“Repeal the repeal”:

Today, advocates for allowing same-sex couples to legally marry in Maine announced plans for a Citizens Initiative to enact a marriage equality law, delivering more than 105,000 signatures from Maine voters who want the issue on the November 2012 ballot to the Secretary of State’s office. The announcement follows two years of outreach and conversations with Mainers about the freedom to marry, statewide polling showing steadily increasing support for allowing same-sex couples to marry – which now stands at 54 percent – and intensive field organizing in preparation for the campaign. “The number of signatures we gathered and the thoughtful conversations we’ve been having with voters tell us that Mainers are eager to speak on this question again,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine. “Our polling shows a 54% majority of support for same-sex marriage in Maine. Many Mainers have changed their minds and want a chance to bring equality and fairness to our state.”

Stupid that they have to do this, as civil rights really shouldn’t be subject to a show of hands in the first place, ever, but they must be pretty confident this time around.

Responding to the fact that corporations in Washington state, large and small, are lining up to support the law legalizing marriage equality in that state [because it's good for business], Porno Pete:

Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) says, “What we’re witnessing is the continued descent of the American corporation into this pro-’gay’ world of celebrating anything that the homosexual activists want.”

“There was a time when homosexual so-called ‘marriage’ was beyond the pale, even for liberal corporate types,” LaBarbera recalls. “But now we see Microsoft, Starbucks, and other major corporations backing this perverse redefinition of marriage. It’s very sad.”

[...]

“They ignore that the majority of states oppose same-sex marriage — not only oppose it, but they put it in their constitutions to keep marriage by its traditional definition,” the AFTAH president notes. “So if they’re really about keeping up with the majority of states, you’d think they’d side with the traditional marriage side.”

He sounds so dejected. I guess that whole alliance between big business and social conservatives is being exposed as the sham it always was, and the fact that the social conservatives have always been the “useful idiots” in the equation is clearer than ever.

Of course, the “majority of states” that enshrined discrimination into their constitutions did so long before gay activists were really in the fight. Re-fight all of those battles again [and they will be refought] and the results would be quite different.

When Joe posted this from Porno Pete, he added a line to the end of the quote that said, simply, “Wait, is that my gerbil ringing?” I think that’s a marvelous new practice, considering Pete’s friendship with Patrick Wooden, who just might be as weird as he is.

I would suggest that wingnuts boycott Google, but judging by their self-imposed disengagement from reality, I think they already have been for years:

Starbucks, Google and Alcoa are the latest large corporations to endorse legalizing gay marriage in Washington, according to the group Washington United for Marriage, which backs the legislation.

Microsoft, Nike and Group Health Plan have already endorsed the legislation, which picked up the 25th and final vote needed in the state Senate for pass the law.

There’s a whole list of other companies in Washington who are supporting the legislation at the above link. It’s worth a gander if you live up that way and have a need for any of their services.

[h/t Joe]

When I was a little kid, we alternately subscribed to the Arkansas Gazette and the Arkansas Democrat. Back in those days, there was an actual rivalry going on between Little Rock’s two major newspapers, and they were constantly tossing subscribers back and forth, depending on who was doing a better job at that point in time. Then, of course, the papers merged and became the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Regardless, I loved it when the paper came, especially on Sundays. I loved the funny papers, of course, like any kid, but I also had this weird obsession with architecture and real estate, and the papers really delivered when it came to that kind of reporting.

My point is that I have history with this paper. So it’s sad to report that, when given the opportunity to break a little bit of ground and publish the commitment ceremony announcement of a gay couple, they chose failure:

Cody Renegar, 35, of Elkins, Ark. asked the Arkansas Democrat Gazette to publish an engagement announcement for his June wedding commitment ceremony, something Renegar said happens for other couples who would like to announce their impending nuptials.

“I called the newspaper and asked how I can submit our announcement for publication,” Renegar told Yahoo! News. “I was told that they won’t publish them until it’s legal.”

