Blog
BLOG: It’s official: OR gov signs civil unions, anti-discrimination
Posted on May 09, 2007 at 03:26 pm
Daily Kos
May 9, 2007
Hooray! It ain't marriage and it ain't portable, but if you're gay and one of you lives in Oregon, now at least you can get most of the same STATE rights and benefits as married couples routinely do...and that's a great thing. A long time coming, and another reminder that ELECTIONS MATTER. These bills died in 2005 despite a Dem-led Senate and Governor's mansion; the House was still led by the GOP. In 2006 control flipped and—like magic, NOT!—now suddenly they are law. [link]
May 9, 2007
Hooray! It ain't marriage and it ain't portable, but if you're gay and one of you lives in Oregon, now at least you can get most of the same STATE rights and benefits as married couples routinely do...and that's a great thing. A long time coming, and another reminder that ELECTIONS MATTER. These bills died in 2005 despite a Dem-led Senate and Governor's mansion; the House was still led by the GOP. In 2006 control flipped and—like magic, NOT!—now suddenly they are law. [link]
PODCAST: Minnesota Public Radio hosts marriage debate
Posted on May 08, 2007 at 02:19 pm
Minnesota Public Radio
May 8, 2007
Richard Mohr, a professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of a number of books on gay rights, most recently, "The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality and Rights," squared off with Dwight Duncan, a professor at Southern New England School of Law in Massachusetts, who got his degree at the Vatican. Mohr does a great job of articulating what marriage is really about. Broadcast: Midday, 05/08/2007, 12:00 p.m [link]
May 8, 2007
Richard Mohr, a professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of a number of books on gay rights, most recently, "The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality and Rights," squared off with Dwight Duncan, a professor at Southern New England School of Law in Massachusetts, who got his degree at the Vatican. Mohr does a great job of articulating what marriage is really about. Broadcast: Midday, 05/08/2007, 12:00 p.m [link]
Gay couples learn that civil union isn’t the same as marriage
Posted on May 06, 2007 at 01:41 pm
Concord Monitor
May 6, 2007
In the seven years since Vermont became the first state to create civil unions, couples have uncovered countless ways in which their unions differ from non-gay marriage. Because the federal government doesn't acknowledge civil unions, same-sex couples miss out on the federal benefits afforded non-gay married couples. And because many states have conflicting laws, a couple's rights can evaporate when they cross the state line. [link]
May 6, 2007
In the seven years since Vermont became the first state to create civil unions, couples have uncovered countless ways in which their unions differ from non-gay marriage. Because the federal government doesn't acknowledge civil unions, same-sex couples miss out on the federal benefits afforded non-gay married couples. And because many states have conflicting laws, a couple's rights can evaporate when they cross the state line. [link]
13 resign from Nebraskan diversity team after lesbian speaker canceled
Posted on May 04, 2007 at 03:45 pm
KETV
May 4, 2007
"Because my partner isn't male, my family doesn't count. It isn't a family," Gillespie said. "(I was going to speak) so they could be a little more aware when they're discussing their own issues with their own children, so we could stop perpetuating bias and prejudice." When the co-chairs of the committee were told by HHS administrators that Gillespie could not participate, they and 11 others resigned from the committee. [link]
May 4, 2007
"Because my partner isn't male, my family doesn't count. It isn't a family," Gillespie said. "(I was going to speak) so they could be a little more aware when they're discussing their own issues with their own children, so we could stop perpetuating bias and prejudice." When the co-chairs of the committee were told by HHS administrators that Gillespie could not participate, they and 11 others resigned from the committee. [link]
BLOG: Why it matters every day
Posted on May 04, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Pam's House Blend
May 4, 2007
Just yesterday [my neighbor] came over to visit, "to have conversation," as she put it. She told me that that very first day that I walked by and waved had changed her life..So today she wanted to come to tell me the impact I had on her life. And, with tears streaming down her face, to apologize for her cruelty to me personally in voting for the Mississippi Marriage Amendment. Every day we make a difference. We must remember that. [link]
May 4, 2007
Just yesterday [my neighbor] came over to visit, "to have conversation," as she put it. She told me that that very first day that I walked by and waved had changed her life..So today she wanted to come to tell me the impact I had on her life. And, with tears streaming down her face, to apologize for her cruelty to me personally in voting for the Mississippi Marriage Amendment. Every day we make a difference. We must remember that. [link]
In NH, civil unions would give ‘same rights’ as marriage
Posted on May 02, 2007 at 03:35 pm
The Seacoast
May 2, 2007
Federal rights and protections recognized worldwide, however, are not provided to gay couples. Depending on the individual states' marriage and civil union laws, or lack thereof, other states are not obligated to recognize the same rights provided by New Hampshire. "It's pretty good," said Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, who co-sponsored House Bill 437. "But it's not marriage." [link]
May 2, 2007
Federal rights and protections recognized worldwide, however, are not provided to gay couples. Depending on the individual states' marriage and civil union laws, or lack thereof, other states are not obligated to recognize the same rights provided by New Hampshire. "It's pretty good," said Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, who co-sponsored House Bill 437. "But it's not marriage." [link]
The significance of NY’s gov. submitting marriage bill
Posted on May 01, 2007 at 03:47 pm
Advocate
May 1, 2007
"The fact that an intelligent, ambitious, strong politician like Eliot Spitzer feels he can do this and that he will be vindicated by history shows the momentum toward marriage equality," said Evan Wolfson. This is the first time any U.S. governor has authored and introduced a marriage-equality bill to a state legislature.
