It may be a silly tradition, but it’s mine, darn it! Every year, I tape the holiday cards that I get to the fireplace and then take a photo. I was bad this year – money was kind of tight, so I skipped sending cards out this time. Hopefully, next year things will be better.
It really makes me feel warm and fuzzy to have so many good people in my life. I have a lot to be grateful for.
My dog Heracles decided to pull a Crasher Squirrel and got in the photo.
Who says that I am not an irrepressible madcap? The next big geek project that I wanted to get done over vacation was a secure contest tracking web site for Erie Gay News. We have been averaging about a contest or 2 every week, and I wanted to have a way for the contest sponsors to be able to login and see some elementary statistics for the contests that we run for them (contest article page views, total number of entrants, summary totals for state and zip code, etc.) I also wanted to be sure to preserve privacy for entrants, and so I figured that out as well. (Duh, just figure out what recordsets to show.)
The contest administration has grown and changed a lot over the years. I used to just manually create a form on a page, and copy/paste the resulting emails into a database. It is much more automated now, so I can set stuff up fairly quickly and painlessly, and notification is pretty much a breeze.
It makes me feel good that we can help artists and others spread the word about their work, and reward people who visit the Erie Gay News site with an occasional freebie now and then. This also helps us to make connections with more people, which helps us mobilize the community when we need to.
Hopefully, I will be able to get the next project done as well.
10 years go:: I ended up spending a quiet night at home for New Year’s Eve. It might very well be close to the same this year, although I might also go out. Actually, 10 years ago wasn’t so bad in comparison to the 2 succeeding New Years.
9 years ago, on New Year’s Eve, December 2000, my partner at the time and I went out to the old Zone. I think that we wore M&M boxer shorts. Well, our initials were both MM and it was the year 2000 or MM in Roman numerals, so why the heck not. My leather jacket was stolen from the bar (not fun since it was very cold) and there was some post bar stuff that became a landslides of mishaps. It was annoying at the time, but it made for a good story later.
8 years ago, we went to a neighbors’ post bar party. I am fine with walking, but the partner (soon to be an ex within slightly less than a year) insisted on driving the 2-4 blocks. We found a parking space directly across the street. Unfortunately, some drunken ditz at the after bar party backed out to the driveway and smacked into my car. It left a dent and the car ended up dying anyway later that year, right around the time of the break up.
7 years ago was just after the break up. However, I had already grieved before he moved out and was actually over it by then. (A sure sign that it needed to be over.) Even though I was single, I was just thankful that year that there was no property casualty for New Year’s Eve. I didn’t want to think what would come after a leather jacket, then a car.
So, here’s to a bright and happy New Year for all of us!
I had resolved that I would try to get a few things done whilst I am off on vacation. Yesterday, I did a fair amount of cleaning (the refrigerator – which badly needed it), and I even vacuumed the corners of the rooms, which I couldn’t help but think of as “domestic detailing”, like auto detailing.)
I wasn’t sure how much of a difference that putting the plastic film over the windows helps, but went ahead. My inner sarcastic voice said “Oh yeah. Put up something like Saran Wrap, and you’ll be toasty warm. Whatever.”
Every year, work gives us a gift certificate for a local butcher shop, so I generally stock up and try to freeze in single serving sizes. I got that out of the way, and then used the vacuum food sealer, so I ended up with oodles of bags of stuff. Apparently the domestic theme is “shrink wrapping for the holidays!”
One of the projects that I wanted to work on for the Erie Gay News web site for the calendar page was adding a field for events to tie in the venue resource, as opposed to the resource for contact. In the sort of home grown content management system that I wrote for the newsletter, I had previously added a selection when adding a new event to pick a resource and then fill in the location and contact info. I also had it link back to the resource entry from the calendar page and the calendar RSS feed.
The problem occurs when when a resource has an event at another resource. I typically had chosen the venue resource and then rekeyed other stuff, but that was a small amount of work.
As an example, the LBT Women meet at Presque Isle Gallery Coffeehouse every month. I previously had keyed these in. So, when I added the field for venue resource, I was then able to link to the venue’s phone and web site, as well as for the group. Less keying for me! I thought that might also be useful in that someone might want to call before the event for info, but might also need to know the venue phone if they got lost or there was another crisis.
I also added a field for meeting text, since some of the groups that meet regularly tend to have fairly standard text for their meetings, or at least have something. Copy and paste may be our friend, but having something fill in automatically is better yet.
