Happy Day!

At 5:01 this evening, same-sex couples will be begin to legally wed in California. This is an exciting and historic day. California is the second state to permit same-sex marriages, following 4 years behind Massachusetts.

Conrats, Norweigian Couples!

Wednesday, June 11, the Norwegian parliament voted to allow same-sex couples to marry and to have the same rights as opposite-sex couples. The legislation passed by an overwhelming 84-41 vote. I love to see this progress being made!

Source:
[Yahoo]

California Homophobes Make Fools of Themselves

Two snippets out of California:

The Liberty Counsel, a Virginia-based evangelical group, has petitioned a California appellate court to delay equal marriage in California. The Liberty Counsel has asked the intermediate court to delay the implementation of the California Supreme Court's ruling that the state must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning at 5:01PM on June 16. Liberty Counsel asserts that, because the ruling conflicts with current law, the state legislature needs more time to implement the changes. This argument is, of course, absurd; the California legislature has already legalized marriage equality two times, but its efforts were thwarted by the governor's veto. There is no indication that Liberty Counsel's legal challenge will succeed. No information is available on why an organization called "Liberty Counsel" is opposing liberty and equality for all Americans.

[For more, see Gay.com.]

In other news, Californians are expected to vote on a constitutional amendment that would, if passed, ban same-sex marriage in that state. However, this proposed amendment might cause a legal mess that could have homophobes wishing they had just let things be. For instance, it's unclear what would happen to couples married between June 15 and the November election. Would they be forcibly divorced? Would their marriages remain intact, but new same-sex marriages be banned? Would all same-sex marriages be converted to domestic partnerships?

An even messier prospect, and one that California homophobes should fear, was pointed out in the Washington Post: what if the constitutional amendment inadvertently bans all marriage, gay or straight? It could happen, says constitutional scholar David Cruz. The California Supreme Court's ruling said that same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples must be treated the same, and must be given the same options. The proposed amendment would not change that, it would only make same-sex marriages illegal. If gays and straights have to be treated the same, and same-sex marriage is illegal, the logical result is that no one would be allowed to get married.

So there you have it. Fundamentalist bigots are so dedicated to keeping loving couples from getting married that they are willing to risk abolishing marriage altogether.

[For more, see The Washington Post.]

UPDATE: Professor Cruz (mentioned above) has informed me that a more detailed explanation of how banning same-sex marriage in California might ban marriage for all can be found on his blog. I recommend taking a look.

Kucinich Refuses to Let Pelosi Bury His Impeachment Effort

After introducing his articles of impeachment against President Bush, Rep. Kucinich reportedly promised not to let the Democratic leadership kill his impeachment resolution. Kucinich charges the Judiciary Committee with hold ing hearings on the resolution within 30 days, otherwise he promised to bring the bill up again. Next time, he said, "I won’t be the only one reading it."

Source:
[The Raw Story]

LGBT Orgs: Don't Just Going Suing Everyone!

A coalition of LGBT equal rights organizations including the ACLU, GLAD, Lambda Legal, NCLR, Equality Federation, Freedom to Marry, GLAAD, HRC, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have issued a statement today asking couples not to take advantage of the new California marriage ruling by taking their California marriage and using it to sue other states or the federal government for recognition. Their reason? Many state and federal courts are not ready to recognize same sex-marriage, which could lead to adverse court rulings. If that happens, discrimination will be written into law in those states (or under federal law), and marriage equality will be even harder to achieve later down the road.

The full statement is embedded below as a Scribd document.

make change statement - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: make change statement

All 35 of Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment for Bush

I've found a complete list of all 35 of Rep. Kucinich's articles of impeachment against President Bush. The list is not as detailed as the one I wrote out yesterday (which included only articles 17-35), but it's a good start.

UPDATE: Below, I have embedded a very detailed list of all 35 Articles of Impeachment. This file is downloadable, printable, and searchable. To download, click the Scribd icon in the top left. To maximize, click the icon in the top right.

A resolution for impeachment - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: A resolution for impeachment

If You're LGBT, McCain is Not Your Man

The HRC has posted a short video on YouTube that details just how anti-gay Sen. McCain is. It's short, and worth a watch.