DC Rings in the GLBT New Year

D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty asked ‘You all ready to sign” and cued the city council members to put their names on the marriage equality bill, making it law, at a ceremony in Washington’s All Souls Church. The  council voted 11-2 this week and the bill now goes to Congress for a 30-day ‘review’. If it is not thwarthed, gay couples can get married early 2010. 

Even with churches (the archdiocese is threatening to halt their charity programs in DC) conservatives and antigay politicos (not to mention those Republicans on the DL). Clearly denying civil-marriage accomodations is a violation of Washington’s anti-discrimination statutes.

All that paperwork aside, it is another civil-rights victory of gay America, who can’t wait for the machinations of federal initiatives and divisive referendums. Antigay politics drives a lot of domestic skullduggery in national politics, but at least in DC, gays can plan a wedding. They can have their wedding cake and smash it in the face of homophobia too!

Houston, we have a winner

“voters gave a solid victory to the city controller, Annise Parker” reported on the front page of the NYTs today. Parker overcame a smear campaign because she is lesbian and becomes mayor of the 4th largest city in the country. Annise, who is raising three adopted children with her partner Kathy Hubbard, never made her sexuality an issue in her campaign. Her opposition of course thought they could defeat her by vilifying her for who she is. In her acceptance speech Parker said “I know what this win means to many of us who never thought we could achieve high office.”

LsOTD

“Nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care, I’m tired of hearing that.” President Obama told a wildly supportive crowd in Durham, NC.  The President fired back at critics who just will say anything to obstruct health care reform. “I’ve been as clear as I can be; under the reform I’ve proposed, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,…If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. These folks need to stop scaring everybody.”  Obama said.