In a new interview with Attitude magazine, Tori Amos expresses her disappointment at the fact that California voters could, on the very same day, elect our nation’s first African-American president and also deprive a segment of the citizenry the fundamental right to marry. Now, anyone who is even remotely aware of Tori and her politics should not be surprised by this news at all … even still, at a time when our country still has a long way to go in terms of providing marriage equality for all her comments are definitely worth passing along:

Tori Amos has blasted voters who pushed through a gay marriage ban in California – because it goes against the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. The God hitmaker, whose father is a Methodist minister, insists outlawing same-sex unions is un-Christian and a breach of civil rights. And she is confused Californian voters passed the Proposition 8 bill – which reversed a previous ruling permitting gay marriage in the state – on the same day Barack Obama was elected U.S. President last year. She tells Attitude magazine, “(I was) extremely disappointed. Well, we go back to this concept of emancipation. The idea of ‘We will overcome’ from the great Dr. Martin Luther King, was made flesh as Obama was put into the office and yet at the same time another group of people were subjugated by some of those voters. “A lot of people were saying, ‘Well you have to understand that a lot of the voters are Democratic and Christians, the ones that had an issue with rights for the gay community’. And I would say how, in any way, is that the Christian path?”

God Bless Tori Amos. I love that the woman never shies away from voicing her opinions. Her point that Christian path is one of love and acceptance is a valid one. There will always be those people who use religion to their own selfish ends … which is sad because those people ruin things for everyone. I’m convinced that marriage equality will be a reality for all in this country some day, hopefully soon. I’m glad to know that the fight for equality for all has an intelligent woman like Tori Amos on its side.

[Source]

Woot!! Another amazing day for marriage equality here in the United States of America! After the Maine State Congress earlier this week passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in their State, Governor John Baldacci has today announced that he has signed the bill into law — making Maine the 5th State in the US to legalize same-sex marriage and the second (after Vermont) to do so by State legislature rather than by court order:

Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday signed a gay marriage bill passed just hours before by the Maine Legislature. Baldacci made his announcement within an hour of the Maine Senate giving its final approval to LD 1020. The Senate voted 21-13 in favor of the measure after a short debate. “In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions,” Baldacci said in a written statement. “I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.” The House of Representatives gave its approval on a 89-57 vote Tuesday. The governor’s signature makes Maine the fifth state to allow gay marriage. In his statement, Baldacci also acknowledged that his signature may not be the last word on the issue. Opponents have vowed to begin the process of a “people’s veto” to send the matter to referendum. “Just as the Maine Constitution demands that all people are treated equally under the law, it also guarantees that the ultimate political power in the State belongs to the people,” Baldacci said. “While the good and just people of Maine may determine this issue, my responsibility is to uphold the Constitution and do, as best as possible, what is right. I believe that signing this legislation is the right thing to do.” Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa have been ordered by the courts to do so, and Connecticut later enacted a law codifying the court ruling. Vermont in April passed a gay marriage law over the governor’s objection.

OMG … Happy, Happy Day!!! It’s like the floodgates of equality and justice have opened up in this country! I cannot believe that so many States have legalized same-sex marriage in this country already … and in such a short period of time! It’s almost as if a new State legalizes the practice on a weekly basis (if only that were really the case). I listened to some of the impassioned debate in the Maine House of Representatives this week on this matter and I was almost brought to tears by the amazing things that many of the legislators spoke before the House. Yes, there was much bigotry and hatred spoken in the oral debate by some but the overwhelmingly positive remarks really filled me with hope and optimism that one day (hopefully soon) marriage equality will be made available for all US citizens. Thank you Maine! Thank you for taking the lead along with Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont in allowing the citizens of your States the same access to marriage that all heterosexual couples enjoy in this country. These 5 states will forever be remembered as the birthplace of marriage equality in the United States of America. Again … thank you!

