Wednesday, April 8, 2009

While You Were Waiting

So meanwhile, while we're waiting to hear the Supreme Court's decision on the validity of PROP 8 here in California, a few developments have arisen.  Mainly, we now have the right to marry in Iowa and Vermont, and today Washington DC voted to recognize marriages from other states.

All while we wait to hear the fate of California, which should come down on or around June 3rd.

These are actually huge steps, although they potentially might not stick.  In DC, it was the City Council that voted unanimously to recognize same gender marriages from other states, but the US Congress oversees policy in the region.  This was also a preliminary vote, with the final one in May.

In Iowa, the Supreme Court voted to allow same gender marriage last Friday, but we're hoping the Senate doesn't amend the constitution - which seems unlikely now after Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal refused to support that :



We're also worried about a vote on this, but their system - unlike California's - makes it harder to take this to the polls.

Vermont was the first state to get gay marriage because of lawmakers, not in the courts and the fourth state to allow same-gender marriage.  This marks momentum for the lgbt rights movement as we all eagerly await to hear the Supreme Court ruling in California.

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