Equal Marriage Supporters

[DVC~OKW~96]

Incredible film, isn't it? It is a true inspiration and has infused many with the renewed desire to "fight the good fight!"

 

[PeterPan09]

Incredible film, isn't it? It is a true inspiration and has infused many with the renewed desire to "fight the good fight!"

When he made that speech "I'm Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you!" I wanted to stand up in the theatre and scream back "Sir, yes sir!"

Of course, that would have been interesting since there were only about 20 people in the whole place and two of them were my 80 year old Dad and my 70 year old Mom......

 

[Goofyluver]

You'll have to forgive my relentless optimism. I just saw "Milk" recently and my passion for the fight for justice has been re-ignited.

Was that film not incredible?

I sat next to the loveliest couple and after the film, we literally stayed and talked for hours.

This fight has been going on a long time.

 

[Uncle Remus]

This is a sad, but also insprational film too:

Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester spent 25 years investigating tough cases in Ocean County, New Jersey, protecting the rights of victims and putting her life on the line. She had no reason to expect that in the last year of her life, after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that her final battle for justice would be for the woman she loved.

The documentary film "Freeheld" chronicles Laurel's struggle to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. With less than six months to live, Laurel refuses to back down when her elected officials - the Ocean County Freeholders -deny her request to leave her pension to Stacie, an automatic option for heterosexual married couples. The film is structured chronologically, following both the escalation of Laurel's battle with the Freeholders and the decline of her health as cancer spreads to her brain.

As Laurel's plight intensifies, it spurs a media frenzy and a passionate advocacy campaign. At the same time, "Freeheld" captures a quieter, personal story: that of the deep love between Laurel and Stacie as they face the reality of losing each other. Alternating from packed public demonstrations at the county courthouse to quiet, tender moments of Laurel and Stacie at home, "Freeheld" combines tension-filled political drama with personal detail, creating a nuanced study of a grassroots fight for justice.

See film trailer: Freeheld-The Laurel Hester Story

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lt. Laurel Hester (August 15, 1956 – February 18, 2006) was a lesbian New Jersey police officer who rose to national attention with her deathbed appeal for the extension of pension benefits to domestic partners.

Laurel Hester was a 23-year veteran of the Ocean County prosecutor's office when she was struck down by rapidly spreading lung cancer. The cancer metastasized and spread to her brain, and it became clear that she had little time to live. Hester lived with and jointly owned a house with her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, who would not be able to afford mortgage payments upon Hester's death. A married heterosexual with Hester's years of police service would be able able to pass on pension benefits to a spouse, but this privilege was not accorded to same-sex domestic partners in Ocean County.

Hester appealed to local authorities to change this policy, and was supported by the local Policemen's Benefit Association. Instead, in a private meeting on November 9, 2005, the five Republican county freeholders voted against the proposal, with freeholder John P. Kelly arguing that it threatened "the sanctity of marriage." On November 23, a rally of between 100 and 200 supporters gathered to protest the county's inaction.

On January 18, 2006, an impassioned videotaped appeal by a weakening Hester from her hospital bed was shown at a meeting of the freeholders, who then met with county Republican leaders in a teleconference on January 20. The next day, the freeholders announced that they were reversing their stance, and would meet on January 25 to extend pension benefits to registered domestic partners.

She died on February 18, 2006, aged 49, in her home in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.[1]

Her battle was documented in the 2007 film, Freeheld, winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.

She changed some lives too.



btw, Let's root for a few Oscars for Milk.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I know that story. It's tragic, heartbreaking and uplifting all at once if you can imagine.

I'll be hoping for the Oscars to honor Milk.

 

[PeterPan09]

I was living in NJ back then and I have to say that my old home state has made some great strides toward equality. (even though our former governor may have set "the cause" back a bit by using his orientation to play the victim and get out of a corruption scandal-but that's another story)

They've got work to do still, but at least they're moving in the right direction-which is more than I can say about my new home state. I hear a lot about Prop 8, but we had Amendment 2 that hurt gay and heterosexual partnerships equally.

 

[robinb]

Hey Uncle Remus! I just found this thread and I want to lend my support to equal marriage for everyone .

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Amendment 2 is just as damaging as Prop 8. Florida is incredibly backward with regard to equality (and not just for gay folk).

I'll not start bashing this state, but we have MUCH work to do here.

Amendment 2 won on lies and hate based propaganda.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Hey Uncle Remus! I just found this thread and I want to lend my support to equal marriage for everyone .

Hey Sister!

Good to have ya here.

 

[PeterPan09]

Amendment 2 is just as damaging as Prop 8. Florida is incredibly backward with regard to equality (and not just for gay folk).

I'll not start bashing this state, but we have MUCH work to do here.

Amendment 2 won on lies and hate based propaganda.

It was pretty ugly wasn't it? I've never heard such rhetoric, and in church no less!

I've been going to Mass all my life and have never felt unwelcome-until I moved here and had to listen to how the evil gays were trying to take marriage away and damage our children.

I'm not trying to bash, I love it here otherwise.