[Source]

Kelly McGillis, who famously played Tom Cruise‘s flight instructor/love interest in Top Gun, is finally opening up and coming out about who she is. In a new interview with Girl Rock!, Kelly proudly announced that she is gay and is no longer interested in doing “the man thing” now that she is finally able to be “true to [herself]“:

Kelly McGillis, best known as Tom Cruise’s girlfriend in 1986′s Top Gun, has revealed to the Internet show Girl Rock! that she is single but no longer searching for a male companion. Asked if she’s looking to date a man or woman, the actress, 51, replied, “Definitely a woman.” The twice-divorced mother of two daughters – her movies also include 1985′s Witness, with Harrison Ford, and 1988′s The Accused, with Jodie Foster – said she’s “done with the man thing. I did that. I need to move on in life. It’s a part of being true to yourself. That’s been a challenge for me.” The difficulty of coming out as a lesbian led to “an ongoing process from the time I was probably 12. I had a lot of things happen that convinced me that God was punishing me because I was gay,” said McGillis, who in 1982 was assaulted by an escaped rapist who had gotten into her apartment. Now gray-haired and in rehearsals for The Little Foxes on stage in Pasadena, Calif., McGillis also told the show that she would like to jump back onto the big screen – except for one thing. “Whenever I get an offer, they ask me to dye my hair,” she says. “And I just won’t.”

Yay! I am so happy for her!! Coming out is never easy and I imagine that it is especially difficult to come out later in life. I suspect that Kelly prolly always knew who she was on the inside and struggled with her identity for some time. Now that she is comfortable talking about who she really is, she is well on her way to finding true and blissful happiness. It really sounds like Kelly McGillis is very sure of who she is as a woman and is happy with who she is … it’s surprising how many people out there cannot say the same about themselves.

[Source]

Earlier this month we learned the amazing news that the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional in the State of Iowa, making Iowa one of 3 US States to allow same-sex marriage. Today is the first day that same-sex couples are allowed to apply for marriage licenses in Iowa which means that today the State is taking a huge step forward towards marriage equality in this country:

Same-sex couples have begun filing for marriage licenses in the state of Iowa after the state’s Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. Two Lincoln, Neb., women were first in line at the Pottawattamie County Recorder’s office in Council Bluffs to apply for their license. Sarah Fentress and Bambi Smith have been friends for 20 years. Both women said it’s hard to put into words what this day means to them. “It’s just about us and that we can be a complete family,” Fentress said. Six couples were waiting outside the Courthouse before the doors opened Monday morning. Same-sex weddings could take place Monday if couples can secure waivers from judges that let them bypass Iowa’s three-day waiting period. One couple in Des Moines did get a waiver shortly after their license was issued. The Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous April 3 decision makes Iowa the third state to allow same-sex marriage.

The New York Times published a story yesterday about same-sex marriage coming to Iowa which, it turns out, isn’t really that big of a deal to the people who live there:

Many people, even some who live here, cannot mesh their plain-Jane image of Iowa, a state that sits so sturdily in the middle, with the front lines of the same-sex marriage debate. “To be honest, I would rather not have it in Iowa,” said Shirley Cox, who has spent most of her 84 years in this old railroad town. Ms. Cox said she had always been proud to tell people what state she was from, but now was not so sure. “But the thing is,” she went on, “it’s really none of my business. Who am I to tell someone how to live? I live the way I want, and they should live the way they want. I’m surely not going to stomp and raise heck and campaign against it.” This reluctance to interlope in the lives of one’s neighbors — “a very Iowa attitude,” in the words of one local political scientist, derived in part from the state’s rural heritage — may help explain how Iowa finds itself in this moment. Add to that individualistic sensibility the state’s current political alignment and its little-known, pioneering legal past on once similarly volatile questions, like segregation and the role of women, and suddenly it seems far less surprising to outsiders that this could happen here in the seemingly endless, rolling acres of cornfields. “People may think of us some other way,” said Paul Lasley, a sociologist at Iowa State University, “but in the main, it is tolerance — not always support, but tolerance — that has really been the weave and warp of Iowa culture. Understanding the culture of Iowa is understanding that many of us are descendants of people who were once denied liberties in their home countries.” This month, the Iowa Supreme Court found a state law banning same-sex marriage to be a violation of the state Constitution, in essence deeming the practice legal, as of this week. Iowa will be one of three states, and the only one far from the coasts, to allow the marriages. (A fourth state, Vermont, will permit same-sex marriages come September. California did, briefly, until voters rejected the practice in November.) In Des Moines, the state capital, observers of the court said the unanimous decision surprised them. Mark S. Kende, a law professor at Drake University, said he had viewed these justices as “more a lawyerly court than left-leaning or willing to stick its neck out on something like this.” Five of the justices were appointed by Democratic governors; the remaining two, including the author of the opinion, Justice Mark S. Cady, were chosen by a Republican. “One doesn’t want to psychoanalyze the court,” Mr. Kende said, “but you can see how they drew on the heritage of Iowa in the area of equality and seemed to see their own decision in that context.”

