Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: Marriage
May 1st, 2009
Today is the first day that Sweden will allow same-sex marriages. Congratulations are in order.
However, for church weddings, Swedes will have to wait a bit longer.
the Lutheran Church, which was the state church until 2000, has said that while it supports the new law, its synod will only formally decide in October whether to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.
For those marrying right away or for those waiting for a church wedding, we wish you all the best.
May 1st, 2009
Matt Baume, writing in SF Appeal, makes the point that all conversations about gay people, their families, and their lives advance the movement towards equality.
What’s hastening along this shift in public opinion? Conversations. The more people talk about gay couples, the more comfortable they are with them. And it doesn’t even seem to matter what people say — lord knows, there’ve been plenty of anti-gay conversations lately — every conversation keeps nudging public opinion towards equality. So the anti-gay-couple groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are standing in quicksand: the more they keep struggling, the faster they sink. Next month, the California Supreme Court will rule on Prop 8 — and no matter the outcome, it’ll nudge public opinion yet again.
Baume also links to our observations on NOM’s second ad. Thanks, Matt.
April 30th, 2009
Per WCSH
The Maine state senate has voted on one of the most controversial bills this year. The bill proposes to legalize gay marriage in Maine.
Debate on the bill began Thursday morning. In an initial vote it was 20 to 15 in favor of passing the bill. The senate is also discussing adding an amendment to the bill to put it out to vote.
The bill will go to the House as early as next week and the Governor is giving hints that he may sign it.
April 30th, 2009
Maine’s Governor John Baldacci (D) placed a surprise phone call to a local blogger associated with Pam’s House Blend, and explained his evolution from an opponent to a supporter of marriage equality. As quoted by Louise, Gov. Baldacci said:
I was extremely impressed by the arguments for both sides, but especially by the proponents. They were very respectful- I liked that they turned their backs when they disagreed. I was truly impressed by the people who spoke for the bill. I was opposed to this for a long time, but people evolve, people change as time goes by.
Louise was left with the distinct impression that Gov. Baldacci would sign the same-sex marriage bill if it should reach his desk. The state Senate is expected to vote on the bill this morning.
April 29th, 2009
New Hampshire’s Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage after an amendment was added that prohibits polygamy and marriage of family members, among other measures.
…
The bill passed the state’s House of Representatives on March 26 but looked set for near certain defeat in the Senate before the amendment, which appeared to mollify some critics in the Democrat-controlled chamber.The last-minute changes to the legislation would allow clergy to decline to marry homosexual couples and give couples the freedom to either keep the words “bride” and “groom” on marriage licenses, or simply use the word “spouse” instead.
The bill now goes back to the House to resolve the variances and then to the Governor for signature.
Governor John Lynch has said in the past that he does not support gay marriage, but the religious protections – along with a new poll showing support – may give the governor adequate comfort.
April 28th, 2009
The New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition is reporting that a poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center finds support for marriage.
A poll released today by New Hampshire Freedom to Marry shows that 55% of New Hampshire Voters support marriage for lesbian and gay couples, while 39% are opposed.
The Senate will vote on the marriage bill tomorrow.
April 28th, 2009
A poll release by CBS/New York Times shows a recent very sharp shift in support for marriage equality. For the first time, support for marriage went above 40% and opposition to all forms of recognition dropped below 30%. And, for the first time, “marriage” is the most preferred of choices offered.
42 – marriage
25 – civil unions but not marriage
28 – no recognition for couples
5 – uncertain
Although polling has shown a steady increase of about 10% in support for marriage since the devisive 2004 Presidential elections in which President Bush made it a campaign issue, this latest poll suggest that there has been about a 9% jump in support in the past six weeks.
In the period between the two polls:
Any one of these might be expected to result in negative reaction. But if this week’s poll is accurate, there has not been an uptick in voter outrage; rather, quite the opposite has occured.
Either this poll is an anomoly, or it provides support for those who claim that America is reaching a tipping point on the issue of marriage equality.
April 28th, 2009
Per the AP, the marriage bill has been passed by the Judiciary Committee
Eleven of the 14 Judiciary Committee members voted Tuesday to pass the bill, while two voted against it and one proposed sending it to voters in a November referendum. Gov. John Baldacci remains undecided.
April 27th, 2009
The Des Moines Register reports:
At least 261 same-sex couples have applied for marriage licenses in Iowa so far today, with the heaviest concentrations in Linn, Polk, Scott and Johnson counties, according to information collected by The Des Moines Register. The tally so far includes 20 out-of-state couples, according to a survey of county recorders.
Although state law requires a three day delay, judges have the authority to waive the delay and several couples married.
April 24th, 2009
From Politics on the Hudson:
The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, has 18 Democratic co-sponsors: Adams, Breslin, Dilan, Espada, Craig Johnson, Klein, Krueger, Montgomery, Oppenheimer, Parker, Perkins, Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, Squadron, Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins and Thompson.
It will need 32 votes in the Senate.
