ALBANY, N.Y. – New York lawmakers narrowly voted to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.
New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.
This is what Doug calls "creeping incrementalism", although Doug is so stupid that he doesn't realize the terms are redundant.
That's nearly 20 million people in New York, now living in the 3rd largest state of the union which recognizes same-sex marriage. Pretty remarkable. I was very pessimistic about its chances. I'm happy to be wrong.
The "creeping" part will come when other states do likewise, and when Congress repeals DOMA and the federal government recognizes legal marriages of same-sex couples in those states that have them.
And then.. the gay version of Loving vs. Virginia, where the Supreme Court will force every other state in the union to recognize same-sex marriage.. effectively nullifying their marriage laws and requiring them to re-write the laws to comply.
It's exactly how the Supreme Court forced 19 states of the Union to permit inter-racial marriage in 1968.
Pretty fucking cool.. and meanwhile, the Worst President Ever is saying that his view on same-sex marriage is "evolving". Pretty sad, and gutless, that a black President isn't leading on civil rights issues, but rather just sticking his finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.
History could have looked back on Obama as a transformational figure similar to President Lincoln. Instead, Obama will be regarded much more similar to George W. Bush. Heck, if we can make sure Obama is a 1 termer, he can even be compared to Dubya's father.
/adding
One of the sticking points of the new law was protections for "religious organizations". The law makes it clear that a gay couple cannot sue, say a Catholic church, for refusing to perform a marriage ceremony.
Well.. whatever.. Fine. But, it's really fucking stupid. Religious organizations are private and already discriminate on a multitude of reasons. Catholics may not marry a couple where somebody is divorced.. or a Rabbi may refuse to marry a Jew to an infidel.. the list is endless. They already pick and choose who they marry.
But in reality, religious organizations don't marry anybody. People marry each other - and it's a civil law. You don't need a religious freak to certify it. Marriage has nothing to do with religion in any case.
Personally, I'd prefer there were no marriage laws at all, and no distinction made in any law regarding married couples. That is a gross violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
But so long as there are marriage laws.. they better be fair to everyone!
/update
Just thought I'd mention that while the law passed, John and I were at a birthday party for a friend of ours.. Dr. Jeff (physician) and a group of about 15 other homos. It was a nice dinner and we enjoyed it.
Dr. Jeff is one of the most unique individuals I've ever known... and apparently he's dating somebody new. He's ridiculously handsome in a boyish sort of way, is a medical doctor, and is single... meaning, there's something really wrong about him.. lol
Not sure why it's relevant that we were hanging out with a group of gay guys, but I guess that it's just we do normal things that everyone else does. There's really no difference. That's what the law in New York was all about.
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