Tag Archives: Gay Marriage

Sad, Powerful Ad for Same-Sex Marriage Shows You Wedding Memories That Were Never Made

For most, a wedding day is among the happiest moments in a person’s life, a milestone to look back on for years to come, which makes it all the more strange that people are still denied the right just because they love someone of the same sex.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Canada, as well as 36 states in the U.S., Washington, D.C., and some 15 other countries around the world. But with the U.S. Supreme Court currently hearing arguments on the constitutionality of other states’ bans on the right, the spot certainly makes for a timely reminder of what’s at stake.

Nobody’s Memories is a new ad from FCB for LGBT advocacy group PFLAG Canada, which imagines the joys missed by couples unable to legally marry in years past.

This is our tribute to all those in the past who were never allowed to marry by law – and to everyone who is still denied the right today. Share your love stories, wedding photos and videos on Instagram and Twitter with #lovemadelegal and let’s make gay marriage legal everywhere.”

They’re seen walking down the church steps to applause, piling into the wedding car, sharing a bite of cake at the reception, and the myriad other little images and traditions associated with the big day.

It’s a simple, powerful illustration of why the right to same-sex matters in societies that purport to pride themselves on ideals like freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness.

pflag-nobodys-memories-hed-01

Republican Support for Gay Marriage to Increase as Aggressive Lobbying Efforts Take Place

The topic of same-sex marriage is no longer a non-issue. It could have been, some years ago, when people were less in tune to the neglect of human rights surrounding LGBTQ people and when support for same-sex marriage was significantly lower.

However, in just a few short years, support for the social issue has skyrocketed, in part helped by endorsements from current US President, Barack Obama and other high profile celebrity figures.

Furthermore, lobbying by marriage equality groups have also pushed at every step of the way, making same sex marriage supported by most. On the right wing Republican side of things however, there is still reluctance to support it but with further campaigning by advocacy groups, that could be set to change.

Word of change comes from groups like Young Conservatives for Freedom to Marry who have launched a national grassroots campaign specifically targeting Republican activists in key presidential nominating states (swing states) that have a particular effect on the presidential vote.

In making these states become more in favour of same sex marriage, there’s hope that the presidential nominee campaigning in the region will have to support same sex marriage if not because they believe in human rights for all but just for the purely selfish reason of wanting to garner votes.

Tyler Deaton, campaign manager at Young Conservatives for Freedom to Marry has explained that they aren’t looking necessarily for people to outright support it but just to see that “it’s a valid point of view.” However despite these reasonable goals, they are hoping that more people will support same sex marriage ahead of the 2016 Republican convention. That’s almost two entire years away but as the official Republican party line is “the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard,” anything that can be done to soften that opinion should be seen as a good thing.

Thirty Two US States Ask Supreme Court to Settle The Gay Marriage Issue Once and For All

Thirty-two states that either allow gay marriage or have banned it asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to settle the issue once and for all.

Fifteen states that allow gay marriage, led by Massachusetts, filed a brief asking the justices to take up three cases from Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma and overturn bans. And 17 other states, led by Colorado, that have banned the practice asked the court to hear cases from Utah and Oklahoma to clear up a “morass” of lawsuits, but didn’t urge the court to rule one way or another.

The filing came as a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana are unconstitutional. The unanimous decision Thursday criticized the justifications both states gave, several times singling out the argument that marriage between a man and a woman is tradition. There are, the court noted, good and bad traditions.

The experience of Massachusetts – the first state to legalize gay marriage – shows that allowing same-sex couples to wed has only benefited families and strengthened the institution of marriage, said Attorney General Martha Coakley.

“Laws that bar same-sex couples from marrying are discriminatory and unconstitutiona. The time has come for this critical issue to be resolved.”

Martha Coakley, Attorney General

Massachusetts was joined by California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington.

Colorado’s brief argued that the definition of marriage faces legal challenges only the Supreme Court can resolve, and that without a Supreme Court decision, states defending bans could be liable for huge legal bills from future lawsuits if they are overturned. It was written by Daniel D. Domenico, the state’s solicitor general, and Michael Lee Francisco, assistant solicitor general.

