Christine Quinn, a leading mayoral candidate for 2013, and Catullo, an attorney, married in an evening ceremony at the Highline Stages in Chelsea attended by family members, friends and the city and state’s political elite.

The roster of elected officials among the nearly 300 invited guests included Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velazquez, Joseph Crowley, and Charles Rangel, State Senator Tom Duane, Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell, and a dozen City Council members. Other political figures in attendance according to various reports included Sally Susman, Quinn’s finance chairwoman and a major Obama campaign bundler, labor leader Randi Weingarten and the lobbyist Emily Giske, who introduced Quinn to Catullo in 2001.

The evening ceremony was closed to the press, but journalists outside the venue offered Twitter updates about the comings and goings. Gay City News reports that shortly after 7 p.m., a spokesman emerged to announce that Quinn and Catullo, who are both 45, were officially married. Former Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who wrote the dissent in a 2006 court ruling that found same-sex couples had no right to marry in New York, officiated. Audra McDonald sang “She Loves” by George and Ira Gershwin before heading uptown to Broadway, where she is appearing in Porgy and Bess.

Gay City News offers more details about what the brides wore and their walk down the aisle.

“Quinn, dressed in a full-length, cream gown designed by Carolina Herrera, was walked down the aisle by her father, Lawrence. Catullo, wearing a cream silk evening suit from Ralph Lauren, was accompanied by her father, Anthony. The couple exchanged rings designed by Doyle & Doyle.

 READ More from The Advocate Article

For years the anti- same-sex marriage lobby has taken the form of extreme right wing fundamentalists such as Tony Perkins and others who I am loathe to name.  At every turn and opportunity LGBT bloggers have fought their rhetoric and we have never considered them as ‘the experts’ worthy of the title of legitimate opposition to equality.   Yet they have been given a voice on mainstream TV as the opposing experts and have barely been challenged. Let us hope that with recent discredits we have seen the final round.

Now since President Obama has come out openly in support of same-sex marriage, main stream media has had the opportunity to call its ‘experts’ on the other side of the debate  and unfortunately all they can find, by virtue of years of an insidious overt presence on the issue, are the likes of Tony Perkins, who, together with his cronies, have yet to put forth a legitimate argument against marriage equality.

This time the deconstruction of their warped views are being elucidated with realistic force and vigor. It is akin to a boxing match. If a fighter keeps kicking below the belt he must be disqualified.  While Tony Perkins was recently caught doing just that, he was allowed to fight on – but was knocked out cold, in the ring!

Their views are just that – mere views – with no truth -neither based in science nor reality. They have re-written history and spewed their lies.

Perkins was on CNN with Piers Morgan, stating that his own kids are not likely to be gay, because “we are teaching them the right ways that they are to interact as human beings,” and “we are not allowing them to be indoctrinated by the education system.”

Chris Matthews invited Tony Perkins on to his CNN show Hardball, with Congressman Barney Frank and took Perkins to task on this statement.

To my wild eye it played out like a boxing match with the referee Mathews so incensed by the below the belt tactics of Perkins, he could all but take sides.  Perkins did not get away with a single old rhetorical trick.  When caught, Perkins tried to sidetrack, but Referee Mathews was not having any of that.

Mathews replayed what Perkins had said and Frank went in for the kill. The discussion was a round one knock out for Frank.  Perkins lay unconscious on the ground as referee Mathews instead of blowing the whistle and calling it a win, went for a stomp in the stomach.  Perkins lay writhing on the ground.   Now that should end Perkins’ career once and for all!

Well after the knock out Lawrence O’Donnell last night on the Last Word, had his go at it; notable Perkins and his lies not there – perhaps relegated to a different league now,no longer worthy of another main stream match, as O’Donnell recalled five thousand years of history on traditional marriage and finally someone on mainstream sets the record straight (ahem amen!) Not quite the right wing version fed to Americans by so called experts given voice by our mainstream Television media.

While I am one who usually prefers to not lend voice to these fringe lunatics, I came to realize I could applaud this one last round – a final knock out – rendering them unconscious in the hope that Chris Mathews Piers Morgan and others will now realize that Perkins and his type, with lies and misinformation, fully discredited.  They have lost and are banished to the lower leagues never to be seen or heard of in the center ring again!

