Same-Sex Marriage

Jeremy Irons: "Could a Father Not Marry His Son?"

Oscar winner Jeremy Irons might have a reversal of fortune after his remarks on gay marriage, which are accepting yet questioning yet ironic yet Irons-ic. Irons said he doesn't have a strong feeling about gay marriage either way. But then he added that it's fantastic because "living with another an ... More >>

Rightbloggers Take Cover as Gay Marriage Reigns Supreme

Last week the Supreme Court heard a couple of gay marriage cases and, with so many politicians and even some conservatives running to grab the rainbow flag, it seemed as if a corner on the contentious issue had been turned. How went the rightbloggers? Most continued to -- paraphrasing Buckley -- s ... More >>

Another Big Day for Same-Sex Marriage as the Supreme Court Hears Arguments on DOMA

Following yesterday's hearing on California's Proposition 8 (whose decision will likely fall into the hands of swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy), another case is coming through the Supreme Court this morning. The justices are hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Mar ... More >>

AG Eric Schneiderman Thinks SCOTUS Should/Will Strike Down DOMA

Today, the Supreme Court will begin hearings on the cases pending constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and Prop 8. It is the first legal step in a process that will end in June, when the Nine is expected to release its opinion to the public - one that could have drastic effects on the ri ... More >>

Supreme Court Hears Arguments Against California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Punts

At approximately 10:15 this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court started hearing arguments on Proposition 8, the 2008 California initiative that banned same-sex marriage in the state. It was the court's first major hearing of gay rights in 10 years, and will be followed by consideration of the Defense of ... More >>

White House Files Voluntary Amicus Brief, Demands SCOTUS Overturn Prop 8

Nothing like a Presidential push to get the ball rolling. Yesterday was the deadline for parties to file amicus curae briefs -- or "Here's what we think you should do" memos -- to the Supreme Court before the Nine hears the arguments facing DOMA and Prop 8 at the end of March. And, in this past wee ... More >>

[UPDATE]: Prop 8 and DOMA Head To The Supreme Court

UPDATE: According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court agreed this afternoon to decide on the constitutionality of the Proposition 8 appeal and the Defense of Marriage Act.It is, arguably, the most significant social battle in America's courts since Roe v. Wade or even Brown v. the Board of Educ ... More >>

Chris Kluwe Takes a Stand

The Vikings punter is prying open America's last closet: major league sports

DOMA Unconstitutional, Rules New York Appeals Court. But It's Not Dead -- Yet

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled today that parts of the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) are unconstitutional because they discriminate against same-sex couples.But don't get your hopes up just yet -- the issue of DOMA's constitutionality will li ... More >>

Question One

Edith Windsor, Octogenarian Lesbian Widow: Take My DOMA Case to the Supreme Court!

Edith Windsor, the octogenarian lesbian widow who successfully sued the federal government for over chariging her $363,000 in estate taxes, wants to take her case to the Supreme Court. According to a press release from the New York Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Windsor along with the ... More >>

Rep. Barney Frank Breaks Down the Same-Sex Marriage Barrier in Congress

In 1981, as the booming gay culture was being hit with the AIDS epidemic and a rising conservative culture in Washington, Barney Frank, a young Democrat from Massachusetts, entered Congress. Six years later, he became the first elected official on the Hill to voluntarily tell the public about his ho ... More >>

BREAKING: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Passes Same-Sex Marriage Equality Resolution

Another Saturday, another national group of brown people proves Toure right by being homophobic passes a same-sex marriage equality resolution. LULAC, the League of United Latino American Citizens, passed a resolution at their annual convention today in suport of equal marriage rights for same-sex ... More >>

It's the First Anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act Passing and the Weather is Perfect: Happy Pride Sunday!

One year ago today, we had the chance to travel to Albany for our first and only day of reporting there. As days of political reporting go, it did not disappoint. On arrival, the halls were filled with passionate protesters: those demanding that gay and lesbian people not be allowed to "sully" the ... More >>

La Raza Endorses Gay Marriage, Joining the NAACP, President Obama, a Majority of Americans, and Even Prop 8 Defenders!