I, too, was very surprised to learn that Iowa has decided to allow same-sex marriage but in the context of the history of the State, it does make sense. I believe Iowa was one of the first States to strike down the ban on interracial marriage. The idea of live and let live seems to me to be a very American ideal, one that many people seem to forget. I’m pleased to know that the great State of Iowa holds true to its ideals even in the face of huge change. Here is a list of requirements for same-sex couples to marry in Iowa:

Marriage requirements: Two people, over 18, not already legally married, not closely related and legally competent to enter into a civil contract.

License: Applicants must show proof of identity, pay $35 fee, and have a witness sign the application. Three-day waiting period before wedding may be performed, although this may be waived by judge.

Ceremony: Must be in Iowa, with both parties, an officiate (judge or leader of a religious faith) and two witnesses present.

If a same-sex couple have been legally married elsewhere, their marriage is valid in Iowa as of Monday. It is not yet clear if civil unions from another state or registered domestic partnerships will be recognized in Iowa.

For a divorce, one party must have been a resident of Iowa for at least one year.

HMMM … sounds a lot like the requirements for heterosexual couples to marry as well. Kudos to Iowa for advancing the cause of marriage equality while other States disappointingly fall behind. The rest of the US will catch up with you Iowa, it’ll just take some time.

[Source, Source, Source]

Celebs from the big screen, the small screen, the stage and more made their way out to the Nokia Theatre here in downtown Los Angeles, CA yesterday evening to attend and participate in the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards … which honors achievement in GLBT visibility in the media. Here are a few photos from the awards show itself and some info from the glitzy ceremony:

Civil rights group GLAAD honored the movie “Milk” and singled-out Reverend Gene Robinson and comedian Kathy Griffin for their work at a Saturday night gala highlighting issues such as gay marriage and equality. Talk program “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was given a GLAAD Media Award for its episode “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day,” covering DeGeneres’ wedding to actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres dedicated the honor to Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11 year-old Massachusetts boy who killed himself earlier this month because school kids bullied him and called him “gay.” “In my opinion, we are not fighting for gay rights, we are fighting for equal rights,” DeGeneres told the black tie crowd at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater. The 2009 awards marked the 20th year that films, TV shows, performers and others have been honored by GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “Milk,” about slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, was named best film. “Desperate Housewives” was chosen best TV comedy, and “Brothers and Sisters” was named top TV drama. GLAAD President Neil Giuliano spoke to the audience about the impact TV shows such as “The L Word” and movies like “Brokeback Mountain” have had on introducing audiences to all sorts of lesbian and gay characters and issues they face. Giuliano touched on marriage and said that despite setbacks like the passage of California’s Proposition 8 which denied gay men and women the right to marry in that state, progress has been made in other states where gay weddings are now legal. “As we learned in Iowa and Vermont, ignorance and hate does not stop the march of social justice,” Giuliano said. While many of the night’s speeches focused on social and political issues — as expected for the activist group — the night also featured a lot of comedy and music. Comedian Kathy Griffin accepted the Vanguard Award for her work in the gay community. She dressed in a bikini with a white, gay marriage ribbon, pinned to the bottom. The makers of video sensation “Prop 8: The Musical,” a parody of the conservative campaign backing Proposition 8, were singled-out with a special recognition award, and the musical number was performed on stage. The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal church, was given an honorary award for his work as a religious leader and activist. Last month, GLAAD held a ceremony in New York City where it handed out other media awards. A similar event is planned for May in San Francisco.

