Meeting with Rep. Inslee on the Respect for Marriage Act – Act III: Not Just the Poor Man’s Lawyer
Looking back on it now, I can see the strategy Inslee was using when he began the real conversation with us. Start with a point of agreement. “What do you think of Referendum 71?” he asked.
“Well, we wish it had never happened in the first place, but we think it will pass,” I said. Everyone was still in the room, and I feel a little bad that with Inslee there, his legislative assistant, David, kind of faded into the background.
“My wife and I made a donation to the campaign,” he said. “And I sent out an e-mail in support of it–or at least I think I did–if not, I will.”
Read more
What I Learned at Wendy’s: An Accidental Meeting with Small-Town Gay America
Let’s talk about Garfield County, Washington, population 2,060. To my knowledge, I’ve never been there. In fact, until yesterday, I had no idea Garfield County existed. Currently it holds the record for the greatest percentage of voters to reject Referendum 71, the everything-but-marriage referendum. More than 77% voted to reject R-71.*
But nearly 22%, 192 people, voted to uphold the law. Doesn’t sound like much, it’s true. How about this number? 219,897–that’s the number of people who voted to approve R-71 in the yellow counties, the ones like Garfield County, in which a majority of voters rejected R-71.
Read moreThe Morning After the 2009 Election
It’s too early to say for sure, but it looks like the first ever win for a pro-gay initiative on a state ballot. And it’s our state, Washington, that will claim it. The voter-approved law, Senate Bill 5688, will change Washington’s definition of spouse–in every law in which it appears–to include registered domestic partners. For that reason, it’s nicknamed the “everything-but-marriage” law.
We don’t know for sure, though, because too many ballots are still pending. Washington became an all-vote-by-mail state this year, and ballots had to be postmarked, not received, by November 3.
Dawn also finds us at status quo for same-sex marriage on the ballot. Maine, where the results are essentially final, saw a “Yes” answer for Question 1, the challenge to their legislature- and governor-approved law granting same-sex couples marriage rights. That means the law allowing people like us to marry will never take effect.
Read moreWe Voted! To Approve R-71, in Case You Were Wondering
At the post office mailing our ballots!
Today we mailed out ballots from Pennsylvania. This is us at the post office, excited to vote to approve R-71.
In Maine, we met a Californian at the No on 1 campaign office. He said he was more worried about Washington and R-71 than he was about Maine and Question [...]
Marriage (and Other LGBT) Rights in New York and New Jersey
New Rochelle, New York: wild dogs, a goose, and cops. Not necessarily all in one incident. But that’s a synopsis of last night, which was probably the worst one of our trip. Don’t worry, we’re not writing this from the Westchester County Jail.
I would say more, but it’s not quite funny yet. Let’s have some [...]
http://arewemarried.com/feed
