FCKH8 - A message to those who oppose gay marriage

FCKH8.com Straight Talk About Gay Marriage from FCKH8.com on Vimeo.

The FCKH8 campaign sends a message to those who oppose gay marriage - GET OVER IT! Warning: Don't watch the video if you're averse to hearing (frequent) F-Bombs.

"Vast majority" of DC marriage licenses issued to gays?

An analysis of the marriage licenses being issued in the District of Columbia shows a 150% increase since same-sex couples gained the right to marry there.

"It is a fair assumption that the vast majority were issued to same-sex couples," said David Catania, a D.C. City Council member who worked to bring marriage equality to the city.

Join the Mile High Marriage Club with Scandinavian Airlines

In December, SAS Scandinavian Airlines hopes to host the world's first same-sex weddings in the air. On a flight from Stockholm to New York, the airline will let love take over and hope to wed a loving European couple , (legally, of course, Scandinavia was the first region in the world to make same-sex marriages legal). It would be one of the world's first gay-themed flights.

For US-based friends and fans, the airline has partnered up with VisitSweden.com and the Stockholm Gay/Lesbian Network to provide one lucky couple with an unforgettable wedding and honeymoon experience in Sweden, one of the world's first countries to allow same-sex marriages.

The couple will fly back with an all-gay crew from New York to Stockholm on December 7, and will then be whisked away to the ICEHOTEL in northern Sweden, where the wedding will take place. After two nights at the coolest hotel in the world, the honeymoon continues in Stockholm, where they will enjoy two nights at the only Scandinavian hotel featured at prestigious Condé Nast Traveller's Hot List 2010 - Hotel Skeppsholmen.

To win, simply create a profile and share your love with everyone so they can vote for you and send you to Sweden for an experience of a lifetime with SAS.

HRC Launches ‘New Yorkers for Marriage Equality’ Campaign

Today the Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – announced a new campaign, “New Yorkers for Marriage Equality,” which raises the public profile of marriage equality in the Empire State leading into this fall’s elections and next year’s anticipated legislative action.

“New York is poised to be on the leading edge of marriage equality and New Yorkers are speaking out to make it happen,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We hope these high-profile New Yorkers spur every fair-minded citizen to make their voices heard on this critical equality issue.”

The campaign is centered on video testimonials from New Yorkers who support the right of same-sex couples to marry. The ads will run online with possible placement elsewhere as the legislative fight for marriage equality heats up in Albany.

Two videos were released today – actress Julianne Moore (above) and designer Kenneth Cole – and more will follow in the coming weeks including: Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tom Colicchio, Fran Drescher, Whoopi Goldberg, Moby, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Sunrise and Mark Ruffalo and Rev. Al Sharpton.

An equal marriage bill failed last year by eight votes in the New York state Senate despite having the support of the Governor and being passed in the Assembly. HRC’s Campaign for New York Marriage is working to defeat Senators who voted against equality and instead to elect fair-minded leaders. To date HRC’s New York PAC has raised over $150,000 for election-related activities.

Jarrett Barrios' divorce

Earlier this month GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, a former member of the Massachusetts state Senate, wrote about his divorce from his husband, whom he married in 2004.

"Today, in five states, gay and lesbian couples can marry. That means we have the ability to grow together - and, for some of us, to grow apart," Barrios said.

Conservatives for gay marriage?

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Prominent conservatives, including Meghan McCain, Ann Coulter (ugh), and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, have been coming out in support of same-sex marriage. Is this a change of course for the GOP?

Omaha World Herald Changes Wedding Announcement Policy to Include Same-Sex Couples

The Human Rights Campaign yesterday applauded the change in the Omaha World Herald’s wedding announcement policy. OWH will now include same-sex wedding announcements in its “Celebrations” section if the weddings are legal unions. The change came after Jeff Wilke, an Omaha father, attempted to place an announcement for his daughter’s wedding to her fiancée in the newspaper. OWH publisher Terry Kroeger denied his request and Mr. Wilke mounted a successful Facebook campaign to have the policy changed.

“Like any father would be, Mr. Wilke was proud to announce his daughter’s wedding in his local newspaper,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “Unwilling to compromise his pride for his daughter, he was successful in changing the policy of a newspaper in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriages. Newspapers across the country should follow the Omaha World Herald’s lead.”