I really love that the GLAAD Media Awards are handed out in LA, NY and San Francisco … issues of GLBT visibility are too large for just one ceremony. Much love and congrats to all the folks who work tireless to help foster and spread positive images of the gay community, pushing the boundaries of discrimination further and further away. The work is long and hard and nowhere near complete … until justice and equality for all is achieved in this country, the work carries on. Again, congrats to those folks who keep on keepin’ on. Click HERE for a full list of award winners from the LA portion of the GLAAD Media Awards. My dear friend Darion was able to attend the GLAAD Media Awards yesterday and he managed to get a fun photo with one of his fave celebs:

Don’t they look great? Kathy Griffin looks stunning. Trust me, Darion was geeked beyond words. Woot!!

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

Earlier Monday I passed along the info that Amazon.com had removed the sales rankings of books in their massive catalog of GLBT subject matter because they were reclassified as “adult” thereby making those books not show up in searches on the subject on their site. In the wake of customer outrage and inquires to Amazon about this new policy, the company responded that the matter was caused by a “glitch” in the system and that the company planned to fix the problem soon. A few hours ago, Pink reader Darcy pointed me to THIS blogpost by a hacker named VEEW who claimed responsibility for the “glitch” which I discounted at first … but the tech blog Gizmodo seems to think that the hacker’s claims may be a valid explanation. Could Amazon‘s site merely have been purposely hacked and that was what caused all of this uproar?

Okay, maybe Amazon is off the hook. The well-known troll Weev is claiming that he’s actually responsible for Amazon’s sudden surge of LGBT prudishness. Which Valleywag says actually makes sense. It’s startingly simple: It doesn’t take very many votes at all to get a product flagged as “inappropriate” and booted off the rankings. He says he created a script that generated a list of product IDs for every gay and lesbian book on Amazon. From there, he just needed a whole bunch of people to flag the books as inappropriate, which wasn’t hard, because simply getting someone to go the URL of a successful flag would count as another one. Using an invisible iframe on popular websites owned by friends and a group of “third-worlders” he hired to register accounts, he generated enough votes to de-list gay and lesbian books en masse. Lending credence to his claims, Valleywag notes that the “flag as inappropriate” feature is currently disabled. Free reign for inappropriate books

If this hacker’s claim is true, then why didn’t Amazon say so in the first place? There are reports that this “new practice” started back in February so why didn’t Amazon detected the hack back then? This hacker’s claim also does not explain why author Mark Probst got an email from Amazon two days ago that his book (a gay western story that features no sexual content at all) had been reclassified as “adult”. On the other hand, if the hacker was smart enough to change the way the Amazon system classified books, the company might not have been aware of the change and automated systems may have just assumed the changes were valid. Trust me, I really want to believe that Amazon is not at fault here but they have THUS FAR been painfully quiet on this whole matter. I am still hoping to hear something from them that concretely explains what the hell is going on … whether it is their fault or not, we need to know that truth. I need to know the truth if I am going to remain one of their customers.

UPDATE: Amazon is now publicly denying that any hacker infiltrated their system and caused the “glitch” that removed the sales ranks from their catalog of GLBT books. In fact, Amazon clarifies that not only GLBT books where stripped of their sales rankings but “57,310 books in a number of broad categories” were effected by an error that they describe as “ham-fisted”. In an email response from Amazon.com that I received Monday evening (after I emailed them my outrage at this development), the company clearly accepted fault and blame for the error — yet they offered no apology. Here is the full text of the email that I received from Amazon.com today:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

To say that this relieves me EXPONENTIALLY is an understatement. As I’ve said before, I am a huge fan of Amazon.com and I was totally dismayed by this apparent error. If anything, I’m happy to know that the Internet community was able to seemingly drag the problem into the public consciousness and get the problem “fixed” in a very quick manner. Still, I think that there needs to be a full accounting of what actually happened and what safeguards will be put in place in ensure it never happens again … but I will rest my head happily tonight more confident that this act was an error and that steps are being taken to remedy the problem as soon as possible.

