GLAA Forum

First same-sex marriages celebrated in D.C.

This is the best-quality video of this morning's ceremonies at HRC that I've seen so far. WaPo reports:

In a joint ceremony at the Human Rights Campaign, three of the first gay couples to marry under the city's new law said their vows in emotional services that underscored the historic significance of the day for Washington, D.C. Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend, Reggie Stanley and Rocky Galloway, and Darlene Garner and Candy Holmes, exchanged their rings Tuesday. (Anna Uhls/The Washington Post)

Post ombudsman responds to reader complaints about gay kiss

WaPo ombudsman Andy Alexander deals forthrightly with complaints from a number of readers about a front-page photo last week of two men kissing after filing their marriage license application at D.C. Superior Court. He quotes some of the hostile reader responses, some epithet-laden, then writes this:

Did the Post go too far? Of course not. The photo deserved to be in newspaper and on its Web site, and it warranted front-page display.

News photos capture reality. And the prominent display reflects the historic significance of what was occurring. The recent D.C. Council decision to approve same-sex marriage was the culmination of a decades-long gay rights fight for equality. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the District. The photo of Ames and Ariga kissing simply showed joy that would be exhibited by any couple planning to wed – especially a couple who previously had been denied the legal right to marry.

There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change.

Much of this is generational. Subscription cancellations notwithstanding, the Post could hardly hope to compete in the modern marketplace if it based its editorial decisions on the delicate sensibilities of an aging, shrinking portion of the populace. I am in a good mood today after seeing three weddings, so rather than respond to those readers' curses with curses of my own, I will just say to them, hundreds of gay and lesbian couples are getting married, which will soon be thousands whether you like it or not because we worked for a long time within our democratic system to achieve this victory, so have a nice day.

(Hat tip: Barrett Brick)

Video: DC's first three religious same-sex wedding ceremonies

This video by the Human Rights Campaign shows three couples married in consecutive ceremonies this morning at HRC headquarters. First, Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend, followed by Reggie Stanley and Rocky Galloway, and finally Rev. Elder Darlene Garner and Rev. Lorilyn Candy Holmes. There were lots of tears in the house as family, friends, and marriage equality advocates witnessed a long struggle for equality being fulfilled.

CNN video here.

Video: DC's first same-sex civil wedding ceremony

DC Agenda provides video of the civil marriage ceremony in D.C. joining Jeremy Moon and Bryan Legaspi this morning.

A fine day for a wedding (or three)

At 10:00 this morning, which is the first day when same-sex couples obtained their D.C. marriage licenses, I was a guest at the weddings of three couples at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters on Rhode Island Avenue. Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend were married by the Rev. David North; Reginald Stanley and Rocky Galloway were married by the Rev. Sylvia E. Sumter; and Rev. Elder Darlene Garner and Rev. Lorilyn Candy Holmes were married by the Rev. Dwayne Johnson. (I am told these were not the first; a gay couple reportedly had arranged a civil ceremony at D.C. Superior Court earlier in the morning.)

Outside in the sunshine to greet the guests as they arrived were the Rock Creek Singers of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, who sang "What More Can I Say" from Falsettos and "Marry Us" from NakedMan. Inside, a cellist played prior to each of the three ceremonies. One of the most moving elements of the day was provided by Helena and Zoe, the baby daughters of Reggie and Rocky. They illustrated better than anything else what this is ultimately all about — that our victory protects families.

On hand to celebrate and toast the three happy couples (who truly glowed with happiness) were Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Council members David Catania and Jim Graham, as well as gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who will be 85 on May 21. Also present was a large phalanx of television news cameras and reporters. We will post video. Congrats to all who are marrying this week and in the days to come, and to all who helped make possible these simple and profound legal commitments that confirm commitments already made and lived.

Virginia college students protest Cuccinelli's anti-gay policies

WaPo reports:

Campus activists across Virginia put spring break on hold Monday to mobilize against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, who has riled student groups with a letter advising public universities to retreat from their policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Good.

Anti-gay Calif. state senator admits he's gay

AP reports from Sacramento:

Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn said Monday he is gay, ending days of speculation that began after his arrest last week for investigation of driving under the influence.

Ashburn, who consistently voted against gay rights measures during his 14 years in the state Legislature, came out in an interview with KERN radio in Bakersfield, the area he represents.

Ashburn said he felt compelled to address rumors that he had visited a gay nightclub near the Capitol before his DUI arrest.

"I am gay ... those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long," Ashburn told conservative talk show host Inga Barks.