In a statement to readers on Tuesday, OWH publisher Terrry Kroeger announced the change. The newspaper will only publish announcements for “legal weddings” and anniversaries of “a legal marriage.” In other words, the OWH will only publish announcements for same-sex marriages performed in a jurisdiction where they are legal. Nebraska does not recognize same-sex marriages, but neighboring Iowa does. The OWH will not publish announcements on commitment ceremonies, partnerships, and other non-marriage unions, regardless of gender.

Recognizing this change will anger some on both sides of the issue, Mr. Kroeger said, “This change will provide for a public ‘celebration’ of important milestones in the lives of people who take the significant steps toward legally sanctioned marriage.”

Solmonese added, “Although the change in policy at OWH doesn’t go far enough, we commend the step toward equality taken by the newspaper’s publisher. Mr. Kroeger’s heart-felt wishes to Mr. Wilke’s daughter Kristy and her fiancée Jessica are a welcomed sign that loving families are changing hearts and minds everywhere.”

Wyoming LGBT groups oppose gay couple's lawsuit

A Cheyenne, Wyo., couple who filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriages "do not understand the dynamics of this and are making a rash decision," said Tim Reid of Wyoming Equality. The couple, who are acting as their own attorneys, did not coordinate their suit with statewide groups before filing it.

Activists say the couple are unlikely to win their case, and that even if they did prevail, the decision would be overshadowed by the Proposition 8 case in California.

Prop. 8: New hope for Hawaii

Same-sex couples suing Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle for the right to enter into civil unions say the decision in the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit in California gives them hope that they, too, will win their case.

Making the case for gay marriage

David Fleischer, director of the LGBT Mentoring Project and author of the Prop. 8 Report, recently argued on the Huffington Post that future marriage equality campaigns should arm voters with the facts about same-sex couples and their families.

"Prop 8 and the other 33 losses on same-sex marriage at the ballot box suggest that we get nowhere when we give voters nothing to help them reject anti-gay prejudice, and when we let the opposition unilaterally and very unflatteringly define what gay people are like," Fleischer argues.

Mayor Cory Booker supports gay marriage

Watch Mayor Cory Booker, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, and others share their personal journeys toward support for the freedom to marry in this series of YouTube videos from Freedom to Marry.

Surge in state support for gay marriage

A state-by-state analysis of public opinion polls finds support for marriage rights for same-sex couples has increased during the last 14 years, a trend researchers say is likely to continue. Majority support for marriage equality now exists in 17 states, compared with zero states in 2004.

A conversation with the LGBT Wedding Expo's Marianne Puechl and Cindy Sproul

The LGBT Wedding Expo comes to Denver this Sunday, August 22 from 1-4 p.m. in the beautiful Magnolia Hotel. The event is free to the public and over 30 LGBT and LGBT-friendly wedding professionals will participate as exhibitors and there will be music, samples, seminars, and everything you and your partner could want or need to plan the wedding ceremony of your dreams.
I had the chance to chat with Marianne Puechl and Cindy Sproul, organizers of the event as well as the founders of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com to find out what attendees of the Expo can expect, their top wedding planning tips, and who their favorite gay married couple of all time is and here's what they had to say:

Drew: Where did the idea for the LGBT Wedding Expo come about and why do we need one?

Marianne and Cindy: Back in 2000, we launched RainbowWeddingNetwork.com as a wedding resource for LGBT couples. Specifically, the site offered the first and, at that time, the only wedding gift registry specifically dedicated to same-gender couples, as well as an extensive online directory of screened, lgbt-friendly wedding, travel, gift, family and home-related businesses. It was our goal to become as broad in scope as we could, in offering LGBT couples throughout America the resources needed to plan an ideal ceremony free from discrimination. We didn’t want anyone to deal with being cursed out or hung up on or ignored when trying to plan such a joyful and sacred occasion.