Colorado was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

These are the cases addressed in the briefs:

  • In Virginia, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that the state’s voter-approved ban is unconstitutional. The state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which hasn’t said whether it will accept the case. But the high court granted a request on Aug. 20 from a county clerk to delay implementation of the ruling, which would have allowed same-sex couples to marry beginning the next day.
  • In Oklahoma, an appeals court tossed the state’s ban in July but put its ruling on hold pending an appeal, meaning same-sex couples can’t marry in Oklahoma for now. Attorneys representing the Tulsa County court clerk – who refused to issue a marriage license for a lesbian couple there – asked the Supreme Court this month to hear the case.
  • In Utah, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled this summer that Utah must allow gay couples to marry, though it put the ruling on hold pending an appeal. The state has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the state’s ban.

78 Year-old, Former Soap Star, Amanda Barrie to Marry Female Partner

Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie has announced her engagement to her female partner – 66-year-old crime novelist Hilary Bonner, with whom she lives in Somerset.

“As our combined ages will be 144 at the time of this cosmic event, we felt we might be cutting it a bit fine if we left it much longer… In any case, our dog was feeling insecure.”

Amanda Barrie

The retired actress, is best known for her role as Alma Halliwell on the soap, with her appearances spanning two decades.

Barrie, who came out as bisexual in 2002, was previously married to theatre director Robin Hunter until his death in 2004.

Gay Coronation Street actor Charlie Condou is also due to depart the soap later this month, previously teasing that his impending exit “will certainly be explosive”.

Coronation Street’s first transgender character, Hayley Cropper, was written out of the show earlier this year, after 16 years.

Washington State to Convert Domestic Partnerships to Marriages

Washington state will convert thousands of existing same-sex domestic partnerships into marriages.

We’ve been building our lives together and the law has finally caught on.”

Monisha Harrell, the chair of Equal Rights Washington

The Washington introduced domestic partnerships back  in 2007, and then same-sex marriage in 2012. On Monday, all existing partnerships in which at least one partner is currently under the age of 62 will be converted to marriages, and new partnerships will also be closed to those under the age of 62.

There are currently more than 6,500 domestic partnerships, most of which will be converted.

There will be no second-class recognition of gay and lesbian relationships. There will be marriage.”

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

The move marks the final part of the state’s equal marriage legislation, passed in 2012 with 52% of the vote.

The UK has also announced that civil partnerships will remain as an option for same-sex couples despite the introduction of same-sex marriage, but that they would not be opened up to opposite-sex couples. The move followed a consultation into the future of civil partnerships, but no clear consensus could be reached.

Last Ditch Efforts in the War on Gay Marriage

Last year the Supreme Court of the USA ruled that the federal government should and must recognise same-sex marriages. Since then twenty judges around the nation have struck down state bans on gay marriage.

Some opponents of gay marriage now expect a Supreme Court ruling to legalise same-sex unions right across the US while others will never give up the fight. Thousands are expected on the upcoming March for Marriage in Washington, DC.

The National Organization for Marriage is behind the march and rather optimistically speaks of a ‘road to victory’ on its website. ‘A competition is won by those who take the field, not by those who sit on the sidelines,’ so said Brian Brown, the President of the NOM. Sounding not unlike a Roman general, he added: ‘Friends, we need to take the field for marriage — and fight to win!’

NOM supporters want the Supreme Court to assure the right of states to establish their own marriage laws, rather than instituting a nationwide same-sex marriage ban. If the Supreme Court were to do the opposite – legalie gay marriage nationwide – Brown has said that he and the NOM ‘won’t go away’.

Predictably for a conservative, he has compared the anti-gay marriage struggle to the anti-abortion movement since the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade which legalised abortion in every state in the Union.

What is most worrying about NOM is its affiliations with outright bigots – both religious and secular. A number of gay rights advocates and liberal politicians penned an open letter in which they castigated the March on Washington for scheduling speakers who ‘denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.’