Thread: Same sex marriage

11?

The Minnesota House has scheduled a Thursday debate and floor vote on the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

House Speaker Paul Thissen has said that the bill would not be brought to a vote unless they had secured the 68 votes that would be needed to pass the legislation.

A number of DFL lawmakers representing districts that supported last fall’s proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage have voiced their support of the marriage equality bill in recent weeks.

Also on Tuesday, a Minnesota Senate committee is giving a last look at the bill to legalize gay marriage before full House and Senate votes. The Senate Finance Committee is planning to review the gay marriage bill’s fiscal impact. A fiscal analysis finds it would add small costs to state employee health insurance costs but also generate revenue from an expected spike in marriage licenses.

If the House passes the bill, the next vote would be in the state Senate, where its passage has been seen as more secure than in the House.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has promised to sign the bill, which would allow gay couples to start getting married in Minnesota on Aug. 1.

Minn. House To Vote On Gay Marriage Bill Thursday

In Colorado, civil unions are now legal. What I like about it, is that after 3 years (don't know why it has to last 3 years?), if the union is dissolved, the higher income earner will have to pay alimony and all retirement benefits get split down the middle.

Like the old saying, "Be careful for what you wish for".

Loving It.

RickThai

# 12 next week,......

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Thursday advanced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, a measure that would make Minnesota the 12th U.S. state to do so, the third this month after Delaware and Rhode Island.

Democratic-led state representatives voted 75-59 to approve the bill, which will be advanced to the state Senate, where a vote is expected on Monday.

Democratic Governor Mark Dayton, a supporter, has pressed lawmakers to back the measure.

Minnesota House votes to advance same-sex marriage bill

Originally Posted by S Landreth

# 12 next week,......

soon

Minnesota is poised to become the 12th state to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.

The state’s Senate on Monday voted 37-30 to legalize same-sex marriage. The state’s House approved the legislation last week and Gov. Mark Dayton (D) has vowed to sign the bill into law.

“After last week’s strong showing of support, legislators finished the job today, standing up for fairness and dignity for all Minnesota families. Coming on the heels of victories in Rhode Island and Delaware, this win for marriage shows that the freedom to marry is a value that Americans across the country stand behind. Freedom to Marry is proud to have helped create Minnesotans United for All Families, whose work to shore up legislative support – not to mention fending off an anti-gay amendment in last fall – makes the whole movement proud,” said Thalia Zepatos, Freedom to Marry’s director of public engagement and a strategic adviser to Minnesotans United for All Families.

Minnesota will be the first state in the Midwest to approve legislation that allowed same-sex couples to officially tie the knot. Iowa permits same-sex marriage, but only due to a court ruling.

Same-sex marriage has gained traction in the United States in 2013. The states of Delaware and Rhode Island also recently legalized same-sex marriage, and Illinois is expected to follow suit.

Minnesota to become 12th state to legalize same-sex marriages

#12 - Done

Gov. Dayton Makes Gay Marriage Legal in Minn.

Minnesota is now the 12th state in the U.S to allow same-sex couples to get married. Minnesota is the first state in Midwest to legalize gay marriage by legislative vote, and the third nationwide in just 10 days, joining Rhode Island and Delaware.

Thousands of gay marriage supporters thronging the Capitol erupted into deafening cheers after the Senate's 37-30 vote; the House passed it last week on a 75-59 vote Monday.

Same sex-couples can start taking their vows Aug. 1.

12.something

In a state with a conservative edge, Bisbee, population 5,600, in early April became the first municipality in Arizona to legalize same-sex civil unions. On Tuesday, after threats by Arizona's attorney general to sue Bisbee for exceeding its powers and interfering in state affairs, town leaders tweaked the ordinance to omit references to "spouses" and "marriage" and to refer to its civil unions only as contractual agreements.

But the intent is still the same – to lay down a marker that, inside these city limits, a red state becomes a blue oasis on the issue of gay rights. And Bisbee is not alone.

With civil unions, Bisbee, Ariz., joins gay-rights revolt against red states

SCOTUS finds DOMA unconstitutional.

5-4... per kennedy

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions...2-307_g2bh.pdf

fed govt. can now recognize gay marriages

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans hold in our hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.

so true.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Supreme Court decides it can’t rule on Prop 8, didn’t have standing. That means, however, that Prop 8 is struck down, as the earlier court struck it down, and gay marriage is now legal again in California.

Prop 8 decision: 12-144_8ok0

an update where things stand today

California makes 13 states

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Supreme Court decides it can’t rule on Prop 8, didn’t have standing. That means, however, that Prop 8 is struck down, as the earlier court struck it down, and gay marriage is now legal again in California.