So I suggest next time Chris Mathews, Piers Morgan or any mainstream and cable TV show wants an expert – find an expert who makes sense, who can truly put forth a counter argument, one based not on lies made up by divisive hate and hurtful rhetoric. I know that you will have to go a long way to find such – because there is no logical or fact based argument against equality – the only opposition, albeit illegitimate, is hate! I also suggest Barney Frank, Joe Solmonese, Andrew Sullivan et al, all refuse invitations to enter the ring with those unworthy of center ring.

Let this be the last we hear of these types as having any legitimacy forged by mainstream’s fever for ratings; they have been discredited loudly and clearly and any further voice by the likes of Mathews and Morgan will render these show nothing g more than Jerry Springer version 2.

Here is the Match : Barney Franks v. Tony Perkins Round 1- Knock out, Ref, Chris Mathews

SEE VIDEO   on GAY U.S.A.

 Lawrence O’Donnell has the Last Word

SEE VIDEO on GAY U.S.A.

By MELANIE NATHAN
nathan@privatecourts.com
twitter, melanienathan1

]]> http://purpleunions.com/blog/2012/05/tony-perkins-marriage-equality-foe-knocked-out-2.html/feed 0 http://purpleunions.com/blog/2012/05/president-obama-voices-his-support-for-marriage-equality.html http://purpleunions.com/blog/2012/05/president-obama-voices-his-support-for-marriage-equality.html#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 21:55:24 +0000 melnathan http://purpleunions.com/blog/?p=28348 Amidst speculation of his evolution on the issue of marriage equality, President Obama, today spoke of its finality.

By Melanie Nathan, May 09, 20112.

Speaking Wednesday with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, President Barack Obama spoke about his evolution toward full marriage equality for same-sex American couples.

He said that he and his administration have long “stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community,” pointing to the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, among others.

President Obama’s evolution is explained from these quotes which appeared within hours of the interview in the Los Angeles Times Article:-

“I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” he said. “And I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word ‘marriage’ was something that evokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs, and so forth.”

That changed, Obama said, as he reflected more on the relationships of friends and staff and the feelings of gay members of the military who “feel constrained.”  “At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” he concluded. In the interview, Obama also reflected on the rapid change in public opinion on the issue, particularly among younger generations.

“When I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same-sex equality or, you know, sexual orientation that they believe in equality,” he said.

Obama noted that his daughters have friends who have same-sex parents. “There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table, and we’re talking about their friends and their parents, and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and, frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” he said.

LGBT activists are commenting with pride and admiration for the President:

John Lewis, MEUSA Legal Director, said, “I am thrilled that the dream of marriage equality is now so much closer, thanks to the President’s decisive leadership. Marriage is about love and commitment, and the President looked at this decision with his heart — not as a political calculation — and decided to stand on the side of love. In standing on the side of love, he also decided to stand on the right side of history.”

Robin Tyler, national activist and the original lesbian plaintiff to sue in the successful case (Tyler v State of California) that brought marriage equality for same sex couples to California, celebrates President Obama’s decision to come out for marriage equality today.

 ”There is absolutely no question of who I will support in the coming Presidential elections. Mitt Romney donated through his Mormon Church, $10,000 to Yes of Proposition 8. Donations to discrimination are not ‘charitable.’ Mitt Romeny violated our civil rights. We need a President who supports all American’s and their families, including LGBT ones. Today, President Obama showed that he has the courage to come out publicly and support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. There is actually no such thing as ‘gay’ marriage. There is no ‘gay driver’s license’ or ‘gay birth certificate.’ It is just marriage for same-sex adult couples. Our President has finally evolved!

There was never a doubt in my mind that the President had evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage; since recently the President had said he would sign the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act , the legislation that bans same-sex couples who are legally married from participating in Federal civil law granted by marriage to heterosexual couples.  Now that the President has made it clear to all who could not read into this as indicative of his evolution, it could not be more clear that he actually does support gay marriage.

So well done to President Obama, the skeptics in the LGBTQI community can now focus on the re-election of a President who has actually already done more than any other to forward the interests of equality.

