What is new on the Gay Marriage front?

[chrisrobin]

.
When the marriage equality bill became law last November and wouldn't be enacted until June, my immediate reaction was, "why wait until June?"

BREAKING: Judge Says Chicago Marriage Equality Can Start Immediately
Same-sex couples in Cook County, Ill., don't have to wait until June to get married, according to a federal judge's ruling today.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said in a ruling filed this morning that there is no justifiable reason for same-sex couples to wait to begin marrying until the state's marriage equality law, passed last November, takes effect in June.

To Judge Johnson Coleman: thank you.

 

[Ninja108]

It only applies to Cook County for now.. let's hope that changes.

 

[chrisrobin]

.
When the marriage equality bill became law last November and wouldn't be enacted until June, my immediate reaction was, "why wait until June?"
.................
BREAKING: Judge Says Chicago Marriage Equality Can Start Immediately
Same-sex couples in Cook County, Ill., don't have to wait until June to get married, according to a federal judge's ruling today.



To Judge Johnson Coleman: thank you.

Ten characters.

 

[scream4ever]

It only applies to Cook County for now.. let's hope that changes.

I expect that many other counties are going to follow suit and quickly.

 

[Alnitak]

Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuits Exploding in U.S. Courts

"Once you start having so many states under federal court order to marry same-sex couples and cases come out all over the place, I think the court faces a lot of pressure to resolve the question," said Paul Smith, a Washington, DC lawyer who argued the landmark Texas gay rights case before the justices in 2003.

"You start having a lot of displacement of state law. They may find they cannot delay any longer."

Austin Nimocks of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that opposes marriage for gay couples, says the number of lawsuits is no surprise. "Proponents will keep coming until they get what they want — a national mandate of same-sex marriage."

 

[Ninja108]

This issue might be moving a little faster then the courts want but let's be blunt, society is far more mobile for many people then it was 50 years ago, and to be married in one state and not another is simply not going to work.

 

[Alnitak]

This issue might be moving a little faster then the courts want but let's be blunt, society is far more mobile for many people then it was 50 years ago, and to be married in one state and not another is simply not going to work.

Not just more mobile, but interconnected. Businesses are less likely to attract gay people, and while we are a small minority, one very important person can affect the bottom line of a company. Some gays in history have been critical players in world events. Without Alan Turing, there is some doubt whether Britain and the US could ever have cracked the Enigma codes, and there certainly would have been no Bombe machine that cracked codes early in the war.

 

[Ninja108]

Yup, and the UK government repaid Turning by treating him like a criminal and castrating him to boot.
We are a small minority but I would say we make up about 3 to 6% of the population, enough to where we certainly have the kind of impact you talk about as well.
As for some of the states in the article not having lawsuits, I have heard there might be one coming out of South Dakota. For the rest, it's a moot point as there are already lawsuits in every single circuit at this point and it is probably better to focus on those.

 

[Alnitak]

Yup, and the UK government repaid Turning by treating him like a criminal and castrating him to boot.
We are a small minority but I would say we make up about 3 to 6% of the population, enough to where we certainly have the kind of impact you talk about as well.
As for some of the states in the article not having lawsuits, I have heard there might be one coming out of South Dakota. For the rest, it's a moot point as there are already lawsuits in every single circuit at this point and it is probably better to focus on those.

Again I don't know about moot, maybe not absolutely necessary, but like the above article said it sends a message that we demand our rights and do not intend to wait a minute longer.

 

[Kulindahr]

Again I don't know about moot, maybe not absolutely necessary, but like the above article said it sends a message that we demand our rights and do not intend to wait a minute longer.

Yep. It's like an old-fashioned infantry battle: when your enemy's line starts breaking, you don't hold back because victory is in sight, you throw in the reserves and fight harder.

 

[Rolyo85]

Also - we aren't 3-6%. We are at least - and likely over - 10-15%. Just saying.

 

[Alnitak]

Also - we aren't 3-6%. We are at least - and likely over - 10-15%. Just saying.

Certainly bisexuality would push the LGBT community over 10%, but I agree with the current research that places homosexuality closer to 4%.

 

[Kulindahr]

Also - we aren't 3-6%. We are at least - and likely over - 10-15%. Just saying.

No respectable researcher has ever claimed 15%. And the best recent research doesn't put us close to double digits.

Given the evidence that more sons means more gays, the current trend toward smaller families would suggest the percentage is only going to dwindle.

 

[Ninja108]

It will likely always be between 3-7 % but even with smaller families, gays and lesbians will alwyas be with us. More to the point, some populations are having more kids, just not white folks.

 

[Rolyo85]

I'm basing this on personal experience living in the big city. Smaller towns have fewer LGBTs, and more of them tend to be closeted, but even ignoring Boystown, gays here are EVERYWHERE. This is not a 4%... And any research is flawed, considering how few of us are out yet.

 

[Alnitak]

I'm basing this on personal experience living in the big city. Smaller towns have fewer LGBTs, and more of them tend to be closeted, but even ignoring Boystown, gays here are EVERYWHERE. This is not a 4%... And any research is flawed, considering how few of us are out yet.

Well obviously someone living in a small town would have the opposite perception. It's obvious why rural conservative Republican whites think theirs is the "true" America. While urban centers sure have a very large LGBT percentage, the studies over the last five years consistently show nearly 4% of the population identifies as non-heterosexual or cisgender.

 

[Kulindahr]

It will likely always be between 3-7 % but even with smaller families, gays and lesbians will alwyas be with us. More to the point, some populations are having more kids, just not white folks.

And that can't continue. The human race needs to accept that for the next hundred years we need a negative population growth rate.

 

[TX-Beau]

Well obviously someone living in a small town would have the opposite perception. It's obvious why rural conservative Republican whites think theirs is the "true" America. While urban centers sure have a very large LGBT percentage, the studies over the last five years consistently show nearly 4% of the population identifies as non-heterosexual or cisgender.

Rural conservatives at least in Texas think they are "Real Americans" because they are Christian, heterosexual, and white. Cities are overrun by foreigners and brown people, money grubbing "businessmen" (CODE WORD!) and the like. While us small town folk have been white, heterosexual Rednecks for ages past.

LOL

Actually, it's kind of easier to be closeted in a city than in a small town. We all grew up with each other, know each other's families, everyone knows everyone's business. Gossiping about each other is all there is to do once the cows are put up.

I suppose there might be small towns somewhere where people mind their own business but I doubt it.

I suspect also that the number of gay men who self report is lower than the number of actual gay men, but I don't believe for a moment it's as high as some gay men assert. I also don't believe that the majority of people are bisexual.

But then of course, all of this rests on how one is defining those terms. A good portion of the gay community isn't gay at all, just chill, and masc and shit after all.

 

[Ninja108]

I imagine some people that are bisexual (like my husband) might be more willing to admit as such if there wasn't such a stigma from both the straight and gay communities.
On the marriage front, in addition to Michigian the judge in Texas is likely to make a ruling at some point, the wingnuts exploding over that would be huge.

 

[TX-Beau]

I imagine some people that are bisexual (like my husband) might be more willing to admit as such if there wasn't such a stigma from both the straight and gay communities...

Well if Bisexual guys weren't such huge douchenozzles they might have a better rep...

(waiting for the apocalypse)