same-sex marriage

Indiana House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR-6) Marriage Discrimination Amendment

Yesterday, State Rep. Eric Turner filed Indiana House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR6) – the Marriage Discrimination Amendment in the Indiana House. It was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. You can track the status of the bill at this link.

SECTION 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of the State of Indiana is proposed and agreed to by this, the One Hundred Seventeenth General Assembly of the State of Indiana, and is referred to the next General Assembly for reconsideration and agreement.

SECTION 2. ARTICLE 1 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Section 38. Only a marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Indiana. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.

The second sentence of this bill has a terrible effect on ALL unmmarried couples, not just same-sex couples, in Indiana. In other states, similar language has been used to strip away spousal abuse laws for unmarried partners, leaving domestic partners who are not married vulnerable to violence with no legal protections.

This is the second trip for this bill through the Statehouse; it was passed in a previous year. If it is passed again this year, it will be added to the ballot to be ratified as an amendment by the public.

1) To figure out your district and state legislators visit this link: District Look Up and enter your address. Contact information – usually a phone number and the legislator’s website – is listed. Call their 1-800 number, or visit their website and find contact information for an email.

June UPDATE: Although the bill was introduced into the legislature, it did not make it out of committee in the 2013 legislative season. Lawmakers indicated that they preferred to wait until the Supreme Court rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act were announced.
Continue ReadingIndiana House Joint Resolution 6 (HJR-6) Marriage Discrimination Amendment

Adorable Gay Men get marriage license

Via the Maddow Blog – Pic: Way past wonderful – The Maddow Blog, these two adorable gay men are applying for a marriage license in Washington:

Randy and Larry Get Married

Randy and Larry Get Married

One month after Washington State voters approved the state’s marriage equality law in Ref. 74, same-sex couples get marriage licenses for the first time on December 6th, 2012. At around 1:30am, Larry Duncan, 56, left, and Randy Shepherd, 48, from North Bend, Wash. got their marriage license. The two plan to wed on December 9th, the first day it is possible for them to wed in a church in Washington State. They have been together for 11 years. Originally from Dallas, Texas, they moved here 7 years ago because it’s more gay friendly. Randy is a computer programer and Larry is a retired psychology nurse.

That is very sweet, and totally different than the story that I made up for them which was this:

I love these two dudes. They look like two hunting buddies who spent so much time out in the woods together, that they were like “Larry. Let’s get married so we can spend all of our time hunting in the woods together. I love hunting in the woods with you. We could hang out in the woods all day, and cuddle up in two sleeping bags zipped together at night, next to the fire.” And Larry says, “Randy, that sounds lovely. I will make you coffee in the morning, and s’mores at night, and we will kill some deer and eat them, along with a salad that I’ll make you, because we need vegetables.” And Randy says “Cool, we’ll get a marriage certificate, then. We live in Washington, so we can.”

Continue ReadingAdorable Gay Men get marriage license

links for 2011-08-25

  • Indiana stage collapse lawsuits could challenge state's rules on gay marriage | WBEZ
    Attorney Kenneth Allen said his clients were recently married in Hawaii, a state that allows same sex civil unions. Beth Urschel was injured in the stage collapse. Her spouse, Tammy VanDam, died from the incident. Allen said the lawsuits address a legal gray area in Indiana. "Tammy was her wife and Beth is entitled to be treated as any spouse should be treated: fairly, equitably and justly under the law," he said Monday. "That's something we intend to challenge because as it stands now, Indiana law does not recognize her as a spouse and we expect to change that."
    (tags: gayMarriage Indiana law equaity)
Continue Readinglinks for 2011-08-25

links for 2011-07-27

  • The Most Hilariously Effective Signs Supporting Gay Marriage | Happy Place
    If you don't like gay marriage, blame straight people. They're the ones who keep having gay babies.
    (tags: funny lgbt marriage signs)
  • The Science of Sexism: Primate Behavior and the Culture of Sexual Coercion
    Bonobos are as closely related to us as chimpanzees are since we shared a common ancestor with both between four and six million years ago and the two species later diverged from each other only about a million years ago. There has never been an observed case of male sexual coercion in this species despite the fact that males are still somewhat larger than females. A unique aspect of bonobo society is that they are a female-dominated species thanks to the network of support that exists between bonobo females. Chimpanzee females are largely isolated from one another, but bonobo females come to one another’s aid. While there may be genetic differences that account for the lack of sexual coercion in bonobos, one important factor is the different environment that promotes these cooperative networks and limits the usefulness of male coercion.
    (tags: feminism science sexism gender sexuality)
  • Norway Terrorist Deeply Upset by Sluts
    Too many of his female friends engage in sexual activity. Wah wah wah. Misogynist asshole. I like this paragraph: "Women are too powerful, everyone's too slutty, let's go back to the 1950's and take away the birth control and abortions and kick the Muslims out. Reading the Norway terrorist's manifesto is like being inside a Young Republicans meeting!"
    (tags: conservatives terrorism right-wing Oslo)
Continue Readinglinks for 2011-07-27

Real Biblical Marriage

Passed along from a friend via email

If we were to create a constitutional amendment defining marriage based on the teachings of the Bible, it would look like this:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother’s widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

Continue ReadingReal Biblical Marriage

links for 2008-06-19

Continue Readinglinks for 2008-06-19