Same-Sex Marriage Update

[MsTinkerbelly]

French lawmakers approve marriage equality bill



By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 11:47 EDT




French lawmakers on Tuesday extended marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples, making France the 14th country in the world to legalise gay marriage. The 331 to 225 vote was preceded by months of bitter –and sometimes violent– exchanges on the subject in parliament and in the streets.

The National Assembly first passed the so-called “Marriage for All” law in February. It had to give it a second and final reading on Tuesday, after the upper-house Senate approved the same bill with some amendments on April 12.

The landmark legislation was greeted by wild cheering from some and boos by others gathered outside the National Assembly. Opponents were scheduled to converge outside the building to protest the reform at 7pm, as they have been doing for the past several days.





“I hope people across the country will celebrate this moment,” said Martin Gaillard, a 31-year-old advocate of gay marriage, who admitted feeling stressed during the past weeks because of all the attention garnered by the law’s detractors.

“This remains a joyous day,” added Gaillard, whose “Projet Entourage LGBT” has sought to build support for gay marriage on the Internet for over two years.

He remembered that gay marriage had little political traction at the start of his project, but then became a hot topic of the 2012 presidential campaign. President François Hollande came to power last May promising to legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.

Recent opinion polls show that a majority -between 53% and 58%- of people in France support gay marriage.

According to Yves-Marie Cann, of the French polling firm CSA, those figures have remained constant throughout months of controversy. However, he noted that the number of people against adoption by same-sex couples has risen in recent months, with 56% now opposed to the measure.

Violent confrontations


The months-long legislative process was closely followed by supporters and opponents of the bill, who staged massive rallies in Paris and around the country to either defend or try to defeat the historic bill.

The anti-gay marriage camp –a motley mix that includes traditional Catholic families, some members of the opposition UMP party and far-right groups– organised some of the largest marches seen in France in recent years.

CSA’s Cann said the issue had revealed a sharp ideological divide in French society, with more than 72% of right-wing sympathisers saying they were against the law.


As the bill neared a final vote, some opponents adopted a hardline approach, leading to violent confrontations with police on Paris’s iconic Champs Elysées in late March.

Meanwhile, rights groups said they had documented a significant rise in attacks targeting gays and LGBT-friendly businesses, and accused the so-called peaceful protests of trivialising hateful homophobic speech. On the eve of the vote, National Assembly president Claude Bartolone received a letter filled with gunpowder warning him to delay it.

Frustrations also spilled over inside parliament, where quarrelling MP’s allegedly threw punches and had to be separated by security last week.

An evolving process

Opponents pledged to keep fighting the marriage reform despite its passing. Just hours before the vote, opposition MP Henri Guaino told France Inter radio that he would continue joining protests until Hollande called a referendum on the issue.

Guaino nevertheless admitted that it would be very difficult to reverse the law once it went into effect and after same-sex couples began to wed.

French stars come late to gay marriage fight

Other lawmakers said they would immediately request that the law be scrutinised by France’s Constitutional Council, while others said they would repeal it as soon as conservatives regained a majority in parliament. Leaders of the anti-gay marriage marches announced they would consider running in mayoral elections next year.

Gaillard, the gay-marriage activist, said the legislative victory was somewhat anticlimactic. “I feel like this is part of an evolving process; this is clearly the direction France needs to move in. The impression I have is that we are finally catching up.”

France is now the ninth European country to legalise gay marriage, joining Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal, as well as neighbouring Belgium and Spain.

Questioned as to what would become of Projet Entourage LGBT –now that gay marriage was no longer an idea but a reality– Gaillard said his group was considering turning its attention to championing access to in vitro fertilisation for same-sex couples or supporting teen victims of homophobia. For now, he said he was only sure he would be catching up on some hard-earned rest.

[Kobi]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is on a path to becoming the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry after a landmark vote in the state's Senate on Wednesday.

The Senate passed gay marriage legislation by a comfortable 26-12 margin, following a House vote of approval in January. The bill must now return to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, but the celebration began Wednesday.

Heavily Catholic Rhode Island is the last remaining New England state without gay marriage. Marriage legislation has been introduced in the state for nearly two decades, only to languish on the legislative agenda.

Supporters mounted a renewed push this year, and the Senate vote was seen as the critical test after the House easily passed the bill. Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, called Wednesday's vote historic.

"I'm very much looking forward to signing this," he told The Associated Press as he congratulated supporters.