Renegar said the newspaper declined to run the announcement because of long-standing policy.

Lame. It’s worth noting that this seems to specifically involve the Democrat Gazette’s Northwest Arkansas affiliate, the Northwest Arkansas Times. However, it’s all the same company, and it seems all branches have the same policy. Also:

According to newspaper representatives, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette charges a minimal fee and has content length requirements, but does run announcements on a regular basis for heterosexual couples, including mixed race couples.

Oh, that is big of you, Democrat Gazette, considering the fact that Loving was handed down in nineteen-sixty-freaking-seven.

There is a petition at Change.org, asking the paper to, instead of being dragged into history as it happens, be a pioneer and refuse to discriminate against any of their readers, regardless of what state law says. Sign it.

[h/t Towleroad]

Via Joe:

NPH would like his longtime partner/boyfriend/what-have-you to be called his “husband,” please:

“I`m not the biggest fan of the word `partner`. It either means that we run a business together or we`re cowboys. `Boyfriend` seems fleeting, like maybe we met two weeks ago,” said Harris.

“I`ve been saying `better half` for as long as I`ve been able to. I think it`s a little self-deprecating and clearly defines that we`re in a relationship, but it would be nice to say `my husband,” he added.

I completely agree. Part of the discrimination involved in denying gays and lesbians equal marriage rights has nothing to do with hospital visitation or estate planning. Sometimes it’s really simple little things like “how do I introduce my spouse to my coworkers?”

Personally, I’m a fan of using the word “husband” whether or not the government approves. It would be nice, though, when that time comes, to be using the word in the exact same sense as my straight friends are using it, with everything that it entails.

Take that, gay Republicans:

[h/t Think Progress]

The Religious Right may cynically use the term, but they certainly don’t own it. Here, a Republican straight guy in New Hampshire, standing up for his gay brother and talking about why he supports marriage equality:

I have a brother kinda like that. #awwwwwwww

[h/t Joe]

UPDATE: Craig Stowell, the straight brother in the video, has a petition up at Change.org, asking New Hampshire legislators not to repeal marriage equality. Go sign it.

State by state, politician by politician, voter by voter…

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire announced her support for gay marriage legislation on Wednesday, potentially putting the state on track to become the nation’s seventh to fully recognize same-sex unions.

Gregoire, a Democrat in the final year of her second term, is backing legislation to be introduced before the Washington state legislature, which reconvenes next week.

“It is time in Washington state for marriage equality,” Gregoire told a news conference in the state capital of Olympia. “It is time, it’s the right thing to do.”

The article points out, though, that passage isn’t assured, as some Democrats have sided with wingnuts. And of course, the hate groups will be traveling to Washington:

Brian Brown, president of the 800,000-member, Washington, D.C.-based National Organization for Marriage, told Reuters his non-profit group would lobby against marriage equality in Washington state.

“The people of this country believe that marriage is a union of a man and a woman,” Brown said in a telephone interview. “I expect the legislature in Washington state will stand up for this commitment and vote to protect marriage.”

“The people of this country” are not represented by you, Brian, and the sooner you realize that, the healthier you’ll be.

It’s becoming a typical story: Republican wingnut politician is politically anti-gay because it’s necessary for the rube vote, while his wife either secretly or publicly supports marriage equality. It actually leads me to suspect that many of the wingnut men actually do not care about the issue, but are craven enough to pretend that they abhor gays to satisfy the worst parts of their bases.

Here’s Diana Fine Cantor, wife of House Majority Leader and known wingnut Eric Cantor, stating her support for marriage equality. I find this significant for one reason, though: it’s been a long time since the anti-gay hate from John McCain or George W. Bush, both of whose wives support marriage equality, seemed sincere. Not so with Eric Cantor, who has been one of the most vocally and actively anti-gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

My goodness, she’s also pro-choice.

[h/t Towleroad]