Marriages Commence In England & Wales

Same-sex marriages have commenced in England and Wales!

The law changed at midnight, with a number of gay couples vying to claim the title of being the first to be married in Britain by trying to time it perfectly so their vows are being said just seconds after the clock struck midnight. Among the first couples set to take advantage of the legalisation are Peter McGraith and David Cabreza, who have been together for 17 years. Speaking before his wedding, Mr McGraith said: "We are thrilled to be getting married. It is a mark of significant social progress in the UK that the legal distinction between gay and straight relationships has been removed. "Very few countries afford their gay and lesbian citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this change in law will bring hope and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalised for their sexual orientation."

How nice that the newlyweds used this press attention to talk about the plight of our people in other countries.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the Karpel Group, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is The Movement, the new EP from Betty Who, the Australian popster who was signed by Sony Music when her Somebody Loves You single went globally viral after it was used in a gay marriage video proposal by a Utah man.

Enter to win The Movement EP from Betty Who! THE MOVEMENT, the new EP from rising pop star BETTY WHO. Featuring the hit single "Somebody Loves You." Available Now on iTunes.

We have five copies of The Movement to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post and please remember to leave an email address in your comment. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Magnets Prove Gay Marriage Is Unnatural

The University Of Lagos is praising the research of graduate student Chibuihem Amalaha, who spoke to the Lagos news site, This Day Live:

I used two bar magnets in my research. A bar magnet is a horizontal magnet that has the North Pole and the South Pole and when you bring two bar magnets and you bring the North Pole together you find that the two North Poles will not attract. They will repel, that is, they will push away themselves showing that a man should not attract a man. If you bring two South Poles together you find that the two South Poles will not attract indicating that same sex marriage should not hold. A female should not attract a female as South Pole of a magnet does not attract the South Pole of a magnet. But, when you bring a North Pole of a magnet and a South Pole of a magnet they will attract because they are not the same, indicating that a man will attract a woman because of the way nature has made a female. That is how I used physics to prove gay marriage wrong.

This Day Live goes on to cite other experiments by Amalaha that prove gay marriage to be unnatural by using biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Amalaha gloats:

My lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Profesor D.S.Aribuike pointedly told me that I will win Nobel prize one day, because he found that my works are real and nobody has done it in any part of the world. You know Nobel Prize is the highest award anyone could ever win and no African has won Nobel Prize in science. So I am aspiring to win Nobel Prize for Africa.

(Via Pink News)

Homoerotic Anti-Gay Boys Storm Beaches Of Normandy Because Gay Marriage

OK, they're at Montpellier, not Normandy, but we get the super-silly "gays are Nazis" metaphor. The all-male, always shirtless Hommen are apparently protesting the jailing of this guy.

(Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)

UPDATE:  I've learned that Monpellier was chosen for this nonsense as it was the site of France's first legal same-sex marriage.

Gay Military Marriage Proposal

Promoted by CRUSH, an LGBT anti-smoking campaign.

NORTH CAROLINA: Catholic Church Fires Music Director Over His Gay Marriage

A Catholic Church near Charlotte, North Carolina has fired Steav Bates-Congdon, their longtime music director, for marrying his partner of 23 years in an upstate New York ceremony.

On Jan. 19, just back from a honeymoon trip to Mexico, followed by an emergency stay at Carolinas Medical Center for a ruptured appendix, he checked out of the hospital and dropped by St. Gabriel. There, he was handed a note by the Rev. Frank O'Rourke, the pastor with whom he had closely worked for more than four years. It read: "Employees of St. Gabriel ... are expected to live within the moral tradition of the Church...Your civil marriage stands in direct opposition to the teaching of the Catholic Church, therefore ending your employment with us, effective today." Contacted to discuss the firing, O'Rourke referred all questions to diocesan spokesman David Hains.

The firing came four days after a Supreme Court ruling that churches are exempt from employment anti-discrimination laws. St. Gabriel claims that the timing is a mere coincidence.

Today's Google Doodle

A nice visual hat-tip to gay marriage is included in today's Valentine's Google Doodle. The Washington Post has profiled the artist.

HomoQuotable - Paul Rudnick

"Gays are beginning to experience what a lot of long-running straight couples go through. A lot of straight people find marriage dull or a government inroad into their private life. I think marriage should be available to everyone, but I don't think it's right for everyone. [snip] I'm a little in the Rachel Maddow camp. I'm 100 percent for the legalization of gay marriage, but I'm not so sure I'll take a sip." - Playwright Paul Rudnick, speaking with Michael Musto. Rudnick remains unmarried after 18 years with his partner despite "feeling the New York nudge."