Politically, let us hope that those in the community who insisted Obama be overt in his stance now support him one hundred percent unconditionally in his bid for re-election, because you can be rest assured that FOX News, Santorum, Romney and Maggie Gallagher, to name but a few, will do everything in their power to make this the re-invigoration of the wedge issue many assumed may have dwindled.

  GAY U.S.A. the Movie

Melanie Nathan
nathan@privatecourts.com

In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Biden told moderator David Gregory that more and more Americans will come to understand “what this is all about … who do you love? Who do you love, and will you be loyal to the person you love?”

“Look, I am Vice President of the United States of America. The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. All the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that. [...]

“People fear that which is different, and now they’re beginning to understand.”

The Vice-President’s remarks may signal a shift in public policy by the President who has maintained that his views on same-sex marriage are evolving, however a spokesperson from the vice president’s office has since denied that Biden’s remarks were an endorsement of same-sex marriage.  READ MORE AT LGBTQ NATION

 Melanie Nathan: Yet what everyone seems to forget is that President Obama has said that he would sign the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, (DOMA) known as the Respect for Marriage Act, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

WATCH VIDEO  Visit msnbc.com  http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2012/05/joe-biden-i-am-absolutely-comfortable-with-same-sex-marriage/

New York City is famous the whole world over for being the best city in the world for a celebration. There is an unending choice of restaurants, bars and clubs, with so many of them gay-friendly. There are the classic, iconic bars of old, mixed in with the new hip and trendy clubs opened within the year. The City is a great place for a party, and what a memorable wedding celebration you could have here.

Your guest blogger, Claire, moved to New York from the UK in January 2011, and instantly fell in love with the city, who wouldn’t? She didn’t have a US work permit, so decided to spend some time volunteering in Central Park. So, after a few training sessions she was accepted onto the Greensward Guide program. It’s their job to greet people in the park, and give them information and directions. When she and her boyfriend at the time decided to get married it was an easy decision to choose to marry in Central Park.

A wedding in Central Park is such a free-and-easy way to tie the knot. There is no pressure to conform to a traditional wedding format because you have already thrown tradition out of the window by getting married in a public park! 

Manhattan is incredible, there is so much going on there, so many people and so much artistic and cultural stimulation. But it’s so busy and so noisy, and the park allows you to truly get away from it all. The park was begun in 1858, when the majority of homes in Manhattan were much further downtown than the park, but the city designers had the foresight to realize that the residential part of the city would rapidly grow further north. Although it looks very natural, a lot of excavation had to take place to get it looking like that. The park was constructed throughout the American Civil war and completed in 1873. Once the park was completed, large mansions were built along the Avenues running up either side of it. You can still see a lot of those beautiful buildings now, they’re mostly embassies or museums now.

To get married in New York City you must get your license from City Hall at least 24 hours before your ceremony. City Hall is downtown, amongst all the oldest New York legal buildings, and it can take a while to get the license. Take photo ID, such as a passport, and we would advise going in just before lunchtime, getting your place in line with a numbered ticket, then going to the cafe a few doors down for lunch, which you can eat in the lovely nearby park, to kill the time waiting for your number to come up. Discuss whether you will be changing your name prior to getting the license, because you will have to declare it on the form.

In the current economic climate, some people just don’t have the cash to throw a big party in an expensive venue, if you’re thinking of keeping your costs down, where better than outdoors? The small permit fee goes straight to the Central Park Conservancy, a charity in charge of running the park. Increasingly, people have wanted to “elope” to get married, just the two of them, to avoid divorced and remarried parents of their own or otherwise hostile or unsupportive family members making what should be a special day, just an emotionally complex one. Many couples will arrive at the Park together. This avoids any disagreements you maybe having about which one of you gets to walk down the aisle!