The 55-year-old father of four said he had tried to keep his personal life separate from his professional life until his March 3 arrest.

Well that's an interesting way to describe a habit of saying one thing and doing another. The more common term for it is hypocrisy. If treacherous closet cases like Ashburn were all exposed, not only gay people but society as a whole would be a lot better off.

Robert McCartney: D.C. gives gays their first-class due

WaPo Metro Columnist Robert McCartney talks to gay men of two different generations: 84-year-old gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, and 44-year-old Maryland state senator Rich Madaleno:

"If you ask my colleagues, my reputation is I'm the budget geek," Madaleno said. "It's because of people like Frank that people like me have the chance not to be the gay senator, but the senator who happens to be gay."

When he's not legislating, Madaleno's at home being a father to two adopted children, aged 6 and 3, whom he's raising with his partner. They consider themselves married after having a religious ceremony in 2001 at a Unitarian church. The state of Maryland doesn't recognize that union -- yet. Madaleno is a leading sponsor of a bill in Annapolis to change that.

Kameny and Madaleno said the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District is important especially because it improves public perceptions of gay people. It's not just the granting of equal legal rights and responsibilities. It's the weakening of the idea that they are separate, lesser, threatening.

"This is going to accelerate the trend of the last number of years of gays to become open and out and visible," Kameny said. "It helps to create the impact of first-class citizenship and first-class status."

Bloody Sunday, 45 years ago today

On this day in 1965, hundreds of civil rights marchers led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams were attacked by police as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on the way to the state capitol in Montgomery to call for voting rights for African Americans. The nation's shocked reaction to the brutal televised images helped President Lyndon Johnson push for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Here's to the brave people who faced tear gas, police dogs, truncheons and all the tools of state repression in breaking the grip of white supremacy.

Hatred and intolerance still remain, and people's fear and prejudice can still be exploited by demagogues and fanatics; but the brave and disciplined people who marched two-by-two in Selma 45 years ago were helping to build and preserve America. It was they, not the enforcers of an unjust status quo, who were the true patriots. So it is for new struggles today. Lewis, who led the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and whose skull was fractured by police that day, survived to become a U.S. congressman from Atlanta. He is an outspoken supporter of civil marriage equality.

(Photo of John Lewis on the ground, about to be struck by an Alabama state trooper on March 7, 1965, is from the Encyclopedia of Alabama.)

Social Conservatives Think Congress Didn't Do Enough to Block Marriage Equality

The Washington Times is reporting on conservative Republican criticism of the efforts Congress made to block DC Marriage Equality.  Jason Chaffetz who introduced the DC Defense of Marriage Act in May following the enactment of the DC law recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other state says "It's a little disappointing that more wasn't done." He only managed to get 63 co-sponsors of this legislation.  Jason Chaffetz represents a rural district in Utah, the state with lowest support for LGBT rights in the country.

"I'll be straight with you: I think they could have done more, We needed a vote, and we didn't get one."  the Times quotes Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage.  Blocking the implementation of the law would require passage of a measure by both the House and the Senate and the support of President Obama, a seemingly hopeless task.  The 'we' in that statement would be NOM.  The benefit would not have been for the Republicn Party.

The Family Research Council is particularly critical of the actions of the Senate. "I haven't seen any effort by Senator Bennett [who introduced legislation to require a vote on the measure by DC residents] to push the legislation, or by the Senate [Republican] leadership, I think it would have been a natural to allow an up-or-down vote, And yet I didn't see any action." said Tom McClusky, senior vice president of the Family Research Council Action.  While a vote by the Senate would certainly benefit NOM and the FRC it probably would not benefit the Republican Party.  Since the measure stood no chance of being enacted taking a vote would only emphasize how ineffectual the Senate Republicans are.  And while House members are voted on by districts, Senators are elected state-wide.  Opponents of LGBT rights like to emphasize how many votes they have won in state-wide elections, but analyzing the data typically shows voters in urban areas are supportive LGBT rights.  Most Senators  would be aware that in urban areas the gay community is as politically powerful as the NRA is in rural areas.

While the organizations that professionally oppose the rights of LGBT people are very disappointed by marriage equality in DC the interests of the Republican Party do not necessarily coincide with them.  The New York Times reports on the major generational shift on the issue.  The straw poll at the recent CPAC convention showed that only one percent of the attendees considered same-sex marriage as an issue for conservative voters.  The Republican Party must hope to someday return to the majority status.  If that is to become a reality, they must connect with the independent and suburban voters which polls show favor LGBT rights.