Gay Rights in America

[Gard]

^

Eharmony is taking it to the US court system now, so its far from over...

I don't expect that any of these things involving gay rights will end in the state courts. On another note, its getting uglier everyday in CA. A couple Islamic Clerics in CA have called on their followers to wage Jihad on the gay community there and the KKK is trying to stick their nose in it as well. Once again, I think we are only scratching the surface of whats to come.

[Charlotte_native]

^

I don't expect that any of these things involving gay rights will end in the state courts. On another note, its getting uglier everyday in CA. A couple Islamic Clerics in CA have called on their followers to wage Jihad on the gay community there and the KKK is trying to stick their nose in it as well. Once again, I think we are only scratching the surface of whats to come.

As much as I truly hate to say it, I think all of this needs to happen. I've always hoped, naively(?), that this could be done step-by-step incrementally, but I think I understand now that you have to fight and be on the offensive if you truly want somenthing like this. The more opposition that comes out, the more this is in the national spotlight, the more it is in the national spotlight, the more people have to consider and think about what is going on. I suspect this isn't going to die down until the next election cycle as it always does -- this time it seems like a wave that isn't going to stop.

[Charlotteman]

The "artist formerly known as Prince" or whatever he is called these days, recently found religion......and he made some murky comments regarding gay marriage.

Don't ya'll just love it when some bonified eccentric like Prince "finds god". It's a guaranteed laugh riot when someone so weird speaks out against gay marriage.

[kayman]

The "artist formerly known as Prince" or whatever he is called these days, recently found religion......and he made some murky comments regarding gay marriage.

Don't ya'll just love it when some bonified eccentric like Prince "finds god". It's a guaranteed laugh riot when someone so weird speaks out against gay marriage.

You're a little late on that. He clarified on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, last Tuesday that the story's writer misquoted him about what he was talking about. He reinterated that the bible teaches "thou should not judge" as how he feel about anyone in general. In other words, he is ambivalent about same-sex marriage.

[snoogit]

eHarmony to Segregate Gay Matchmaking Site

errrr... while it's a step forward, it reminds me of this:

I hope hope hope this isn't a final solution to the answer.

[erdogs]

Why would any gay men or woman give money to use this site? It's obvious that DR. Warren and his company come from a religious perspective. I don't see a need for this lawsuit, there are plenty of places online for gay people to use. I hope no one uses the new EHarmony site and they end up losing money.

[Charlotteman]

A judge in Florida has just ruled the gay anti adoption law unconstitutional. This is great news for freedom, as well as for the care of children.

[dimebag1980]

A judge in Florida has just ruled the gay anti adoption law unconstitutional. This is great news for freedom, as well as for the care of children.

That's awesome. The system is flawed, as there are way too many kids in need of a good, loving home but too much regulation to keep that from happening.

[kayman]

A judge in Florida has just ruled the gay anti adoption law unconstitutional. This is great news for freedom, as well as for the care of children.

Well, somebody in Arkansas better get bold and do the same for it's states' similar law that bans all non-legally married couples and singles (heterosexual and homosexual) from adopting children.

[voyager12]

So is anyone calling in gay tomorrow? Wednesday is the first national "Call in gay for the day" protest against Prop Ht8. I have mixed feelings on this. In this economy it's tough for most of us to skip work. I suppose I might feel differently if if my workplace environment was not gay friendly. But I am a solo act and do my own thing all day long. There is no way to measure what the impact is going to be there are so many variables.

The strongest weapon we have is to be out in whatever form of visibility one is comfortable with.

[Charlotteman]

The strongest weapon we have is to be out in whatever form of visibility one is comfortable with.

Calling in "gay for the day" is quite presumptuous. Not all gays are comfortable middle class folks, who can afford to skip a day's pay. Lots of gays work for low salaries, and that one day could make a difference whether or not the light bill can be paid.

Voyager is so right in his post. We should all be as "out" as possible......whatever that means for each individual.

[suburban george3]

Had I known well in advance about 'call in gay' to work day, I would have participated. However, we had a big project at work with multiple vendors involved scheduled and that would have raised many eyebrows and probably wouldn't have gone over well. Had the day been a light day, say paperwork at the office, I would have done it.

[Gard]

I was watching on CNN that very few people participated, not even in San Francisco. They talked to some people about it and one was quoted as saying that he was not going to add a burden to an employer that has bent over backwards to outreach to him and help him fit into the work environment. Others said they can't afford it and still yet others believed it it wasn't in the best interests of the economy to hurt employers further than they are already and risk layoffs. Many said it was a great idea, but there was poor planning and it came at a bad time.

[Charlotte_native]

I was watching on CNN that very few people participated, not even in San Francisco. They talked to some people about it and one was quoted as saying that he was not going to add a burden to an employer that has bent over backwards to outreach to him and help him fit into the work environment. Others said they can't afford it and still yet others believed it it wasn't in the best interests of the economy to hurt employers further than they are already and risk layoffs. Many said it was a great idea, but there was poor planning and it came at a bad time.

