It's morning in America again -- but for the thousands of committed gay couples who got married in California [warning: Dan Fogelberg music, sweet visuals], the long nightmare of intolerance and hate is not yet over with the probable victory of Proposition 8. Supported by the anti-equality stances of Sarah Palin and "divinely" inspired others, and paid for by members of the Mormon Church and the mother of Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, many of the ads for Prop. 8 featured the faces of Obama and Joe Biden, who declared their opposition to the initiative but refused to support equal marriage rights for all, preferring to talk about "civil unions." Even excellent Democratic-leaning politics sites like Talking Points Memo were saturated with the deceptive ads, which overwhelmed those comparing the proposition to other forms of discrimination in California's history.
posted by digaman on Nov 5, 2008 - 720 comments

Lillian Ladele, a Christian registrar, has won her discrimination case after refusing to conduct same sex civil partnerships. " Islington Council cared too much about the "rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual" community, the panel ruled. "
posted by chuckdarwin on Jul 11, 2008 - 333 comments

The politics of fear 101: Meet the Fundies! The Texas senate is about to vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage AND civil union. Here are some of the proponents in their own words.
posted by threehundredandsixty on Oct 16, 2005 - 72 comments

Domestic abuser goes free - thanks, gay marriage ban! An Ohio man has been acquitted of domestic abuse charges on the grounds that under the state's new ban on civil unions - gay and straight- the defendant could not be guilty of domestic abuse because he was not married to his live-in girlfriend.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Mar 25, 2005 - 64 comments

Supreme Court of Canada approves gay marriage. Although agreeing that religious groups can't be forced to perform any ceremonies, the Court stated in their ruling that defining marriage for civil purposes in Canada as a lawful union of two people would be constitutional. The ruling validates future legislation legalizing gay marriage, which is apparently almost guaranteed to pass early next year.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Dec 9, 2004 - 103 comments

Scandinavia has had gay marriage for years, and surprise surprise, the institution has not collapsed. It's amazing how rarely Americans take advantage of these sorts of international comparisons...
posted by MikeB on May 20, 2004 - 33 comments

New Jersey became the fifth state to recognize same-sex partnerships. The law extends health insurance, inheritance and hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. Marriage is still illegal, but it's a success for NJ in 2003. I've lived here all my life and this is the first time the toll booth state has left me genuinely impressed and feelin proud.
posted by Modem Ovary on Jan 14, 2004 - 12 comments

While you were sleeping, gay people were getting married in Vermont. Beginning at midnight last night, people began flocking to their town clerks [some of them] and signing pieces of paper that would allow them to visit their partners in the hospital and file state taxes jointly. While I have yet to see a news photo of a happy couple [no thanks to the AP] I'm sure today is going to be an interesting day in town.
posted by jessamyn on Jul 1, 2000 - 4 comments

The same-sex domestic partnerships bill in Vermont has been approved by the state's lawmakers. "The continued denial of these legal protections, benefits and responsibilities to a small but vulnerable class of Vermont's citizens diminishes their humanity, dignity, freedom and independence." It's about damn time, hopefully other states will soon follow suit. Oh, and if you have a problem with this, listen to this and let me know why you continue to have problems with it.
posted by mathowie on Apr 25, 2000 - 12 comments

An informed view of prop twenty-two. This may be a bit belated, but it's astonishing that someone could come up with a comparison like this and actually believe that it had any worth in judgment or persuasion.
posted by EngineBeak on Mar 22, 2000 - 13 comments