Congratulations Iowa! (only 47 states to go).

Under the statute in question, everyone was allowed to get married to someone of the opposite sex and no one was allowed to get married to someone of the same sex. This is not a case of granting people different privileges. The mere fact that the court made the decision doesn't automatically mean that it's correct.

April 5, 2009
A Push Is On for Same-Sex Marriage Rights Across New England
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
BOSTON " The Iowa Supreme Court’s approval of same-sex marriage on Friday gave advocates an important first victory in the nation’s heartland, thwarting the notion that only the Northeast will accept it.

But for now, New England remains the nucleus of the same-sex marriage movement, with a campaign under way to extend marriage rights to gay men and lesbians in all six of the region’s states by 2012.

Massachusetts has allowed same-sex marriage since 2004, and Connecticut began allowing it last fall. The Vermont Legislature just voted to let same-sex couples marry, and supporters hope to gather enough votes to override a veto promised by Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican.

New Hampshire is not far behind; its House of Representatives approved a same-sex marriage bill last month. The legislatures in Maine and Rhode Island are considering their own versions, though they are not as far along in the process.

Across New England, advocacy groups have been raising money, training volunteers and lobbying voters and lawmakers as part of a campaign they call “Six by Twelve,” led by the legal advocacy group that persuaded the Supreme Courts in Massachusetts and Connecticut to allow same-sex marriage in 2003 and 2008.

Deborah,

In that picture... they almost seem human.

Now, go get educated.

I don't see any difference between the real life family and the depiction of an "ideal" family. They both consist of two loving and committed partners who are raising two children.

Quote:

I don't see any difference between the real life family and the depiction of an "ideal" family. They both consist of two loving and committed partners who are raising two children.

Now that's all fine and dandy in theory, Debra, but the two children in the top photo shouldn't be shielded from the fact that they are the products of a lesser relationship. It's unfair for them to go through life thinking that they are somehow equal to the kids found in normal families.

By trying to ensure that their parents remain second class citizens, those stalwart conservative folk are simply protecting the kids from growing up with unrealistic fantasies.

The Vermont House on Thursday passed a same-sex marriage bill by 95-52, which is not enough of a margin to override a veto promised by the governor.

Last week, the bill passed the Senate 26-4.

The legislature over-rode the veto today, Woiyo, by one vote.

Better luck next time! Yay rights for everyone!

Cycloptichorn

MONTPELIER, Vt. " The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering one more vote than needed to preserve the measure.


The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling. The law goes into effect Sept. 1.

Approval had been expected in the Senate, where the vote was 23 to 5.

But the outcome in the House of Representatives was not clear until the final moments of a long roll call, when Rep. Jeff Young, a Democrat who voted against the bill last week, reversed his position. In the end the vote was 100 to 49, just slightly more than the required two-thirds majority of members present.

After the final tally, cheers erupted in both legislative chambers of the State House and in the hallways outside, and several lawmakers on both sides of the debate looked stunned.

“It’s a great day for equality,” said State Representative Margaret Cheney, a Democrat from Norwich. “People saw this as an equality issue, and we’re proud that Vermont has led the way without a court order to provide equal benefits.”

The override came days after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that not permitting gay marriage there was unconstitutional. Vermont, which in 2000 became the first state to adopt civil unions for gay couples, now brings the number of states allowing same-sex marriage to four; the others are Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa.

The battle over the issue has largely been centered in the Northeast. Massachusetts became the first state in the country to make same-sex marriage a reality in 2004 when its supreme court ruled that it was required under the state’s Constitution, which contains an equal-protection clause. Connecticut followed in October 2008. ............

Your side is simply using a trick to thwart the will of the majority of citizens by pretending that equal protection under the law means something which it doesn't mean. You know that you cannot get your agenda past your fellow citizens, so you do it that way instead.