Governor Neil Abercrombie signed same-sex civil unions legislation into law making Hawaii the seventh state to allow such unions. The gay community on Guam is with the action and many are hopeful that the island will follow suit soon after legislation failed to make it to session floor last year.
“It’s encouraging to Guam and I think the tide of sentiment throughout the nation is shifting and has shifted quite dramatically, really in the past five to tem years, noted Attorney Bill Pesch. He tells KUAM News that he’s optimistic that tide will hit the pacific sooner than later, especially with the historic repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. “I see that as the harbinger of major social change,” he continued, “because if you look at any of the major social changes in the United States over the past several decades, whether it be gender equality, racial equality, and now I think sexual preference and equality, the military really has always led the way.”
But even with the social mindset shifting, one major obstacle for the gay community especially locally has been the Catholic Church vehemently opposed to gay marriage or same sex civil unions. Even after Abercrombie signed the legislation into law, the Hawaii Catholic Conference expressed concerns that the passage of the legislation is a step toward legalizing same sex marriage.
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The Maryland Senate on Thursday approved a gay marriage bill. After a lengthy debate, one Republican, Senator Allan Kittleman, crossed the aisle to join 24 Democrats in voting for the bill.
Here’s our list of events today and tomorrow around the world relating to marriage equality, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and other LGBT equality issues. If you know of any other events – rallies, meetings, phonebanking, etc – please use the link below to add your event to our list!
Montana voted to strike an obsolete law criminalizing gay sex on Wednesday:
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