Yeah, I am a big geeky nerd, but getting this accomplished made me feel pretty good. And since I upgraded the code for the calendar RSS feed, that means that the extra info for venue stuff now appears not only on our site, but the 10 or so sites that carry our calendar RSS feed. (I also fixed the annoying display format for when an event spans more than 1 day.)
Earlier this evening, I was in the chat room at gay.com after I had finished the rest of keying the 2009 GLBT history events and posting them as articles.
A guy IM’ed me and asked if I was interested in getting together. I didn't feel particularly interested, and I said that I was catching up on some geek tasks. he then asked about the future, and I mentioned that I was usually pretty busy with GLBT stuff, Pagan stuff and Democratic Party stuff. (I.e. my schedule is usually fairly busy.) He said that he usually didn’t go out in Erie, but rather in Pittsburgh.
He then mentioned that he was also into politics. I said something about that was nice, and he said that I might not think so. I asked if that meant that he was a Republican, and he said that he was a Constitutionalist, whom I believe are usually even more right wing than the Republicans. He then went on to say that he had voted for Reagan. (Mentally, I am trying to not instantly classify him as a self-loathing closet case, but it was tough.) Yes, I know that there are gay conservatives, but it is not something I get, and it is pretty much a deal-breaker for me.
Can I just say that from my personal perspective that the phrase “I voted for Reagan” ranks right up there with “Hey! Let’s check out my scorching herpes outbreak and then we can go look at the corpses buried in my basement!” as a pick up line?
I was responding with some fairly non-committal variations on “okey-dokey” to all of this.
Then he asks about getting together again. I say that I am about to go out and wish him a nice evening. I resisted the urge to response to the inquiry about getting together with “Only if you are incredibly hot, and the only thing I hear from you are variations on ‘Oh yeah! Pound me harder!!!.” And even then, probably not. I have standards, I am not saying that they aren’t low, but there are, indeed, standards.
I felt the need to cleanse myself, so I went out to the Zone. It was a nice night. I chatted with some friends. I saw my friend John (who is rather hot, and also charming) and John pointed out that there seemed to be a preponderance of black and white flannel shirts being worn that night. I hadn’t noticed it before, but I couldn’t help but notice it the rest of the evening.
So, some more geek stuff to work on during vacation. I think that I need to turn in now.
Although I don’t observe Christmas a a religious holiday, I very much enjoy spending it with family.
I spent a fair amount of the day before heading over to Mom’s keying 2009 entries into the Erie Gay News section for local history. Yeah, I am kind of wild and crazy guy, I guess. ;)
My brother’s friend Karen needed a ride, so since she was en route, I picked her up. My brother Steve had to work until 6 PM, and he had a car rented, so that was okay.
Mom made Rock Cornish game hens for dinner. They were yummy! Mom noted at one point that they were still rather pale (“blonde” is the word that she used.) Then Karen and I noted that the rest of the food was also light colored, so we joked about a very Merry Aryan Christmas. (My family has kind of a macabre sense of humor.)
We told Karen the Orange Julius story. About 1990, I was over at Mom’s for Christmas. My brother was in the Army at that point, so he wasn’t there. Mom had found a recipe for something like orange Julius and wanted to make it. It ended up burning out the motor on the blender and was not exactly a crowning culinary success. At the time, I didn’t have the heart to tell Mom that I wasn’t particularly a fan of Orange Julius anyway. Years after, we all kind of laugh about it.
I helped Mom and Karen later with how to post photos to Flickr for linking to a sewing site called Ravelry that they are on. Hopefully, I wasn’t too complicated. I think that they got it.
It was a really nice evening, and I very much enjoy that it was low key. I am not very big on the need to have some ornate celebration of the holidays. I tend to think that the urge to buy stuff and plan elaborate stuff tends to get in the way. Fortunately, my family is pretty much all of the same mind.
I went out to the Zone later and talked with a couple that are good friends. The wife mentioned that they had visited her mother, and on the way back, they had stopped at an adult book store that was right on the way because “nothing says Christmas like a shiny new butt plug!” I guffawed.
All in all, I think that I had a great holiday!
As of Thursday afternoon, I am off through the end of the year. Folding for Erie Gay News went rather well on Wednesday, and I figured that I would drop off the Jamestown copies, since I had time and I might save a bit on postage. So, GPS in hand (or rather, on the windshield), I set out.