I didn't know about it until the night before, but for the reasons you've stated above, I doubt I would have participated. Additionally I work for a gay owned company with about half gay employees...no statement of who we are needed at my job!

[voyager12]

I saw "Milk" last night. Great movie. Have to say it was a rather surreal and bittersweet experience though with Prop 8 weighing on everyone's mind. Especially the scene celebrating the defeat of Prop 6 which would have banned gay teachers and their straight allies from schools.

I left the movie regretting that we don't have a defined charismatic singular leader of our movement. On the other hand our "community" is so diverse today compared to Milk's base. Our movement is far beyond the majority white gay male eclaves of The Castro and The Village. There are so many cultural cross currents in regards to race and class now it would be hard to rally around one individual.

One similarity I drew from the film was Milk's complaint about the refusal back then to feature gay couples in the campaign against Prop 6. It's effectively closeting us in fear of alienating the "middle". We need to be "out there" in every way to make the direct impact. Allies are critically important but we need to be out front. They were able to turn it around in Harvey Milk's time and they won. The No on Prop 8 Campaign went backwards on this and failed.

[voyager12]

Has anyone been following the Prop 8 hearing today? I have not gotten online in any capacity. It's pretty jammed. Hoping for the best, but I think the Court will let Prop 8 stand and to try and be balanced they won't void the current gay marriages.

[Nashville_maestro]

Another landmark event today in this arena. The Iowa supreme court has officially determined that a same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional and will allow gay marriage as soon as 21 days from now making it the first state in the midwest to do so. Another domino has fallen.

Article- Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned in Iowa

[ohioaninSC]

Another landmark event today in this arena. The Iowa supreme court has officially determined that a same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional and will allow gay marriage as soon as 21 days from now making it the first state in the midwest to do so. Another domino has fallen.

Article- Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned in Iowa

I'm so glad to see this happen in a more conservative state like Iowa...now 3 states allow it, as the article stated that there will be no appeal made.

[Charlotteman]

^^ of course this is fabulous news for freedom loving people everywhere.

I had thought New Jersey would be the next domino to fall....so I was a bit surprised to see Iowa join the list of free states. And wasn't Hawaii supposed to be close to allowing gay marriages?

Three down, forty seven to go.

[Charlotteman]

I just read a recent Associated Press article by David Crary about the next possible gay marriage states. Fascinating times we live in.

Vermont's state legislature has overwhelmingly passed full gay marriage. The bill awaits the governor's decision.

New Hampshire's House has already passed a bill for full gay marriage. The N.H. senate will be voting soon.

New Jersey's governor has pledged to sign a full gay marriage bill, after it goes through the state legislature.

In Maine's legislature, 60 co sponsors have signed off on full gay marriage. Maine's governor hasn't stated yet how he would approach signing on.

New York State's lower House already passed full gay marriage in 2007. The NY Senate leader wants to open it in the Senate when he's sure he has the votes.

On a sidenote: On April 1, Sweden became the latest country to have full fledged gay marriage.

[Charlotte_native]

I'm amazed. Iowa isn't a state I would have expected this from. From the other posts on here it seems not unrealistic to hope for a totally different landscape in this country in terms of gay marriage within the next 5 - 10 years. Maybe sooner if this starts rolling as fast as it seems to suddenly be.

[Gusterfell]

^I don't think Iowa is quite as conservative as many of us assume. Keep in mind that it was the state that gave Obama his first "out of nowhere" victory in the primaries last year, and if I remember correctly Obama also beat McCain in Iowa by a pretty good margin.

[davidals]

I'm no Iowa expert, but I was of the impression that the first town in the US to pass an LGTQ non-discrimination ordinance was in Iowa. Farther back, Iowa was one of the first places to officially endorse both abolition (at the statewide level) and an end to racial segregation, in both instances decades before most of the rest of the US. I get the sense that the prevailing sensibility there is a bit more libertarian or pragmatic than either liberal or conservative.

The added wrinkle to this: Iowa doesn't have ballot initiatives (so, probably none of the California shenanigans), and modifications to the state constitution require legislative majorities in 2 consecutive votes from 2 successive, different legislatures, followed by a general statewide referendum, so any proposal to modify the constitution to overturn this would require majorities in 3 seperate votes spaced over a period of at least 3 years.

[Charlotteman]

Vermont's legislature just legalized gay marriage, and overrode a veto by Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas.

Vermont becomes the first state to enact gay marriage from legislation, instead of through the courts.

[suburban george3]

DC city council has held a preliminary vote on recognizing same-sex marriage performed in other states and it has passed. There will be a final vote in May. This will be a test of the US Congress as they have to approve regulations passed by the DC city council.