Prop 8 decision: 12-144_8ok0

an update where things stand today

California makes 13 states

and not soon enough, every state

Gay-marriage advocates were celebrating Wednesday's Supreme Court decisions not just because of what they mean today -- making gay marriage legal in California and federal benefits available to married gay couples -- but what they could mean tomorrow.

As Andrew Cohen explains, the Court didn't take a position on the merits of the arguments for and against California's Proposition 8. But at the same time, it struck down the Defense of Marriage Act on broad constitutional grounds. Advocates believe that gives them an opening to challenge marriage bans in the 31 states where they're currently on the books. If they're right and the bans start to fall, gay marriage could quickly be legal across the nation.

"The principles the court articulated today mean we are going to have marriage equality in all 50 states," said David Boies, one of the lawyers on the winning side of the Prop 8 case. In the DOMA case, he said, the court "held that there was no rational basis, no legitimate justification, for discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens; that that kind of discrimination seriously harms us; and that there is no justification other than malice and disapproval" for it. Boies spoke to reporters on a conference call organized by the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

That reasoning, Boies said, deprives states of any constitutionally acceptable reason to continue to discriminate against gay couples. The Prop 8 case provided further support, he noted. By denying the initiative proponents standing to bring their case, the Court "held that the proponents had not suffered any injury -- that no harm to them came from marriage equality."

Activists Say Gay Marriage Will Be Legal Across America in 5 Years

Originally Posted by raycarey

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The laws of our land are catching up to the fundamental truth that millions of Americans hold in our hearts: when all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.

so true.

Not sure. Most of us come to Thailand to screw as many warm bodies as possible, girls, boys, transes. What have we got in common with the marriage and fidelity crowd? The married queers is the next wave of clowns lecturing us about the virtues of having sex with your husband/wife only.

The court of appeals for the 9th circuit in California has just lifted its injunction on the lower court’s order striking down Proposition 8. That means marriages of gay couples in California begin again, immediately.

The flood gates are open. And to risk mixing my metaphors, this genie ain’t going back in the bottle any more.

Prop 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier about to get their marriage license in California as marriages for gay couples begin again in California following historic Supreme Court ruling.

THEY DID! Lesbian couple marries in California

Girly-Men indeed...

Gay Man Adopts His Partner to Avoid Inheritance Tax
SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
June 28, 2013


John, who is 65, adopted his gay partner, who is 73, because the couple wanted financial protection when one of them dies.
(Courtesy of the family)

John met Gregory at a gay bar in Pittsburgh nearly 45 years ago and immediately fell in love. Today, the couple has weathered the early days of the gay rights movement, the death of friends in the AIDS crisis and constitutional laws in their home state of Pennsylvania that have prevented them from marrying.

Now, as lifelong partners facing the financial and emotional insecurities of old age, they have legally changed their relationship and are father and son -- John, 65, has adopted Gregory, 73.

The couple was worried about Pennsylvania's inheritance tax.

"If we just live together and Gregory willed me his assets and property and anything else, I would be liable for a 15 percent tax on the value of the estate," said John. "By adoption, that decreases to 4 percent. It's a huge difference."

Because John's dad is still alive at 95, he could not legally have two fathers. So Gregory, though older, became the adopted son. The Daughin County Court judge who signed their papers was adamant in telling them that the adoption was "forever" and they would never be able to legally marry.

John understands people might think it odd that a 65-year-old would adopt a man eight years his senior. (The men asked that their last names not be used; "Gregory"'s first name has been changed too.)

"It's humorous to me," he said. "Gregory was a high school and college jock. Today, I am making dough for blueberry crostata and he is golfing. You're going to think of him as the dad, rather than me. … But it provided us with some level of comfort that we have protected each other as much as we can."

This week, the Supreme Court passed its landmark decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), allowing same-sex couples who are legally married to receive the same federal marital benefits as heterosexual ones -- inheritance tax breaks and Social Security survivorship, among more than 1,000 others that pertain to marital status.

And Proposition 8, which banned previously legal gay marriage in California, was overturned.

But for those who live in states where gay marriage is not recognized or legally outlawed, there are still obstacles to equality. John and his partner live in Pennsylvania, where a state DOMA law restricts marital benefits to a man and a woman.

"There are still over 30 states where couples are denied the ability to protect their families," he said. "What you see with [John and Gregory], unfortunately, is what so many couples are still being forced to do. They think of creative ways to ensure protection for each other to make medical decisions and inherit property after one has passed away."

The couple's adoption, first reported by the Central Voice, a Pennsylvania newspaper that serves the LGBT community, solved their future financial worries, but does not entitle them to federal benefits that now await same-sex married couples.

Wu said he had seen "a few cases" of same-sex couples resorting to adoption, including a recent one in Maine. "But this is less usual. It is really more of a relic at a time when same-sex couples had no other means to protect their families. "

In states like Pennsylvania, same-sex families still struggle with health-care decision-making and filing jointly on state taxes. In states where same-sex marriage is not legal, children are often not recognized or a non-biological parent is unable to adopt.

