“…I may yet live to see gay marriage become a reality in the United States in my lifetime. And wouldn’t that be something.”
Those were the words I wrote when we first started Marriage Equality Watch back in January 2008: before Prop 8, before President Obama was elected, before Mark and I were married, when it was still GLBT instead of LGBT… and far before marriage equality became a reality in all 50 states. Now that we have come full circle to the end of this amazing project, I thought it would be appropriate to share that column with you once again:
https://purpleunions.com/blog/2016/04/why-the-word-marriage-matters-3.html
How far we have come in eight short years!
In the end, it wasn’t a President or a congress that brought us to the finish line. It was all of us together as a community that fought the hard battles, day in and day out, to get to the end. And Mark and I were lucky enough to witness it all.
We also want to thank our partner organization, Marriage Equality USA, which has long been supportive of our activism.
The battle for marriage equality in the US is all but over, but we recognize that the fight for LGBTIQA rights in general continues. And there are many countries around the world where we don’t have any rights at all. Some of the folks from MEUSA are going on to NEAT to fight for housing and employment rights:
http://www.marriageequality.org/neat_joins_ffaa
While others are continuing the fight for marriage equality globally:
Marriage Equality is a new organization with the continuing mission of education regarding the importance of marriage and LGBT equality in the United States and around the world. For more information, you can reach Marriage Equality leaders John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, who were one of the plaintiff couples in the California case for marriage equality, at marriageequality.me@gmail.com.
Mark and I will continue to support queer-friendly wedding vendors through our PurpleUnions.com directory.
And I am personally involved in another same sex marriage project – a new book coming out from Dreamspinner Press on the Marriage Equality Day, June 26th. Called “A More Perfect Union”, the anthology will feature four wedding stories, each one written by an established, married gay author – myself, B.G. Thomas, Michael Murphy and Jamie Fessenden. If you want to be notified when it’s available, please join my mailing list here:
https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/join-my-mailing-list/
I will also make an announcement to this list.
Mark and I wanted to thank all of you who fought for equality with us – it’s been an amazing journey. We will continue to maintain the blog on our site as a history of the struggle. If you are looking for an alternate daily LBTIQA news source, we suggest HRC’s AM Equality:
http://www.hrc.org/blog/topic/am-equality
It has been an honor to chronicle this struggle for you for the last eight years. It was a great run, and we love you one and all.
–Scott & Mark, Together 24 Years, Married for 7
Here’s our daily round-up of the marriage equality / LGBT rights stories from all around the internet. If we missed anything, let us know. Enjoy!
POP CULTURE: Star of the X-Men movies franchise Shawn Ashmore has said he would play his Iceman character if he were gay. full story
BANGLADESH: The killing of two gay rights activists in the Bangladeshi capital has driven the country’s already secretive and small gay community underground, wondering if they can trust a government that considers their status to be criminal, rights groups said. full story
FAROE ISLANDS: Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago part of Denmark, has passed same-sex marriage. full story
ITALY: Two lesbian Italian women have won the right to adopt each other’s children in a legal first for the country. full story
USA: MoveOn has launched a #StandWithTarget petition to counter the petition authored earlier this week by the AFA. From the MoveOn petition: “I pledge to support Target and any other business that stands up for transgender rights and accommodates transgender people in their restroom use.” full story
USA: A list of religious schools in the US which receive public money but are exempt from LGBT discrimination laws has been published. full story
USA: A college applications system used by hundreds of institutions across the US is changing the way it deals with gender. full story
USA: At a Commonwealth Club of California town hall on Friday, John Kasich was confronted by 62-year-old Kelly Bryan, who asked the Ohio governor and presidential candidate whether he believes that people are born gay. full story
USA, CALIFORNIA: A Los Angeles county judge has ruled that gay sex stings carried out by Long Beach police are discriminatory and “indicative of animus toward homosexuals.” full story
USA, ILLINOIS: A transgender student at Williamsville High School in central Illinois who was born female but identifies as male will be able to use the men’s bathroom. full story
USA, MISSISSIPPI: The law is specifically intended to subjugate people who might be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. And if that isn’t bad enough, it doesn’t stop there. full story
USA, MISSISSIPPI/NORTH CAROLINA: The owners of the rights to West Side Story announced today that it would not issue licences in the two states for the musical to be performed. full story
USA, NORTH CAROLINA: AC Transit will boycott a national transportation conference set to take place next month in North Carolina due to the state’s enactment of an anti-LGBT law. full story
USA, SOUTH CAROLINA: A South Carolina school district has announced plans to adopt new policies on bathroom use after a transgender student was suspended for using the bathroom matching his gender identity. full story
USA, TENNESSEE: The Bonnaroo Music & Arts festival is denouncing anti-LGBT legislation recently signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Hallam. full story
USA, TEXAS: Tracy Murphree, the Republican candidate for Denton County sheriff who grabbed headlines late last week with a Facebook post implying he would use violence against transgender women in public restrooms, has cancelled a planned meeting with representatives of Equality Texas and Denton County couple who have a transgender child. full story
The post The Last Marriage Equality Watch – April 30th appeared first on Marriage Equality Watch.