The Assembly bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Daniel O\’Donnell, D-Manhattan, has more, 53: Gottfried, Glick, Titone, Kellner, Silver, Bing, Rosenthal, Jeffries, Dinowitz, John, Kavanagh, DenDekker, Schimel, Sayward, Alessi, Aubry, Boyland, Bradley, Brennan, Brodsky, Cahill, Cook, Duprey, Eddington, Englebright, Farrell, Fields, Gianaris, Hevesi, Hoyt, Jaffee, Lancman, Latimer, Lavine, Lentol, Lifton, Lopez V, Lupardo, McEneny, Millman, Nolan, Ortiz, Paulin, Peralta, Pretlow, Rivera J, Rivera N, Sweeney, Towns, Weisenberg, Weprin, Wright, Zebrowski.
The Assembly bill is expected to pass easily. Current opinion is that the Senate bill will require the support of at least four Republicans and is far less certain.
April 23rd, 2009
From the Boston Globe:
The state Senate’s Judiciary Committee has recommended that the Legislature reject legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire.
The committee voted 3-2 Thursday against a bill that passed the House last month. Committee Chairwoman Deborah Reynolds, a Democrat, said she doesn’t think New Hampshire is ready for gay marriage. Republicans who voted against it said marriage is an institution created and defined by God as between one man and one woman.
New Hampshire Republicans have clearly never cracked the bindings of a Bible. I’m hard pressed to think of a single Biblical hero who actually was in a traditional marriage. Most had more than “one woman”, some married their siblings, some married total strangers, some had children with slaves, some were eunuchs, some eschewed marriage altogether, and some married prostitutes.
April 23rd, 2009
The latest poll of New Jersey voters finds them liking the idea
The Quinnipiac University Poll results are similar to a Monmouth University poll in February.
This poll finds 49 percent supporting gay marriage; 43 percent are opposed. Women and whites tend to favor a gay marriage law, while blacks, men and those who attend religious services weekly are more likely to oppose it.
April 22nd, 2009
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the state Senate approved a bill allowing domestic partners most of the same rights as married couples. The bill now goes to the Assembly for approval before facing an anticipated veto from the Governor. Although the bill did not pass with a veto-proof majority, the bill’s sponsor is will work to get the support needed to overcome a veto. One interesting quote came from Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno:
Raggio said that he has talked with friends who are domestic partners and that they said Parks’ bill goes too far. The rights they want and really need concern medical, inheritance and funeral decisions, he said.
I call bullpoop. While I do think couples did tell him that they need medical, inheritance and funeral decisions, I do not think that a single solitary gay couple encouraged him to vote against the bill because “it goes too far”.
And it’s time that news reporters stop letting these “my gay friends” claims go unchallenged. They are not credible and should not be treated as such.
It’s time for reporters to look the Senator in the eye and say, “Produce them, Raggio.”
UPDATE:
Sources in Nevada tell us that Raggio is scupulously honest. So if he says his gay friends told him it was “too far” then they probably did. They also pointed out that Raggio’s in his 80’s so his friends are probably from a different generation.
UPDATE 2:
We’ve heard from another Nevada source that challenges Raggio’s integrity. This source shares that Raggio has a history of anti-gay attitudes and that his “friends who are domestic partners” may well be fictional.
So again, we are back in a situation in which a politician uses nameless unspecified “friends” as evidence that his position is the correct one. Is he a truthful guy with old conservative friends or is he a shameless politician saying what he needs to say to support his agenda? Unless he trots his friends out, we’ll never know.
Why do we let them get away with this?
April 22nd, 2009
From the Bangor Daily News:
Same-sex couples from around the state urged Maine lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow them to marry, while opponents asked that it be rejected. A hearing is being held today before the Judiciary Committee at the Augusta Civic Center.
Supporters outnumbered opponents roughly four to one as the legislative hearing got under way about 9:30 a.m. About 3,000 people filled the auditorium.
Meanwhile, a poll of Mainers finds them split evenly on whether the state should pass the marriage bill:
The poll, conducted by a Portland-based firm earlier this month, showed that 47.3 percent of those surveyed support changing Maine statutes to allow marriage licenses to be issued to any two people regardless of their sex while 49.5 percent oppose it. The rest of the Maine residents polled hadn\’t made up their minds on the issue. The poll has a margin of error rate of 4.9 percent.
…
The second question asked those polled which statement came closest to describing their “position on the issue of marriage for gay and lesbian couples and civil unions?”The poll showed 39.3 percent selected, “Support for full marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.” Another 34.5 percent said they, “Support gay and civil unions or partnerships, but not gay marriage.” Twenty three percent of those polled said they, “Oppose any legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples.” The remaining survey respondents checked, “Don\’t know.”
April 20th, 2009
From Reuters
By a margin of 53 to 39 percent, New York voters said they backed Governor David Paterson’s proposal enabling same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, said the poll by the Siena Research Institute at Siena College in Loudonville, New York.
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