Same-Sex Marriage Update

[Kobi]

Some officials stop holding weddings

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The religious objections were not unexpected.

The freedom of speech argument seems irrelevant to me.

The refusal to issue any marriage licenses is innovative.

[MsTinkerbelly]

I, as well as a lot of others, predicted the push back on same-sex marriage, as well as other forms of discrimination being used against us. I can't remember what page, but i think it was back in April or May.

In any case, we have a long road to travel, but marriage equality is a fact, and it can't be taken away. Yes they can make us go to other counties, but the fact remains that in EVERY SINGLE STATE in the US we can be married.

Like i said before, there is a lot of hate out there, be careful!

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

Just when you think you have edited all you can...sanction is the word.

And...i am not completely, okay I'm wrong...it's been a tough morning.

Same-sex marriage or the blessing of same-sex unions, has been available in the Episcopal Church for approx 20 years! What is being votedon today is the language used during the Litany...in reference to he/she, he/he, she/she. The vote will be to make the language all the same and remove references to gender, or to make several variations available as a couple chooses.

The vote was a win for marriage equality in the Episcopal Church! Just an fyi, we also elected the first gay Bishop (Robinson, who has a male partner) more than a decade ago.

Whoop!

[Rockinonahigh]

To day Shreveport Louisiana had it's first gay wedding at the festival plaza down town. It was the first thing on the evening news report at 5 and 6 pm, it was a well done segment .Our last mayor put in a strong glbt policy for the city and the new mayor is up holding it. In the report the clerk said they had to add a few correct boxes to check before issuing the paper work but now it's in order. I am glad my home town did this, way to go Shreveport.

[JDeere]

Texas sucks, it still has a long way to go, due to our so wonderful Governor. So if I decide to get married, not anytime soon and if Texas has not changed, I will be headed to another state that will marry me and my partner.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Opponents of marriage equality are working to get two inititives on the ballot:

1. Rename same-sex marriages "civil unions"
2. Allow wedding suppliers to hire outside contractors to provide services for a same-sex wedding if they are opposed.

It will be a long time beore this crap ends.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

I read an interesting article this morning...most (51 of 54) Registers of Deeds (the persons issuing marriage licenses) surveyed, have said they are not in favor of Bill 2, and will continue to issue marriage licenses to those legally able to receive them (same-sex included should SCOTUS rule so), without issue.

It appears the passing of the law is an effort to pacify the religious conservatives of the state, but will have no real effect. Well, when i say that i am not taking into account what we as a community feel when laws are passed to attempt to keep us "less than", i just mean in our day to day lives.

The House will attempt to override the veto tonight...they are waiting until they have enough members in attendance to met the number they need.

* interesting note: North Carolina has it as part of proceedure, that an override
must be done immediately...but the legislature (republicans) have held a vote off for months before to insure they can achieve their goal.

14 of 54 registers of deeds have claimed the religious exemptiom recently passed, and have written a letter to the Governor asking to be excused from issuing licenses or performing marriages for same-sex couples.

Asshats

[MsTinkerbelly]

From the pages of jeez they are asshats.....

The Dent County commission has voted to officially "mourn" the passing of same-sex marriage. On the 26th of each month (July-June) for a year, the county flags will be lowered to half-staff.

[iamkeri1]

I have not posted since the SCOTUS decision. I cried happy tears all day and ran to the television every time the subject came up. I was stuck on MSNBC, because they have so many LGBTQ folk on staff and on camera. It was a day of great joy.

The next day I was in St Pete for the Pride Parade. I thought it started at 7pm so I was way early, and so glad that I was. It was one big love fest. I It was like a family reunion with thousands of family members, every one of which you loved. People were hugging and kissing and congratulating each other.

Thanks to you Ms. T for your faithful and important work on this thread and everywhere. Thanks to all of you who have worked, really throughout history, to make this possible, and most of all, thank you god, fate, the universe, the force, or whatever brought us here, that I am alive to see this happen. I am still floating on the euphoria of that day. As Tiny Tim (the Dickens character) would say "God bless us, every one!!!"

Smooches,
Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

Tomorrow marks the 1 year Anniversarry of Marriage Equality throughout our land!

