Unconventional Sources

In New York State, legislation has been proposed that would establish with certainty the legal ability of same-sex couples to have equal access to marriage rights. That’s something that’s guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, which guarantees equal protection under the law. Still, even though New York State is a progressive state, it’s not certain that the marriage equality legislation will pass. Some backwards Democrats are joining Republicans in trying to deny equal rights.

The web site Marriage NY is working to organize citizens to mount a grassroots campaign to ensure marriage rights are respected, and all couples in New York, heterosexual and homosexual alike, have equal marriage rights.

It’s a project of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Thanks to them for their work on this subject.

In a decision that’s a victory for heterosexual couples as much as for homosexual couples, the House and Senate of Vermont have overturned the veto by Governor Jim Douglas of legislation legalizing marriage for same sex couples. People who have been family in deed can now be family in name as well, and have legal status as such.

Congratulations to Vermont Freedom to Marry, a group that has been working on this issue for a long time now.

For the rest of us, in states where inequality persists, let us remember that unless we are have equality, none of us have equality.

The blog Godless Liberal Homo gets my vote for the best byline of any blog I have ever seen: “I am a homo. That is a good thing. I am a liberal. That is a good thing. Everyone is godless. I belong to the minority that has figured this out.”

They also get my kudos for reporting on the story of journalist Parwez Kambakhsh’s conviction in Afghanistan on charges of blasphemy for making the suggestion that women have legal rights.

It’s a story that American newspapers are refusing to print. Why?

There’s a simple, positive protest going on in Hawaii at the
Hawaii Gay Marriage Bureau

No, same-sex marriage is not yet legal in Hawaii, but it ought to be, and it may well soon be. There’s a case in the courts right now challenging the constitutionality of the heterosexual exclusivity of marriage rights in Hawaii. Marriage is a legal status conferred by the government, and so it ought to be provided equally to all couples. That’s what the Constitution of the United States of America requires. Look it up.

So, while the Hawaii Gay Marriage Bureau cannot yet officiate over legally recognized marriages, it can help people perform protest marriages. Also, the mere existence of the bureau gives us a looking glass view into the world as it ought to be.