Oh, dear, poor Brian. In case you forgot Brian Feldman is the genuinely good guy to agreed to marry any woman who showed up to marry him. The point was to prove how stupid it is that he can marry a stranger, while gays and lesbians generally can’t marry anyone they love and live with.
Well, here’s the baby panda human interest story in this news bulletin: Brian and his non-beloved, Hannah Miller, have now had their marriage officially annulled. It seems random acts of political kindness can’t last forever.
I hope one day we can all marry anyone. But perhaps the lesson from Brian is that just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should!
Ok, so the truth is I went looking for Freedom to Marry’s new TV ad … which is indeed on their specialWhy Marriage Matters subsite. But I can’t find it yet on YouTube to share with you … so you’re getting this other nice short ad instead.
A massive round of applause is due to Australian Marriage Equalityand GetUp for finding this pair of brothers and producing such an obvious and moving story. Can’t fail to have an impact. Donate if you want to get it onto more TV screens in Australia! Click here to write now to MPs.
I had trouble tracking down a decent quality version of this video of Zach Wahls, the 19 year old son of a lesbian couple from Iowa. But even though it’s a bit late, I think it still has to go up here, because he’s so damn good.
My favourite quote is at the end: “Not once in my 19 years has anyone independently guessed that I was raised by two women. You know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has absolutely zero to do with the content of my character.”
This is going to be HUGE! Like this blog on a scale of one million to one.
We all need to work together and to help each other. None of us is really free, and can sleep with a totally clean conscience until all of us is free. I am very excited for old friend Jeremy Heimans and the wonderful team from Purpose that are building this global movement
She is better known for taking on and beating Microsoft, but here is a great video from the Vice President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes. She shows us why we need to give all kids hope of a great future, and how the right to live with or marry the person we love is an important part of that future.
Great stuff from the European Union; and a great message that I hope all 69 year old grandmothers can share!
1. Prop 8
2. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
3. New Hampshire drama on the horizon
PROP 8 NEWS
A pro-equality Governor (Jerry Brown) and a pro-equality Attorney-General (Kamala Harris) were elected in November in California. So far, so good. The Californian Government will not be defeding Prop 8 in court.
That doesn’t mean the court appeal will go away: it’s before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco from December 6.
This is an appeal against U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s Aug. 4 2010 ruling that Prop 8 is constitutional. In the first hour, the parties will address the question of whether any entity has legal standing to appeal Walker’s ruling, seeing as the Californian govt and country clerks refuse to do so.
If the random appellants do not achieve ‘standing’ the case is over and Walker’s ruling will take effect. Or the parties could appeal the standing issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
2. DON’T ASK DON’T TELL Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, round 2, starts Dec. 2 in the U.S. Senate when Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. They will discuss the Pentagon’s massive survey of troops, which is to be released tomorrow, Nov. 30.
3. NEW HAMPSHIRE
Are you about to go back to inequality in New Hampshire just a year after the leap forward? Yes - if some Republican legislators get their way. Republicans now control both state Houses of Parliament. Bills already have been filed to repeal the marriage-equality law and to amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.
“Republicans now have a veto-proof majority in the Legislature, and the newly elected House speaker, state Rep. Bill O’Brien, is a staunch opponent of marriage equality,” said Lee Swislow, executive director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. “But we know there are many New Hampshire Republicans who support marriage equality and we’re looking forward to working with them.” Thanks to Rex Wockner for pointing me to this info.
Freedom to Marry deserve a lot of credit here for their clever effort to get suporters in the United States (or anywhere for that matter) to do the basic but hard thing of talking about marriage equality to their extended families.
I really believe this is one of the fundamental ingredients of making change happen. It’s also something I have struggled with myself. It’s hard for everyone!
CHECK OUT THE TIPS, THE VIDEOS AND MOST OF ALL: HAVE COURAGE!
