April 2009 Archives

Vermont -- formerly known as the first state to recognize civil unions among gay couples -- is now the first state to legalize gay marriage without the help of those pesky activist judges. It went a little something...like this...

Ohhh yesss!

Actually, in this case the bill was, first of all, much more gay; and secondly, it was actually vetoed by Republican governor / equality-hater Jim Douglas. (Booooo! Hisssss!) But the House of Representatives squeaked out a two-thirds majority with a 100-49 vote for the ninth inning veto override. That's like if Rocky III was about equal rights and the legislative process, and not about the dangers of consumerism.

So which state is next? I have no idea! So I'm going to guess...Texas. That's the next one.

Iowa becomes the third state, following Massachusetts and Connecticut, to legalize gay marriage. According to the Des Moines Register, if the state were to vote in a constitutional amendment reversing the decision (like Prop 8 in California), it wouldn't take effect until 2012, which, as we know, is when the reptilian Annukai from the solar system's invisible twelfth planet will return to Earth and life as we know it will cease to exist.

Justice Mark Cady, who wrote the unanimous decision, acknowledges the religious aspect of the dispute:

The ruling also addressed what it called the “religious undercurrent propelling the same-sex marriage debate,” and said judges must remain outside the fray.

Some Iowa religions are strongly opposed to same-sex marriages, the justices noted, while some support the notion.

“Our constitution does not permit any branch of government to resolve these types of religious debates and entrusts to courts the task of ensuring that government avoids them,” the opinion says.

The ruling explicitly does not affect “the freedom of a religious organization to define marriage it solemnizes as unions between a man and a woman,” the justices stressed.