According to TMZ (I know, I know), someone in the taping of Ellen's TV show yesterday (which will air today) has said that Ellen DeGeneres announced her engagement to Portia de Rossi.
Stay tuned to Ellen today to see the news! Also, Justin Timberlake is on ...
The show airs at 2 p.m. in D.C.
UPDATE: Think Progress has the video! Congratulations, Ellen and Portia!
It’s early in the process of analyzing the lengthy California Supreme Court ruling, but the state does not have a residency requirement for marriage, so the floodgates could be ready to open.
And D.C. may not be able to stave off addressing the marriage issue much longer.
When Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages in 2003, out-of-state gay and lesbian couples were barred from getting in on the wedded bliss thanks to an obscure 1913 law that said couples could only marry in the Bay State if the marriage would be legal in their home state. Thus, couples living in states with DOMA laws or constitutional amendments banning gay marriage or other statutes stipulating opposite-sex marriage were excluded.
But California could change everything. In the absence of such a law or residency requirement, out-of-state couples will go west to marry, then demand recognition after returning home. In Washington, D.C., former Mayor Anthony Williams asked the city’s attorney general to address the question of whether D.C. law permitted recognition of same-sex marriages that were happening in Massachusetts.
Robert Spagnoletti, who is gay, drafted the legal opinion, but Williams refused to release it. When Adrian Fenty campaigned for mayor he promised to make the opinion public immediately upon taking office. He quickly reneged after winning the election and has, like Williams, refused to release Spagnoletti’s memo.
Anonymous sources have told the Blade that the opinion states same-sex marriages would be recognized under D.C. law. Local activists have legitimate concerns about how Congress would react to gay marriage here, but the city’s hand may yet be forced.
The time has come for Fenty to finally honor his campaign pledge. D.C.’s gay couples deserve to know where they stand on the issue and the city may not have a choice in the matter anyway. It’s inevitable now that local couples will marry in California. When they do, they ought to know what to expect upon returning home.
As you all know, the Calif. Supreme Court ruled overturned the gay marriage ban in the state today. You can read the opinion here.
The gay blogosphere is obviously abuzz right now. Here are some choice comments:
From Good As You: "No residency requirement, no stopgap civil unions system -- this is
full nuptial parity for all who wish to utilize it! This is a true
game-changer that just might go down in history as the beginning of the
end for the 'protect marriage' movement."
From Gay Patriot: "disagree with this ruling because I believe the decisions the Court
made better belong with the legislature and/or the people. And am
troubled by the court’s dismissing their role in deciding this issue,
particularly given that the court is redefining an institution which
has long had a particular meaning, that of being a union of one man and
one woman."
Andrew Sullivan points out an important piece of the ruling: "One key fact: the ruling takes effect in 30 days—which means thousands of couples will be able to marry long before any initiative attempts to reverse it. So the initiative question becomes: do you want to divorce thousands of already-married couples? Or do you want to keep things as they now are? That’s a big advantage for the pro-equality forces."
From Wonkette: "California's Supreme Court just overturned the 'gay marriage isn't
legal' thing, and that means the gayest state in America is about to
become even more gay, as California will become the second state where
homosexuals can get married, to each other."
From The Bilerico Project: "We are not done. This is a joyous day and we should celebrate. But tomorrow, we must double and triple our efforts in California and New York and New Jersey and Connecticut and Iowa to seize this momentum, protect equality where we have it, and win marriage equality where we are already poised to do so. Everyone knows that, someday, we must and we will achieve recognition of our marriages from the federal government. But that day will come only after we have achieved true marriage equality in a critical mass of states. We have to do this one state at a time."
And, just for fun, what the fundies are saying:
Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America:
“So-called ‘same-sex’ marriage is counterfeit marriage. Marriage is,
and has always been, between a man and a woman. We know that it’s in
the best interest of children to be raised with a mother and a father.
To use children as guinea pigs in radical San Francisco-style social
experimentation is deplorable. The majority of Americans recognize the
fact that legitimate marriage and family are cornerstones of a healthy
society. Reasonable people have had enough and are refusing to allow
radical extremists to redefine marriage and family into oblivion.
So-called ‘same-sex marriage’ is a ridiculous and oxymoronic notion
that has been forced into popular lexicon by homosexual activists and
their extremist left-wing allies."
The American Family Association uses their journalistic license to change around the Associated Press story to suit the organization's needs:
"The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on same-sex 'marriage,' paving the way for California to become the second state
where homosexual residents can marry."
The actual lead paragraph from AP: "In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California
Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday
in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest
state to tie the knot."
