Gay assimilationists have created the ultimate genetically modified organism, combining virulent strains of nationalism, patriotism, consumerism, and patriarchy and delivering them in one deadly product: state-sanctioned matrimony.
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (via riley-ferretboy-konor)

Illinois re-introduces marriage equality law

gaywrites:

image

It’s back! On the first day of the 2013 legislative session, state senator Heather Steans and state representative Greg Harris introduced the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act in the House and Senate in Illinois.

This follows up marriage equality legislation that was introduced in the last session and passed a Senate committee, but did not have time to make it to the full legislature. The bill has the support of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn as well as President Obama.

“Last week, the Senate Executive Committee made history by approving same-sex marriage and gave our efforts incredible momentum,” Steans said in a statement released by Equality Illinois. “With the full support of Senate President John Cullerton, I am confident legislators will grant all Illinois couples the freedom to marry this year.”

The bill enjoys bipartisan legal support, expressed by GOP chairman Pat Brady, who said last week that “giving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value — that the law should treat all citizens equally,” according to the Equality Illinois release.

To add a little boost to everyone’s good mood, Illinois Rep. Kelly Cassidy got engaged to her partner, Kelley Quinn, steps away from the Capitol building (pictured above) just a day before the marriage equality bill was introduced. 

(via equalitymi)

Source: chicagophoenix.com

(Quotidian) Queer Qoncepts: Homonormativity

genderqueer:

browntranslaments:

Here’s the word of the day, kids:

HOMONORMATIVITY - ‘A politics that does not contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions, but upholds and sustains them, while promising the possibility of a demobilized gay constituency and a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption’ ( L. Duggan 2003 )

(via brownroundboi)

Basically, homonormativity sees (primarily) gay and lesbian people working towards the assimilation of non-heterosexual people into heteronormative structures of kyriarchy. For example, instead of challenging the constraints of the heteronormative gender system and working to destabilize historically hegemonic institutions, the homonormative project aims to make space for gay people within the already existing (and problematic) gender system [so we find a gender hierarchy with femininity at the bottom; “No fats, no fems” sound familiar?] and all the institutions attached to them, including marriage and standards of civility.

Source: brownroundboi

: Top 12 Transgender Stories of 2012/HuffPost Gay Voice

pflagmom:

During 2012 I wrote approximately 400 articles forThe Guerrilla Angel Report, the vast majority of them transgender-related. The following are the 12 most read stories of the year:

12. Miss Universe Pageant Generates Loads of Positive PR for Trans People:Trans beauty contestant Jenna Talackova brought more positive public attention and good will for trans people than any other individual. I wrote about half a dozen stories related to this topic during the year, and the most recent one is still being shared and may end up as #7 or #8 overall.

11. Transgender Student Banned, Then Later Unbanned After Showing Headmaster UK’s Equality Act:Trans student Ashlyn Parram is only 16 years old, but she surpasses her teachers at the Giles Academy in Boston, Lincolnshire, when it comes to knowing the UK’s law on sex discrimination.

10. Catholic School Tells Trans Student His Name Will Not Be Recognized:The Archdiocese of Indianapolis told a transgender student at Cathedral High School that they would not use his new male name.

9. ESPN Radio Hosts Unleash Horrifying Anti-Transgender Rant On Player:Hosts Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin were suspended following their transphobic remarks on the air about transgender college basketball player Gabrielle Ludwig.

8. Brooklyn Trans Woman Dies in Suspicious Apartment Fire:Well-known NYC performer Lorena Escalera was the only person who failed to escape a burning building.

7. Mexican Transgender Leader Agnes Torres Tortured, Killed:Arrests have been made in Torres’ brutal death in Mexico.

6. Artist Who Drew Covers for ‘The Phantom’ Comic Books Is Now Openly Transgender:The comic book phenomenon is nothing to sneeze at, and Lindsay Walker is a role model for trans artists everywhere.

5. Trans? Boys? Girls? Andrej Pejic Is Not Telling. Good for Andrej I Say!:Andrej Pejic is a highly popular, androgynous, high-fashion model, posing as either female or male, depending on the needs of the client.

4. Don’t Donate to Anti-Transgender Salvation Army This Holiday Season:There are other trans-friendly charities more deserving of your dollars.

3. Judge Tells Trans Person’s Neighbor to Pay Up for Years of Harassment and Hate Comments:South African magistrate M J Thobela told Wilna van Staden that her behavior toward her trans neighbor amounted to unfair discrimination and hate speech.

2. Rapist Acquitted in Sweden Because Intended Female Victim Turned Out to Be Transgender:A higher court in Sweden eventually overruled this lower court ruling, and the rapist was fined and sent to prison.

1. First Openly Transgender Mayor in the U.S., Stu Rasmussen, Re-elected to Fifth Term:Silverton, Ore., voters reelected Mayor Rasmussen for a fifth term. Rasmussen previously gained national attention in 2008 as the U.S.’s first trans mayor.