For those of you who married after the decision, how has your life changed? For those of you married longer same question, except now that it's legal nationwide, is there any change in how you are treated?

And finally, how bad has it gotten for you in other areas since legally they can't stop us from marrying?

I'll come back later with my own experiences.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by BullDog

Orema, thank you so much for posting the photo of the Supreme Court Justices.

First of all I am struck by- if you want the job done right just find a few good women.

Second of all, who is President of the United States (or at least the party they represent) really does make a difference, and the Supreme Court is one of those places- something to always remember when it comes time to vote (see Presidential appointments below).

Third, the vote would have never gone the way it did or even have taken place without all of those small daily actions people take every day, along with the big political efforts.

Majority Opinion

Sonia Sotomayor- Barack Obama
Elena Kagan- Barack Obama
Ruth Bader Ginsberg- Bill Clinton
Stephen Breyer- Bill Clinton
Anthony Kennedy- Ronald Reagan (ha, yes!)

Dissenting Justices

Antonin Scalia- Ronald Reagan
Clarence Thomas- George H. W. Bush (senior)
John Roberts- George W Bush
Samuel Alito Jr- George W Bush

Everything we do from coming out to someone to voting and all the actions we take, they do matter and they do add up. The world can be cruel and unjust, but we also can make a difference!

Just a reminder of how important it is that the White House remains with the Democrats!

[iamkeri1]

The Presidency, the Senate, the House ... all Democrat. We especially need some old time anti-war Democrats to balance off the Hawks. Two or three more Liberal Supreme Court Justices. My vision for a good 20 to 30 years of progress. And maybe we'll save the planet at the same time.
Smooches,
Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

Well gee, I hear crickets!

Since the ruling on nationwide marriage equality, I have had mixed feelings about the progress made by our community toward equal civil rights.

The haters seem motivated to make sure we hear their hate: the wacko who went to jail because she wouldn't issue marriage licenses, the states that have passed "freedom of religion/discrimination" laws etc etc....

I find most people are embracing us as a married couple...the Church has a married couples group that meets for dinner and events, and it has been opened to same-sex married couples. I try not to cringe when we are introduced by people as "our friends Kasey and Cindy, they
are in a same-sex marriage"

My Kasey has faced a lot of nasty comments when alone. I can see that people are itching to say something when we are out together, but I am a formidable presence and they are fortunate to reconsider. Same-sex marriage has received greater acceptance, but in my opinion we as individuals are resented for changes most people did not want to occur.

I will always be grateful to the people who have worked so hard through the years to make marriage equality a reality, I never thought it would happen in my lifetime. I wish I could stand up on top of a mountain and yell, "well it's been a year, how has this decision affected your marriage."

The silence would be deafening.

[iamkeri1]

More change will come with time. As you said, we have experienced an enormous amount of progress in our lifetimes. Take that progress and run with it. So sorry Kasey gets treated badly. I hate that. African Americans still fight for there freedoms every day, and I think our people will as well. For a long time. Hell we are fighting again for birth control. Who woulda thunk?

You ARE a formidable woman MsT. You are one of the fighters that moves us forward. Thank you so much for that. We need you badly as a people.

What I want most for you, though, is happiness. You are one of those lucky folk who have found the right person to go through life with. I know you know what a blessing that is.

At the last two pride events I attended, Tampa in March and St Pete this past week-end there were especially virulent "Christians" spewing their hatred. With megaphones.

Before the killings in Orlando, I pretty much just let it roll off. But now I want it stopped. I want the police to make them leave. I do not see their speech as being constitutionally protected speech. I see it as hate speech, even as inciting to riot. Hate speech leads to hate acts. My heart is too raw to listen to these haters misquote Jesus and use the bible as justification for their acts. Where is their joy? Do they actually take joy in attacking us? If they would work to bring a little joy into their own lives, perhaps there would be less room for their self righteous anger.

Joy is what I wish for you and Kasey. One of my favorite old sayings is "Living well is the best revenge." You and Kasey are living well. There is probably way more joy in your lives that in the lives of those who stand against you.

