And Now...A Moment Of Silence

Actually, FUCK that. Party on Tarheels!

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Lifts Prop 8 Stay, Gay Marriage Returns To California!!!

The Los Angeles Times reports:

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California. The court lifted its stay on an injunction which ordered state officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8. With the court's action, counties can now begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses.

A spokesman for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had originally said it would takes the court at least 25 days to act after a Supreme Court ruling. Immediately afterward, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered his public health agency to advise the state's counties to "begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California as soon as the 9th Circuit confirms the stay is lifted."

Happiest gay pride EVAH!

UPDATE: Cleve Jones and Dustin Lance Black are at City Hall with Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, who are getting their license right now.

UPDATE II: California AG Kamela Harris is officiating.

UPDATE III: And they are MARRIED.

UPDATE IV: Nancy Pelosi cheers.

UPDATE V: Next stop, Los Angeles.

UPDATE VI: Contrary to a couple of SF media feeds, the above photo of Kris and Sandy is of them attesting to their marriage license. Here's the wedding! "I now pronounce you spouses for life."

NEW YORKERS: Join The Celebration Outside Stonewall At 5:30PM Today

Today's celebration outside the historic Stonewall Inn begins at 5:30PM.  Expect a huge crowd and prepare to be fabulous.  DOMA champion Edith Windsor will be there! I hope to see a great JMG turnout!

DOMA HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN!!!

HISTORY!!!

Read the full ruling.

Maine's Moment Of Victory

(Tipped by JMG reader Seth)

Minnesota Marriage Ban LOSES!!!

In a huge "FUCK YOU" to NOM, the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, and one Ms. Kalley Yanta, last night Minnesota voters said "NO" to bigotry. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports:

"You dug down and fought for love, with love," Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told hundreds of amendment opponents gathered at the RiverCentre in St. Paul late Tuesday night. "You understood compassion. This wound up being one of the most inspirational things that's ever happened in Minnesota. Minnesota is going to be the state that's going to show the country exactly what Minnesota values are all about." An early and vocal opponent of the amendment, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said "Minnesota is better than this" and criticized the ballot initiative as the "wrong way to lead, the wrong way to govern."

This one may be the sweetest of all and it's not even technically a "win."  I'll have a roundup of shocked hate groups later today, bet on it.

MINNESOTA: General Mills Announces Opposition To Same-Sex Marriage Ban!

Minnesotans United announces!

Fortune 500 Company General Mills has just announced that the Golden Valley, MN corporation opposes the constitutional amendment seeking to limit the freedom to marry for committed same-sex couples in Minnesota. Sign our petition today thanking General Mills for supporting all Minnesota families!

Suck it, NOM!

Marriage SURVIVES In New Hampshire!

Two HUGE defeats for NOM on the same day!

Freedom To Marry exults via press release:

Today, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted down legislation that would have repealed the state’s two-year-old freedom to marry law along with a key vote to defeat the Bates Amendment, which would have forced a non-binding referendum on marriage onto the November ballot and replaced marriage with civil unions. The final bill was defeated by a vote of 211 to 116 and the Bates Amendment by a vote of 162 to 188. Stripping away the freedom to marry in New Hampshire was a top priority of national anti-gay organizations, which had predicted that they would be able to garner the vote of two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to override the promised veto by Governor John Lynch.

Callooh! Callay! We are totally chortling!

UPDATE: Craig Stowell, co-chair for Standing Up For NH Families reacts.

"Today is a banner day for the freedom to marry. Our opponents have been crowing about getting their two-thirds, but in the end, it's clear they couldn't muster the votes. This is a victory for our supporters -- the majority of Granite Staters who oppose any roll back of marriage equality -- because they reached out time and again and told lawmakers to leave this law alone. This was our opponents' best shot and they blew it. This was supposed to be the most favorable legislative climate for repeal and they couldn't even get a majority. Still, we cannot simply pack our bags and go home. Our opponents still want to end marriage equality in New Hampshire and we must keep a watchful eye on the Legislature, and make sure voices of equality are heard in November. But this is a good day for all New Hampshire families who can celebrate tonight and know their marriages are no longer under attack in Concord."

NOTE: Craig Stowell is the straight brother of JMG regular Calvin Stowell, who comments here as Aurosan.

Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional!!

AGAIN. By a 2-1 vote. More in a moment!

UPDATE: Washington State Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill 28-21!!!

UPDATE: Under the leadership of openly gay Sen. Ed Murray and with the critical support of several Republican Senators, the bill has passed after failed attempts to attach nasty amendments. One of the failed GOP amendments would have made it legal for any business to discriminate against gay couples. Another would have immediately placed the issue on the November ballot. That will likely happen anyway via a public petition drive, but the Democrats swatted it down. Onward to the Washington House, where passage is guaranteed.

Congratulations Washington!

VICTORY: Proposition 8 OVERTURNED!!!

Moments ago California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage was OVERTURNED by Judge Vaughn Walker! This is just the beginning of a very long court battle, but for today, let's CELEBRATE!

I'll update this post shortly with the details of Walker's ruling.

UPDATE: Here is the complete ruling. Feel free to grab my embed for your own sites!
Prop 8 Ruling
(BIG thanks to JMG reader Victor in San Francisco for getting us the complete ruling before anybody else!)

UPDATE II: Legal eagles, does the first paragraph on the final page mean there is no stay on the ruling?

BREAKING: Argentina's Senate APPROVES Marriage Equality 33-27!!!!