Gay Marriage Will Lead To Gay Plays With Gay Kisses Seen By Straight Kids

(Via - Think Progress)

Gay Marriage For Archie Comic

The January issue of Archie will feature the marriage of the series' gay character, Kevin.

Introduced last year in an issue of the Veronica series, Kevin Keller is an aspiring journalist who also wants to follow in his father's footsteps by joining the U.S. armed forces. The character has earned lots of attention and praise for tackling the subjects of gay teens and gays in the military, but as Kevin's creator Dan Parent told ComicsAlliance in May, Archie Comics readers -- like the Riverdale gang themselves -- just simply love the guy for who he is.

Ooh, the wingers are gonna loooove this.

New Web Series: Husbands

Episode 1 debuts this week.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: State GOP Leader Says Repealing Gay Marriage Not On Agenda

A short but very interesting item just popped up on my Associated Press feed.

House Republican Leader D.J. Bettencourt confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that jobs and the economy will be the top priorities that Republicans will use as their scorecard to measure themselves by for the next two years. Bettencourt said social issues will take a back seat. He said one abortion initiative will be on the agenda but he declined to say what it is.

Stand by for NOM's hissy fit.

UPDATE: New Hampshire Freedom To Marry responds:

"We hope press accounts are accurate that House Republicans have decided not to pursue a repeal of New Hampshire's gay marriage law this year. If so, we applaud the Republican leadership for listening to the people of New Hampshire. There is bipartisan opposition to repeal marriage equality. All families here want the legislature to focus on the economy, and now is not the time to consider taking away rights from committed couples and their families." - Mo Baxley, Executive Director, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry.

Tweet Of The Day - Maggie Gallagher

Slaggie blogs:

A new study by a Spanish gay rights group reports that about 10,000 gay marriages have taken place since Spain legalized gay marriage in 2007. Spain has about 30 million people in 2008 over the age of 15. If 3 percent of the population is homosexual, that would be about 900,000 gay and lesbian adults. So 20,000 gay people have chosen to marry so far -- about 2 percent of gay adults. Why so few?

Theories abound regarding the low rate of gay marriages in places where it's legal. A populace not emotionally trained to expect the possibility of marriage, a distaste for the heteronormative institution itself, etc etc.

Episcopal Priests In Massachusetts OK'd To Officiate At Gay Weddings

In a decision sure to rile the Christian right, the Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts has granted priests permission to solemnize same-sex weddings.

The decision by Bishop M. Thomas Shaw III was immediately welcomed by advocates of gay rights in the Episcopal Church, who have chafed at local rules that allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, but not sign the documents that would solemnize their marriages. The decision is likely to exacerbate tensions in the Episcopal Church and the global denomination to which it belongs, the Anglican Communion, which has faced significant division in the wake of the election of an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. “The time has come,’’ Shaw said in a telephone interview. “It’s time for us to offer to gay and lesbian people the same sacrament of fidelity that we offer to the heterosexual world.’’

The Marriage Ref: Seinfeld Wants Married Gays For His New Reality Show

Jerry Seinfeld is producing a new show for NBC called The Marriage Ref, in which couples fight their years-honed battles for the camera and a referee. And not just straight couples, as per Gayopolis, who got this message:

I contacted you because we are searching the country for gay married couples. This could be an excellent opportunity to show on primetime television that marriage is marriage - a show about married life simply would not be complete without showcasing married couples in all forms. I am a casting associate producer for a new show on NBC called "The Marriage Ref." The show is produced by Jerry Seinfeld and will focus on couples that bicker naturally about every day issues - we will then bring in a marriage referee to settle arguments.

If you want to air you and your hubby's dirty laundry on national TV, here's what they're looking for:

"The Marriage Ref" casting team is searching the country for outgoing and opinionated married couples, willing to appear on national television, who have a long standing argument or issue that must be resolved. No problem is too small!

• Is there an object, a person, or a habit (e.g. computer, pet, a friend, the remote control) that is a third wheel in your relationship and causes a problem?
• Or does your partner have an annoying obnoxious habit or item that causes fights?
• Does your partner do things like withhold sex after a fight?

Whether you argue about parenting, pets, fashion, money, in-laws, weight, housework, chores, communication, neatness, jealousy, past history, friends, sex... Whatever you argue about, we want to hear from you. Tell us why you absolutely NEED a MARRIAGE REF to weigh in and decide who is RIGHT and who is WRONG.

Will watching married gays bicker on national television help the movement? I can see two sides of this.

That's Life: Board Games Make You Gay!