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Source: The Huffington Post

It is right to extend equal protection under federal law to all couples who are legally married without infringing upon religious freedom and beliefs. This legislation does not tell states who can be married or who must be treated as married, nor does it require any religious institution to violate their own convictions…The simple fact remains that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all legally married couples are treated equally under federal law – and this bill would achieve that proper standard.
Rep. Richard Hanna, a New York Republican, speaks out against DOMA and in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act. That makes two Republican lawmakers in favor of DOMA repeal. More.  (via gaywrites)

Supreme Court in Mexico unanimously strikes down marriage ban

gladpoz:

gaywrites:

In a potentially groundbreaking move yesterday, Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling striking down a ban on same-sex marriage in the state of Oaxaca, potentially paving the way for an eventual marriage equality law in the rest of the country.

The ruling changes the civil code in Oaxaca to define marriage as between “two people” rather than between a man and a woman. 

The court ruled in favor of three same-sex couples who sued the state of Oaxaca for the right to marry. The ruling does not immediately eliminate marriage bans in other Mexican states, but it does set a legal precedent to begin challenging statewide marriage bans, according to the blog AfterMarriage. 

While many Mexican states still have marriage bans on the books, in 2010 the nation’s capital, Mexico City, began serving gay and lesbian couples with marriage licenses. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court ruled that marriages performed in Mexico City must be recognized by every other state in the country, due to a constitutional clause that requires states to recognize contracts performed in other jurisdictions. 

Woohoo! Decisions like this can be a huge deal to the rest of the country in time, so let’s hope this means good news is on the way for Mexico. 

Guess this debunks the whole “people of color are stopping marriage equality” myth. STEP IT UP AMERICA!

Source: gaywrites

Surprise! Supreme Court pushes Prop 8 announcement AGAIN

gaywrites:

Once again, the Supreme Court has delayed its announcement of whether it will take the case of California’s now-infamous Proposition 8. The Court was supposed to announce the decision yesterday, but will now make the announcement Monday or later. Another private conference will take place next Friday, and it could very well be decided then. 

“The next opportunity for the Court to issue orders will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday,” reports SCOTUSblog. “Nothing has ruled out the possibility that some actions on same-sex marriage could be announced at that time, although there is no indication that that will occur.  It may be that the Court needs more time to decide what it wants to do next on any of the cases.”

The petitions under consideration involve multiple challenges to DOMA, the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The court has also been asked to consider the lawsuit against California’s Proposition 8 and a case involving the Arizona law that ended domestic-partner benefits for state employees.

Why do you do this to me, SCOTUS? 

benppollack:

“It’s Not Who We Are”

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, a bi-partisan, grassroots group comprised of residents and a leadership council of more than 200 civic, business, academic and political leaders, launched its first statewide TV ad buy urging legislators to reject the bill that would overturn New Hampshire’s popular marriage law.

A Baptist church in North Carolina has voted to stop legally marrying anyone until homosexuals have marriage equality.

barebackobama:

“As people of faith, affirming the Christian teaching that before God all people are equal, we will no longer participate in this discrimination,” the church’s statement says.

The vote was unanimous and brought tears to the eyes of some of the 100 or so members who stood to vote in favor of the “statement on marriage ceremonies.” 

(via licksantorum-deactivated2012050)

Archbishop’s Antimarriage Decree Called Troubling | advocate.com

By Trudy Ring

Archbishop Timothy Dolan 201109 X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

New York Roman Catholic archbishop Timothy Dolan (pictured), a staunch opponent of marriage equality, has issued a decree prohibiting participation by clergy and church employees in same-sex marriages and forbidding the use of not only churches but other Catholic-affiliated facilities for such unions.

The wide-ranging directive, issued last month, reads in part: “No member of the clergy (priest or deacon) incardinated in the Archdiocese of New York, or any person while acting as an employee of the church, may participate in the civil solemnization or celebration of a same-sex marriage, which includes but is not limited to providing services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privilege for such event. Ecclesiastical solemnization or celebration of same-sex marriages is expressly forbidden by Canon law.

“No Catholic facility or property, including but not limited to parishes, missions, chapels, meeting halls, Catholic educational, health, or charitable institutions or benevolent orders, or any place dedicated, consecrated, or used for Catholic worship may be used for the solemnization or consecration of same-sex marriages.” Violators may be subject to church sanctions, adds Dolan, who campaigned aggressively but unsuccessfully against the marriage equality legislation approved by New York State in June.

The church’s opposition to same-sex marriage is well known, but some elements of Dolan’s decree are surprising, according to ThinkProgress blogger Zack Ford. He writes, “The property restrictions in Dolan’s decree are troubling, particularly given he specifically cites educational and health institutions. This would mean that a bed-ridden patient in a Catholic hospital would not be permitted to marry his partner on the property. It’s not clear from the decree, but this could conceivably extend to any and all recognition of same-sex unions, which would create severe complications for couples who might be accessing healthcare or charitable services that are provided by the Church.”

The archdiocese covers the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, plus Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties in the southern part of New York State.