus on the Family's Bruce Hausknecht has a few thoughts. Unfortunately, "YAY! Fairness prevails! Mazel tov, gays!" is not the theme of his reaction: “Inexplicably, the high court is letting stand a ruling that says that New York essentially has no public policy regarding same-sex 'marriages' performed elsewhere,” he said. “It's ridiculous legal reasoning to insist that a state could recognize a type of ‘marriage’ from outside that it will not permit within the state. Yet that's ...

As I mentioned briefly last week, Towleroad has partnered with LOGO's NewNowNext awards to present a prize for the most impactful video news moment of the year. We went through all the clips we've posted in the last year and chose the five that we felt were most hard hitting as gay video news moments. Our category does tend toward the serious. While Chris Crocker's "Leave Britney Alone" moment certainly inspired plenty of disgust and cultural fodder, we decided moments like those didn't fall into the news category - as much as CNN may want them to. So here are the ...

You know how social conservatives make all sorts of protestations about constitutional marriage bans, saying they're designed only to "protect traditional marriage." Yea, well guess what? They're blowing more smoke up voters' arses than an enema bag filled with lit cigarettes! This from the Detroit Free Press: An amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2004 to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman also prohibits public employers from providing health care and other benefits to the same sex partners of employees, a divided Michigan Supreme Court ruled today. The court majority found that language in the ...