Claire had enjoyed the freedom of the Central Park wedding so much, she decided to launch a business to help foreigners, such as herself, and out-of-state people get married in the park. She called it Wed in Central Park. She had found a photographer and officiant through word-of-mouth but people from out of town are not in a position to meet people in this way. The regular photographer and videographer team Wed in Central Park use are a lesbian couple who have lived together in Manhattan’s East Village since the 80s. They specialize in weddings and East Village gay club parties and events. For more information on the packages they offer, see their website http://www.wedincentralpark.com/customisable-wedding-packages/

Wed in Central Park will help you write your own vows. Couples may feel that the traditional wedding vows do not apply to them, and want something completely different, or want to add their own twist to the traditional. Either way, they can help with ideas and editing.

There are lots of lovely spots in Central Park that are appropriate for weddings. There are some suggestions on the Wed in Central Park website http://www.wedincentralpark.com/wedding-locations/. Locations can range from the very public, such as Bow Bridge, to the quiet, sedate and private, such as the Great Hill, and other areas in the not-so-touristy North of the Park. Wed in Central Park will discuss the location options with clients and secure a permit for the chosen location.

New York is a wonderfully busy and exciting city, and Central Park is the perfectly tranquil oasis within it, why not choose Central Park for your wedding location and combine a tranquil ceremony with an incredible celebration in the city?

Contact Claire at info@wedincentralpark.com

Hopefully, every state will embrace marriage equality and every couple who wants to wed will soon have access to a legal document to mark the day they say “I do.” I like the idea of also creating a spiritual or personal love contract as part of your marriage ceremony. Your wedding day is a long-awaited, sacred occasion and a personalized love contract is a beautiful way to clarify what you both would like to promise, experience and create in your marriage. Here are some ideas:

1. Create a Mission Statement for Your Marriage. Brainstorm and bat around ideas until you come up with a marriage mission statement. This is your mutual intention for marriage; it is what you want to be and build together. It can be one sentence or reflect a number of ideas. For example:

Our union gives us strength, power, and fortitude to deal with all of life’s ups and downs, and it empowers us to contribute to others and to the world. We are best friends, confidantes, and partners, and we have many close relationships with people we consider extended family. We are a couple who inspire others with our live and who model what it is to be in a great relationship.

2. Craft a Wedding Scroll. Together, make a list of your intentions, aspirations, goals, hopes, and dreams for your wedded life. Write neatly or type it. It can be on pretty parchment-like paper, or any attractive paper. Consider having it written in calligraphy and framed, or simply roll it up and tie it with a gold ribbon. No one need see it but you two. Take it to your ceremony and keep it at the altar so it will be blessed by the expressions of love and commitment shared at your ceremony, and energized by the vows you exchange.

3. Write Love Letters to Each Other. Both of you can craft a beautiful letter to each other, stating what you love about each other and your promises for married life. You can place them in a sacred spot in your home, or even include a love letter exchange in the ceremony.

4. Make a Love Contact. Type up the wedding vows and declarations from your wedding ceremony and add as many more as you feel in your heart. On the bottom of the page write, “And this I promise to you.” Each of you can sign it. Then frame it and keep it next to your bed. Read over at them every day, with gratitude.

5. Select a Favorite Poem or Reading. You can also select something written by another to represent your thoughts, feelings and intentions for your relationship– a poem, wedding reading, prayer, song or passage from a favorite book. Even a unique sentiment on a greeting card may be lovely. Frame these favorite words and keep them near to inspire you every day.

Purple Unions guest blogger, Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, is a leading NYC wedding officiant who creates unique interfaith, intercultural and non-denominational ceremonies for couples of all backgrounds. She is author of  Your Interfaith Wedding: A Guide to Blending Faiths, Cultures and Personal Values into One Beautiful Wedding and  Your Perfect Wedding Vows: Finding the Right Words to Express Your Love. Visit Rev. Laurie Sue at www.YourInterfaithWedding.com

Melanie Nathan at Mission Incomplete GetEQUAL Rally in the Castro

Calling on the Repeal of DADT Supporting Senators to Co-Sponsor the Repeal of DOMA -

On September 20, 2011, while the LGBT community celebrated the activation of the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy, which had prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, activists, including myself, attended GET EQUAL rallies across the country to protest “ Mission Incomplete.”

I was emphatically reminded of  this incomplete mission,  when I noticed on television, that out of the six senators attending a news conference hailing the historic DADT repeal, only three have signed on to “The Respect for Marriage Act” (RFMA) the legislation that supports the repeal of the “Defense of Marriage Act,” (DOMA.)