The first gay marriages in Rhode Island could take place Aug. 1, when the legislation would take effect. Civil unions would no longer be available to same-sex couples as of that date, though the state would continue to recognize existing civil unions. Lawmakers approved civil unions two years ago, though few couples have sought them.

http://news.yahoo.com/ri-way-10th-st...215029420.html

[MsTinkerbelly]

Rhode Island becomes 10th state to legalize gay marriage


Charles Krupa / AP


By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

Rhode Island became the final state in New England and the 10th in the country to legalize gay marriage after independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Thursday signed a bill that will allow same-sex marriage.

"I know that you have been waiting for this day to come," Chafee said to the state's gay and lesbian community at a bill-signing ceremony in front of hundreds. "I know you have loved ones that dreamed this would happen but did not live to see it. But I am proud to say that now at long last, you are free to marry the person you love."

In a New York Times op-ed Wednesday, Chafee outlined his support for gay marriage not only on moral grounds, but also economic.

"The talented workers who are driving the new economy — young, educated and forward-looking — want to live in a place that reflects their values. They want diversity, not simply out of a sense of justice, but because diversity makes life more fun," he wrote. "Why would any state turn away the people who are most likely to create the economies of the 21st century?"

As a Republican U.S. senator in 2004, Chafee voiced his support for gay marriage when most members of his party were staunchly opposed to it. He was ousted from his Senate seat in 2006 but won the governor's race in the Ocean State in 2010 as an independent.

Chafee is now calling on fellow governors to push for similar legislation to what passed in Rhode Island on Thursday, and calling for the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Though public opinion continues to turn in favor of same-sex marriage, legalizing it is still a heavy lift for many states.

Even in Rhode Island, which sits in the country's friendliest territory for gay-marriage supporters, opposition from the state's heavy Catholic population put the prospects of passage in jeopardy for years. The legislation has been introduced in the House every session since 1997.

But last fall, more gay-marriage supporters were elected to the state legislature, and the bill's passage was the result of a highly energized and coordinated campaigning from those equal rights groups, business leaders, community organizers and politicians.

The bill overcame its biggest hurdle last week when it passed the Senate by a comfortable 26-12 vote after Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, allowed a vote despite her opposition to gay marriage. The House easily passed the legislation in January but needed to approve the final language in a procedural vote Thursday that passed 56-15. The session was largely a celebration in which legislators reflected on the significance of the bill and thanked those who fought for its passage.

"We are truly social creatures, and that is the essence of this legislation," House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, said before the bill was signed. "You are free to love and commit to the person of your choice no matter what your gender may be.... And the foundation of that is a very simple, yet probably the most powerful word in the English language: Love," said Fox, who is gay.

Along with the five other New England states, Rhode Island joins Iowa, Maryland, Washington, New York and Washington, D.C., in recognizing same-sex marriage. Minnesota, Illinois and Delaware are also expected to come to decisions about the issue soon.

Opponents to gay marriage argued passing the legislation would lessen religious liberty for churches and certain faith-based organizations

A day before the bill passed, the National Organization for Marriage called on the House to reject the legislation, which they say contains "a shocking lack of religious liberty protections, potentially ghettoizing people of faith unless they compromise and remain silent in the public square."

"When marriage is redefined into a genderless institution, it presents a range of legal conflicts for people of faith and the small businesses and charitable organizations they operate to serve the public," Christopher Plante, regional director for the organization, said in a statement.

The first same-sex marriages could take place Aug. 1, when the new law takes effect. Civil unions, which the state approved two years ago, will no longer be available to gay couples, though existing civil unions will still be recognized.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

[iamkeri1]

Every Time another state recognizes our humanity, I find myself in tears again.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Rhode Island!!!!
Teary Smooches,
Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

No. 11? Delaware poised to legalize gay marriage

Ali Vitali, @alivitali MSNBC
1:50 PM on 05/07/2013

The Delaware Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a gay marriage bill that could make it the 11th state to allow same-sex marriages.

The bill passed the Delaware General Assembly in April by a vote of 23-18 and it is expected to pass the Democrat-controlled state Senate.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a consistent supporter of gay marriage, has vowed to sign the bill. The governor previously said that allowing same-sex marriage in Delaware “is inevitable.”

The push for gay marriage in Delaware follows the passage of same-sex marriage in Rhode Island last week, as well as wins for marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington this past November.

These state-level battles are taking place amid the backdrop of a Supreme Court considering arguments on both the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s controversial Prop 8.

National polling also shows that a majority of the public supports the move to legalize gay marriage. Nate Silver reported in late March that, on average, polls show 51% approval for same-sex marriage, with 43% opposed.

