Gay Weddings are Good for Business

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 7

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, March 12, 2010

This is the week that gay marriage began in the nation's capital. Truly a historic day. Let's start with that and explore the other gay marriage and wedding news of the week!

Across the U.S.:

The Human Rights Campaign held a wedding event on Tuesday, the first day gay couples in the District could legally marry. Here's the video of the ceremonies.
Many Washington Post readers were not at all pleased by the photo the paper ran featuring two gay men kissing!
Actress Cynthia Nixon, star of Sex and the City, wants to marry her partner! In this video, she speaks out about how that's not possible in New York state, where they live.
This will get its own blog post, but the Washington Post ran an article about the wedding related jobs expected to be created in DC due to the legalization of gay marriage.
NH is all over the map when it comes to gay marriage. The latest is that some towns will begin voting on whether gay marriage should be a ballot initiative. Those votes begin on Tuesday.
California State Senator Ashburn who has opposed same-sex marriage for years, was arrested for a DUI last week after leaving a gay club. He's since come out of the closet and defended his stance on gay marriage.

And across the world:

Gay weddings began in Mexico City this week. Mexico City is the first place in Latin America to allow legal gay marriage.

What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Comments

Post has no comments.

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 6

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, March 05, 2010

Where do I begin? It was a fantastic week for gay marriage, with it beginning in both DC and Mexico City of all places. Mexico City is especially notable because it's such a Catholic country. Here we go....

In the states:

Around the world:

Comments

Post has no comments.

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 5

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, February 26, 2010

It seemed like there was something newsworthy about gay marriage every day this week, with the highlight being the decision in Maryland. Read on to see what I mean:

The Maryland Attorney General wrote a decision declaring that the state will begin to recognize gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions. This means that Maryland same-sex couples can marry Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut or Massachusetts and return home with a marriage recognized by their home state.
Harold Ford Jr, a former Congressman from Tennessee who voted to ban gay marriage at the federal level, now lives in New York and is considering a run for U.S. Senate. Now a supporter of gay marriage, he's faced lots of protests in NY for flip-flopping on this issue.
A bill to bring gay marriage to a voter referendum in West Virginia was defeated by Democrats in that state.
A trio of pro-equality bills were introduced in the Minnesota House. One would recognize gay marriages performed in other states; one would remove gender specific language from state statues related to marriage; and the third would create civil unions.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and asked for a ruling without a trial. You can read more about DOMA here.

And around the world:

A judge in Argentina is permitting a second same-sex couple to marry. The first couple married in December.
Mexico's Supreme Court rejected three challenges to Mexico City's recent gay marriage law. Gay marriage is expected in Mexico City in early March.
A bill introducing gay marriage to Australia was recently defeated.

Comments

Post has no comments.

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 4

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, February 19, 2010

In this weeks gay marriage and wedding news...

The Archdiocese of DC is stopping its foster care program in anticipation of gay marriage coming to the nation's capital.
A couple married in Massachusetts who now live in Texas are seeking to get divorced. How do they get divorced in a state that doesn't recognize their marriage to begin with? The state Attorney General is seeking to deny their divorce.
Six weeks after gay marriage came to New Hampshire, the House rejects two measures to repeal the law.
More than 150 clergy members across the state of Iowa have signed a letter of support of same-sex marriage. This is significant because it signifies that they understand that marriage is not exclusively a religious institution.
My transgender client, Joanne Herman, who is a blogger for the Huffington Post, wrote an article about planning her transgender wedding.
Despite the failure of gay marriage to become law in New Jersey, there was a group civil union ceremony in Atlantic City on Valentine's Day.
The oldest church in Stamford, Connecticut, a Congregational church which recently voted to allow gay marriage, held it's first same-sex wedding on Valentine's Day.

In the world news...

A straight couple in Austria has applied for "civil partnership" - the country's equivalent of marriage for same-sex couples. They argue the current separation of marriage and civil partnership is discriminatory and vow to take their fight to the highest court.
The Portugal Parliament passed a gay marriage bill and it now awaits the approval of the President.