 

[PeterPan09]

Hey Uncle Remus! I just found this thread and I want to lend my support to equal marriage for everyone .

I just found the whole board-and I see a new addiction coming.....

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

It's great to welcome new folks!

 

[PeterPan09]

It's great to welcome new folks!

Thanks-it appears that I violated some sort of protocol though. I was posting on another thread and my low post count set off some sort of alarm. Maybe you guys can tell me-is there a minimum post count for this board? I mean, if there is, that's fine and I'll go elsewhere until I hit it. I asked the person who seemed disturbed by my newness, but she never answered.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

To post to the community board? None that I'm aware of. Nor to most of the boards. There are some restricted boards, for mods and the like, but that's all I know about.

Don't go away Peter! We need you!

 

[ntsammy5]

posting on another thread and my low post count set off some sort of alarm.

Nope - people can get testy here though,usually on political threads. Don'tlet it bother you.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Yes, don't let the title, "community board" lull you into a false sense of thinking this is a warm fuzzy place! There are some lively, and respectful discussions here, but there are as many more that aren't.

Be yourself, and ignore those who don't approve of who that is!

 

[Uncle Remus]

A church (not state) is considering civil unions:

(New York City) The Presbyterian Church (USA) has appointed 13 members to special committee to study the issue of Civil Union and Christian Marriage.

The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the denomination, made the selection.

Last year, the church’s General Assembly voted to create the special committee, “representing the broad diversity and theological balance.” Reyes-Chow acknowledged this week in announcing the members that some church members may question the selection.

The committee has five main issues to report on: The history of the laws governing marriage and civil union, including current policy debates; how the theology and practice of marriage have developed in the Reformed and broader Christian tradition; the relationship between civil union and Christian marriage; the effects of current laws on same-gender partners and their children; and the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.

Of the 13 on the special committee, three are under 36 years of age, three are 36-45, six are 46-55, and one is over 55.

Reyes-Chow said that in determining who should sit on the committee he had extended an “open invitation to submit names — promising to select people that I believed could bring passion, thought, intellect, experience, foresight, and vision” to the task.

Reyes-Chow said, “Those who have been chosen have a deep commitment to the church, a deep love for Christ, and are seeking and yearning for a way to be church in new and discerning ways.”

The special committee is to make its report to the 219th General Assembly next summer in Minneapolis.

The denomination already allows ministers to bless same-sex unions, but the ceremonies can’t mimic marriage ceremonies.

Last year’s General Assembly voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.”

The proposed change to the church constitution requires approval from a majority of the nation’s 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies - a yearlong process that has proven to be a barrier to similar efforts in the past.

The denomination has 2.2-million members across the country.

Last year, the church’s General Assembly voted to create the special committee, “representing the broad diversity and theological balance.” Reyes-Chow acknowledged this week in announcing the members that some church members may question the selection.

The committee has five main issues to report on: The history of the laws governing marriage and civil union, including current policy debates; how the theology and practice of marriage have developed in the Reformed and broader Christian tradition; the relationship between civil union and Christian marriage; the effects of current laws on same-gender partners and their children; and the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.

Of the 13 on the special committee, three are under 36 years of age, three are 36-45, six are 46-55, and one is over 55.

Reyes-Chow said that in determining who should sit on the committee he had extended an “open invitation to submit names — promising to select people that I believed could bring passion, thought, intellect, experience, foresight, and vision” to the task.

Reyes-Chow said, “Those who have been chosen have a deep commitment to the church, a deep love for Christ, and are seeking and yearning for a way to be church in new and discerning ways.”

The special committee is to make its report to the 219th General Assembly next summer in Minneapolis.

The denomination already allows ministers to bless same-sex unions, but the ceremonies can’t mimic marriage ceremonies.

Last year’s General Assembly voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.”

The proposed change to the church constitution requires approval from a majority of the nation’s 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies - a yearlong process that has proven to be a barrier to similar efforts in the past.

The denomination has 2.2-million members across the country.

Link

Okay, this is kinda a weird situation, churches will maybe have civil unions and states won't?

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

How would that work then? Sheesh.

Well, it would be a positive step forward.

Again, thank you for the good info and link!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Do we have any early reports on the participation level of yesterday's events? I know there was a planned event in Duval county but I've not seen anything on it yet.

Anyone else heard anything?

 

[Uncle Remus]

Do we have any early reports on the participation level of yesterday's events? I know there was a planned event in Duval county but I've not seen anything on it yet.

Anyone else heard anything?

No word on that yet, but here's some good news from Hawaii:

The state House yesterday passed a bill to legalize civil unions among same-sex partners, a vote several lawmakers believe will help end discrimination against gays and lesbians in Hawai'i.

The bill, which now moves to the state Senate, would grant partners in civil unions the same benefits, protections and responsibilities as married couples under state law. The state would also recognize civil unions, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Partners in civil unions would not have the same protections as married couples under federal law, so the recognition is a rung below treating homosexual and heterosexual couples equally.

More