chicken

Tell the President to allow same-sex partners of federal employees to receive health benefits.

The timing of this is really interesting, especially in light of the recently-launched GLAD case.

It's also possibly an opportunity to start moving on the DOMA issue a lot sooner than even Barney Frank estimated in this recent interview. Of course what that also means is increased and vociferous Bible-thumping on the part of the right wing.

It looks like gay marriage will become a reality (if not using that exact word for it) ... !

Some random news feeds:

• Court expands 'gay marriage' ("N.J. ruling opens door for out-of-state couples to sue for recognition at home").



• NJ court stops short of gay marriage



• Reuters: New Jersey court sends gay marriage to legislature.
  
  
• The actual 90-page PDF of the ruling (fascinating).

As we know, Rhode Island recently said that Rhode Islanders can now go to Massachusetts and get married but not have to actually live there. So that's two giant positive steps, I say.

Imagine the HUGE impact this will have on New Yorkers. No longer will City-dwellers scoff at the "Bridge & Tunnel" crowd. Instead, they will FLOCK to the suburbs to get married. Hmmmmmm.

In this time of Katrina/Bush-induced despair, some good news ...

California legislature passes gay marriage bill! (Via kita0610).

Let's hope Arnold doesn't veto it.

Yay, we are in our new apartment, along with all our cats, our furniture, and too many boxes.

The movers did a heroic job hoisting some of the furniture up the side of the house and onto the third floor balcony using ropes (the four pieces of furniture that wouldn't fit up the stairs). I know they wouldn't have had to work so hard if they'd bothered to take the drawers out of that enormous bureau, but still, all the more impressive. It was well worth the money.

The cats were a bit frightened of the new place at first, but once they figured out that the living room furniture smelled familiar, they relaxed.

Despite not lifting furniture, we are VERY exhausted and in need of Tylenol from lifting many boxes.

Also, did you all do anything interesting in the last few days that I MUST know? If so, tell me, because I'll just never have the chance to catch up on my f-list. We've had no internet connection for the last four and a half days (the Comcast guy is coming by tomorrow).

The new apartment is just LOVELY, and now all we have to do is unpack, get our new car registration and driver's licenses, and collapse into a heap of tired rabbits and chickens.

(Apologies to those of you who have already seen this.)

Dear Rhode Island residents,

If you are in favor of gay marriage, please take a moment to write to your state legislators today (or very soon).

The pro-gay marriage bill (Bill #2705) is being discussed today in the RI Senate. The House will probably consider their version soon, too.

Go to the URL below to find your legislators (please read and -personalize- the sample letter, or feel free to write your own) --

Rhode Island Campaign for Marriage Equality

If your legislators are not in the drop-down menus, that means they are probably either co-sponsors of the bill (i.e. most East Siders' legislators) or are sponsoring anti-gay marriage bills.

The 'undecided' legislators listed in the drop-down menus are the most important ones to contact -- the more letters they get from their constituents in favor of the gay marriage bills, the better. After all, some of them have gotten a lot of anti-gay letters (one Senator from Johnston has received over 300 anti-gay letters).

Don't be fooled by the conservatives' civil union gambit. In Vermont, and in Massachusetts, the civil union model is vastly inferior to full marriage, and would almost certainly fall short in Rhode Island as well. Separate is not equal, and 'kind of good enough' isn't good enough.

Thank you very much for your time and support,

P.S. Here are pointers to the actual text of the bills --

Senate:
http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText04/SenateText04/S2705.htm
(sponsored by Senators Perry, Roberts, Sosnowski, and Gibbs)

House:
http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText04/HouseText04/H7995.htm
(sponsored by Representatives Handy, Ajello, Callahan, E Coderre, and Fox)