[Source, Source, thanks Darcy]

Over the weekend a firestorm of outrage began to swirl on the Internets (and particularly on Twitter, I first heard about this from author Neil Gaiman) over the new policy by Amazon.com to remove sales rankings of books that the site deemed “adult” … but which really stripped books that deal with gay, lesbian or transgendered characters and/or themes of their book rankings (leaving heterosexual erotica untouched and with their sales rankings in tact). This is particularly important because book rankings help books show up in product searches which translates into the sale of more of those books. Since the subject erupted over the weekend, Amazon.com has issued a statement saying that the matter was caused by a “glitch” that removed the book rankings from all of the GLBT books and that the issue would be remedied immediately. The thing that concerns me the most is that this practice was first noticed back in February and the glitch was only discovered once the general buying public started to catch wind of the practice (over Easter weekend, no less). Here is a short synopsis of what’s been going on as uncovered by book bloggers and the response issued by Amazon.com in the wake of this controversy:

1. Craig Seymour first complained about his book being adversely treated by Amazon back in February.

2. Mark Probst got a response two days ago that his book was being adversely treated by Amazon because it was deemed “adult content.”

3. If you search “homosexual” on Amazon.com, your first search result is “A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality.” This is because other books with the term homosexual have had their sales rank stripped. The previous algorithm is supposed to show the top selling books in the search result. If the book has no sales rank then it won’t appear in the search results. Or, as a better example: But the fact that Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Ames Nicolosi’s A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality is still ranked when Heather Has Two Mommies isn’t, says it all.

4. If you write exclusively books with erotic content (or content tagged erotic regardless of actual content), you may not exist in a front page search. See screen cap HERE (Lucinda Betts) and HERE (Jackie Barbosa) and HERE (Amie Stuart).

What’s going on?

For those who don’t know, Amazon has decided to derank and then remove from front page searches books labeled “erotic” and GLBT. For example, books that are about Lesbian parenting have been identified as “adult content” and deranked. Patti O’Shea’s book that is listed “erotic horror” despite having only one sex scene has been deranked and removed from front page search results. Amazon has deranked Annie Proulx, E.M. Forster, but not American Psycho. Mein Kampf and books about dog fighting are ranked and can be searched from the front page, but not books about gay love or books with erotic content.

You can track more of the deranked books on Twitter.

Why is this is a big deal?

It’s not because customers put any stock into the Amazon Ranking number. It’s that the Amazon Rank affects a books’ visibility on the bestseller list, on the “If you Like ___, you might like __ feature” and so forth. It is akin to the bookstore removing the books from the shelves and requiring you to go to the Customer Service desk and ask for the book or author specifically. Visibility is a huge factor in sales and anyone who doesn’t believe that is kidding themselves.

Here is the response to all of this controversy that has been issued by Amazon.com:

A “glitch” on Amazon.com has caused the sales rank to be removed from gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and others. “There was a glitch in our systems and it’s being fixed,” Amazon’s director of corporate communications, Patty Smith, said in an e-mail Sunday. As of Sunday night, books without rankings included Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room,” Vidal’s “The City and the Pillar” and Jeanette Winterson’s “Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.” The removals prompted furious remarks on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere online. Craig Seymour, author of the gay memoir “All I Could Bare,” wrote on his blog Sunday that his sales rank was dropped in February, then restored nearly four weeks later, after he was told by Amazon that his book had been “classified as an Adult product.”

I must admit that I am deeply concerned by this action on Amazon‘s part. It seems very fishy to me that a glitch caused all of this selective censorship. What seems more likely is that the company prolly tried to get away with this new endeavor and didn’t consider the fact that anyone would notice. I am very troubled that a company that I give much business to would try to pull something like this in the first place. The Kindle e-book reader (which I love) works exclusively with Amazon‘s book inventory. And while I try to shop at as many independent bookshops as I can when buying books in person, the ease of shopping at Amazon is very attractive. Of course I want to believe that the company actually suffered a malfunction that caused this error — after all, nothing in my experience with Amazon.com before has even hinted at this sort of business practice. At this point … I’m not sure what to do. I plan to watch this issue closely and follow the action that Amazon takes in the coming days and weeks. Not only does the company owe its customers a COMPLETE REVERSAL of this nonsense immediately but they also owe a huge public apology and perhaps some sort of reparation to the GLBT authors that were harmed by this action.

