Even with a Republican skew, public opinion on marriage equality is still gaining ground Lambert, Edwards, & Associates, a PR firm led by Republican Jeff Lambert, released results last week from a poll they commissioned in late July that covered the topic of marriage equality in Michigan. Despite using a questionable data set, the results still show marriage equality making […]

[Please see the update below] Last week, I questioned whether or not Michigan Senator Joe Hune is actually intelligent enough to be a senator. Today, that question is just as pertinent as we learn that Senator Hune is adamantly opposed to marriage equality in Michigan, despite the sea change happening in the opinions of Michiganders. In a recent article in […]

Change is coming fast

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled today that a case being brought by a Michigan lesbian couple challenging Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriages can move forward. Earlier this year, Judge Friedman suggested that the lesbian couple, Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer, who were suing to be allowed to adopt each other’s children, broaden their complaint to challenge the same-sex marriage ban itself.

However, on March 6th, Judge Friedman decided to delay his decision until the U.S. Supreme Court gave their rulings on California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. During that hearing, he repeatedly challenged the notion that there is some rational government purpose in preventing same-sex couples from marrying. Now that that the Supreme Court has ruled decisively on the side of marriage equality, Judge Friedman is prepared to allow Rowse and DeBoer to challenge Michigan’s ban.

Click through for details.

Wow, what a week! It yet another stride forward for same-sex couples, a federal judge today struck down Michigan’s ban on domestic partner benefits for public employees. What it remarkable about the ruling is that the judge cited intent by the authors of the law to specifically target same -sex couples in his decision. In his 51-page ruling, [U.S. District […]

“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Edith”

One of the arguments being used by anti-marriage equality bigots is the idea that marriage has one primary purpose: to legally tie people together so that they can have children. This forces us to ask, “What about heterosexual marriages where there are no children?” For example, I am married to Anne but we will not be having children. Is our marriage an abomination in the eyes of anti-same sex marriage bigots?

And, pray tell, what about gray marriage? This video shows us how evil that idea is (after the jump.)

Conservatives shouldn’t let real life intrude on their “no compromise” worldview

Radio hate-monger Mike Huckabee told Newsmax TV that if Republicans compromise on marriage equality, “evangelicals will walk”. He then went on to describe how their homophobic political agenda doesn’t mean they’re homophobic and says that lawmakers shouldn’t allow their life experiences to guide their opinions on things like marriage equality and civil rights for the LGBT community. He finished up by comparing shifts in attitudes about same-sex marriage to bad basketball players.

I’m not kidding. Video proof after the jump.

What, I have to leave town for good things to happen in Michigan???

I leave Michigan for a few days and then THIS happens? Turns out a Michigan judge has invited a Michigan lesbian couple who filed a complaint about not being allowed to adopt each others children to take it a step further and challenge our state’s odious and discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage.

Click through for details on this amazing turn of events.

THIS is change you can believe in Vice President Joe Biden made a campaign stop in Chillicothe, Ohio today, popping in at a local Obama for America (OFA) office to fire up volunteers and speak with folks who were being called by the phonebank that was in progress. During the visit, he pulled off to the side to speak to […]

Welcome to the real world

It’s a big day for LGBT rights in America today. First, a new Pew poll shows that a plurality of Americans support the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Then, on the same day, we learn that the Democratic Party are set to place support for same-sex marriage in the party’s 2012 platform.

Lots to cheer about after the jump.

THIS is how we treat our heroes?

Astronaut and Stanford physicist Sally Ride passed away this week from pancreatic cancer. She was the first woman American* and the youngest American of either gender to travel into space. My family has a small but important (to us) connection with Dr. Ride. When my daughter was in grade school, she had a project where they dressed as their heroes and, during an open house, played the role of their hero, answering questions and chatting with the parents that visited. My daughter was there, dressed in a blue jumpsuit and sporting my motorcycle helmet, a third grade astronaut. Her picture even ended up in the local newspaper.

When Dr. Ride, a lesbian, passed away this week, she left behind her partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy. Because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), O’Shaughnessy will receive no federal benefits, benefits she would receive if she were a man. Despite their life-long partnership, she is treated as if she were just an acquaintance.

The two met when they were 12 years old.

FORWARD!

In a major step forward in giving same-sex couples the ability to marry and have the same rights and protections as heterosexual couples, a federal appeals court in Boston today ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional.

[More after the jump.]