Many Blessings
Smooches,
Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

Originally Posted by iamkeri1

More change will come with time. As you said, we have experienced an enormous amount of progress in our lifetimes. Take that progress and run with it. So sorry Kasey gets treated badly. I hate that. African Americans still fight for there freedoms every day, and I think our people will as well. For a long time. Hell we are fighting again for birth control. Who woulda thunk?

You ARE a formidable woman MsT. You are one of the fighters that moves us forward. Thank you so much for that. We need you badly as a people.

What I want most for you, though, is happiness. You are one of those lucky folk who have found the right person to go through life with. I know you know what a blessing that is.


At the last two pride events I attended, Tampa in March and St Pete this past week-end there were especially virulent "Christians" spewing their hatred. With megaphones.

Before the killings in Orlando, I pretty much just let it roll off. But now I want it stopped. I want the police to make them leave. I do not see their speech as being constitutionally protected speech. I see it as hate speech, even as inciting to riot. Hate speech
leads to hate acts. My heart is too raw to listen to these haters misquote Jesus and use the bible as justification for their acts. Where is their joy? Do they actually take joy in attacking us? If they would work to bring a little joy into their own lives, perhaps there would be less room for their self righteous anger.

Joy is what I wish for you and Kasey. One of my favorite old sayings is "Living well is the best revenge." You and Kasey are living well. There is probably way more joy in your lives that in the lives of those who stand against you.

Many
Blessings
Smooches,
Keri

I am sorry that the haters tried to spoil Pride for our community...as a Christian I find it so hard to understand why they feel the need to act the way they do.

The "laws" of the old testament were put in place to show the believers of God the way to heaven. But....things don't work out so well when people have to follow laws. Human beings then chose people (Priests) to tell them how to be better with God than their neighbors...and thus Priests added MORE rules and regulations until everything was so bad God sent Jesus.

Jesus said to his followers I have two commandments for you:

Love your God above all others with your whole heart.
Love your neighbor as yourself.

In Matthew 7 (new testament) God then says "Judge not" (ok so I paraphrased that one lol). Meaning that God will be our only Judge upon our death, and if you need any guidelines look to the two things Jesus left us with.

We believers are saved by Gods grace, there is nothing else we have to do, no acts, no rules, not even religion.

That's it. Simple, or at least it should be.......

Because people are human beings, there will always be an urge in us all to be the best, to do it better than our neighbor, to be more righteous....well you get the picture. Every day I pray to be kinder, to not be quick to anger, to let the hatred of others roll off of my back.

[cathexis]

Just wanted to let those who are unaware of these rulings of Judaic Law.
1) Marriage between 2 people of the same sex is legal in Reform Judaism

2) Marriage between 2 Jews is legal in Conservative and Reconstruction Judaism. If one is a convert s/he must have had instruction, mikveh (ritual bath), Bet Dien (Jewish Court), and Shema (in front of open ark). Also, a male must be circumcised.

Unfortunately, marriage between 2 men or 2 women is still not permitted in Orthodox and Ultraorthodox denominations.

[cathexis]

Partner and I have been unable to get married due to financial reasons.

She receives EBT cash and food stamps. I receive SSDI. If we were to get married, we would lose $500/mo. with no chance for Her to get Medicaid or us to apply for HUD.

If the finances matter to you, do a little math before making the leap. We did.

[MsTinkerbelly]

In a postal survey, the Australian population has voted to allow marriage equality! The Prime Minister has agreed to abide by the non-binding survey, and marriages should be happening by Christmas.

I am a firm believer that no one gets to vote on whether another person gets equal rights, but in this case I am very happy for the people of Australia.

[iamkeri1]

Originally Posted by MsTinkerbelly

In a postal survey, the Australian population has voted to allow marriage equality! The Prime Minister has agreed to abide by the non-binding survey, and marriages should be happening by Christmas.

I am a firm believer that no one gets to vote on whether another person gets equal rights, but in this case I am very happy for the people of Australia.

That is an astonishing thing. That people, given an opportunity to vote in the privacy of their own homes, where they were perfectly free to express whatever awful dark feelings might lurk in their souls and minds, chose to express support and acceptance instead.

And then the Prime Minister's take on it is: "OK then, Well, let's just move on with it then, shall we?

I am surprised and humbled that they made it look so easy.

Blessings to the people of Australia.
Smooches,
Keri