The repeal of DADT is a milestone, in that gays and lesbians can now serve openly. Yet, other than drawing attention to the iniquities suffered by openly gay members of the military, it does nothing to further equality for LGBT servicemembers. Certainly not until all enjoy marriage equality and the protections provided by ENDA.

Transgender people still serve in silence and LGBT Servicemembers  are denied marital benefits in parity with straight members of the military.

Accordingly, activists and advocates ought to use the DADT repeal activation as an opportunity to enter what is clearly now an historically wide open door. Until this time, we have been tip toeing around legislation always knocking at the back door.   The opening is a view to the offensive inequality suffered by all LGBT members of our American society, whether in uniform or not.

The DADT repeal serves to highlight the discrimination because even though gay and lesbian  servicemembers can serve openly, they are still unequal in the eyes of the law.  Serving openly is not equality. That is why the fight has truly just begun.

The three senators who are co-sponsors of the marriage equality legislation attending the news conference for DADT, on Capitol Hill included Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.); and the three, standing next to them, who have yet to sign on to the repeal of DOMA and who were supporters of  the DADT repeal include Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

By standing at the conference and celebrating the conclusion of DADT, the latter three senators are definitely MIA – they are missing in action and ought to show up for equality – not merely the right to exist in the military or the right to exist in society for that matter. De facto existence is a given – yet de jure equality remains elusive!

It would be hypocritical for Senators Lieberman, Levin and Collins, at this point, to remain silent on DOMA and I hope their constituents will call them on this serious omission.  When they show up on the Respect for Marriage Act,  they will provide the votes needed to have the Senate repeal of DOMA. Of course the House has a long way to go; but the Senate will provide an advance trend favoring full equality for same-sex partners.

Nothing short of full equality will suffice. There is no excuse for anything less; that means the repeal of DOMA, the passage of ENDA and an Equality Bill – an omnibus of sorts – that spells out to the individual States in the US  that even though they are free to create their own laws, they are not free to discriminate.  It is un-American to discriminate.  The most basic of American values is equality and freedom. Now is the time for all to share in the magnificent intent of the Constitution.

So like the folks at GetEQUAL have asserted through the rallies, the “mission is incomplete” –  and  it is up to us as a movement to define and lead and compel the mission.   Let’s do it….  DOMA must be repealed immediately.

By Melanie Nathan.
melanie@gayusathemovie.com
www.visualcv.com/melnathan

Senators Co-Sponsoring  DOMA’s repeal:

1. U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI)

2. U.S. Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO)

3. U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

4. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

5. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

6. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

7. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

8. U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-OH)

9. U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE)

10. US. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)

11. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

12. U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN)

13. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

14. U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)

15. U.S. Senator Dan Inouye (D-HI)

16. U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA)

17. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

18. U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI)

19. U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

20. U.S. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

21. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

22. U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

23. U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

24. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

25. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

26. U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

27. U.S. Senator Mark Udall (D-CO)

28. U.S. Tom Udall (D-NM)

29. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

30. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Traci Turpin, of Knoxville, who was married her partner in Washington, D.C. last week, returned to her home in Tennessee, where she set about changing her name on her legal documents, including her driver’s license as most newly weds would.

Ms. Turpin says the Social Security office changed her name with no questions, but said after initially issuing a new license, Department of Motor Vehicles employees decided not honor Turpin’s D.C marriage certificate and according to WUSA News, went as far as to have a DMV employee chase Turpin down as she was leaving the office in her car to demand she return the license, saying Tennessee does not recognize same sex marriages.

Full Story from Lez Get Real

Click here for gay marriage resources in Tennessee.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

“We’re not trying to be treated differently or better than anyone else,” said Lindzi Campbell. “We just want protection for our families. Stability.”

Campbell and her partner Jesse Dykhuis are one of three gay couples who filed the suit Tuesday in Hennepin County alleging, among other things, the State violated their right to marry. It’s a lawsuit two years in the making. “Two years of fundraising, relentlessly asking people for help,” said Dykhuis.

Full Story from WDIO

Click here for gay marriage resources in Minnesota.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.