There were 5 places to drop off at, and the first 4 were closed. Okay, not a big surprise on Christmas eve. I ended up at Club Sneakers. Not only were they open, but they were having a Christmas party. (Have I ever turned down a free meal in my life? I don’t think so.) Everyone was very friendly and pleasant. I had a few chats with various folks. It was nice hearing that some of them were regular readers.
All in all, I am glad that I went.
We have an intern now who is working on some projects The main programmer dealing with her made some kind of reference to Y2K, and the interned looked at him blankly. When he asked what she had studied in school, she said something like “well, not history.” (Possibly, she was just trying to get his goat.)
The rest of us groaned and felt really, really old. I remember doing all sort of reprogramming. How odd to think that something that was such a big concern 10 years ago is not even in the consciousness of younger folks.
I usually try to be reciprocal about holiday greetings. If someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, I usually respond by wishing them either Happy Holidays or a Happy Solstice/Yule. I am certainly not offended at all when someone greets me with symbolism or names particular to their religion, as I just try to take it in the spirit that it’s intended.
I ended up skipping doing holiday cards this year, as money is tight and I was rather busy. I have gotten a few cards, and one of them was from a very nice atheist/Freethinker/Bright (who is also hot to death!), who wished me a Happy Solstice.
So, what does one say to be reciprocal? The next time I see him, I guess that I should just say thanks and hope that he had a nice holiday season.
However, I did get notice from another friend that there was a local group forming for Freethinkers/non-believers, so I forwarded it to Mr. Solstice Card to let him know and be supportive. The group is having a Human Light celebration.
I am quite comfortable as a Pagan, but it is very important to me to try and respect the religious orientation of people that I know and care about.
Jim, one of the other programmers just asked me a “point of geek”: when James Kirk beat the Kobiyashi Maru test, did he beat the test or cheat? I opined that since the test was designed to measure how someone reacted to an insoluble problem and since Kirk won by changing the rules, it really counts as cheating. (Since in a real world example, there would be no simulator to reprogram.) A spirited debate followed.
I later realized that the test probably would not have existed for very long before it would be too likely to be known to be useful. With enough people taking the test, it would be likely that the nature of the test would have gotten out, and therefore, it wouldn’t have been a useful measure of how someone faces a situation that is unwinnable, since knowing that one can’t win would doubtless change how someone reacted.
One of the other programmers asked if we were talking about Jean-Luc Picard. Jim did the geek equivalent of the gay gasp. (Would that be clutching the abacus, rather than clutching the pearls?) I teased further that maybe if Kirk had just used the Force and his light saber, he might have been legitimately able to win.
Yeah, that was quite a geek fest. ;)
Sigh. So, I emailed the Erie GLBT News and Events list, and also the Erie Gay News group on Facebook on Monday about the possible change in date for folding, and then confirmed the date change on Tuesday. This is in addition to tweeting it and blogging it. I fretted that I was overwhelming folks with info, but I figured that I would play it safe.
Except that I didn’t, apparently. I just got an email from a very nice guy who has occasionally volunteered and that he had shown up last night and saw an empty house. I am hoping that he can come back tonight. (Fretting about possibly fewer volunteers, and we really need to get the newsletter out and delivered quickly.)
Just hoping that all goes well. I can be so neurotic.
Sigh. Well, so much for getting ahead. It looks like the shipment of Erie Gay News won’t get here until tomorrow, so I just moved folding to Wednesday. I am hoping that we don’t lose a lot of volunteers because of the change and that we can get them out quickly.
On the plus side, I think I am caught up with all of the article data entry stuff.
Sigh. I was sort of stressing on Friday that the new printer (which is in NYC) didn’t show shipping info as of yet for the January 2010 issue of Erie Gay News. However, the check cleared Saturday morning, so I figured that everything was okay. We really worked hard to get it in early, because we wanted to fold on Tuesday, to avoid being to close to Christmas. I was not sure whether it was the case that the order tracking site hadn’t been updated, or it hadn’t shipped yet.
So, I just checked, and it appears that it didn’t arrive at UPS until tonight! I am unsure when the delivery time is, so I am unsure as to whether we need to reschedule or not And if we do need to reschedule, will it make it here by Wednesday, or does it arrive Christmas Eve? (As visions of sitting and folding and frantically delivering.)
