Easy Way to Contribute to Marriage Equality New York

A donor has agreed to give $1 for every New Yorker that subscribes to the MENY newsletter between NOW and December 31st (up to a maximum of $5,000). This is a great way of raising necessary funds for Marriage Equality while also building our grassroots efforts in New York State.
So, what can you do?

1) Check over your subscription by following the link at the bottom of this email.
2) Send this link (and fundraising explanation) to all your friends, family and neighbors and ask them to subscribe using the link below.

Act Now, today is the last day of this offer.

http://www.marriageequalityny.org/subscribe.html

The Battle For Same-Sex Marriage Comes To Maine

Could Maine be the next battle for same-sex marriage? Check out this post from Box Turtle Bulletin:

It looks like Maine may emerge as the next battleground for same-sex marriage. Equality Maine had 250 volunteers at 86 polling places on election day asking voters to sign postcards supporting same-sex marriage to send to state legislators. Equality Maine’s goal was “only” 10,000 signatures; they collected 33,190. Meanwhile, the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry has been holding press conferences around the state to build support for same-sex marriage.   (Read More …)

People of Faith, Standing on the Side of Love

A video produced by the Unitarian Universalist Church following the Proposition 8 decision in California.
We are members of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany.

Birth Certificates to Reflect NY Gay-Marriage Move

From an Associated Press article in The New York Times:

State officials will now let married same-sex couples list both their names on their children’s birth certificates in a policy shift deeply important to many gays and lesbians.

The decision, which echoes similar provisions in states that allow gay marriages or civil unions, is one of many changes since Gov. David Paterson ordered state agencies in May to respect out-of-state gay marriages.

The state Health Department said Friday it had agreed to the change, which came after a lesbian couple who are expecting a baby filed a lawsuit. The change would apply statewide except in New York City, which is considering revamping its own birth certificate forms to accommodate same-sex couples.

(Read the rest of this article)

Friday Family Roundup (10/24)

A roundup of posts from family blogs I read this week.

Check out, This is the America I hope for, a post by Daddy, Papa and Me of a speech given by Barack Obama earlier this week on YouTube video.  The title expresses my own thoughts exactly, and I don’t hope for my own sake. My hopes are for my five year old son and for the world that he will grow up in. Which world will that be?

In a short post titled, Doing God’s Work, GDad at Cranial Hyperossification discusses the large sum of money the Mormon Church is spending to support marriage inequality in California.  He links to two charities that could be funded for a year with that money.

See the post, The Changing Definition of Marriage in California at Guy Dads.  They give some interesting history of the definitions and laws pertaining to marriage in California that have changed over time.

The Family Equality Council Blog lists, 10 Things You Can Do to Stop the Props, about Florida’s Prop 2, California’s Prop 8, Arizona’s Prop 102 and what you can do with less than two weeks until the election.

Finally, Mombian writes, Join Us October 29 for Write to Marry Day, asking us to:

Please join bloggers around the country and around the world on Wednesday, October 29 to blog in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples and against California’s Proposition 8.

We plan to participate.

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned In Connecticut

Today the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage for same-sex couples.  The court ruling reverses a lower court ruling saying civil unions had the same rights and benefits as marriage. An article in The New York Times reports:

In his majority opinion, Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote that the court found that the “segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm,” in light of “the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody.”

The court also found that “the state had failed to provide sufficient justification for excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage.”

This is great news, but there is still much work to be done.  This November three states, California, Florida and Arizona will vote on same-sex marriage bans and Arkansas is voting on banning unmarried couples from fostering or adopting children.  If you would like to help fight against these ballot measures, please check out the Family Equality Council who posted the following ways that you can contribute.

To contribute to defeating the marriage ban in California, click here.

To contribute to defeating the marriage ban in Florida, click here.

To contribute to defeating the marriage ban in Arizona, click here.

To contribute to defeating the foster/adoption ban in Arkansas, click here.

Albany Wedding March

I previously posted here, about the Wedding March in Albany organized by Marriage Equality New York. I completely forgot to take pictures. It was pretty well attended, for Albany anyway, and we met several friends there. They tried to make a rainbow with rows of people holding different colored umbrellas. The march itself was a short walk, more symbolic than many marches. The press was there but much of the city would never have known it was taking place. Take a look at pictures taken by MENY.

After the march we had a picnic lunch on the Hudson River with friends. It was an enjoyable way to spend a couple hours on a Sunday.

MENY: 5th Annual Wedding March

This Sunday is the 5th Annual Wedding March sponsored by Marriage Equality New York. The march is being held in two locations, NYC and Albany at 11:00am. This will be the first time the march will be held in Albany and will begin at the Hudson River Way Pedestrian Bridge.

Marriage Equality New York is leading the way in education and advocacy for same-sex marriage rights in New York State. They have a list of 1,324 reason for marriage equality in New York here.

Our family will be there on Sunday, and hopefully get a good picture to post later.