California Legislature OKs Same-Sex Marriage Bill; Arnold Expected to Veto

For the second time in three years, the Legislature has approved a bill to give same-sex couples the right to marry in California, with Friday's Senate vote split almost along party lines and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expected to veto the measure as he did in 2005.

[Full Article Here]

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The Freedom to Marry

Since the Washington State Supreme Court is going to issue it's ruling on the right to marry for gay couples, I thought the following article would be appropriate.

What's in a Word? Plenty, if it's "Marriage"
by George Lakoff

Excerpt: (click to read the full article):

Progressives are of two minds. Pragmatic liberals see the issue as one of benefits -- inheritance, health care, adoption, etc. If that's all that is involved, civil unions should be sufficient -- and they certainly are an advance. Civil unions would provide equal material protection under the law. Why not leave civil unions to the state and marriage to the churches, as in Vermont? Idealistic progressives see beyond the material benefits, important as they are. Most gay activists want more than civil unions. They want full-blown marriage, with all its cultural meanings -- a public commitment based on love, all the metaphors, all the rituals, joys, heartaches, family experiences -- and a sense of normality, on a par with all other people. The issue is one of personal freedom: the state should not dictate who should marry whom. It is also a matter of fairness and human dignity. Equality under the law includes social and cultural, as well as material benefits. The slogan here is "freedom to marry."

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When in Trouble Turn the Focus to the "Threat" of Same-Sex Marriage

The Republicans are up to it again. With the election season coming up in November and the failures of a foreign policy run by a Congress and President controlled by their party surfacing in the Middle East, the Republicans in the House have tried to garner support by forcing a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Of course, they knew that they would not gather the 2/3 majority that they needed, but considering the array of failures--both domestic and foreign--that this country has faced under their leadership, they needed a symbolic vote to rally the radical right.

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