Not a happy little camper at all. My original plan was to fold tomorrow, and maybe take copies to Jamestown on Wednesday night. I had the order shipped to work. I am due to be off work Thursday afternoon through the end of the year. (And I am neurotically worrying that if it doesn’t make it here by Thursday, then it will end up being next week before I can get it, which means that it would be almost a week late. (It also means that I have to go back into work to pick it up.)
As if we needed confirmation. The coordinator for G2H2 (Gay Guy/Girl Happy Hour) just sent in the listing for the January 8, so I figured I would post it. I was doing my normal routine of line up various calendar web sites and copy and paste like mad.
When I got to the community calendar page for WICU TV 12, the local NBC affiliate, I noticed that a lot of them were ones that I had sent in. I tallied it up: Out of the 15 events in the listing, 10 were ones that I am fairly sure that I had sent in. (What with sending in stuff for both GLBT, Pagan and Erie County Democratic Party, I probably end up giving them a fair amount of material.)
Oh yeah, in terms of Pagan stuff, my patron deity is Hermes. Just as Catholics might focus on a saint that they feel particularly resonates for them, Pagans will sometimes choose a patron deity. I think I chose what is most correct for me.
I stopped over last night to visit my stepfather in the hospital. He was sleeping. I went downstairs to call my Mom to see what the story was. Apparently, they took care of some stuff and he is on the mend. That was good news.
However, it turns out that my brother had an accident earlier that day and totaled his car. He was unharmed. My brother + white car + winter = this can only end in tears.
Mom and my brother held off on mentioning the car woes to my stepfather, so as not to stress him out.
Mom dropped off my brother and his friend Karen at a nearby church because Karen was in the sing along version of Handel’s Messiah. Apparently, Mom also had a small car accident after my brother. The guy that she hit had Pagan in his name. (“See??”, I said, “You Christians ARE out to get us.”) It sounds like there was no major harm done.
I explained to Mom that I would have to cut the call short to go and wrap my car in a few layers of bubble wrap. (Or I might have said something like “Keep your bad luck to yourselves, you jinxes!” Whatever.) I was scheduled to drop off my car to be inspected this morning.
Since the church was only a few blocks away, I walked over to hear the rest of the performance and offer my brother and Karen a ride home. The performance was very nice. Karen was wearing heels and was nervous about falling on the icy sidewalk, so my brother and I each proffered an arm and walked her back. It was quite a few blocks since I had parked a few blocks away on the other side of town before going to the hospital. We got back okay.
Deb and I are working on putting the newsletter to bed for tonight in a rather abbreviated layout period. I am juggling a few things, but it is really her putting in the hard work at this point. We had some weirdness with the printer, so it was hard to get a proof copy. I will probably need to poke around a bit.
I stopped by our graphics designer to grab the USB flash drive with a revised ad en route to dropping off. (Because I was going to be without a car, and I figured that I could always email the proof from work.) When I went to drive away, the driver’s door was not staying closed. “Crap!” I thought.
However, a few blocks later, I was able to get it to close and it seemed fine. I did ask the garage to check the door out.
Most cool! There are still some steps to go through, and hoping that Congress doesn’t interfere, but this is pretty happy news!
D.C. City Council votes in favor of marriage equality
From Family Equality Council: Today the District of Columbia (D.C.) City Council voted 11 to 2 in favor of marriage equality. Mayor Adrian Fenty has pledged to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. It is past time that our nation’s capital shows full support to the nearly 4,000 LGBT couples. Through its inclusive domestic partnership law, D.C. has been a longtime leader in recognizing that ALL families deserve the security and protection afforded by the benefits of marriage. Recently, the District began recognizing marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions. Today’s action brings the District one critical step forward toward recognizing marriages of same-sex couples performed in D.C.
My mom just called. My stepfather was feeling under the weather yesterday, and he suggested that they might want to go to the hospital. Mom was very calm, but she kind of suspected what it might be. So, it turns out that it was a heart attack. He is doing okay, but they are running some more tests. I am going to stop down after work.
He was wondering this morning if having a lot of spicy brown mustard on his hamburger last night triggered it. Mom said that she didn’t think that was the cause. He is a pretty healthy guy, so I think that he will be alright.
