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MD: Marriage Equality Hearing Friday

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Maryland Marriage Equality BillOfficials with two committees of the Maryland House of Delegates planned for at least eight hours of testimony in Annapolis on Friday by witnesses for and against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

In a scheduled joint hearing, the House Judiciary Committee and the Health and Government Operations Committee were also to hear testimony on a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The hearing was to take place 10 days after nearly 100 witnesses testified on the marriage bill before a hearing of the Maryland Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee. Sources familiar with that committee said it was expected to vote to approve the same-sex marriage bill, known as the Civil Marriage Protection Act, on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Full Story from The Washington Blade

Click here for gay wedding resources in Maryland.

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NM: Marriage Equality Ban Bill Pulled

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

New Mexico Gay Marriage BanProgress New Mexico has sent out word that Representative David Chavez, a Republican, has withdrawn his DOMA bill from consideration. They wrote that:

I’ve just come from the floor of the House where I learned that Rep.David Chavez (R-Valencia County) has withdrawn his “super-DOMA” bill from consideration!

His bill to enshrine discrimination in our constitution, and prevent New Mexico from ever recognizing all healthy and loving relationships, was set to be heard in less than 24 hours, but your work helped to defeat it!

Full Story from Lez Get Real

Click here for gay wedding resources in New Mexico.

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Will Spain’s Conservatives Overturn Marriage Equality Law There?

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Spain Marriage EqualitySpaniards have been taken by surprise by the new conservative government’s aggressive efforts to implement social reforms, overturning several liberal laws passed by the previous government amid tremendous economic uncertainty.

The previous Socialist government passed a substantial amount of liberal legislation in the last eight years, including limiting the role of the Catholic Church in the state, legalizing gay marriage, relaxing abortion restrictions, and reforming the educational curriculum.

While the Catholic Church and the ruling Popular Party accused Socialists of imposing an ideologically-motivated agenda too quickly, Socialists said they were only harmonizing Spanish laws with European standards – with the support of the majority of Spanish citizens. Dozens of polls over the past three years have consistently showed an even split on social issues.

Full Story from the Christian Science Monitor

Click here for gay wedding resources in Spain.

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IL: Marriage Equality Bill Introduced in Legislature

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Illinois Marriage EqualityOn the heels of Tuesday’s federal appeals court ruling for marriage equality in California, Illinois legislators have filed a bill to bring equality to that state.

Illinois’s three openly gay state representatives — Kelly Cassidy, Greg Harris, and Deborah Mell — today introduced the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which would grant same-sex couples the same marriage rights as opposite-sex ones.

The state began offering civil unions to gay couples last year, but while “an important intermediate step,” those have turned out to be insufficient, said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of LGBT rights group Equality Illinois.

Full Story from The Advocate

Click here for gay wedding resources in Illinois.

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WA: House Sends Marriage Equality Bill to Governor on 55-43 Vote

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Washington State Marriage EqualityWashington state lawmakers voted to approve gay marriage Wednesday, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed.

The action comes a day after a federal appeals court declared California’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, saying it was a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian couples.

The Washington House passed the bill on a 55-43 vote. The state Senate approved the measure last week. And Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the measure into law next week.

Full Story from Edge Boston

Click here for gay wedding resources in Washington State.

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Marriage Equality Events Today/Tomorrow: 2/8-2/9/12

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Gay Marriage EventsIf you know of any other events – rallies, meetings, phonebanking, etc – please use the link below to add your event to our list!

  • USA: Feb 9, Planning for Valentine’s Day 2012 Request Marriage/Marriage Counter Action, Phone, 6 PM Pac. callen@marriageequality.org