The Dear Author blog has published some helpful information for those of you who wish to contact Amazon directly to voice your displeasure:

Amazon executive customer service email is: ecr@amazon.com and the customer service phone number is 1-800-201-7575. I’ve called and sent emails. (I even called the cell phone of an Amazon PR person). There is also a petition. The louder the noise you can make collectively, the more likely action will be taken. You can use Robin’s template:

Dear Amazon,

This is nothing short of discrimination; this is nothing short of censorship. This is nothing a business that claims commercial integrity at even the most basic level would do. Consequently, as a longtime Amazon customer, I look forward to an immediate reversal of this ridiculous policy. Otherwise, I will purchase elsewhere and encourage everyone else I know to do the same.

I suspect if Amazon realizes how many people their glitch has offended they might be more quick to come back and do the right thing.

[Source, Source]

For the second time in just under one week’s time a State here in the US has legalized same-sex marriage!!! Vermont has just become the 4th State in the US (5th if you count California) to legalize same-sex marriage after the State legislature has voted to overturn the veto by Governor Jim Douglas who publicly opposed the legislature’s ratification of the law. After both houses of the Vermont State legislature voted to allow same-sex marriage in their State last week (an upgrade from the civil unions they already had in place for same-sex couples), Governor Douglas decided to veto that law (his belief is that civil unions are “good enough” for same-sex couples). In the wake of his decision to veto, the legislature has *just* voted to overturn his decision … making same-sex marriage legal in their State!!!!!

Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature’s vote. The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override. The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law. It’s now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

This is such amazing news!!! Not only are the winds of change blowing across our great nation but it seems to have turned into a bit of a tidal wave of change. Unlike other States which legalized same-sex marriage in the courts, Vermont has legalized same-sex marriage in the legislature … which is a hugely significant difference. As you may recall, just last week we learned that Iowa became the 4th State to legalize same-sex marriage here in the US and now Vermont joins the ranks of the States who have decided that marriage equality should be afforded to all. To clarify, altho Vermont is the 5th State to legalize same-sex marriage (California was among those States) there are only 4 States out of 50 that currently allow the practice legally. I must admit, my fear was that the Vermont State legislature would not be able to come up with the votes needed to overturn the governor’s veto … I’m so ecstatic that I was wrong! As you may painfully recall, California’s legalization of same-sex marriage was overturned in last November’s election. While we suffered a major setback here in California, this latest ratification in Vermont to allow same-sex couples the same rights and privileges as heterosexual couples pushes our country closer to truly allowing freedom and justice for its citizens. On behalf of the rest of the country that still waits for marriage equality to be enacted for all, I salute and send my heartfelt thanks to the people of Vermont for their efforts today. They join the ranks of the other pioneering States (including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa) who recognize that all couples in the US of A deserve access to marriage equality! What another wonderful, wonderful day!!!

[Source, thanks Amanda]

Amazing news to report from the very heart of the United States of America … the Supreme Court of Iowa (which is smack dab right in the middle of the US of A) has ruled today — in a completely unanimous decision — that the ban on same-sex marriage in their State is UNCONSTITUTIONAL paving the way for same-sex marriage to become legal in Iowa! Same-sex marriage will legally be allowed to take place in the State of Iowa in 3 weeks time, which makes Iowa the 3rd state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage (4th if you count California). What is most surprising to me is that Iowa is the first State in the Midwest (near the Bible Belt, y’all!) that has taken this huge step forward for marriage equality. What a happy, happy day!