A co-workerwas having problems with restoring some Exchange public folders. He eventually had to give up and emailed the office that there were new, empty folders and that he was sorry for the incontinence. (He was also handling a phone call at the time, and the spell check had corrected the word to “incontinence” rather then “inconvenience”.) I guffawed loudly and headed back. Another programmer was already back there giggling. The original sender was sort of sheepish.
Ensuing emails were about collecting for the “Depends for ____” fund. I pointed out that we would have to find the I Pee address first.
Sigh. I was out walking the dogs late tonight and when I rounded the halfway point in Frontier Park, the dogs got a little agitated. It was a skunk! I have a crappy sense of smell, and I was working on bustling them out of there as quickly as possible. When I got home, Hecate didn’t smell like she was affected, but Heracles seemed to have gotten a good dose. So, down to the downstairs bathroom with vinegar and baking soda. Hopefully, I got it all out.
I have been working on catching up on calendar data entry stuff this weekend. At end end of the year, I try to key in all of the regularly recurring events into the Erie Gay News calendar for the following year. I have been sending an email each month with reminders, but also keying in events in to other online calendars. So, I decided to bite the bullet and just line up a few tabs in browsers and get it all out of the way. It was sort of grueling, but I think that I only have 1 more group to key in. Then I should probably start in some some Pagan stuff to get those out of the way as well.
I went to Presque Isle Gallery Coffeehouse and Gallery for the Peace Jam, and the LBT Women were meeting as well. I was impressed with how well organized they are and what a fun bunch. I really admire how they have worked to build an incredible social network of friends.
So, finally finishing making dinner now (Virgin White Chili) and hoping to get the last of the chores done.
Oy. I am fairly much recovered, but the past few days have been rather booked. This past Thursday, I went to a World AIDS Day presentation at Community United Church that was put on by Community Health Net. My friends Jo and Mary put on a very good presentation. At one point, they were passing around photos or drawings of famous folks who are living with HIV or who had died of AIDS. I recognized most of them, but I wasn’t aware that Isaac Aasimov had died of AIDS.
Friday night, I went to the G2H2 social, which was okay, I talked with some friends. Afterwards, I went out to the Zone and flirted with a cute guy.
Saturday was a fundraiser event for Kathy Dahlkemper at a beautiful home of friends and then a holiday party later by a gay couple that live in the neighborhood.
On Sunday, Deb and I went to the holiday party by some folks affiliated with the Lake Erie Alliance for Democracy.
So, I am hoping for a quieter week. I have a board meeting for a Pagan group tomorrow, but I plan on taking things easy for a bit. (Of course, how well that works out is anyone’s guess.)
A very encouraging first step. Not sure where this will go, but hoping that equality carries the day!
N.J. Committee Passes Marriage Bill
Richard Perry/The New York Times
The crowd reacts as the vote was taken on a bill to legalize gay marriage. The bill passed, 7-6.
TRENTON — The battle over same-sex marriage in New Jersey headed toward a legislative showdown Monday night, when a bill that would allow such unions narrowly cleared a key legislative committee and was set for a vote by the full State Senate.
The 7-to-6 vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee — which came after years of efforts by gay rights advocates and a day of emotionally charged testimony by dozens of supporters and opponents of the bill — was the first time any legislative body in the state had ever approved a gay marriage bill. The approval brought cheers from hundreds of supporters who crammed the State House committee room.
But the measure faces an uphill fight when it is put up for a vote on Thursday before the full Senate, where even supporters concede that they do not yet have the 21 votes needed to pass it. If it does pass, it goes to the Assembly, where passage is considered more likely.
Speaking to jubilant supporters after the vote, Steven Goldstein, executive director of Garden State Equality, acknowledged that gay rights advocates had a lot of work to do in the next 72 hours, but said that momentum and history were on their side.
“The marriage-equality movement in America starts again right here,” Mr. Goldstein said, as the crowd erupted with, “Right here.”
Rest of the article is here.
So, Alex P Keaton’s mom is family! Nifty! I must admit to not catching this one. I also wasn’t aware that Meredith Birney was the niece of Ann Baxter. I am amused by the connection to All About Eve. I guess it has such a strong gay vibe that even relatives of cast members are affected. ;) Interesting also that she played a lesbian mom back in the 1980’s.
Very glad to see that she is being open and honest about her real life!
'Family Ties' star to reveal she's a lesbian: source
December 1, 2009
BY BILL ZWECKER Sun-Times Columnist
It's just a coincidence Meredith Baxter recently appeared in the Hallmark Channel's ''Bound By a Secret,'' but ironically the actress reveals a very personal secret on ''Today'' Wednesday morning.