Comments

Post has no comments.

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 3

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, February 12, 2010

It was a good week for gay marriage. Here's the rundown of the headlines:

Iowa lawmakers fail in attempt to ban gay marriage nearly a year after it began
Similarly, a New Hampshire committee is recommending against a repeal to gay marriage (which began there Jan 1)
This is an election year for Rhode Island governor and three of the four candidates support gay marriage. The current governor opposes it. Rhode Island will be a state to watch in the coming year.
Gay marriage goes into effect in Mexico City on March 4, despite opposition by the federal government.

Comments

Post has no comments.

Friday's Gay Wedding & Marriage News

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, February 05, 2010

This is the second post in a new weekly Friday blog series on gay weddings and gay marriage in the news:

On Monday, a legislative push to ban gay marriage in Iowa (nearly a year after it began) is expected to begin.
A bill has been introduced in California which would clarify the separation of church and state and ensure that no religious leaders or institutions are punished by refusing to marry gay and lesbian couples. This is notable because misleading ads suggesting that churches would be punished for refusing to marry gay and lesbian couples aired during the move to ban gay marriage in California through Proposition 8.
A bill was introduced to bring civil unions to Hawaii but didn't get a vote in the Hawaii House, so no civil unions in Hawaii.
Despite a petition by some Congressmen, the DC Board of Elections and Ethics refused to authorize a public vote on gay marriage. This means that DC gay marriage is back on track to begin in roughly a month.
A documentary about the Mormon role in banning gay marriage in California is creating buzz at the Sundance Film Festival.

What are your thoughts on the news this week? Do you think gay marriage in DC will quietly go into law? How to you feel about the bill in California that further clarifies the separation of church and state, and religious and civil marriage?

Comments

Ruth commented on 08-Feb-2010 10:02 AM

Watching the debate from Scotland it's difficult to understand why this issue is such a massive political football in the U.S. The law changed here 5 years ago almost without protest and we welcome gay couples from all over the world who want to get married in romantic and dramatic venues in Scotland. If you are frustrated waiting for the politcians to stop fighting about it, why not come to Scotland and get married in a gorgeous castle wedding. www.lovescotland.com/civil/fabulous/

Bernadette commented on 08-Feb-2010 01:01 PM

At issue is the word "marriage." The term "civil partnership" is used in the UK and that phrase is not threatening to those who see marriage as a religious institution.

Scotland is a beautiful place for a wedding - though US residents should note that if gay couples marry there, it will not be recognized by the US government.

Thank you for your comment!

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup

Bernadette Coveney Smith - Friday, January 29, 2010

New feature: every Friday, I'll be sharing some interesting news regarding gay weddings and gay marriage laws. I'm hopeful that the news won't always be depressing about gay marriage bans and such. So, here we go:

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play a lesbian couple in a new movie that's a big hit at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie is about a couple who meet the sperm donor of their teenage kids and co-stars Mark Ruffalo.
Although the Mexico City legislature legalized gay marriage, it seems in jeopardy and the federal government is prepared to intervene and overturn the law.
A bill was introduce to overturn gay marriage in New Hampshire, which started on January 1 of this year.
The Indiana State Senate approved a bill to ban gay marriage. Fortunately, it looks to be defeated in the House.
Gay marriage will be legal in Nepal in May and a company is already selling gay weddings on Everest!

Do you have any news to share?

Comments

Post has no comments.

Subscribe

Recent Posts

Tags

Archive

Gay Weddings are Good for Business

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 7

Comments

Post a Comment

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 6

Comments

Post a Comment

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 5

Comments

Post a Comment

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 4

Comments

Post a Comment

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup Vol 3

Comments

Post a Comment

Friday's Gay Wedding & Marriage News

Comments

Post a Comment

Weekly Gay Marriage Roundup

Comments

Post a Comment