The McFreeds jump up and down and shout about...
The California Supreme Court made it official today, both heterosexual and homosexual couples can now marry in the state of California... and call it marriage! In a 4-3 ruling, the court defined that marriage is not about tradition it is about creating one's own private relationship with someone else and having the state recognize and protect that union without prejudice. There is a state constitutional amendment pending a vote in November 2008 if it gets the right amount of signatures that could change this ruling. However, in 30 days two people (resident or non-resident) will be able to get married in California as long as they show up in person with a valid ID and the proof of any previous marriage's divorce (if applicable).
This is my favorite part of the ruling... which is 121 page long:
]]>"...our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual’s sexual orientation — like a person’s race or gender — does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples."
The McFreeds ruminate...
This will be our future in Fall 2009 we hope!
]]>The McFreeds report...
The following was taken from Equality Maryland's web site summarizing the two bills that passed the Maryland General Assembly this year pertaining to domestic partnerships. Once signed, these will definitely helpd us with our current goals.
The General Assembly approved two measures that were passed in 2005 but vetoed by Gov. Ehrlich.
Senate Bill 566, sponsored by Senator Robert Garagiola and cross-filed by Delegate James Hubbard, provides 11 protections to domestic partners. These include the right to visit one another in the hospital, share a room in a nursing home and to make funeral decisions for each other. The legislative sponsors and leadership, in particular Health and Government Operations Committee Chair Pete Hammen, invested a significant amount of effort to work with Equality Maryland to ensure passage of the bill.
Senate Bill 597, sponsored by Senator Rona Kramer and cross-filed by Delegate Anne Kaiser, adds "domestic partners" to the list of family members a person can add or remove from the deed of their home without paying recordation and transfer fees and taxes.
Both bills are headed to the Governor [O'Malley]'s desk; he is expected to sign them. The measures will go into effect on July 1, 2008.
]]>Sean says...
Stefan and I have been fans of television show Brothers and Sisters, but the on-again/off-again romance between brother Kevin Walker (Welsh actor Matthew Rhys) and Scotty Wandell (Luke MacFarlane) has always been great fun. The relationship between these two has been so real, as much as tv can make it. They actually flirt, date, fight, break-up, make-up, and becomes friends. Their love builds as the seasons went on and it all pays off tonight! It's great to see real gay characters who also have complex issues unto themselves on tv. We are looking forward to tonight's wedding of these two crazy boys on ABC at 10pm EST/9pm CST/10pm PST! This is the first gay wedding of two series regulars on U.S. TV! Here are a few scenes to tell you their story over the last two seasons.
First though is the best proposal on television... I think they stole from my proposal to Stefan here (wink)! You will melt when after Kevin asks Scotty to marry him (which they can only be domestic partnerships in California where they fictionally live), Scotty retorts "...because I changed the lightbulbs?" Sigh.
Clip #1 shows us Kevin and Scotty meeting for the first time and flirting. The chemistry between the actors (Rhys is straight and MacFarlane is gay) is very obvious and fun!
Clip #2 are some additonal scenes of Kevin and Scotty in Season 1 flirting, going out on their official first date, and sharing a first kiss. The scene after their kiss (minute 2:52) is especially telling if you watch this and their proposal back to back.
Clip #3 is their breakup after two months of dating. They had some adventures but eventually the arrogance of Kevin and the strong pride of Scotty came to a head over money issues (Kevin has some and Scotty is waiter) and they come to an end in Season 1. Many thought this was the end to this story too... but wow what a break-up scene!
Clip #4 teases us with a possible reunion of our lovebirds but alas Kevin was seeing a closeted soap star and wasn't really ready to be with Scotty yet.
Clip #5 brings the 3rd coming of Scotty into Kevin's life (to huge cheers on our part!)!!!!! Kevin is seeing Jason McAllister (Rob Lowe's character's brother) at this time, so Scotty and he agree to be only friends.
Clip #5, #6, #7 and #8 shows Kevin and Scotty post-Jason. Kevin & Jason broke up because Jason moved to Malaysia as a missionary but Kevin said he would wait for him. Jason pretty much ignored Kevin and Kevin was torn as to whether he should break up or not. Scotty in the meantime needed a place to live in a hurry, so Kevin let his friend move in. Long story short (too late), Kevin breaks up with Jason (Eric Winter - who went off to be on Viva Laughlin! and the Moonlight) and Scotty and he cobble together a relationship. My favorite parts are with the actors alone here. They really show a great chemistry and you can see how they really care for each other even when fighting. You know in your heart they will make up and do it really sweetly.
Clip #9 is the last scene that shows how in love Kevin is with Scotty and vice versa... the drunk karaoke! This is my second favorite scene next to the proposal.
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The McFreeds report...
Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire signed a bill Wednesday that will expand the state's Domestic Partner Law to provide more than 160 new rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners of the state. The new law goes into effect June 12, 2008.
Governor Gregoire has been a long time supporter of civil rights for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and we sincerely thank her for signing this historic measure into law,” said Equal Rights Washington executive director Connie Watts. "We're thrilled that the legislature has taken this action to protect Washington’s vulnerable families, and especially thank the legislators in Olympia who helped to move this bill forward. We were glad to see that the floor debates were constructive and civil." The bill passed the senate this month by a 29-20 vote and passed the house last month by 62-32.
Recent polls conducted by the University of Washington show an increasing number of Washingtonians support equal rights for the LGBT community. In 2007, 73% expressed support for legal recognition of same-sex relationships, with 59% of state voters saying that same-sex couples deserve identical rights to those afforded to their straight peers. (More information can be found at: www.washingtonpoll.org) (The Advocate)
The McFreeds report...
The initiative was filed February 29 by Republicans Fred Girod and Sal Esquivel. Two groups who attempted to force a referendum on the law in 2007 are under investigation by the state for violating campaign finance laws.
“They have said all along that they would file again,” Basic Rights Oregon's executive director, Jeana Frazzini, said in a press release. “While I'm not surprised that an initiative to repeal the law's been filed, I'm shocked that this effort has been spearheaded by legislators whose duty is to protect Oregonians.” (The Advocate)