Marriage Equality

“One year ago today, we celebrated a watershed moment for equality in America. Thanks to the bravery of LGBT Americans like Jim Obergefell and Edie Windsor, and the determination and tireless organizing of the LGBT community and their allies, marriage equality became the law of the land in all 50 states. “Over the last year, more barriers to equality have …

Australia’s national election is July 2nd and thousands rallied across the country today to call for the immediate introduction of same-sex marriage legislation. Reuters reports: Conservative Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull supports same-sex marriage and has pledged a public vote on the issue before the end of 2016. The Labor opposition will skip a public vote and introduce a bill …

From USA Today: Gun control advocates lobbying Congress in the wake of the Orlando shootings learned a long time ago: build momentum first in the states. Abortion rights proponents hoping to overturn restrictions on clinics and doctors at the Supreme Court learned the value of telling personal stories. Immigration rights activists still fighting to get undocumented parents the protections already …

The Royal Gazette reports: Bermudians overwhelmingly rejected same-sex marriages and civil unions by a greater than two-to-one margin in the referendum yesterday. However, the total number of votes cast was 20,804, or 46.89 per cent of the electorates, which is below the 50 per cent requirement to make the referendum valid. The final count, at around 4am today, showed that …

According to a Gallup poll released yesterday, nearly one million Americans are now in same-sex marriages, a 22% increase since Obergefell. They write: Gallup currently estimates 3.9% of U.S. adults are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and 0.4% of U.S. adults are married to a same-sex spouse. These figures can be used to estimate there are approximately 981,000 U.S. adults …

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement urging Catholics to attend NOM’s anti-LGBT hate march this weekend. They write: On June 25, 2016, the day before the one year anniversary of the erroneous and unjust Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, a rally and March for Marriage will be held in Washington, D.C. The event …

Via press release from the Liberty Counsel: Today, Liberty Counsel has filed a motion asking the Court of the Judiciary (COJ) to dismiss charges brought by the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Today was the deadline of the 14-day extension granted by the COJ for filing a response to the JIC Complaint. Liberty Counsel and …

Via Advertising Week: If you pick up this Sunday’s print edition of The New York Times and thumb through it, you’ll find that it features a couple full-page print ads from American Express that show the brand’s support for gay marriage. It’s no coincidence that the brand is rolling the ads out on Sunday, June 26, since that’s the one …

Just in from Evan Wolfson, former president of the gone-out-of-business Freedom To Marry: On June 26, it will be one year since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the freedom to marry nationwide. Love won – and the path to our triumphant victory stretched back years and miles. It was paved by the efforts, talents, and engagement of millions of people. …

NOM posted the above graphic to their Facebook page yesterday, adding the note “Too funny!” Meanwhile Brian Brown is panicking that they don’t have the money for this weekend’s hate march in Washington DC. He writes: We have a $12,500 shortfall that must be eliminated for the March to be completed on budget. Just a week ago we had a …

Corrupt Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is continuing to stamp her feet about Anderson Cooper having pointed out her now very inconvenient anti-LGBT history. Yesterday she ran crying to Fox News, where she got a sympathetic ear as she complained that Cooper ambushed her at the very moment she was calling for “unity and love.” Watch below.

US Weekly recaps: Fighting words. Anderson Cooper responded on Wednesday, June 15, to Florida attorney general Pam Bondi’s claims that their interview in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting, which aired live on CNN the previous day, was edited to portray her in a bad light. “She’s either mistaken or she’s not telling the truth,” the CNN host said …

BOOM. Corrupt Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi just walked face-first into a gay buzzsaw named Anderson Cooper and it was BEAUTIFUL. Bondi was speaking to Cooper in Orlando, ostensibly to deliver a warning about scammers who might prey on people looking to donate to Pulse massacre victims, but the interview immediately went wildly off the rails when Cooper confronted her …

Roy Moore can suck it. AL.com reports: A federal judge, citing the unwillingness of Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and others to go along with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year making same-sex marriage legal nationwide, this week entered a permanent injunction barring state officials from enforcing laws banning gay marriage. U.S. District Judge Callie V. Granade, …

Wow. The Pride LA reports: The United States federal government has recognized as legally valid the April 1975 same-sex marriage of Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan, approving the “green card” petition that Adams filed in 1975 for his husband, an Australian citizen. After Adams died in December 2012, Sullivan sought to have the Immigration Service recognize their marriage and grant …

Via Barbados Today: The Barbados Government “will not change the law” to allow for same-sex marriages, an adamant Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite has declared. However, Brathwaite warned the island had no room for discrimination on the basis of sexuality. “As a lawmaker, if Jane decides she wants to live with Janice, that is their business as far I am concerned. …

Just in via email: Great news — we’ve received official word that our permit application for the 2016 March for Marriage has been approved, and we are moving forward! The March is set for Saturday, June 25th, from 11:30am until 2:00pm. Please mark your calendar to attend and spread the word to everyone that you know. This year’s March will …

Following a 2010 ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court, same-sex marriage is recognized in all 31 Mexican states, but currently only nine states have enacted laws that allow gay couples to marry locally without going to court. Last month President Enrique Nieto proposed a constitutional change to force the remaining states to comply. Yesterday he authored a Huffington Post column explaining …

Via the Associated Press: Florida taxpayers are going to pay nearly $500,000 for the state’s losing battle to keep intact a voter-approved ban on gay marriage. State officials have now reached settlements with two separate groups of attorneys representing same-sex couples that challenged the state’s ban. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office reached a final settlement on Wednesday that brought the …

Advertising Age recaps: Bud Light has partnered with Ellen DeGeneres to launch a new ad today in support of gay marriage. “Gay weddings, they are just like any wedding,” Seth Rogen says in the spot, which shows a wedding between two males. The ad also features Amy Schumer. The two comedians have been starring in the politically themed “Bud Light …