A joyous 2009 to you and your families!
May the year be full of love, happiness, peace, and equality for all.
Special wishes to same-sex couples in New Hampshire who are now able to marry. (It is, however, rather cold here in New England at the moment. I suggest a Polarfleece theme for your reception.)
A nod, too, to Californians, who are welcoming three pieces of legislation that expand rights for LGBT people:
- The Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act, which states that same-sex couples married in any state or nation anytime before the passage of Proposition 8 must be recognized as married spouses in California. The new statute also confirms that same-sex couples married outside of California after November 5, 2008, must be given all of the rights, protections and responsibilities of married spouses under California law, with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.”
- The LGBT Domestic Violence Programs Expansion Bill, which expands access for LGBT service providers to a state fund within the California Emergency Management Agency, which supports LGBT-specific domestic violence programs across the state. The new law also allows for more than four organizations to apply for programmatic funding each fiscal cycle and eliminates the requirement for providers to offer shelter — impediments to many smaller LGBT organizations.
- Harvey Milk Day, which will be celebrated on May 22, 2010, the first time in the nation’s history that a state will officially recognize and celebrate the contributions of an openly LGBT person with an annual “day of special significance.”