Sometimes, when a couple divorces or a biological parent dies, family members "try to assert legal claims to the child," said Wu.

In one notorious legal case in 2009, Lisa A. Miller kidnapped her 7-year-old daughter with Janet Jenkins, Isabella, and fled to Nicaragua. Because Virginia, where the family lived, does not recognize same-sex marriage, the law gave no rights to Jenkins.

In John's case, the couple had considered marrying in another state, but because their primary residence was in Pennsylvania, which does not recognize same-sex marriage, they would still be subjected to the inheritance law.

"We didn't have the confidence that same-sex marriage would ever be approved in the Commonwealth," he said.

John and Gregory got the idea for adoption from a 76-year-old friend Nino, who was concerned that his partner worked for a company that didn't have a pension or retirement fund. The partner's sole source of income would have been Social Security.

"If Nino predeceased him, his partner could not afford the taxes on the assets and would lose their home and be homeless," said John.

When the men met, John was a buyer for a department store and Gregory worked for the government.

"In a few years, he took a job ... and asked me to come along," said John. "I wasn't sure. I kept thinking, with a gay relationship you never know. There's always someone cuter or prettier."

But after agonizing, he joined Gregory, who has been retired for 10 years, and never turned back. Eventually, John ran an HIV/AIDS program in the state health department for 25 years, but is now semi-retired.

For years, their relationship was somewhat closeted. John said he was used to openly gay friends in the retail industry, but his family always posed a problem.

"Mine was very Irish-Italian Catholic and made me feel guilty about sex preferences," he said. "Gregory was very closeted and when his parents would come to visit -- they had a habit of dropping in -- I would have to run to the bedroom and make sure the beds were pushed apart and put a nightstand between them."

"I had panic attacks about a sibling swooping down if Gregory predeceased me," he said. "A couple of siblings are homophobic and I thought, we better get our ducks in a row."

"I made all my end-of-life arrangements," said John. "I wanted to be cremated. With my Irish-Italian family, there would have been a four-day viewing and a Catholic mass and I don't want to put Gregory through that."

Their lawyer filed all the paperwork and the couple had a 15-minute hearing at the courthouse.

"Apparently, it was their first adult adoption and I was having great angst over that. [The town we live in] is in the conservative Bible Belt," said John. "What if the judge says no?"

In sworn testimony, the men answered straightforward questions: How long had they known each other? How long had they lived together? How long had they been in their current place?

"Our attorney said we didn't have to come out and tell him we were gay," said John. "But if asked our sexual preference, I would have to say yes. I was under oath."

The judge did turn to John and said, "I am really curious, why are you adopting [Gregory]?"

"I said, 'Because it's our only legal option to protect ourselves from Pennsylvania's inheritance taxes,'" said John. "He got it immediately."

The judge agreed to sign the adoption papers on the spot and handed it to the clerk. Then he turned and looked at John, "Congratulations, it's a boy."

abcnews.go.com

Recently a poll was conducted that shows a majority of Americans feel the U.S. Supreme Court made the right decision providing legally married same-sex couples with the same federal benefits given to other married couples.

That number will continue grow once the old

ignorant

male

Republicans

die off soon enough.

Happy birthday to all you old male rethugs

Anyone who supports homosexual “marriage” is supporting homosexual adoption. Anyone who supports homosexual adoption is supporting this:

"An American pedophile has been convicted to 40 years in prison for years of sexual abuse of [an] adopted Russian boy. His boyfriend from New Zealand who allegedly assisted in meticulously recording acts of sexual offence is going on trial at home.
Two members of the pedophile porn exchange ring Boy Lovers network, Mark J. Newton, 42 and his long-term partner Peter Truong, 36, were busted in 2011 on suspicion that they were sexually molesting their son, born to [a] Russian mother in 2005."

Gay couple accused of sexually abusing adopted Russian boy for years ? RT News

Charming...

^ Well, at least on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage you can't accuse me of being a left wing moon bat ... But, still ... Statistically speaking it's the heterosexuals who are abusing children by far.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

^ Well, at least on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage you can't accuse me of being a left wing moon bat ... But, still ... Statistically speaking it's the heterosexuals who are abusing children by far.

So two wrongs make a right then?

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

^ Well, at least on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage you can't accuse me of being a left wing moon bat ... But, still ... Statistically speaking it's the heterosexuals who are abusing children by far.

So two wrongs make a right then?

Say what you mean man ... Don't speak in riddles.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

^ Well, at least on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage you can't accuse me of being a left wing moon bat ... But, still ... Statistically speaking it's the heterosexuals who are abusing children by far.

So two wrongs make a right then?

Say what you mean man ... Don't speak in riddles.

Mai pen rai, krup...

This one is for you, moonbat.