As a general rule of life, I try not to gloat. But yesterday’s arguments in the federal marriage equality case in Indiana and Wisconsin were so overwhelmingly on the side of same-sex couples and our children that I can’t help but feel a little smug. One judge was particularly scathing in his questions to marriage equality opponents.
Olympic medalist and financial executive Gail Marquis and her spouse, entrepreneur and fashion commentator Audrey Smaltz, spoke recently with MSNBC about marriage equality, their own relationship, and their granddaughter.
Remember Mark Regnerus, the University of Texas at Austin Sociology professor whose work showing children don’t do as well with same-sex parents has been widely discredited? Even the State of Utah, which is defending its ban on marriage for same-sex couples today in court, has backed away from his findings.
TED Ed, the educational branch of the organization that puts on the thought-provoking TED Talks, recently posted a five-minute video on “The History of Marriage” that is wonderfully inclusive of same-sex couples and aimed at anyone from older elementary kids to adults. I thought I couldn’t be more excited about their videos — and then I saw another, on a topic I couldn’t have guessed, that is seamlessly inclusive of a same-sex romance. I may even love this second one more.
New Mexico makes 17! Yesterday, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of marriage equality, making 17 states, plus the District of Columbia, that allow same-sex couples to wed — eight states in 2013 alone. All of the plaintiff couples in the case are parents. But in our celebrations of the Land of Enchantment, we should take a moment to remember one mom who was fighting for marriage there while she was fighting for her life.
Jennifer Neuman-Roper, mother of three, spouse of Angelique Neuman-Roper, and a plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit for the right to marry in New Mexico, died Friday at age 44 of brain cancer, The Advocate reports.
Think kids will be “confused” or harmed by learning that same-sex couples can marry? Think again. This delightful video from The Fine Bros “Kids React” series shows children ages 5 to 13 responding to viral videos of marriage proposals of same-sex couples — and clearly, most of them are not only okay with it, but excited for the couples. They give me hope for the future.
The world has lost a fighter for justice. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charlie Morgan of the New Hampshire National Guard, and a lesbian mom, passed away this morning, Outserve-SLDN informs us. She had been fighting stage 4 breast cancer. Morgan was also a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
As a New Englander bred, I was delighted today to see the Rhode Island House pass a marriage equality bill 51-19. The Senate must vote on it next. If passed, Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) has promised to sign it.
College student Brian Arsenault has two moms. He also lives in Maine, where voters will be voting next Tuesday on whether to allow same-sex couples like his parents to marry. In the video after the jump, Arsenault talks about the support his moms have given him over the years, and the example they have set for what a marital relationship should be.