Baxter, perhaps best known for her seven years playing TV mom Elyse Keaton on ''Family Ties'' in the 1980s, will be the latest star to come out of the closet, revealing she is a lesbian.
Meredith Baxter took a Caribbean cruise catered to lesbians, according to the National Enquirer.
(Getty Images)While Baxter's spokesman, Howard Bragman, declined to comment on the story Tuesday, a solid source confirmed the actress will talk about her decision to go public on the NBC morning show.
Married three times and the mother of five children, Baxter is the focus of a current National Enquirer story revealing that the former Emmy nominee had been on a ''Sweet Caribbean Cruise'' specifically targeted to lesbians -- a cruise also taken by openly gay actress Kelly McGillis. According to the Enquirer report, Baxter was ''traveling with a female friend, and seemed very relaxed and comfortable.''
In another intriguing twist, the official Web site of the Meredith Baxter Fan Club states the actress is ''noted for her accessible portrayals of intelligent, independent women who struggle with the challenges before them.''
• Following in the footsteps of her aunt, ''All About Eve'' star Anne Baxter, Meredith first found fame in the 1970s, co-starring on TV's "Bridget Loves Bernie" with David Birney, who would later become her second husband. She went on to receive two Emmy nominations for playing Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the esteemed TV drama ''Family.''
After her long '80s run with ''Family Ties,'' Baxter directed and starred in a long list of TV movies, including the CBS after-school special ''Other Mothers,'' in which she played a lesbian mother raising a young son -- a performance that garnered a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1993.
• The appearance on ''Today'' is something of a mini-reunion for Baxter, who temporarily co-hosted with Matt Lauer in 2006.
• Baxter's five-year marriage to Robert Lewis Bush ended in 1971, a union that produced two children. The actress and Birney are the parents of three children. After 15 years of marriage, the couple divorced in 1989
'Family Ties' star to reveal she's a lesbian: source :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bill Zwecker
I just got a phishing email claiming to be from the CDC that directs the user to a site to register for the H1N1 vaccination. The site is a spoof and it prompts you to download an executable, which is almost certainly some form of malware. I find it ironic that the scam artists are using fears of a biological virus to expose folks to a cyber one. (Now I am expecting to hear a sneeze escape the CD/DVD drive.)
Hopefully, folks realize that government agencies don’t send unsolicited emails about something vital. And any email that tells you a general interest news story and to forward it to everyone in your address book is invariably a hoax. (About 20 years online for me; I have NEVER seen a contradiction to this rule yet.)
You have received this e-mail because of the launching of State Vaccination H1N1 Program.
You need to create your personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov website. The Vaccination is not obligatory, but every person that has reached the age of 18 has to have his personal Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov site. This profile has to be created both for the vaccinated people and the not-vaccinated ones. This profile is used for the registering system of vaccinated and not-vaccinated people.
Create your Personal H1N1 Vaccination Profile using the link:
I haven’t had a chance to play much yet with Google Wave yet, but I do have several invitations to give away. Contact me if you are interested. I am also curious to hear how others are using this.
Very cool news indeed! We can use some hopeful news right now. Let’s hope that this goes through. It really means a lot that civil marriage is equally provided to all couples. Kudos to everyone who helped make this happen.
Washington, D.C. Council Votes in Support of the Freedom to Marry
Look to New York and New Jersey to Continue the Momentum Toward Fairness
New York, December 1, 2009 — Statement by Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry, following the District of Columbia City Council’s 11-2 vote in support of the freedom to marry, the first of two required votes:
“Today, the District of Columbia’s City Council listened to their constituents and overwhelmingly voted in support of protecting families throughout the District, the first of two votes needed by the council to end the exclusion of gay couples from marriage. A majority of voters, and families, from across New York and New Jersey now look to their representatives in the state legislature to do the right thing and vote in support of the freedom to marry. As research has shown, by voting for the freedom to marry for gay couples, legislators in these states will continue to be re-elected just as every other state legislator who has voted in support of marriage equality and ran for re-election.”
View the report: Pro-Marriage Legislators Win Elections
We reserve the right to edit/delete comments that are offensive, mean-spirited or inappropriate.
Washington, D.C. Council Votes in Support of the Freedom to Marry
