Tag: Marriage Equality

British MP Cites America’s Jim Crow Era ‘Separate But Equal’ Laws in Argument for Marriage Equality in England

Jon Ponder

The debate over marriage equality in Britain’s House of Commons earlier this week took on some of the rancour of the debate here in the Colonies, exposing a “nest of bigots” in Parliament, as a columnist for The Guardian put it.

In the end, however, the House voted overwhelmingly to approve the bill legalizing same sex marriage — at least in part because of an impassioned speech by MP David Lammy, who studied law at Harvard, and who compared Britain’s current civil unions with America’s “separate but equal” laws in the Jim Crow era:

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Gay Civil Rights Pass Ballot Test for the First Time – Marriage Equality Passes in Maine and Maryland

Jon Ponder

Leaving aside the propriety of Americans voting on whether to protect the civil rights of other Americans, here is some good news on marriage equality:

In a historic turnaround, the ballot box is showing America’s shifting attitudes about same-sex marriage. After gay marriage rights died at the polls dozens of times in the past, on Tuesday they passed in at least two states.

Rarely do popular votes reflect such dramatic social changes…

But the win was hard fought and the margin of victory was small.

“We’ve lost at the ballot box 32 times,” said Paul Guequierre of Human Rights Campaign. “History was made tonight” …

“It’s hard to overstate the national significance of this vote,” Marc Solomon, campaign director at Freedom to Marry, said of the Maine referendum.

In Maryland, where just 51.9% of voters approved gay marriage rights, “It was a little bit pins and needles,” said Human Rights Campaign’s Kevin Nix. “It was going to be a close call all along.”

Obama Endorses Marriage Equality

Jon Ponder

Update from Trish: Obama sent this email message to further amplify his thoughts on the subject:

Today, I was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer:

I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

I’ve always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant to use the term marriage because of the very powerful traditions it evokes. And I thought civil union laws that conferred legal rights upon gay and lesbian couples were a solution.

But over the course of several years I’ve talked to friends and family about this. I’ve thought about members of my staff in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships who are raising kids together. Through our efforts to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, I’ve gotten to know some of the gay and lesbian troops who are serving our country with honor and distinction.

What I’ve come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens.

Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn’t dawn on them that their friends’ parents should be treated differently.

So I decided it was time to affirm my personal belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

I respect the beliefs of others, and the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. But I believe that in the eyes of the law, all Americans should be treated equally. And where states enact same-sex marriage, no federal act should invalidate them.

Support for Marriage Equality Rises to 59% in California, an 11 Point Increase from Prop 8 Vote Four Years Ago

Jon Ponder

chart-field-poll-support-marriage-since-1977

A new survey from the Field Poll — the gold standard for polling in California — finds that approval of gay marriage has risen to 59 percent. This is a 6.7 point increase from 2009, when support in the same poll was 52.3 percent.

Disapproval has dropped to 34 percent, from 47.7 percent three years ago.

The new numbers also suggest an even more dramatic, double-digit increase in support from just four years ago, when voters passed Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to rescind marriage rights for gays.

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Washington Becomes Seventh State, Along with the District of Columbia, to Legalize Marriage Equality

Jon Ponder
Click map to view full size (PDF)
Click map to view full size (PDF)

The New Civil Rights Movement:

At 12:08 PM Pacific time, Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire signed the same-sex marriage equality bill into law. Gregoire made national headlines early last month when she announced she had made a strong personal journey and now supported same-sex civil marriage, launching her push to offer marriage to all Washington citizens. One month later, the bill has become law. Washington is now the seventh state and eighth jurisdiction, including the District of Columbia, to offer civil marriage to all citizens. It is also the first state to repeal its Defense of marriage act which prohibited same-sex couples the right to marry.

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We’re Number One! Los Angeles Leads Nation in Gay Couples (Oh, Wait)

Jon Ponder

map-ss-couples-us

New reports from the 2010 Census show that California has nearly twice the number of gay couples than any other state — thanks for playing, New York and Florida! — and that Los Angeles is home to more same-sex couples than any other city:

The Golden State had 98,153 same-sex couples, followed by New York with 48,932, Florida with 48,496 and Texas with 46,401. North Dakota had the fewest same-sex couples with 559, just ahead of Wyoming with 657 and South Dakota with 714.

Among the nation’s largest cities … Los Angeles was No. 1 with 13,292, followed by Chicago with 10,849, San Francisco with 10,461 and Seattle with 6,537. [San Diego was fifth with 5,910 couples.]

The U.S. Census Bureau this week released revised estimates on same-sex married couple and unmarried partner households: There were 131,729 same-sex married couple households and 514,735 same-sex unmarried partner households in the United States.

But wait — uh-oh. Hold the confetti, L.A. Those are aggregate numbers. […]

Flashback: California Legislature Passed Marriage Equality Laws – Twice

Jon Ponder

The fact that Republicans are holding up the marriage equality bill in the New York Legislature is yet another reminder of how heartlessly they play politics with the lives of their fellow citizens.

The Democratic-controlled legislature passed two bills, in succession, that would have made marriage equality legal, but they were vetoed by the Republican governor, who was, ironically, a notorious serial adulterer.

It is also instructive, perhaps, to remember that a similar but now nearly forgotten episode — or, rather, episodes — happened in California not very long ago, and I’m not talking about Prop 8.

In New York, the Democratic governor supports the bill pending in the legislature. In our case, the situation was reversed, in a sense, the Democratic-controlled legislature passed two bills, in succession, that would have made marriage equality legal, but they were vetoed by the Republican governor, who was, ironically, a notorious serial adulterer.

Here’s the recap from the Wikipedia page, Same-sex marriage in California:

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