Delaware legalized civil unions in 2011, and while Gov. Markell hadn’t expected to revisit the issue so soon, he told advocates he was “happy to stand” with them.

The 10 other states to allow gay marriage include Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, and Washington. The District of Columbia has also legalized gay marriage

[MsTinkerbelly]

.








Delaware Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill, Will Be Law

The vote was 12-9. Gov. Jack Markell will sign the bill into law, making Delaware the 11th state, plus DC, to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The Delaware Senate passed a marriage equality bill Tuesday on a 12-9 vote, following the House's passage of the bill in late April.

Speaking in favor of the bill before the vote, Sen. Bryan Townsend said, "I hope we begin to treat as equals all those who wish to announce their love and commitment to the world."

Gov. Jack Markell will sign the bill, making Delaware the 11th state to recognize same-sex couples' marriage rights. The bill will go into effect on July 1, and all civil unions not converted to marriages or dissolved by July 1, 2014, will be automatically converted into marriages.

During the course of the afternoon, Sen. Karen Peterson came out publicly to her colleagues as a lesbian, discussing what the bill would do for her and her longtime partner.

Senator David P. Sokola, the bill's lead sponsor in the Senate, led debate for the supporters, including calling on Equality Delaware's leader, Mark Purpura. Purpura went through the bill, section by section, to explain its purposes.

The bill reverses Delaware's 1996 law banning same-sex couples from marrying. It also provides that same-sex couples' recognized relationships from jurisdictions other than Delaware will be treated as a marriage for purposes of Delaware law. Finally, it specifies that no religious individual will be forced to solemnize any same-sex couple's wedding.

Delaware passed civil unions in 2011, but Markell has been saying since last summer that he expected Delaware to move on granting gay and lesbian couples full marriage rights in 2013.

Sen. Robert Venables, one of the key opponents of the bill, said, "Things have moved a lot faster than anyone expected. I'm having problems with my own self. So far, I've not evolved. I wonder what's wrong with me."

Explaining "how far these people will go in their pursuit of being normal," Venables discussed a book he said was called the "Queen James Bible," which he said had the purpose of removing homophobia from the Bible.

"I don't wish anyone ill will," Venables said, "[but] I think this goes too far, to say a man marries a man and a woman marries a woman."

[MsTinkerbelly]

Minnesota Marriage Equality Bill Gets Floor Vote Thursday



Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on May 7, 2013.

It looks like Delaware will be 11 and Minnesota will be 12. At which point, we will be at the rough quarter mark for marriage equality in the United States. The Minnesota House of Representatives has announced that HF1054, or the civil marriage to same-sex couples, bill will have a floor vote on 9 May.

This means that the bill has enough votes to pass since House leaders have stated repeatedly that the bill will not come to the floor without the needed 68 votes to pass. The bill will include strong protections regarding religious freedom.

Minnesota United Campaign Manager Richard Carlbom stated “Thursday’s vote in the Minnesota House of Representatives will be a historic victory for thousands of same-sex couples and families in our state. We are confident that the necessary votes to extend the freedom to marry for same-sex couples have been secured and that HF1054 will pass the House floor. The Minnesota House of Representatives is now poised to make Minnesota the next state to grant civil marriage to same-sex couples and their families by affirming what we already know to be true: Marriage is about the love, commitment, and responsibility that two people share, and it is a basic freedom that should no longer be denied to some simply because of who they are.”

The Senate will likely vote on the bill shortly thereafter, and passage in both chambers would then send the bill to Governor Mark Dayton, who has stated that he will sign the law.

This past November, Minnesota United lead the campaign to stop an amendment that would have defined marriage as being between a man and a woman in Minnesota. That amendment failed at a time when Maryland and Washington State upheld their marriage equality laws at the ballot box and Maine became the first state to vote a marriage equality bill into law

[MsTinkerbelly]

The debate is still going on in the Minnesota House, primarily because one of the Republicans decided to propose "Civil Marriage" for same sex couples instead of "marriage" as the hetro couples receive.

They are determined until the last second possible to keep us "less than". The house has enough votes to pass without one Republican vote, so the debate is pretty much a formality.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Marriage Equality USA
1:06 PM -
Community
- U.S. - General



Marriage equality has just passed in the Minnesota House by a 75-59 vote. It now will move on to the Senate this coming Monday. If it passes there, marriages will begin in Minnesota this summer

[MsTinkerbelly]

Minnesota House Approves Marriage Equality 75-59

The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a marriage equality bill in a bipartisan vote, following three hours of debate.

BY Sunnivie Brydum.