  • USA, CA, Los Angeles: Feb 8, LA Black LGBT Network Meeting, Jewel’s Catch One, 7-9 PM. http://bit.ly/bU7RLC
  • USA, IL, Chicago: Feb 9, Bayard Rustin at 100: Rediscovering a Forgotten Hero, Chicago History Museum, 6:30 PM. http://bit.ly/xlssz9
  • USA, MD, Baltimore: Feb 9, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality, Gay and Lesbian Comm Ctr, 6-8 PM. http://bit.ly/vmtc4H
  • USA, MD, Columbia: Feb 8, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality, Howard County Library-Central Branch, 6-8:30 PM. http://bit.ly/vmtc4H
  • USA, MD, Silver Spring: Feb 9, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality, Office of Delegate Heather Mizeur, 6-8:30 PM. http://bit.ly/vmtc4H
  • USA, MN, St. Paul: Feb 8, Phone Bank with Minnesotans United For All Families, 1821 University Ave West, 6:30-9:30 PM. http://bit.ly/vCRR1M
  • USA, MN, St. Paul: Feb 9, Phone Bank with Minnesotans United For All Families, 1821 University Ave West, 6:30-9:30 PM. http://bit.ly/vCRR1M
  • USA, NC, Shelby: Feb 8, Race to the Ballot, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 7 PM. http://on.fb.me/zty8Ve
  • USA, NJ, Lawrence: Feb 8, Marriage Equality Strategy Session, Private Home, 7 PM. http://bit.ly/zoFNon
  • USA, NJ, Montclair: Feb 8, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality With Garden State Equality, GSE HQ, 6-9 PM. http://bit.ly/Aj1RVS
  • USA, NY, New York: Feb 8, MENY Phonebank for NH Marriage Equality, SEIU 1199, W. 42nd St., 6 PM. http://bit.ly/iAw9SC
  • USA, NY, New York: Feb 9, Navigating Your Same Sex Wedding, NYC LGBT Center, 6:30-8:30 PM. http://bit.ly/iAw9SC
  • USA, NY, New York: Feb 9, MENY Phonebank for NH Marriage Equality, SEIU 1199, W. 42nd St., 6 PM. http://bit.ly/iAw9SC
  • USA, WA, Seattle: Feb 8, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality with Equal Rights Washington, Equal Rights WA Office, 5:30 PM. http://bit.ly/t6TxA5
  • USA, WA, Seattle: Feb 9, Drop in Data Entry with Equal Rights Washington, Equal Rights WA Office, 10 AM. http://bit.ly/t6TxA5
  • USA, WA, Seattle: Feb 9, Phonebanking for Marriage Equality with Equal Rights Washington, Equal Rights WA Office, 5:30 PM. http://bit.ly/t6TxA5
  • USA, WA, Vancouver: Feb 9, The Love for All March for Marriage Equality Kickoff, First United Methodist Church, 7-8 AM. http://bit.ly/AkZYxa

Full Events List/Add Your Own Event: http://www.purpleunions.com/mn/gay-marriage-events-list.html

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CA: Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa to Ninth Circuit: Lift Stay on Marriage Equality

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Prop 8 RulingIn a boisterous City Hall rally Tuesday celebrating a federal appeals court decision to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on the court to also lift its stay on the marriages and said he can’t wait until he can again perform weddings for same-sex couples.

“I want to feel the love in their hearts and to see the joy on their faces,” he told a crowd of activists and city workers gathered in City Hall’s ornate rotunda.

Four years ago, Villaraigosa and other officials presided over dozens of same-sex unions. Councilman Eric Garcetti, who performed a marriage that year between two of his former staff members on the steps of City Hall, said Tuesday that he wasn’t old enough to remember the 1960s, and that for him, “2008 was my summer of love.”

Full Story from The Los Angeles Times

Click here for gay wedding resources in California.

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Prop 8 Ruling: The Advocate Analysis

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Prop 8 RulingExpert analyses of the Ninth Circuit’s Prop. 8 ruling Tuesday have been legion throughout the day, though one from Williams Institute legal director Jennifer Pizer stood out as particularly thoughtful. The former Lambda Legal marriage project director wrote earlier today:

The decision breaks new ground because it’s the first federal appeals court to strike down a state’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. But it doesn’t break new ground legally.

Instead, the ruling’s close application of Justice Kennedy’s 1996 equal protection analysis (in the Romer v. Evans, Colorado Amendment 2 case) both makes it less likely that the Supreme Court will grant review, and more likely that that plaintiffs would win if the case does go up. Justice Kennedy is generally seen as the key vote, and today’s decision – looking at another state ballot measure – uses his 1996 analysis as a roadmap.

Full Story from The Advocate

Click here for gay wedding resources in California.

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MN: Rabbis Oppose Marriage Equality Ban

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Rabbis and Minnesota Marriage EqualityThe Minnesota Rabbinical Association, made up of 35 rabbis representing 15 synagogues and the majority of the state’s Jewish population, has come out against the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The rabbis’ resolved that “throughout history, the Jewish community has faced discrimination, and therefore we will not stand by while others are targeted.” Orthodox rabbis did not sign the coalition’s statement.

Full Story from Think Progress

Click here for gay wedding resources in Minnesota.

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Group Challenges Anti Gay Law in Northern Cyprus

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

A case has been lodged at the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey today to decriminalise homosexuality in Northern Cyprus.

The move, by the Human Dignity Trust, follows reports that Northern Cyprus’s anti-gay law continues to be employed despite assurances given by its leader that it would be repealed.

Cyprus was required by the ECHR to decriminalise consensual sex between consenting adults in 1993, but in the Turkish-occupied part of Northern Cyprus, homosexual acts are still illegal.

Full Story from Pink News

Click here for gay wedding resources.

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