Blog
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]
Senior same-sex couples navigate system that doesn’t recognize them
Posted on Apr 22, 2007 at 03:53 pm
Concord Monitor
April 22, 2007
After 25 years together, Bill Twibill and Casper Kranenburg are linked by love, mutual respect and an inch-thick stack of documents that form a fragile facsimile of marriage they hope will allow them to care for each other as they age. Many gay men and lesbians worry that they'll still face discrimination in nursing homes and retirement communities. Married couples, for instance, are guaranteed rooms together, but that's not the case for same-sex couples. [Link]
April 22, 2007
After 25 years together, Bill Twibill and Casper Kranenburg are linked by love, mutual respect and an inch-thick stack of documents that form a fragile facsimile of marriage they hope will allow them to care for each other as they age. Many gay men and lesbians worry that they'll still face discrimination in nursing homes and retirement communities. Married couples, for instance, are guaranteed rooms together, but that's not the case for same-sex couples. [Link]
Native American Church Removes Ban on Gay and Lesbian Marriages
Posted on Apr 20, 2007 at 03:41 pm
eMediaWire
April 20, 2007
"First Nation Church, its members and ministers believe that marriage is a covenant between two adults and their God, based upon their love for one another. We believe that love for each other, for nature and for all things created by God materializes from the heart, not from legislative bodies. This basic tenet was so important that the founding fathers established it as the cornerstone of the United States Constitution, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights: that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'" [Link]
April 20, 2007
"First Nation Church, its members and ministers believe that marriage is a covenant between two adults and their God, based upon their love for one another. We believe that love for each other, for nature and for all things created by God materializes from the heart, not from legislative bodies. This basic tenet was so important that the founding fathers established it as the cornerstone of the United States Constitution, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights: that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'" [Link]
COMMENTARY: Marriage still overcoming past
Posted on Apr 19, 2007 at 02:36 pm
Examiner
April 19, 2007
When Maryland's highest court heard oral arguments in the lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in December, James and Colette Roberts paid attention. These Marylanders, married in 1959, could not have done so in the Free State at that time because state law prohibited interracial marriages until 1967. [Link]
April 19, 2007
When Maryland's highest court heard oral arguments in the lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in December, James and Colette Roberts paid attention. These Marylanders, married in 1959, could not have done so in the Free State at that time because state law prohibited interracial marriages until 1967. [Link]
Native returns to PA for marriage equality event
Posted on Apr 18, 2007 at 03:12 pm
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
April 18, 2007
More states are taking steps toward marriage equality for same-sex couples, and even states with civil unions are coming to the realization that civil unions aren't enough. That's the word from Pittsburgh native son and national marriage equality advocate Evan Wolfson, who tomorrow (April 19) is slated to discuss the state of same-sex marriages in the United States at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave, East Liberty. [link]
April 18, 2007
More states are taking steps toward marriage equality for same-sex couples, and even states with civil unions are coming to the realization that civil unions aren't enough. That's the word from Pittsburgh native son and national marriage equality advocate Evan Wolfson, who tomorrow (April 19) is slated to discuss the state of same-sex marriages in the United States at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave, East Liberty. [link]