Happy Pride weekend. Here's some more good news on the marriage beat to share with you this beautiful weekend here in New York. La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights organization, unanimously approved a resolution supporting same-sex marriage equality, the Washington Blade reported excl ... More >>

Pack It In, Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown: the Gay Marriage Debate is Over

When you've lost the likes of Prop 8 proponent David Blankenhorn, Jutice Anthony Kennedy can't be far behind. Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage can't recover from this. Blankenhorn, who once staunchly fought to take gay marriage away from LGBT Californians ... More >>

Edith Windsor, Octogenarian Widow, Beats Down DOMA (and Gives John Boehner a Piece Of Her Mind)

Pride month has just started, and yet over the course of May and just the first few days of June, the fight for gay marriage has arguably seen more progress in the last four weeks than in any time in history. In fact, if you're a journalist on the gay marriage beat who also writes about other things ... More >>

Gay Inc Takes On Stop and Frisk, the NAACP Goes to the Stonewall Inn, and Other Signs of the "Black/Gay Divide"

So, the promised fallout between blacks and gays continues! Four weeks after President Obama came out for same-sex marriage, today will see one of the most significant signs of a new alliance between traditional race-based civil rights groups and the current wave of LGBT oriented civil rights group ... More >>

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly on Why Yesterday's Ruling Against DOMA Is The Most Important Gay Marriage Case Right Now

Yesterday saw a major legal blow (perhaps the most significant one yet) to the Defense of Marriage Act, as the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the federal government's definition of "marriage" and "spouse" are unconstitutional as limited to just applying to opposite sex married ... More >>

Obama Finally Loses Support Of A Black Leader Over Gay Marriage, And It's...Farrakhan!

Over the past few weeks, we've been waiting for some fallout -- any fallout -- with black Americans over President Obama's support for same-sex marriage. Instead of the promised backlash, we've mostly heard the sound of crickets (unless you count the sounds of support from a majority of polled black ... More >>

The Voice Talks Black Voter Support for Gay Marriage with Michelangelo Signorile on Sirius [AUDIO]

We're approaching, if not looking in the rearview mirror at, a watershed moment in American civil rights history. A majority of the American public now supports marriage equality for same-sex couples. And, despite what detractors have been saying and predicting, this includes black people, too. An ... More >>

How Many Negroes Must Support Gay Marriage Before "Black Homophobia" Stops Getting Overblown?

Here are the three biggest hand-wringing fears/misnomers people have had about gay marriage, even those who support it: 1. This unimportant issue will cost Obama re-election! 2. Marriage equality would have happened by now, if not for those on-the-down low, religious, self-hating, homophobic black ... More >>

Black Pride: Majority of African Americans Support Gay Marriage, Says ABC News. The Voice Speaks to Their Pollster, Gary Langer

Maybe they should have called Barack Obama the homosexual "Black Abe Lincoln." Buried in the polls showing that Obama's same-sex marriage support has had no effect on his own re-election prospects (debunking the myth that his gay support would hurt him) and that it seems to have moved "strong supp ... More >>

The Obama Effect: From the NAACP to 50 Cent, Black Leaders Back Gay Marriage

It's fair to call it the Obama Effect: leaders in the black community, old and young, political and cultural, are coming out of the closet to back same-sex marriage. And they are a motley crew, from the legacy NAACP, to the rapper 50 Cent, who just a couple years ago suggested that if you're a man " ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg Gives North Carolina A Tutorial In How Same-Sex Marriage Won't Lead To The Apocalypse

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg gave the commencement address at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill yesterday, during which he explained to the audience how same-sex marriage won't instantly lead to the end of moral society as we know it.Last week, as you may recall, North Carolina vote ... More >>

Rightbloggers: Obama's Gay Marriage Move Means He's Trying to Win, Or Lose, Or Destroy America, Or Something

As everyone has heard by now, Pride Week came a little early to the White House as President Obama said, "I think same sex couples should be able to get married." He didn't push any legislation, and he said legalization should be left up to the states. But he is a U.S. President who has endorsed gay ... More >>