May 09 2013 2:08 PM ET UPDATED: May 09 2013 4:36 PM ET





Pro-equality group Minnesotans United created the above meme to be shared on social networks demonstrating support for marriage equality.

The Minnesota House of Representatives approved a bill legalizing marriage equality Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 75-59, earning "aye" votes from two Republicans. The bill will likely be heard by the full state Senate next week.

The legislation, House File 1054, provides for marriage between any two adults, but would not require religious institutions or individuals to perform or recognize same-sex marriages.

The House spent a good deal of time debating an amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Tim Kelly, which would have created civil unions for same-sex couples, rather than full marriage equality. The amendment was rejected by a vote of 22-111.[/

"In Minnesota, we don't turn our backs on family," said out lesbian Rep. and bill sponsor Karen Clark during the three-hour debate, during which supporters and opponents could be heard chanting outside the closed chamber doors.

Governor Mark Dayton has promised to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. In November, Minnesota voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned marriage equality — the first state to reject such an amendment.

A Senate committe approved the legislation in March. If the legislation passes the Democrat-controlled Senate, as it is expected to do next week, and the Governor signs the bill, Minnesota would become the 12th state to legalize marriage equality, and the first midwestern state to do so legislatively. Same-sex couples could begin marrying on August 1, reports Pam's House Blend. The Iowa Supreme Court mandated marriage equality in a unanimous decision in 2009

[MsTinkerbelly]

MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Minnesota Senate to vote on Freedom to Marry Act TODAY MAY 13TH

Updated: May 13, 2013 10:23 AM PDT



ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) -
In a matter of hours, the Minnesota Senate is expected to pass a bill to legalize same sex marriage and make Minnesota the 12th state with marriage equality.


The scene at the Capitol is more subdued than last Thursday's vote in the House -- more of a celebration-in-waiting. And unlike Thursday, when supporters and opponents stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the Rotunda, the Capitol on Monday is filled almost exclusively with supporters of the bill.


LIVE VIDEO

Watch live video of the debate and vote at http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/categ...218/live-video


'GOING TO THE CHAPEL'


Crowds have been growing by the hour, with supporters singing a chorus of "Going to the Chapel" from the Capitol steps ahead of the noon session.

Last Thursday, the Minnesota House passed the H.F. 1054 – the Freedom to Marry Act – with a 75-59 vote. Monday, Minnesota senators will vote on S.F. 925 and leaders say it has enough support to pass. The bill's next stop would be the desk of Gov. Mark Dayton, who has all intentions of signing it.

LAST STAND


But while marriage equality in Minnesota is a foregone conclusion, opponents are staging their last stand.

Bill Zemke from St. Peter's Catholic Church in Forest Lake, Minn. and Bob Hinnenkamp from St. John's Parish in Excelsior, Minn. both showed up at the Capitol on Monday to show their opposition.

"I don't want to change the definition of marriage for a minority of people," Hinnenkamp said.

WHAT CHANGES?


The bill changes the word "marriage" in state law to "civil marriage," and changes the definition of those eligible from "a man and a woman" to "two persons."

GOVERNOR TO SIGN BILL TUESDAY


The Senate is expected to start debating at noon, with a vote to follow. And then a vote will follow. Gov. Dayton is expected to sign the bill on Tuesday, and couples would be allowed to get married starting on Aug. 1


Read more: MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Minnesota Senate to vote Monday - KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story...#ixzz2TCOydssv

[MsTinkerbelly]

Marriage Equality Watch
2:22 PM - Public



Minnesota just passed the marriage equality bill after 4 1/2 hours of debate!!!!!





BREAKING: Minnesota Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill 37 to 30 – On to Governor Dayton »
Minnesota Senate After months of speculation, the marriage equality bill just cleared the Minnesota Senate, after passing the House last week on a surprising 75-59 vote. Governor Mark Dayton, narrowly elected last November, has been pushing the bill, and has promised to sign it.

[DapperButch]

Yes Haw! As always thanks for keeping us updated MsTinkerbelly!

[MsTinkerbelly]

I can't cut and paste (iPad), so I'll put something on tomorrow...long story short, a hong kong court ruled today that a transwoman would be allowed to marry her boyfriend.

Not same-sex marriage I know, but a huge step in human rights, and a win for the dignity we all deserve.

[SelfMadeMan]

SO PROUD to live in Minnesota! After all the hard work, phone banking, door knocking, lobbying and protesting, we will watch Governor Dayton sign it into law this evening at 5:00! Love is legal!