Argentina's Senate has voted 33-27 to APPROVE marriage equality! The bill now goes to the president who has vowed to sign it at once. The debate, which Rex Wockner notes went on for 14 hours, lasted past 4am Buenos Aires time. Shortly after the vote, a massive and delirious crowd outside the chamber broke into dancing and singing. I'll update this post shortly with official news reports. Among those staying up all night to follow the debate was Ricky Martin, whose tweets on #matrimonio pushed the issue onto Twitter's top trending topics.First out with a U.S. reaction was Freedom To Marry, whose executive director Evan Wolfson writes:

"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom to marry movement has come as twelve countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality. Argentina's vote for the freedom to marry marks an important advance for fairness and family values as more couples around the world will now share in marriage, with families helped and no one hurt. Today's vote adds momentum to the international movement to secure the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples. Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States. America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."

OOPS, yesterday Slaggie Gilamonster foresaw the future! A future which is spreading across the globe in a lovely dark blue. See the already updated Wiki-map below.

Portugal's President To Sign Marriage Equality Law

All that pressure from the Vatican was useless. Today Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced that he WILL ratify his nation's marriage equality law, which was bound for approval whether he vetoed it or not. Interestingly, Silva's decision comes on the International Day Against Homophobia.

The head of state's decision to permit the enactment of a bill passed by Parliament in January makes Portugal the sixth European country allowing same-sex couples to wed. President Anibal Cavaco Silva said in a nationally televised address he regretted that the country's political parties had failed to reach a compromise during days of heated debate in Parliament four months ago. Vetoing the bill would only send it back to Parliament where lawmakers would overturn his decision, he said, adding that the country needed to focus on overcoming an economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty. The Socialist government's bill was backed by all of Portugal's left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties opposed the measure and demanded a national referendum. "Given that fact, I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese and divert the attention of politicians away from the grave problems affecting us," Cavaco Silva said. He said that, in ratifying the law, he was setting aside "personal convictions."

Parabéns, Portugal! Eight nations now allow same-sex marriage: Canada, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, and Portugal. Who will be next?

Tweet Of The Day - Rachel Maddow

Your tweet of the day, MY tweet of the YEAR.

Washington: Referendum 71 APPROVED

Washington state's battle to preserve their new domestic partnerships law has been won.

The tally Thursday afternoon saw the vote to approve R-71 widening its lead 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent. That lead now appears insurmountable. The Secretary of State's Office estimates another 500,000 to 600,000 ballots statewide are still outstanding, with about half expected from King County, where the measure is being approved by slightly more than 2 to 1. "Voters across the state listened to the personal stories of lesbian and gay families and the challenges they faced and sent a strong message that we want to see all families treated equally under the law in our state," said Anne Levinson, chairwoman of Washington Families Standing Together, which worked for the measure's approval.

Protect Marriage Washington is refusing to concede, saying it's still possible that enough votes will come in to make up their deficit. However news outlets and the Associated Press are all calling the race over.

Congratulations to Washington Families Standing Together for a well-run, truthful campaign.

Vermont APPROVES Marriage Equality!

By a vote of 100-49 the Vermont House of Representatives has overridden Gov. Jim Douglas' veto! Marriage equality comes to Vermont! The fourth state to approve same-sex marriage, Vermont is the first to do so legislatively, rather than by judicial fiat. California's legislature approved same-sex marriage twice, but was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

GO VERMONT!

Iowa APPROVES Marriage Equality!!!

This morning the Iowa Supreme Court issued its decision approving marriage equality, making Iowa the first midwestern state to do so.

The Iowa Supreme Court this morning struck down a 1998 state law that limits marriage to one man and one woman. The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families. The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America.

Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, said today’s decision could set the stage for other states. Socarides was was a senior political assistant for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in the early 1990s. “I think it’s significant because Iowa is considered a Midwest sate in the mainstream of American thought,” Socarides said. “Unlike states on the coasts, there’s nothing more American than Iowa. As they say during the presidential caucuses, 'As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’”

Celebration!!! GO IOWA!!!

BUSTED: Sponsor Of TN Marriage Ban

Jeff Miller, the former Tennessee state senator who in 2005 successfully installed that state's ban on same-sex marriage, was arrested Wednesday for defrauding his home county in his position as tax collector.

A press release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says that Miller, 46, was indicted on one count of Official Misconduct, one count of Conspiracy to Commit Official Misconduct and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Perjury. April Miles, 28, was charged with one count of Aggravated Perjury, one count of Conspiracy to Commit Official Misconduct and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Perjury. Miles was Miller’s secretary. The TBI opened the investigation at the request of the District Attorney General on January 25, 2009 after there were allegations that Miller was overbilling the county while he served in the appointed position of Delinquent Tax Attorney for Bradley County. When Miller was removed from office, he was ordered to turn over title search records. He did not have the records that showed he performed the required title searches even though he received payment for these searches. TBI executed a search warrant on Miller’s office on January 28, 2009 as part of the investigation.

Local Tennessee LGBT paper Out & About notes:

Miller’s advocacy for the sanctity of marriage rang hollow at a time when his wife of 15 years sued him for divorce, citing behavior that suggested Miller was guilty of extramarital philandering. Bridgett Suzanne Miller filed divorce papers in Bradley County Circuit Court on February 25, 2005 and accused her husband of “inappropriate marital conduct.”

Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye, Dubya

Sing it with me, brothers and sisters!

Dubya's Farewell Speech