Woohoo! Gay marriage now legal in one more state

[LoveTrains]

RI governor signed the law allowing for full marriage equality today. Wheee!

[pixy0stix]

WOOHOO!

[EllieArroway]

Awesome!

[beeks]

Fantastic

[wambam]

*highfives* all around

[doxies]

That's great! It looks like Delaware might be next!

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Yay!!!

[msmerymac]

May 3, 2013 6:38:01 GMT -5 doxies said:

That's great! It looks like Delaware might be next!

Yeah, I heard on the radio yesterday, "And one more state is moving closer to legalizing gay marriage," and I live in PA. I thought, "Oh, man, it will be a cold day in hell before the PA state government does that..." Unfortunately. 

Yay RI!

[Velar Fricative]

Woohoo! Now all of New England permits gay marriage.

[LoveTrains]

Ok technically it doesn't start until August 1.

[ESF]

Yay.

Now for the downer. I read there are ten states that have legalized it, 30 that have constitutional amendments banning it, and 9 that have statutes banning it. Only New Mexico is left. I wonder what the odds of it becoming legal there are.

[Velar Fricative]

May 3, 2013 9:57:57 GMT -5 ESF said:

Yay.

Now for the downer. I read there are ten states that have legalized it, 30 that have constitutional amendments banning it, and 9 that have statutes banning it. Only New Mexico is left. I wonder what the odds of it becoming legal there are.

A statute is easier to overturn, right? Yes, I should know this, I know.

[Deleted]

The east coast seems like the one part of the country this has taken hold.

It would never sell short of a SCOTUS ruling in TN or MS

[downtoearth]

Great news...and my state took the sodomy law off the books (it's now not illegal). [Slaps head to desk - feeling so far behind the world sometimes...]

[Velar Fricative]

May 3, 2013 10:20:36 GMT -5 @septimus said:

The east coast seems like the one part of the country this has taken hold.

It would never sell short of a SCOTUS ruling in TN or MS

Everyone keeps forgetting the Gay Marriage Midwest Island of Iowa!

[Deleted]

May 3, 2013 10:24:26 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

May 3, 2013 10:20:36 GMT -5 @septimus said:

The east coast seems like the one part of the country this has taken hold.

It would never sell short of a SCOTUS ruling in TN or MS

Everyone keeps forgetting the Gay Marriage Midwest Island of Iowa!

I didn't really forget it as much as 10 states have legalized gay marriage and 9 of them are in the northeast.

Iowa is doing its best to remove the activist judges that made gay marriage legal in Iowa. 

[Knight]

It win't be long before we know if the Supremes will do something good for once. We should know by the end of June, right?

[Velar Fricative]

May 3, 2013 10:30:24 GMT -5 Knight said:

It win't be long before we know if the Supremes will do something good for once. We should know by the end of June, right?

Yeah, but I think it was explained here by our resident lawyers that whatever decision they make is very likely not going to affect the status quo in the states with bans. Maybe I misunderstood. I *hope* I misunderstood.

[Knight]

May 3, 2013 10:32:53 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

May 3, 2013 10:30:24 GMT -5 Knight said:

It win't be long before we know if the Supremes will do something good for once. We should know by the end of June, right?

Yeah, but I think it was explained here by our resident lawyers that whatever decision they make is very likely not going to affect the status quo in the states with bans. Maybe I misunderstood. I *hope* I misunderstood.

From what I understand it could go either way. If they overturn DOMA that would affect every state but the Prop 8 decision could either be for California, the 9th, or the US as a whole.

[jln]

Oregon really should be next, but I don't foresee that happening for a few years.

[twotrue]

May 3, 2013 9:57:57 GMT -5 ESF said:

Yay.

Now for the downer. I read there are ten states that have legalized it, 30 that have constitutional amendments banning it, and 9 that have statutes banning it. Only New Mexico is left. I wonder what the odds of it becoming legal there are.

I don't see New Mexico touching this issue.  The pro- SSM sides knows if they try and get vocal in NM, the anti-SSM side will likely be even louder.  And given the states it is surrounded by it's not worth the risk.  No ban is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.  There just isn't a good enough reason to rock the boat there, particularly with the SCOTUS decision coming out this summer.

ETA:  Personally I feel that SSM laws are going to follow the same course as anti miscegenation laws. DWs PhD is about the spread of social policy and how states are influenced by each other.  This map shows how the anti miscegenation laws were finally taken off the books:



The grey states never had a law on the books.
The green states repealed before 1887
The yellow states repealed between 1948-1967
And the red states were overturned by Loving vs. Virginia in 1967

New Mexico repealed its law before it even became a state.  So could they be one of the next pro-SSM states? Sure.  But like I said above, I think everyone is just going to sit tight until the ruling this summer.

[Deleted]

Kansas is sadly much, much less liberal (comparatively?) than it was 100 years ago.

Our governor is nuts. Nothing moderate has a chance here until probably 2016. I think people are getting tired of the nonsense and the crazy will tone down. Depends on I the governor can destroy the state's economy in a single term or not.

And we have a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.