The last five years have been a wild ride for gay and lesbian Americans. There was euphoria in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas and the Massachusetts high court mandated gay marriage. But those celebrations were tempered by the crushing disappointments a year later when a slew of states approved constitutional bans on marriage. Then the New York and Maryland high courts — in sometimes harshly written opinions — rejected arguments for marriage rights.
And now the California Supreme Court has finally weighed in and the exhilaration is back. In a 4-3 ruling, the court affirmed the right of gay couples to marry and to access the myriad state benefits of marriage.
It’s not just a legal victory bringing new rights and obligations to deserving couples. It’s an affirmation that our relationships — our love — is every bit as important and legitimate as any straight couple’s. This decision is an earthquake for the gay rights movement, an instant game-changer. Now, suddenly, more than 35 million Americans live in a state where the high court has said gay couples deserve the right to marry. It’s the largest state in the country and, as such, a trendsetter. There’s simply no overstating the importance of this day.
Those of us living in places where marriage rights are not available to gay couples can take some solace in the brave and inspirational words of the justices writing for the majority in California. Their language comes in stark contrast to rulings elsewhere, like New York and Maryland.
Judge Glenn Harrell penned some of the most offensive language on the subject of marriage in his Maryland opinion. “Appellees point neither to scientific nor sociological studies, which have withstood analysis for evidentiary admissibility, in support of an argument that sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic,” Harrell wrote, arguing that being gay is a choice. And if that weren’t offensive enough, he added, “We agree that the state’s asserted interest in fostering procreation is a legitimate governmental interest.”
Let us instead celebrate the words of the California justices.
“We conclude that retention of the traditional definition of marriage does not constitute a state interest sufficiently compelling, under the strict scrutiny equal protection standard, to justify withholding that status from same-sex couples,” according to the majority opinion.
The case for marriage was never a slam-dunk in California, despite the legislature twice passing a marriage bill and the state’s liberal reputation. The case goes back to 2004, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom directed the clerk’s office to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He was pilloried in the ensuing media firestorm and blamed by some gay rights activists for igniting a backlash against gay rights. Even now, four years later, state voters may be forced to decide the issue via ballot initiative in November. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who twice vetoed marriage bills, more recently announced that he would oppose an anti-gay ballot measure.
But it looks likely that the ban will appear on the ballot. Supporters of the effort gathered the 1.1 million signatures needed to bring the issue to voters. California voters could still invalidate today’s ruling — and any marriages entered into by gay couples.
Stopping this amendment effort is now priority No. 1 for gay activists and gay rights supporters everywhere.
Congratulations and kudos to the brave plaintiffs in California, who sacrificed their privacy to fight for equality. And congratulations to the legal team that argued the case and to the activists and politicians who have been laying the groundwork for this happy result for years.
No doubt, Sen. John McCain’s advisers from the Karl Rove School of Politics are already hard at work devising a way to use the ruling against Democrats in November. But that ship has sailed and the American public has indicated since 2004 a desire to move past this issue and to focus on war, the economy, health care and other pressing domestic concerns. Voters will not be so easily swayed by the GOP’s cynical use of gay marriage as a wedge issue this year. It’s 2008, not 2004 and, as Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign has so vividly demonstrated, voters crave change and not a return to the politics of division.
The California ruling will help some of those cautious Democrats come out of the closet in their support for marriage rights. Already this year, we’ve seen DNC Chair Howard Dean and former Vice President Al Gore publicly endorse same-sex marriage. Can Obama be far behind?
But today is not a day for politics. It’s a day to celebrate. Not just the massively important win in California, but the arrival of a new day in the gay rights movement for the entire country.
Americans are sometimes slow to do the right thing, but today we take a giant leap in the right direction. A new generation of gay kids will grow up knowing that many of their fellow gay citizens are legally married. It’s a foreign vision to those of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, when AIDS cast its smothering shadow.
Today’s court ruling means we must all adjust our view and look forward to the inevitable day when gay citizens of this country will stand on a level playing field — when the law will finally treat us equally and our relationships will be valued and recognized.
The California Supreme Court today announced that its long-awaiting ruling on a same-sex marriage case will be released Thursday at 1 p.m. EST.
I just returned from a luncheon with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in Washington. In a private conversation, he told me the ruling could come as early as tomorrow. I was surprised -- and skeptical -- but clearly his sources are better than mine.
Newsom declined to make any predictions, but he's certainly rooting for a pro-gay ruling, which would offer him vindication after being brutally criticized for marrying gay couples at City Hall in 2004.
The ruling will come too late for the Blade's print edition this week, so watch the site for updated coverage and the May 23 issue will carry expanded coverage.
It's the gay news story of the decade if the court legalizes same-sex marriage. California is the nation's most populous state with more than 35 million residents. And it comes in the middle of an already exciting and unprecedented presidential campaign.
Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy week.
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