[MsTinkerbelly]

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's top court granted a transgender woman the right to marry her boyfriend Monday in a watershed ruling that falls short of allowing same-sex marriage.

The surprise decision only covers the right of a transgender person who was born male to marry a man, and for one who was born female to marry a woman.

The ruling by the Court of Final Appeal brings the semiautonomous Chinese city in line with many other places in the Asia-Pacific region, including mainland China, where transgender people are allowed to marry as their new gender.

The court ruled in favor of the woman, identified only as W. One of the judges on the five-member panel dissented.

W's lawyer, Michael Vidler, said his client was "overjoyed." W, who is in her 30s, was born a man but had surgery in 2008 to become a woman. The hospital issued a letter certifying her new gender.

Vidler read a statement by W to reporters in which she said that after the surgery she has lived her life "as a woman and been treated as a woman in all respects except as regards my right to marriage. This decision rights that wrong."

In a conference call later with reporters, W said, "I'm very glad that I can finally get married to my beloved boyfriend in Hong Kong." She added that she hopes the ruling will have a positive influence how sexual minorities are seen in Hong Kong, where many hold conservative views.

Vidler said the ruling won't take effect for 12 months, giving the government time to change marriage laws.

The judges noted that from evidence and submissions received, "it appears in the Asia-Pacific region, such marriages are permitted" in mainland China, Singapore, India, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. Same-sex marriage remains rare in the region, though New Zealand approved it last month.




In China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs clarified the law in 2003 to make it clear that transgender marriage is legal.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, came back under Chinese control in 1997 but was granted a high degree of autonomy from Beijing and retains a separate legal system.

[Nadeest]

Ooops, I didn't see this, before I posted something about it, here. I just don't remember,offhand, what thread that i posted it in! lol @ myself

[chris1life]

I'm so proud that our country is starting to move in a direction that will give us equality! This butch gets all emotional and teary eyed every time a new state pass the law! We are gaining ground folks. Ha I may have to move out of Mississippi Because I Would die of shock if it ever passed here.

[iamkeri1]

Originally Posted by chris1life

I'm so proud that our country is starting to move in a direction that will give us equality! This butch gets all emotional and teary eyed every time a new state pass the law! We are gaining ground folks. Ha I may have to move out of Mississippi Because I Would die of shock if it ever passed here.

Right with you there chris, on all counts - the tears and the consideration of moving. Also seems quite a long shot for Florida to pass anything like this.

Ms T ...
Not same-sex marriage I know, but a huge step in human rights, and a win for the dignity we all deserve.

MANY states do not recognise sex changes, even if they allow you to change your sex on your Driver's license or even your birth certificate. Because of your appearance and your paperwork, you may be allowed to marry, but if the underlying law does not regognise sex changes, then the marriage, if challenged by divorce or upon death, can/will be found invalid. If you move in to such a state having been legally married somewhere else, doesn't mean a state with these restrictions will recognise your marriage. So it remains a same sex issue. Seems like we are all stuck on the same road. Fortunately we are gaining ground at last.

... and Ms T thank you so much for all you do to help our movement and keep us up to date as well
Smooches,
Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

Illinois Will Pass Marriage Equality Bill, Sponsor Says

Rep. Greg Harris of Illinois predicts success for the state's marriage equality bill, which coincidentally today picked up Bill Clinton's endorsement.

BY Trudy Ring.

May 21 2013 3:26 PM ET


May could become an even more spectacular month for marriage equality: The sponsor of the Illinois bill predicts it will pass by the month’s end, which is also the end of the legislative session.

Rep. Greg Harris, the chief sponsor, said he will “absolutely” call a vote on the marriage equality bill by May 31, and “it’s going to win,” Chicago’s Windy City Times reports. Harris has previously said he would not bring the measure to a vote in the House of Representatives unless he was sure there was enough support to pass it. The state Senate approved it Valentine’s Day, and Gov. Pat Quinn has vowed to sign it.

The bill picked up an endorsement today from former president Bill Clinton, who issued a statement invoking another president. “Since the days of Abraham Lincoln, Illinois has stood for the proposition that all citizens should be treated equally under the law,” President Clinton said in Tuesday’s statement. “Lincoln himself came to Springfield in search of opportunity, and he dedicated his life to securing equal opportunity for all citizens. I believe that for Illinois and for our nation as a whole, in the 21st century that must include marriage equality.”

Several other supporters of the bill have predicted it would pass by May 31, according to Windy City Times. If this happens, Illinois will join three other states — Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota — that have approved marriage equality in the past few weeks. Twelve states plus the District of Columbia offer marriage rights to same-sex couples.