The Voice Talks Gay Marriage and Race on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show [AUDIO]

After publishing our piece yesterday "5 Reasons Why Touré Is Wrong On Blacks, Gay Marriage and Obama," we had the chance to talk about the president's new support fo marriage equality with WNYC's Brian Lehrer. We took calls from black listeners and talked to Lehrer about the many reasons why we b ... More >>

5 Reasons Why Touré Is Wrong On Blacks, Gay Marriage and Obama

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy We like the idea of Touré, but as a person and concept, he's got two sides. There's the Good Touré, who writes beautifully, gave us a nice shout out once, and frolics around the Brooklyn neighborhood we both live in with ... More >>

"Obama Actually Betrayed The Gay Marriage Cause"

That's what one writer says. Before you start screaming "foul" en route to resuming your gay-victory celebration, kindly check out the article by Roger Stone. It makes some points. "Once Gay Americans are through celebrating President Barack Obama's 'personal' support of Gay marriage equality, t ... More >>

Gay Republican Group: Obama Was...Right?

After President Obama came out for same-sex marriage yesterday, it didn't take the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's oldest and most prominent group of gay Republicans, long to pile on him. They called the timing "offensive " and "callous." But in a press release issued today titled "Campaigning ... More >>

President Obama: Will He Come Out Today For Gay Marriage?

Update: President Obama has indeed come out of the closet, telling ABC news that he does, in fact, support the right for same-sex couples to get married. Read our report, with reactions from New Yorkers, here. It's been a rough few days for President Obama on the gay marriage question, although he ... More >>

Barack Obama, "The Leader Of The Free World," Endorses Same-Sex Marriage; New Yorkers Share Reactions With The Voice

President Obama has told ABC news that he supports the right for same-sex couples to get legally married. Obama told ABC, in an interview where he appeared relaxed and calm (even if he'd been pushed into this moment due to Joe Biden's loose lips on Sunday, Andrew Cuomo's bro-date yesterday, and the ... More >>

Mayor Bloomberg On Obama's Gay Marriage Stance: 'Ask the President'

Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, decided not to take a position today on President Obama's stance on marriage equality, which has made headlines this week. But Bloomberg is still a big fan of gay marriage! After a reporter from BuzzFeed asked the mayor -- who was ho ... More >>

At Last! North Carolina Becomes Final Southern State to Constitutionally Ban Gay Marriage!

North Carolina made history today. Not only did voters approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but they made the Southern States of Bigotry set complete, in becoming the last holdout state south of the Mason-Dixon to do so! But wait -- it gets better! North Carolina didn't just stop at b ... More >>

Going Rogue! Joe Biden Endorses Gay Marriage, Will & Grace, and a Dick Cheney Style Of Out-Gaying His Boss

Video via ThinkProgress. When Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his running mate almost four years ago, he did so knowing Biden was notoriously volatile when it came to predicting what would spill out of his mouth. Well, while the president was probably lacing up for some golf this Sunday morning, ... More >>

Live Free Or Die! New Hampshire Gays Don't Have to Blow Anyone To Keep Marriage Equality

The National Organization for Marriage spent a quarter million dollars lobbying in New Hampshire. Republicans held majorities in both of the Granite State's legislative bodies. And the latest tool in stopping delaying same-sex marriage equality is to "let the voters decide" on whether queers should ... More >>

Gay Marriage Just Got Crabs! Maryland Senate Passes Marriage Equality

The Maryland Senate just passed a marriage equality bill, 25-22, putting the Chesapeake Bay State en route to becoming the seventh in the nation (plus the District of Columbia) to allow same-sex couples the right to marry. Maryland is the third state in as many weeks where both houses of its legis ... More >>

SSM Update: NJ Gov Follows Through On Promise To Veto Bill, Maryland On The Road To Equality