Under the site-topping headline "Game For 6 Year Olds Pushes Same Sex Marriage!", World Net Daily is foaming at the mouth because some mom somewhere noticed that the online version of Milton Bradley's kid classic The Game Of Life does not prevent children from selecting a same-sex spouse.

The online version of a popular board game from many Americans' childhood includes an option for players to choose homosexual marriage and child-rearing as a way of life. Through the Shockwave.com website, even children can download and play a free trial version of The Game of Life, the first game ever created by Mr. Milton Bradley in 1860. The player's first option in the online version is to choose a persona based on pictures that clearly depict men and women. Shortly thereafter, the game invites players to choose a spouse, regardless of the potential spouse's sex.

Everybody here who put two pink or two blue pegs into that little car on the physical version of the game raise your hand. Yeah, me too. World Net Daily wrote to the company to complain.

"Your guidelines ask us to 'keep your language safe for the kids,' yet here's a game where children may choose homosexual marriage and child-rearing," WND wrote. "Many sections of society accept this as normative, but many also would consider this too mature a theme for children. Others would consider this downright offensive. Is it appropriate to include, for example, lesbianism in this game?"

You have to give them credit for finding new and inventive ways to hate.

Wheel Of Fortune Contestant: "That's My Fiance, Chuck"

Andy Towle points out this clip from Wheel Of Fortune in which a contestant point out his male fiance' in the audience. His winning answer was "mixed signals", but if there's a joke in there, I can't think of it.

The Happy Couple Is Registered At Closets-To-Go

The wedding invitations have gone out for Florida Gov. Charlie "Closet Case" Crist and his beard-to-be.

Invitations to Gov. Charlie Crist's upcoming nuptials are in the mail, and the guest list to the Dec. 12 event has become a source of chatter around the state. The cream and pale pink invitations to Crist and fiancee Carole Rome's ceremony at First United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg began arriving last week. State Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, said his fellow legislators are wondering who has been invited to the ceremony, which is black-tie optional. Guests who are planning to attend won't be bringing gifts to the wedding's reception at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. A card enclosed in the invitations reads: "No gifts please, due to Florida law.''

No gifts, because Florida law bans gay marriage?

Gavin Newsom Goes For It

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has laid low in the marriage equality fight ever since the Yes On 8 side scored big with their "Like It Or Not" ad. But yesterday he launched a new round of fundraisers and media appearances in a last minute bid to turn the polling around.

In the last week of what could be one of the most important political fights of his career, Mayor Gavin Newsom is campaigning heavily against Proposition 8, turning to his supporters with pleas to vote and convince their friends and relatives to oppose the same-sex marriage ban.

The mayor is hosting a private fundraiser at his Russian Hill home tonight and has already picked up $125,000 in contributions from those attending the event. This afternoon, he's holding a forum with employees at Google, and over the next several days he'll be hitting nearly every major Bay Area radio station and staging rallies around the city.

Newsom says he owes it to his constituents in San Francisco to do everything in his power to fight the initiative. But political analysts note that the outcome of Tuesday's election could weigh heavily on Newsom's future in politics, and specifically his potential bid for governor.

At a No on 8 rally at UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Newsom told students that he recognized that the outcome of the election could hurt his career - but he wasn't losing sleep over it. "The biggest problem in politics today is that we're risk-adverse. We're afraid of tomorrow's headlines," Newsom said. "I couldn't care less if the rest of my life I'm only known as the ex-mayor of San Francisco. I will regret nothing about standing up on this issue. I get to go to sleep at night having done the right thing."

Newsom released this clip on Friday.

William Shatner Goes Off On Sulu

On his own YouTube channel, William Shatner goes off on George Takei for not inviting him to his wedding.

"There is such a sickness there. It's so patently obvious that there is a psychosis there. I don't know what his original thing about me was. I have no idea. I didn't read his book that was printed many years ago, but apparently I didn't let somebody have a closeup. I literally don't know him. I didn't know him very well on the series. He would come in for a day or two, as evidenced by the part he played. Then on the movies, there occasionally. I didn't know the man. But he has continued to speak badly about me for all these years. Obviously hiding his homosexuality. Talk about festering and not living the truth of your life and feeling badly about yourself and being fearful somebody would find out about this terrible terrible secret, so he thought. Finally at the age of I think 70, he decides to come out of the closet and say 'I'm gay.' Like, who cares? Be gay. Don't be gay. That's up to you George."

That's Shatner's daughter doing the interview, I think

(Via - Good As You)

UPDATE: Takei responds: "It is unfortunate that Bill was unable to join us for our wedding as he indeed was invited to attend. It is our hope that at this point he joins us in voting NO on Proposition 8, which seeks to eliminate the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry in California." -- George Takei