[Link]
May 1, 2007
"The fact that an intelligent, ambitious, strong politician like Eliot Spitzer feels he can do this and that he will be vindicated by history shows the momentum toward marriage equality," said Evan Wolfson. This is the first time any U.S. governor has authored and introduced a marriage-equality bill to a state legislature.
[Link]
Spitzer vows to push NY marriage bill
Posted on Apr 27, 2007 at 03:46 pm
Washington Blade
April 27, 2007
"Introducing the bill is a good, crucial, exciting first step," said Evan Wolfson. "But New York advocates, gay and non-gay, as well as the governor and legislators, have to really focus now on getting this bill through first the Assembly, then the Senate and to the governor's desk. And thats going to take a lot of work and even more leadership."
[Link]
April 27, 2007
"Introducing the bill is a good, crucial, exciting first step," said Evan Wolfson. "But New York advocates, gay and non-gay, as well as the governor and legislators, have to really focus now on getting this bill through first the Assembly, then the Senate and to the governor's desk. And thats going to take a lot of work and even more leadership."
[Link]
WA gov. signs domestic partnership law
Posted on Apr 26, 2007 at 03:44 pm
Bay Area Reporter
April 26, 2007
Evan Wolfson said domestic partnerships such as in California and Washington are an important "first step" toward marriage equality. But he said both contain aspects that are "diminishing" of their meaning to gay couples. Both, he noted, have very limited benefits hospital visitation, authorizing autopsies, and inheritance rights when there is no will. Both also allow seniors to register as domestic partnerships, conveying an impression that the law is not so much to recognize same-sex couples as to handle some legal issues for pairs of people who live together and share expenses.
[Link]
April 26, 2007
Evan Wolfson said domestic partnerships such as in California and Washington are an important "first step" toward marriage equality. But he said both contain aspects that are "diminishing" of their meaning to gay couples. Both, he noted, have very limited benefits hospital visitation, authorizing autopsies, and inheritance rights when there is no will. Both also allow seniors to register as domestic partnerships, conveying an impression that the law is not so much to recognize same-sex couples as to handle some legal issues for pairs of people who live together and share expenses.
[Link]
BLOG: NJ civil unions after two months & why “marriage” still matters
Posted on Apr 24, 2007 at 03:36 pm
The Huffington Post
April 24, 2007
Civil unions and domestic partnerships may seem fine on paper, but they just don't work in the real world. Same sex couples in New Jersey can attest to that. Of the 575 couples registered as of April 20, many have alerted the advocacy group Garden State Equality that employers and insurers are denying them protection — some 54 in all. That's a 10% rate of inadequate rights — "one of the most astonishing rates of failure for a civil rights law in our lifetime," according to Garden State Equality chair Steven Goldstein. Not to mention that those 54 are just the ones we know about. [link]
April 24, 2007
Civil unions and domestic partnerships may seem fine on paper, but they just don't work in the real world. Same sex couples in New Jersey can attest to that. Of the 575 couples registered as of April 20, many have alerted the advocacy group Garden State Equality that employers and insurers are denying them protection — some 54 in all. That's a 10% rate of inadequate rights — "one of the most astonishing rates of failure for a civil rights law in our lifetime," according to Garden State Equality chair Steven Goldstein. Not to mention that those 54 are just the ones we know about. [link]