As our company expanded, it was natural to offer the LGBT Wedding Expos. Our first was held in Minneapolis in November 2003. At that time, there had only ever been a handful of such events in a few places throughout the country... obviously this was an untapped niche! In 2004 we produced events in Massachusetts two weeks prior to the same-sex marriage legislation being enacted in that state, and one in San Francisco just a week after Gavin Newsom’s landmark marriages were over-turned. It was such a historic time! We quickly found that our LGBT Wedding Expos were not only fun and productive in bridging couples with gay-friendly business professionals... but they also served as an ideal way to provide a refreshed sense of legitimization for our community, around the issue of equal rights. The name of our events, ‘Same Love, Same Rights’® LGBT Wedding Expos stuck permanently.

Here in Colorado, events like this one are necessary because they bring the issues into the public eye. This serves to educate the public about the facts surrounding LGBT marriage rights... and it also serves to support the local LGBT community in feeling legitimized and empowered. From many of our Expos, couples (as well as singles and straight allies) have walked away finding a renewed motivation to get involved or re-involved with the issue of marriage and family rights, either on a broad scale or at the grassroots level.

With divorce rates so high, why are weddings still important to anybody, gay or straight?

Obviously, most American divorce statistics don’t include same-gender relationships! I think weddings still matter to the LGBT minority because,as of right now, we are denied this right. In a nation that was founded on equal rights for all citizens, this is simply unacceptable. Whether you wish to marry your partner or not, the issue is about equal access to the law.

This issue should be important too to all our advocates as well; in fact, to all Americans. When one minority is denied its rights simply because the majority deems those rights unacceptable, it potentially threatens everyone’s liberties.

As the gay wedding experts, what are your top three tips to planning the perfect wedding?

Time, communication, and finding ways to include family and guest to participation at some level in the ceremony.

A) Time: We always suggest that couples take their time making the decision to marry... and take their time planning their ideal ceremony. Enjoy these special moments in your lives! We have all worked too hard for marriage rights to take the events lightly and I think same-gender couples truly don’t want to spike with high divorce rates - not after working so hard to obtain marriage equality!

B) Open and honest communication is key for planning a perfect wedding. Such occasions bring out strong emotions and it’s important for the two people involved to listen to one another with respect and to work together to create a ceremony that is inclusive of both their perspectives, spiritual ideals, favorite traditions, etc. A skilled officiant or wedding planner can help make sure this happens as successfully as possible. Having several months or a year (or more) to plan can also help with keeping couples a little less stressed in terms of cooperating with each other as the give-and-take becomes necessary with hashing out those ongoing details for the ceremony and reception.

C) For most of your ceremony guests, this event will be the first gay or lesbian wedding they have ever attended. Yes, the day is all about you & your partner!... but at the same time, it is a wonderful gift to be able to set your guests at ease and help them to fully enjoy the festivities. This can be done in a variety of ways: from casually having your caterer offer everyone sparkling water, champagne or wine upon their arrival for the ceremony... to being sure to ask your father if he would like to walk his daughter down the aisle to meet her wife-to-be there at the altar... to including several family members or friends in offering special readings during the ceremony... or asking for Mom’s involvement in helping to find just the right “something old or something blue” to add into the occasion... Or having thank-you cards placed at each reception table inscribed with a personal note such as “We truly appreciate that you chose to join us for our Special Day! It means so much... Love, Joshua & Ty”

No matter how long you and your partner have been together, or how accepting your family has been, getting married takes the reality of your relationship to another level. This makes you and your fiancée nervous, of course!... but it also can make family and friends a little nervous too. So, take time to find ways to set them at ease, and while they may not verbally thank you for it, they will show their appreciation by being more relaxed and having more fun at the wedding!

How does the recent rulings in California (Prop. 8, overturning Prop. 8, postponing of gay marriage) color the mood or mission of the Expo, if at all?

Yes, the very recent decision to continue the stay on same-gender marriages in California certainly is disheartening. On a personal level, I think all 19 million gays and lesbians across America feel somewhat soured by the latest news. However, as my partner Marianne and I comment in our upcoming book “My Dangerous Commute – Witnessing Gay Marriage Rights Across America”... From the book, I quote: “Sharp opposition helps to define that which it opposes. It chisels away the chaff, revealing clearer outlines of the underlying masterpiece yet-to-be. Were it not for the stance of the conservatives on this issue, would the gay marriage movement have come so far this past decade? There’s reason to wonder.”
So I really do believe that the news from California this past week will only serve to strengthen our cause in the long-run. Ultimately, as we all know, equal rights will prevail. It’s only a matter of time.

