A Day of Joy and Protest

In the midst of anger and outrage, this heartening news: Connecticut gays and lesbians began marrying today as fully equal citizens of that state. At the moment, gay couples can marry in Connecticut and Massachusetts; Rhode Island and New York state recognize those marriages.

Civil unions equivalent to marriage at the state level can be had in Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and yes, California (called domestic partnerships there). Domestic partnerships with fewer rights than marriage are available in Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Washington state, and the District of Columbia. No same-sex unions of any kind are recognized by the federal government, thus depriving gay couples of 1,138 rights and benefits under federal law.

But that did not deter the happy couples in Connecticut today. All best wishes to them.

And in New York City, 15,000 marchers protested the passage of Proposition 8, a huge demonstration that apparently came off very peacefully, I'm very happy to say. The LGBT community is galvanized across the country now, in an unprecedented grassroots network organized via the Internet as Rex Wockner reports, and it will be interesting to see how many turn out for the National Day of Protest called for this Saturday, the 15th.

(Pic of NYC marchers at Columbus Circle: Honk to Blabbeando)