The Washington, D.C. City Council has given final approval to a bill to allow the District's residents to get marriage licenses regardless of the gender of the couples involved.The bill, which passed by an 11-to-2 vote, may still face obstacles in Congress, among city voters and in the courts, but most advocates say they expect it to become law by the spring. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has said he will sign it.“Today’s vote is an important victory not only for the gay and lesbian community but for everyone who supports equal rights,” said Councilman David A. Catania, ...

The Washington D.C. city council has finalized a bill legalizing same-sex marriage by a vote of 11-2. The two councilmembers who opposed the measure were Marion Barry, and Yvette Alexander.The bill now goes to Mayor Adrian Fenty who has promised to sign the bill into law. Following that congress has 30 days to veto the bill, but the Democratic majority is likely not to interfere with the districts ruling.Washington D.C. joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Vermont in affirming their LGBT residents right to marriage. ...

Martha Nussbaum is a philosopher, professor, author, an all-around intellectual explorer. In this weekend's New York Times Magazine, she talked with Debroah Solomon about her latest focus: SOLOMON: Your inquiries have lately revolved around the politics of physical revulsion, which you see as the subtext for opposition to same-sex marriage. NUSSBAUM: What is it that makes people think that a same-sex couple living next door would defile or taint their own marriage when they don’t think that, let’s say, some flaky heterosexual living next door would taint their marriage? At some level, disgust is still operating. SOLOMON: In your book “From Disgust to ...

NBC reports on the Sunday protest: "Gay rights activists called Kruger a 'bigot' as they marched in front of his Mill Basin, Brooklyn home. Organizers said turnout for the rally was dampened by rain and cold weather, but more protests are planned in the coming weeks. Kruger was one of 38 senators who voted against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York. Fredy Kaplan said he has been made to feel like a 'second class citizen.' ... 'We can't have a regular life,' he said." ...

Two Michigan State University professors are pushing the notion of "e-marriages" wherein states with marriage equality make available online marriage licenses for those in other states: "Candeub and fellow researcher Mae Kuykendall are law professors at Michigan State University. They say marriage laws need to be more experimental, in ways that meet the needs of couples and the state. 'What we're arguing for is that states should formalize in their laws what they've always been doing in smaller degrees in specific areas, which is, allow people outside their states to use their laws,' Candeub said. With an 'e-marriage,' Candeub ...

In an interview with Bloomberg, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) calls same-sex marriage destructive to society and says he can't even imagine having a gay president because homosexuality is immoral:"He takes a hard line on social issues, passionately anti- abortion and pro-guns. He has been most outspoken as an opponent of any form of gay marriage. 'Marriage is a religious institution. The federal government has no business redefining what it is,' DeMint says. This is one issue where he doesn’t support states’ rights; state government shouldn’t have the right to permit gay marriage: 'Governments should not be in ...

In the most recent NYT Magazine, Martha Nussbaum — philosopher at the University of Chicago and author of “From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law,” — in a Q&A chats about the opposition to same-sex marriage and how it appears to be, at least in part, biologically rooted: image: BBC Your inquiries have lately revolved around the politics of physical revulsion, which you see as the subtext for opposition to same-sex marriage. What is it that makes people think that a same-sex couple living next door would defile or taint their own marriage when they don’t think that, let’s ...

If you’re looking for another yuletide stocking stuffer (…), then may I recommend Ian Spector’s The Truth About Chuck Norris (Gotham, 2007). Satirical factoids abound in this cheeky booklet, which carries multiple hyperbolic musings about the conservative overtestosteroned martial arts ’star’ in question, which apparently originated on US live television comedy shows and then spread to World of Warcraft gamers. Norris doesn’t like the idea and has filed suit against Gotham over alleged intellectual property theft. Conservative? Yes. Norris is a fundamentalist advocate of creationism and opponent of same-sex marriage and inclusive LGBT education within state schools. He also gave a ...

A journalist in Maine has been fired from a publication after 19 years for replying to a homosexual activist's e-mail. Larry Grard, 58, of Winslow covered the November election for Maine Today, the vote in which Maine citizens rejected homosexual "marriage." Subsequently, he received a press release at work from a homosexual activist which read: "We will not allow the lies and hate – the foundation on which our opponents build their campaign – to break our spirits." Being a devout Catholic, Grard was offended by the release's blanket reference to opponents of same-sex marriage. "Trevor Thomas, who was representing ...

(Hello readers, I am excited to announce that I will also be contributing to the group blog A World of Progress from time to time. A slightly shortened version of this blog post is my first contribution over there.) A group of mostly male heterosexual, conservative Christians have recently created and signed on to their Manhattan Declaration in which they have informed us about certain "non-negotiable truths." These "truths," interestingly, pertain to issues that uniquely affect women and LGBT people and only tangentially affect the rights of heterosexual males. For, within the document the signees declare their ...