Who are your favorite gay married celebrity couples and why?

Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon – their vision and commitment never cease to inspire.

There are several couples in recent years who have been willing to stay very active with the marriage rights movement... These are not necessarily celeb/s but they are vitally important and it is their work, their persistence and their hearts that really stand out. Despite all the ugliness from opponents to gay marriage, these couples remain strong and undaunted. They keep choosing to believe in love, even though hatred is spouted all around them.

Why should readers of MileHighGayGuy.com come to the LGBT Wedding Expo?

Anyone who believes in marriage & family equality ought to join us in Denver on August 22. We should all support such events in order to more fully coalesce as a community. The LGBT Wedding Expo is for couples planning their ceremonies, yes, but it is also a forum in which singles and allies can network with travel and family-related businesses... as well as with other advocates of equal rights. Communicating & celebrating with each other during these historic times, as we all strive for equality, is imperative to the cause!

Does the California decision break your heart?

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to stay Judge Walker's ruling is disappointing, but we must continue the fight to restore marriage equality to California until Proposition 8 is gone.

Ninth Circuit blocks new Calif. weddings for now

Same-sex couples planning to wed in California this week were dealt a blow Monday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed a lower court ruling overturning Proposition 8.

The ruling means the state's ban on gay and lesbian couples marrying remains in effect, at least until the court rules on an appeal of Judge Vaughn Walker's landmark decision to overturn the marriage ban. The court also put the case on a fast track and informed proponents of the ban that they must explain why they have legal standing to appeal. A Ninth Circuit panel will take up the case beginning the week of Dec. 6.

OURSceneTV: Why gay marriage is important

Meet Anne & Liz - a young lesbian couple from NYC who chose California for their October 2008 nuptials. They, along with 18,000 other gay couples, were able to wed before Prop 8's ban on gay marriage went into effect. Even though their marriage certificate remains valid, their hearts are broken by the Court’s decision. Their moving story is just one of the thousands whose lives were profoundly affected by Proposition 8. The struggle for marriage equality continues...

Gay marriage? They've got a card for that.

Way back in 1994, when many could not fathom the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, 10% Greeting Cards began offering its first gay union greeting cards.

And even in its initial year of business, 10% offered many anniversary and love cards for lesbian and gay couples. Now, 10% offers over 40 different cards celebrating the special day that gay men and lesbians tie the knot.

"We're proud to have celebrated committed lesbian and gay relationships through our greeting card lines for so long," said Ron Miller, President of Village Lighthouse, Inc., the parent company of 10%. "And due to that ongoing support years before same sex marriage was legally validated, we are already prepared to provide members of our community with the greeting cards they need to honor the special day they decide to wed."

MilehighGayGuy Advertiser Shout Out: Denver Gay & Lesbian Wedding Expo

Save the date and cue the wedding march!

The Denver Gay & Lesbian Wedding Expo Denver Gay & Lesbian Wedding Expo will be at the Magnolia Hotel on August 22 from 1-4pm and, with the recent Prop. 8 decision in California, the timing couldn't be more perfect.

Find everything you need to plan the wedding of your dreams as you mix and mingle with dozens of gay-friendly wedding professionals at the summer wedding event gay Colorado has been waiting for.

The Denver Gay & Lesbian Wedding Expo is free to attend and you can RSVP online at www.samelovesamerights.com/Events/denver.html.

Examining Obama's views on gay marriage

President Barack Obama favored overturning Proposition 8, but has not changed his mind about marriage equality, according to David Axelrod, a White House senior adviser.

"The president does oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples," Axelrod said. But Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry says it's "increasingly unclear" how Obama reconciles those two positions.

Supreme Court cases a gamble for gay marriage?

If recent marriage-equality court decisions are challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, there's a good chance the court, in its current incarnation, will not be inclined to deliver a ruling that favors marriage equality, some activists say.

"It's a big risk, big gamble" to take the issue of marriage equality to the Supreme Court now, said Nan Hunter, a Georgetown University law professor.