New Hampshire Denies Marriage Equality

From www.CNN.com

(CNN) -- New Hampshire's move to become the most recent state to legalize same-sex marriage hit a bump Wednesday, after the state House of Representatives failed to agree to changes made by the governor.


Four states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Iowa -- allow same-sex marriages.The House and Senate have approved allowing gay couples to marry.

But Gov. John Lynch, a three-term Democrat, said last week he would sign a same-sex marriage bill only if it provides "the strongest and clearest protections for religious institutions and associations, and for the individuals working with such institutions."

Lynch said any such measure needs to "make clear that [clergy and other religious officials] cannot be forced to act in ways that violate their deeply held religious principles."

The House on Wednesday fell two votes short of approving Lynch's language, 186-188.

The chamber then voted to send the legislation to a committee to be considered further.

The language would specify that religious organizations can decline to take part in any marriage ceremony without incurring fines or risking lawsuits.

On May 6, same-sex marriage became legal in Maine, as Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill less than an hour after the state legislature approved it.

The District of Columbia voted May 5 to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, though it does not itself give marriage licenses to gay or lesbian couples.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. David Paterson introduced legislation in April to make same-sex marriage legal in New York. A similar bill died in the state Senate in 2007.

Iowa's Supreme Court ruled unanimously on April 3 that it is illegal to discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them the right to marry. The first same-sex marriages in the state took place April 27.

Four states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Iowa -- allow same-sex marriages. A Vermont law making gay and lesbian marriages legal takes effect in September.

California's state Supreme Court issued a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in May 2008, and 18,000 gay and lesbian couples got married in the state. But California voters in November approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

That state's high court heard arguments earlier this year about whether Proposition 8 was itself constitutional. It has not yet issued a verdict.

A slim majority of Americans are against legal recognition for same-sex marriage, CNN polling found last month. Fifty-four percent of adults questioned in an April 23-26 nationwide CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said that marriages between gay or lesbian couples should not be recognized as valid, while 44 percent said they should be considered legal.

But there was a huge gap between the opinions of younger and older people, with younger people far more likely to approve of gay marriage. Nearly six in 10 people ages 18 to 34 said same-sex marriages should be legal. Just over four in 10 people ages 35 to 49 agreed, and the number was similar for 50- to 64-year olds. Only 24 percent of people 65 and older agreed.

Oprah and CNN take on female-only relationships

Hrm. Considering the interest garnered by the previous two posts on bisexuality, and the noted lack of talk about women in the referenced articles, I found this on the "Most Emailed" List on CNN this morning.

I eagerly await your thoughts, because, if I know my readers, you have many interesting things to say about it:

Lately, a new kind of sisterly love seems to be in the air. In the past few years, Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon left a boyfriend after a decade and a half and started dating a woman (and talked openly about it)...

Certainly nothing is new about women having sex with women, but we've arrived at a moment in the popular culture when it all suddenly seems almost fashionable -- or at least, acceptable...

But experts like Binnie Klein, a Connecticut-based psychotherapist and lecturer in Yale's department of psychiatry, agree that alternative relationships are on the rise.

"It's clear that a change in sexual orientation is imaginable to more people than ever before, and there's more opportunity -- and acceptance -- to cross over the line," says Klein, noting that a half-dozen of her married female patients in the past few years have fallen in love with women. "Most are afraid that if they don't go for it, they'll end up with regrets."

Feminist philosopher Susan Bordo, Ph.D, a professor of English and gender and women's studies at the University of Kentucky and author of "Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body," also agrees that in the current environment, more women may be stepping out of the conventional gender box.

"When a taboo is lifted or diminished, it's going to leave people freer to pursue things," she says.

"So it makes sense that we would see women, for all sorts of reasons, walking through that door now that the culture has cracked it open. Of course, we shouldn't imagine that we're living in a world where all sexual choices are possible. Just look at the cast of 'The L Word' and it's clear that only a certain kind of lesbian -- slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way -- is acceptable to mainstream culture."...

"People always ask me if this research means everyone is bisexual. No, it doesn't," says Lisa Diamond, Ph.D, associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah and author of the 2008 book "Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire."

"Fluidity represents a capacity to respond erotically in unexpected ways due to particular situations or relationships. It doesn't appear to be something a woman can control."

Furthermore, studies indicate that it's more prevalent in women than in men, according to Bonnie Zylbergold, assistant editor of American Sexuality, an online magazine.

I submit to you without comment ... for now, at least.

Columbus in a National Documentary

Via Stonewall Columbus, via OutinColumbus:

Stonewall Columbus is pleased to announce that Columbus, Ohio is being considered for a possible future CNN documentary on gays in America.

Senior Producer Elise Zeiger contacted Stonewall Columbus Executive Director Karla Rothan this week with the exciting news. "I am honored that CNN is considering Columbus as one of the potential cities to be included in a future presentation", she said. Rothan added, "It would bring tremendous attention to the Midwest and to what I believe is the greatest gay city in America, Columbus, Ohio."

Do you have a story to tell? Are you someone who did what was expected of you? Did you get married to someone of the opposite sex, have children and then come out? Are you the child of a gay parent? Are you now or have you ever been in the military? What has happened to you personally that has changed the course of your life forever? "Are you still in the closet?" "Are you still rejected by a family member for being gay?" Tell us your story.

Stonewall Columbus is partnering with CNN to gather such stories for review. If you have a story to tell, Stonewall wants to hear from you. Please write your story in 100 words or less and send it via email to Executive Director Karla Rothan at krothan@stonewallcolumbus.org. If you do not have access to the internet, please mail your story to Stonewall Columbus, P.O. Box 10814, Columbus, Ohio 43201 or drop it off at the Center on High at 1160 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43201. All submissions must be written.

I don't have many Columbus readers, but I figured for the few that are... you might find this useful. Stonewall Columbus is actually a really multifaceted organization -- being one of the lead political organizations in the city (eclipsed, from what I gather, by the presence of Equality Ohio), running the Center, and being one of the primary hosts for Pride every year. I've not had a chance to really learn much about the organization...

...but last time I walked by, a really hot guy was walking out. Which, I think, bodes well for the next time I'm in Cbus.

NARTH Founder Pissed Off

Thanks to the Ex-Gay Watch YouTube videos (there are some excellent videos there), someone got Dr. Joseph Nicolosi pissed off...
...and that someone was CNN. 

Dr. Nicolosi (of NARTH and author of such amazing books like Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality) = tool. That's all I have to say. You know, he's got kind of a lisp, doesn't he? Kinda soft spoken? Maybe a little... delicate? Artistic, even?

Dog Bites Gay Marriage

Today, less than 12 hours after Vermont's legislator passed equal marriage, and days after Iowa's Supreme Court legalized it, this is the front page of CNN. Those are the top stories. Not a single mention of gays or marriage in the top stories. As of right now, it's not even in the top 10 viewed nor the top 10 emailed stories.

Has equal marriage become "dog bites man" news, as opposed to the "man bites dog" news it once was... especially in New England?