The Iowa Supreme Court this morning unanimously upheld gays’ right to marry. “The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution,” the justices said in a summary of their decision. The court rules that gay marriage would be legal in three weeks, starting April 24. The court affirmed a Polk County District Court decision that would allow six gay couples to marry. The ruling is viewed as a victory for the gay rights movement in Iowa and elsewhere, and a setback for social conservatives who wanted to protect traditional families. The decision makes Iowa the first Midwestern state, and the fourth nationwide, to allow same-sex marriages. Lawyers for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group that financed the court battle and represented the couples, had hoped to use a court victory to demonstrate acceptance of same-sex marriage in heartland America. The Iowa Supreme Court’s Web site was deluged with more than 350,000 visitors this morning, in anticipation of the ruling, a Judicial Branch spokesman said this morning. Steve Davis, a court spokesman, said administrators added extra computer servers to handle the expected increase in Web traffic. But “this is unprecedented,” Davis said. Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton on gay civil rights, said today’s decision could set the stage for other states. Socarides was was a senior political assistant for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin in the early 1990s. “I think it’s significant because Iowa is considered a Midwest sate in the mainstream of American thought,” Socarides said. “Unlike states on the coasts, there’s nothing more American than Iowa. As they say during the presidential caucuses, ‘As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.’” Democratic Sen. Bill Dotzler of Waterloo said he hopes people treat each other with respect today. “Everyone just needs to remain calm,” he said. “We need to analyze the decision. By giving a unanimous decision it seems to me the court really thinks it’s an issue of rights. It will be up to the legislature to look at their ruling and see how we’re going to proceed” … Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, e-mailed his response to reporters: “The decision released this morning by Supreme Court addresses a complicated and emotional issue, one on which Iowans have strong views and opinions on both sides. The next responsible step is to thoroughly review this decision, which I am doing with my legal counsel and the attorney general, before reacting to what it means for Iowa.” Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement this morning in response to the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to allow gay marriage in Iowa: “The decision made by the Iowa Supreme Court today to allow gay marriage in Iowa is disappointing on many levels. I believe marriage should only be between one man and one woman and I am confident the majority of Iowans want traditional marriage to be legally recognized in this state. Though the court has made their decision, I believe every Iowan should have a voice on this matter and that is why the Iowa Legislature should immediately act to pass a Constitutional Amendment that protects traditional marriage, keeps it as a sacred bond only between one man and one woman and gives every Iowan a chance to have their say through a vote of the people.” “I’m off the wall,” said Democratic Sen. Matt McCoy of Des Moines, who is openly gay. “I’m very pleased to be an Iowan” … Until today, Iowa law said marriage could only be between one man and one woman. The case, Varnum vs. Brien, involves six same-sex Iowa couples who sued Polk County Recorder Timothy Brien in 2005 after his office denied them marriage licenses. Polk County District Judge Robert Hanson sided with the couples last year but then suspended his decision pending a high court ruling.

OH.MY.GAWD! I am utterly and completely shocked … and elated. This proves that the unfair practice of discriminating against same-sex marriage does not have a strong foothold anywhere in our great country anymore. That this ruling could come from the heartland of the United States of America shows that marriage equality for all will become a reality soon. Altho our Nation is still quite a ways from allowing same-sex marriage to all citizens of the US, this ruling in Iowa is a HUGE leap forward in achieving equality for all. By handing down a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Iowa is sending a clear message that banning same-sex marriage is wrong and cannot be tolerated anywhere in our great Nation. I am just … thrilled beyond words. Click HERE to read a summary of the Iowan Supreme Court ruling or click HERE to read the opinion in full. Woot!!! Well done Iowa, you’ve done your Country a great service today!

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Things got a little steamy for The Simpsons matriarch Marge Simpson on last night’s episode of the series when she was seen enjoying a very passionate same-sex kiss with one of her female friends (the recurring character named Lindsay Neagle or “The Generic Female TV Executive”). It turns out that the Sapphic smooch was nothing more than the work of husband Homer Simpson‘s over-active (and extremely hilarious) imagination:

MARGE Simpson cast off her conservative image when she KISSED a hot pal in last night’s Simpsons. The blue-bouffanted matriach, voiced by Julie Kavner, plants a smacker on her attractive pal in the living room of her family home in Springfield while husband Homer looks on. But all is not what it seems – it transpires that the smooch is a figment of beer-swigging hubby Homer’s imagination. The lardy mid-lifer had been panicking about the disasters that could befall his family after his insurance expires but soon started day-dreaming about his wife locking lips with another woman. The episode – How The Test Was Won – aired in America last night … The show has been broaching lesbianism more over the last few years and revealed in 2005 that Marge’s disapproving older sister Patty was a closet lesbian, who consequently gets engaged to a female golf player Veronica.

Yay! I love that Marge is finally gettin’ in on the same-sex lovin’ … even if it is only in Homer’s imagination. After the jump, check out a pic of the animated ladies lip-locked in their passionate embrace …