Events during 2009-FEB illustrating
cultural shifts about sexual minorities

2009-FEB-06: WY: House defeats constitutional amendment: The Wyoming House overwhelmingly defeated a joint resolution that would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman in the state constitution. ₃ More details
 

2009-FEB-06: NJ: Judge permits divorce of same-sex couple: Mary Jacobson, a New Jersey state judge ruled that the state recognizes same-sex marriages performed outside of the state for the purpose of divorce. A lesbian couple had married in Canada and sought a divorce in New Jersey. ₄
 

2009-FEB-09: UT: Governor supports civil unions: Governor Jon Huntsman of Utah (R) announced that he is backing a proposal for civil unions in the state. He also backs the Common Ground Initiative -- two bills dealing with GLBT rights. Recent polls show 70% opposition among the public on civil unions. ₉
 

2009-FEB-11: IA: Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION complains about Civil Rights Commission: The Iowa Family Policy Center promotes opposite-sex marriage, and denigrates same-sex marriage. They are concerned about two bills in the Legislature which would expand the enforcement powers of the Commission. They state that: "Instead of broadening 'civil rights,' these bills would further threaten to punish those who, for conscience's sake, don't agree with giving special 'rights' to individuals who engage in deviant sexual behavior." We suspect that they are referring to a bill that adds sexual orientation to the existing civil rights legislation, and thus would protect persons of all sexual orientations equally: whether they be heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual. ₉
 

2009-FEB-16: North America: First lesbian wedding on a soap: ABC's "All my children" featured daytime soap's first same-sex wedding. Needless to say, a woman clergyperson officiated. She referred to the brides as establishing a new family. Bianca Montgomery (played by Eden Riegel) married Reese Williams (played by Tamara Braun).  Riegel said:

"When my character did first come out of the closet, there was a lot of negative reaction. ... I think that the beauty of the show is that we were able to reach people and get people sort of used to the idea."

Braun said:

"If you are brave enough to want to get married, especially with the divorce rate as high as it is, then you should have that right no matter what sex you are, who you love, what color you are, how many extra toes and feet you have ... equal rights for all people."

There was the usual reaction:

Glenn Stanton of the fundamentalist Christian group Focus on the Family said: "I think it is really important to understand that there are a lot of things that people don't really want to see and don't want coming into their homes, and lesbian weddings are certainly one of them." The video was the second most popular feature on CNN's web site on the day of the wedding. Fortunately, every TV set has both a channel selector and an on/off button in case the viewer doesn't want to see what is on a particular channel.

Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said: "It's reality. So when we see a lesbian couple getting married on daytime drama, it simply reflects what's happening in the real world. So in that sense, of course it is a victory." 5

PLEASE don't click on the arrow below if you don't want images coming into your home of two women playing the roles of a loving committed couple getting married.

"They will continue to push the boundaries of what is morally and culturally permissible until Americans stand up to the studio execs and advertisers that produce these programs and say, 'No more'." 

"And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support."

Dustin Lance Black won an Oscar for Writing (Original Screenplay). During his acceptance speech, he said:

"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married."

"I wanna? I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than [sic] by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk." ₈

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