Other states may extend rights to gay couples
Maryland's state senate is expected to begin debating the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Act on Wednesday -- it's one of several state legislative bodies across the country poised to extend rights to same sex couples.
Hawaii: Newly elected Democratic Gov. Neil Abercromie is expected to sign into law a bill allowing civil unions on Wednesday. The state's legislature has approved civil unions several times in the past only to have it vetoed by the previous Republican governor.
Rhode Island: Newly elected Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an Independent, says he will sign a same-sex marriage bill into law. Also, the Speaker of the House in RI is gay, and co-sponsored the measure. A bill has been heard in a House Judiciary Committee.
New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo campaigned on same-sex marriage and said earlier this month he will push the New York state legislature to pass a measure. A similar bill failed last year in the senate after passing in the state assembly. The New York Times notes that Cuomo has an uphill battle since the senate became more conservative after November's elections.
California: The state's supreme court said it will weigh-in on whether a ballot initiative that denied gay marriage should be overturned on procedural grounds. The CA court is not expected to rule until the end of the year.
Illinois: In January Illinois' governor signed into a law a civil unions bill for gay couples.
Same sex-marriage are allowed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia.
Hawaii: Newly elected Democratic Gov. Neil Abercromie is expected to sign into law a bill allowing civil unions on Wednesday. The state's legislature has approved civil unions several times in the past only to have it vetoed by the previous Republican governor.
Rhode Island: Newly elected Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an Independent, says he will sign a same-sex marriage bill into law. Also, the Speaker of the House in RI is gay, and co-sponsored the measure. A bill has been heard in a House Judiciary Committee.
New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo campaigned on same-sex marriage and said earlier this month he will push the New York state legislature to pass a measure. A similar bill failed last year in the senate after passing in the state assembly. The New York Times notes that Cuomo has an uphill battle since the senate became more conservative after November's elections.
California: The state's supreme court said it will weigh-in on whether a ballot initiative that denied gay marriage should be overturned on procedural grounds. The CA court is not expected to rule until the end of the year.
Illinois: In January Illinois' governor signed into a law a civil unions bill for gay couples.
Same sex-marriage are allowed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia.
Comments
A bit of balance folks, please. I notice you failed to mention that the Rhode Island attempt, in spite of being in heavily Dem territory is currently going nowhere.
Then there are the states where things are moving the other way where the following have approved constitutional amendments banning gay marriages:
- Iowa House of Reps (overwhelmingly)
- Indiana House of Reps (overwhelmingly)
- Wyoming Senate (overwhelmingly)
Other states regarded as likely to move to ban gay marriage include North Carolina and New Hampshire. So try to balance your reporting a wee bit - please!
Posted by: Steve | February 22, 2011 9:20 AM
Cool. It's time America.
Cheers, Joe Mustich,
CT Justice of the Peace,
Washington Green, CT USA.
Kudos to CT for supporting SSM since 2008!
Posted by: Jos. A. Mustich | February 22, 2011 9:29 AM
The states with strong marriage police are moving back to the 20th century.
Lets move forward with civil and contractual rights.
Joe Mustich, JP
Washington Green, CT USA
Marriage licenses come from town halls not church halls and such....
Posted by: Jos. A. Mustich, Justice of the Peace | February 22, 2011 12:01 PM
Hey other Steve, you might balance your own reporting:
- In Iowa, this bill is going nowhere because it is blocked in the Senate, and polls show a majority of Iowans don't want their legislators even touching this issue.
- In NH, the bill is going nowhere because house leadership wants to hold it until next year. Also, a 2/3 majority of the states population does not want the repeal.
- In Indiana and Wyoming, the amendments proposed do not change the legal status of anything, they merely recodify the same existing discrimination up one more level.
Posted by: Steve | February 22, 2011 1:29 PM
Look at the rest of the world.
W. Europe - 7 countries marriage, Finland changing RP to marriage. Only two countries without M or CUs, italy and greece, and the primate (archbishop) of Greek Orthodox church there said he supports M as long as church is protected.
Looks like its coming soon in England, witth various parties trying to one up each other re supporting marriage
Western Hemisphere - Canada, Columbia(common law), Argentina, mexico with M
Most of Brazil, Equador, Uruguay with CUs. Peru and Chile likely next
Ea Europe - Hungary, Austria, Chech repub with CU
Israel and nepal and RSA marriage
NZ, AU CUs, lots of activity in AU re going to marriage.
Japan: re4cognizes gay marriages from elsewhere as long as one of the spouses is not Japanese and othere is. There is no religioous animosity against gays there, but they tend to be confomrist
society
Why is America so backwards, almost like the Islamic and communist states.
We should all be ashamed
Posted by: stan James | February 22, 2011 5:05 PM