Rhode Island same-sex couples line up to get married

Yesterday, I featured gay couples in Minnesota who got married. It's only fair that I show gay couples in Rhode Island who also were able to get married. From Buzzfeed comes the following image:

This is John Gacher and Federico Santi of Newport , R.I. and apparently they have been together for 41 years before finally being able to "make it legal." Don't tell the religious right, thought. It would just ruin their day.

Then again . .  .

Why I LOVE those anti-gay activists from France

Is it wrong for me to start enjoying it every time La Manif Pour Tous, the anti-gay group in France, stages yet another protest against marriage equality:

According to the Huffington Post:

The anti-gay equality activists, calling themselves La Manif Pour Tous, are well-known for their blatantly homoerotic protests, the irony of which is surely lost in a haze of fervent bigotry. But hey, if these Frenchmen want to strip down, run around with each other in boats and climb poles on top of mountains, who are we to stop them?

The group of men began these protests following France's legalization of gay marriage last April, leading to a violent backlash among citizens who were unhappy with the legislation. Apparently, some people just choose to express their hatred of gay marriage in a less violent, more naked form of protest. And sometimes, they like to be gagged.

Oh why can't all anti-gay protestors be like this? 

'Religious right attempting to spoil marriage equality in Rhode Island, Minnesota' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Conservatives Hope Marriage Discrimination Persists In Rhode Island And Minnesota - You really don't expect them to let us enjoy our day, do you? They simply have to get over it. They kept saying "let the people vote." The people voted. Marriage equality won. End of story.

Tony Perkins: 'It'd be a lot simpler if we operated on the Ten Commandments' rather than civil law - So Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is expressing a desire for a theocracy. Why am I not surprised. Well at least I'm with him on the 10th commandment. I would NEVER "covet" Tony Perkins' "ass."  

Bipartisan Campaign Launched to Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act - I totally support this but I've said it once and I will say it again. Without a plan to combat the lies about ENDA head on, it's going to be an UGLY campaign.  

Bryan Fischer: Post-DADT Military "Emasculated, Neutered, Feminized, And Weakened Beyond Repair" - Bryan Fischer ought to know because he is presently serving in the military, right?

Gay couples make it legal in Minnesota with marriage

EARLY this morning when the marriage equality law in Minnesota went into effect, Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke became the first gay couple to be married in the state with their son taking part in the ceremony in front of a multitude of supporters:

 

Now I ask you, what's wrong with this? Not a damn thing. See Buzzfeed for more pictures and the complete story.

'Ex-gay' event in DC a SUPER disaster

From Right-Wing Watch:

Yesterday, American Family Radio’s Sandy Rios spoke to Ex-Gay Pride Month organizer Christopher Doyle about today’s ex-gay lobby day on Capitol Hill. Doyle, who was organizing the since-canceled Ex-Gay Pride banquet at the Family Research Council, complained in an interview with the Christian Post that “un-American” LGBT rights advocates have “shut us out,” explaining that “because of all this homo-fascism and indoctrination in the media, ex-gays aren’t given a fair shake.”

Rios confidently predicted that “thousands of ex-gays are descending” on Washington for a press conference planned for today at the Supreme Court. She lamented that when she led Concerned Women for America the media refused to hear “our ex-gay friends” because it “undermined the whole effort of the homosexual lobby.”

If I was Rios, I wouldn't play the lottery any time soon. Fewer than 10 showed up:

You can see other pictures of this disaster at Right-Wing Watch. Also, enjoy this video from the event. It's so pitiful that it becomes hilarious.

'USA Today Op-Ed pushes fraudulent 'ex-gay' therapy' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

USA Today Publishes Op-Ed By Ex-Gay Therapist Who Claims ‘Hundreds Were Successful’ - So the USA Today is now publishing fairy tales. How interesting. 

USA Today Op-Ed Endorses Psychologically Damaging "Ex-Gay" Therapy - More context on the USA Today op-ed  

Deny UN accreditation to C-FAM - C-FAM (Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute)which opposed lgbt equality on a worldwide scale. This week, its president, Austin Ruse, spoke in favor of Russia's violent crackdown on its gay community. And now the group actually wants United Nations accreditation. Sign the petition to say hell no!  

Marriage Equality Lawsuits After DOMA Arise In South, Midwest, As Gay Rights Groups Urge Caution - With Supreme Court victories over DOMA and Prop 8, same-sex couples are filing lawsuits in several places to get marriage equality in their states. But is it the right move. An excellent piece looks at this question.  

Ancient Christian Church Performed Gay Marriages? Historian's Claims Spark Controversy - Oh brother! Batten down the hatches!

The video snippet NOM doesn't want you to remember

If you will look on the blog of the National Organization for Marriage, you will see that the organization is making a pivot in it's talking points regarding marriage equality. It's not about "protecting the children" anymore. Rather it's about supposedly "protecting religious liberty."

Apparently those of us who support marriage equality are running roughshod over the freedoms of those who don't support it. NOM's blog posts are endless whinings about "lawless government officials" and horror stories about pastors being forced to marry couples.

So it would seem that the "oh won't someone please think of the children" talking point has run its course for NOM. But let's not totally discard the talking point. Remember the following snippet from Question One, the documentary about the 2009 vote to repeal marriage equality in Maine when the head of campaign to repeal, Marc Mutty, actually refuted NOM's talking point about marriage equality and children:

Hyperbole and fiction were NOM's biggest strengths when the organization and its allies pushed lies about marriage equality harming children. And now the organization is using the same two qualities when it attempts to scare people about how marriage equality will destroy their "religious liberty."

Let's not forget that nor allow anyone else to forget either.