Tag Archives: marriage equality

Gay Star News reports: Same-sex couples who have married overseas will now have those marriages given legal recognition when they return home to the Australian state of Victoria after lawmakers passed the Relationships Amendment Bill. Same-sex marriage is still not legal in Australia despite overwhelming support from the Australian people so many Australian states have created relationship registers so that …

Irish civil rights goddess Panti Bliss has been ranked at #12 in Politico‘s annual list of the 28 most-influential Europeans. From their bio: The outspoken queen captured the public imagination in a country that didn’t decriminalize gay sex until 1993. O’Neill was surprised himself. He charts it up to the fact that drag queens, often considered “fun” and almost “cartoonish” in …

Two-time 1984 Olympics gold medalist Peter Vidmar has resigned his chairmanship at USA Gymnastics to become a missionary for the Mormon Church. You may recall that Vidmar resigned from directing the United States gymnastics team at the 2012 London Games following media furor over his participation at anti-gay rallies and his donations to Proposition 8. USA Gymnastics has issued a …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: Today, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission sent out an email to activists announcing a new campaign aimed at urging state legislatures to “nullify” the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision, beginning with “a national radio spot targeting the newly-elected Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin.” “Nullification” is the fringe idea that states have …

Nutjob anti-gay and anti-abortion activist Rives Miller Grogan pleaded guilty to disrupting the Supreme Court’s Obergefell hearing back in September. Today he was sentenced to 21 days in jail and ordered to stay away from the court building for one year. Via the Washington Post: Grogan, 50, of Mansfield, Tex., pleaded guilty in September to one misdemeanor charge of unlawful …

Yesterday Kim Davis attended the swearing-in and inaugural parties for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. According to the Liberty Counsel, Bevin won because of the Davis controversy. They write: “There is no question that the case of Kim Davis and the issue of religious freedom played a role in the Governor’s lopsided win,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty …

A team of North Carolina attorneys has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn a state law which allows officials to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses in the name of Jesus. The Charlotte Observer reports: Attorneys Jake Sussman, Luke Largess and John Gresham are part of the legal team that filed a lawsuit against the state Wednesday. They claim …

Twitter today released the list of the most retweeted political messages of 2015. At #1 is President Obama’s celebratory tweet on the day that the Supreme Court ruled on same-sex marriage. Politico reports: The president’s official account (@POTUS), which was launched in May of this year, also snagged the number 2, 3, 7, 16, 22 and 24 spots. The tweets …

Rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker has sent us the pattern for a do-it-yourself rainbow White House ornament. Click on this link and print out the pattern. You can throw Mr. Baker a buck or two via his PayPal account.

The BBC reports: Judgement in a landmark legal case challenging Northern Ireland’s ban on same-sex marriage will be delivered after Christmas. The case has been taken by two same-sex couples who were the first people in the UK to enter civil partnerships in 2005. Their lawyer claimed they are suffering state discrimination as a result of the ban. Judgement was …

Michigan Live reports: Michigan officials should “reclaim this state’s sovereignty by not recognizing or enforcing” the U.S. Supreme Court decision that gave same-sex couples the right to marry, according to a resolution set to be introduced in the state House. State Rep. Tom Hooker [photo], R-Byron Center, read his pending resolution out loud Wednesday during a “rally to protect religious …

Within weeks of his 2012 election to his state’s legislature, former Queensland Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie engineered the downgrading of civil unions to registered partnerships. But in what is being called a “breathtaking reversal,” Bliejie has declared that he now supports same-sex marriage. Q News reports: Mr Bleijie, who is a committed Christian and a marriage celebrant this week told …

Austria’s The Local reports: Five Austrian children of same-sex parents are taking the government to court over Austria’s marriage laws, which don’t allow gay couples to marry. The children and their parents have taken their cases arguing for same-sex marriage to the Administrative Court in Vienna, and hope to change the law so that the children can become ‘legitimate’. Austria …

Bloomberg reports: A majority of Japanese support changing the country’s laws to allow same-sex unions, with the highest backing coming from younger respondents, according to a poll. Fifty-one percent of people polled by researchers from universities and the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research back such partnerships, the Asahi newspaper reported. Support exceeded 70 percent among respondents in …

Entertainment Ireland reports: It was a night for the locals as U2 welcomed a few familiar faces on stage at 3Arena last night. During a performance of Mysterious Ways, the stage got 100% more fabulous when Panti Bliss strutted on stage and shook what God gave her. As the song finished up, Bono and Panti shared a few words on …

Saying that they reject his “anti-diversity” message, a major Bermuda hotel has canceled two planned speeches by the Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson. According to the general manager of the Hamilton Princess, the events were booked “under a different guise” and would not have been approved had the hotel known of Anderson’s positions on LGBT rights. Gay Star News has …

Marco Rubio appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network this morning where he declared that the Obergefell decision isn’t “settled law.” And Christians should ignore the ruling anyway because when it comes to sin, “God’s rules always win.” Right Wing Watch has the transcript: “We are clearly called, in the Bible, to adhere to our civil authorities, but that conflicts with …

Ireland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect yesterday and weddings began this morning after the required 24-hour waiting period. The first couple to marry was Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly. RTE reports: The couple who have been together for 12 years got married in Clonmel, Co Tipperary this morning. Senior Registrar for south Tipperary Mary Claire Heffernan confirmed they were …

Ireland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect this morning and weddings will commence tomorrow after the required 24-hour wedding period. Via the Independent: More than 300 same-sex marriages are expected to take place in the first fortnight after the new Marriage Equality Act comes into force. Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will today sign the commencement order, with the first same-sex …

Hunger Games and X-Men star Jennifer Lawrence, a Kentucky native, let Vogue know about her low opinion of Kim Davis: The day I am at Lawrence’s house also happens to be the day after the infamous county clerk Kim Davis gets out of jail, where she had been sent for defying a court order requiring her to issue marriage licenses …