Love Takes Over is a new campaign to take place during the week of January 3rd to January 9th to write an opinion piece to your local newspaper in support of same-sex marriage. All across the nation, others will be doing the same to ensure a unified voice in support of equal rights.Please also email your article to ltonewspapers@gmail.com so they can post it up on their blog (http://lovetakesover.tumblr.com) ...

Thursday’s Gay News & Updates: The Situation in Uganada; Lithuania Urged to Reject Homophobic Law; A bill criminalizing same-sex marriage in the Philippines; Truro NS’ Victorian Attitudes; Gay and Lesbian Episcopalians; Delays in NJ; Gay Teen Romance Gone Bad; Anti-gay bullying lessons dropped. Uganda Watch: - Ask an Expert: Is Uganda About to Start Executing Gays? (Hmmm [...] ...

Yesterday, we saw how a group of conservative Christians celebrated their own awesomeness by comparing themselves to Martin Luther King, Jr. and imbuing same-sex couples with the power to destroy society. They did this in a document called the Manhattan Declaration.Maggie Gallagher, of the National Organization for [Heterosexual] Marriage, was one of the signees of this document. Last week, whilst celebrating New York's recent failure to pass marriage equality legislation, Gallagher complained:"The debate was also lopsided: a remarkable display of self-indulgence, tone-deafness and hubris on the part of gay-marriage advocates. Many senators suggested people who see marriage as ...

Back in 2007, the New Internationalist discussed the ‘dumbing down’ of political debate across many western societies. What does that portend for New Zealand when the time comes to have our final LGBT political debates about same-sex marriage proper and adoption reform? As I’ve noted beforehand, New Zealand politics contains two sharply differentiated tendencies- professional and populist. Populism is pseudodemocratic and authoritarian in provenance. It relies on grievance and resentment politics, usually directed against professionals, intellectuals and technocrats. If indulged, it can lead to serious social and political consequences, for it derails sound evidence-based professional practice and research as the basis ...

Today, I spotted a typically vacuous media release by Family First spokesperson Bob McCoskrie, whining about civil unions. Apparently, they’ve failed because there are fewer of them than marriages! One could be uncharitable and point out that unlike Southern US fundamentalist marriages and their high divorce rates, at least we stay together, and have far fewer relationship dissolutions. Still, strategic reasoning and Mr McCoskrie aren’t close friends. The Christian Right is provoking considerable liberal antagonism over its calls for binding referenda to attack the citizenship rights of vulnerable New Zealanders. We need a written constitution instead.Several weeks ago, Family First, the Sensible ...

The Affirmation Declaration is a statement that expresses the convictions of Christians all over the world. It was written in response to the now famous Manhattan Declaration, to correct egregious errors contained in the document, errors that have been preached in the pulpits of many local churches for far too long.With the growing notoriety and support for the Manhattan Declaration, our Affirmation Declaration reflects an urgent need to respond to the portion of the Manhattan Declaration dealing with issues related to sexual orientation—specifically, homosexuality and same-sex marriage. We strongly disagree with the contention that same-sex attractions and the oft-resulting ...

There's not even the beginning of a debate regarding whether Steven Goldstein or Brian Brown's work will someday be remembered as the principled and worthwhile exercise. Those cards have already been printed. Brian's legacy inevitably loses. Period. End of discussion. But we still exist in 2009 America, where the conversation regarding whether to hurt your neighbor or to love the same is considered a "two-sided" debate. So here, go watch another forum in which hurtful discrimination against a minority population is again presented as little more than a viewpoint, even though it's actually an attack. A platform where those who dedicate ...

The Approval of Referendum 71 was made official Thursday December 3rd. From the official blog of the Washington State Secretary of State:Referendum 71, placed on the ballot by foes of same-sex marriage, was approved by a margin of more than 110,000 votes, or more than 6 percentage points. National media describe it as the country’s first voter-approved domestic partnership or “everything-but-marriage” law. The new law had been on hold pending the public vote, and will now go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, 30 days after the Nov. 3 General Election. The law is Senate ...

The 13 member New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee is voting today on whether to let the same-sex marriage bill go to a vote before the entire senate this Thursday.Please contact the members of the committee below and urge them to vote in favor of marriage equality!Sen. Paul Sarlo (Chair): (201) 804-8118Sen. John Girgenti (Vice-Chair): (973) 427-1229Sen. Bill Baroni: (609) 631-9988Sen. Christopher Bateman: (908) 526-3600Sen. Jennifer Beck: (732) 933-1591Sen. Gerard Cardinale: (201) 567-2324Sen. Nia Gill: (973) 509-0388Sen. Joseph Kyrillos: (732) 671-3206Sen. Raymond Lesnick: (908) 624-0880Sen. Nicholas Scutari: (908) 587-0404Sen. Bob Smith: (732) 752-0770Sen. Brian Stack: (201) 861-5091Sen. Loretta Weinberg: (201) ...