On Thursday, we told you about the passage of a bill in New Jersey's Assembly that would make same sex marriage legal in the state. N.J. Governor Chris Christie promised that he would veto the bill when it landed on his desk, and he held true to his word. The New York Daily News says that Christie w ... More >>

SSMpalooza: Jersey Legislature Passes Gay Marriage, Giving Second Governor Named Chris Chance to Sign Equality Law In One Week

Who knew this was possible? As New Jersey's Assembly just passed a marriage equality bill 41-33, this week is turning out even gayer for marriage than last week was. A couple days ago, in the happier half of A Tale Of Two Governor Chrises, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed marriage equality into law for ... More >>

Yetta Kurland Chats with the Voice on WWRL About the Big, Fat Gay Marriage Week [AUDIO]

With advances in same-sex marriage equality on the march in the states of Washington, Maryland and New Jersey, this week could possibly shape up to be as historically gay as last week was for the institution of marriage. To discuss what all of this state-by-state activity meant for same-sex couple ... More >>

Despite Fears Of People Marrying Bacon, Washington State Legislature Passes Marriage Equality Bill

​It's turning out to be a very, very gay week for marriage. After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California's Prop 8 is unconstitutional, the House of Representatives of the State of Washington just passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage equality, 55 yay to 43 nay. Governor C ... More >>

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly On What Today's Prop 8 Ruling Really Means

We admit it. We're very interested in the goings on with same-sex marriage across the nation, but we're not attorneys here at The Village Voice. Fortunately for us, our friend Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly is (or used to be, before he gave it all up for the far better paying field of journalism). We ... More >>

Christine Quinn, Activists Address The Stonewall Inn After Prop 8 Ruling

Marriage equality supporters gather outside of the Stonewall Inn tonight to hail the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. There were many of the same people present who were at a rally the first time a federal court ruled the California voter ref ... More >>

Washington State on the Road to Same-Sex Marriage Equality, Perhaps Within a Week

The Washington State Senate passed a bill paving the way for same-sex marriages last night. Before the vote was taken, same-sex marriage watchers believed that it could be a very tight vote. However, it ultimately passed comfortably 28 to 21. It will now move on the Washington's House, where it is e ... More >>

Same-Sex Marriage Takes New York By Storm in 2011, Tosses Salad in Iowa in 2012

​Happy New Year. We're kicking things off here this January by taking a quick look at how same-sex marriage affected life in New York in 2011, and how it's shaping up primary politics in Iowa in advance of tomorrow's caucuses. Gay marriage, of course, just became official in New York last ye ... More >>

21 Voice Stories from 2011 That Melted Even This Grizzled Journalist's Heart to Report

James Worrell​Looking back, 2011 has been quite a year, especially on the gay rights front, one of our major beats. Like the cardiac organ caught in a bear trap accompanying Jen Doll's "Plight of the Single Lady," there were times when, objective reporter or not, the stories we were reporting ... More >>

Is New York's Marriage Equality Act In Legal Jeopardy of a Repeal?

​When the Marriage Equality Act passed in the New York State Senate on June 24, 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo quickly signed it into law. When it went into effect 30 days later, same-sex couples had the right to enter into civil marriages and receive the same legal protections afforded opposite- ... More >>

Iowa Still Ground Zero on Gay Marriage

​More than two years before New York got its shit together last summer, the über-progressive state of Iowa made same-sex marriage legal in 2009. The decision came from the state's Supreme Court, which drew from their state constituion's long history of being way ahead of the curve on civil ri ... More >>

BREAKING: Politician Admits to Behaving Like Politician

​In 2009, New York State Senator James Alesi voted against the same-sex marriage bill. Two years later, Alesi, along with three other Republicans, voted "yes" on the Marriage Equality Act, sparking many to wonder what made him change his mind. A day after that vote, Alesi told our own Steven T ... More >>

David Weprin: First Political Victim of Same-Sex Marriage Backlash?

​When we last saw Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage, he was bawling tears in the Capitol in Albany, dismayed that the Senate had just passed the Marriage Equality Act. Judging from the above tweet, Brown has something to be quite gleeful about tonight: their ... More >>