Five years ago, my partner and I stood up in front of our families, our friends and our God, and pledged to walk together and care for one another, no matter what life brings. Though it wasn't legally binding, we meant it, and we still mean it today.
In 89 days, we will finally be able to make the vows we made to one another official. It won't change the way we see our relationship. It won't change the way those who love us see our relationship. And, for that matter, it won't change the way those who hate us see our relationship. As some of my gay friends keep pointing out, gay marriage won't cure homophobia. It won't cure AIDS. It won't keep queer kids from getting bullied in school. But it's a step. It ensures that the relationship my partner and I have worked so hard on for the last eight years doesn't receive fewer protections under the law than the drunken Vegas wedding of a pop starlet to some guy she hardly knows. It means our friends won't have to go through a ridiculously difficult legal process so that their kids can have two legal parents. And it means that a majority of legislators in my state were willing to stand up and acknowledge that same-sex relationships are just as valid as heterosexual ones.
Thank you, Maine State Legislature, and Gov. Baldacci, for doing the right thing and affirming the rights of all Mainers. You're all invited to my second wedding!
By now we've all seen the clip. Perez Hilton asks Miss California if more states should follow Vermont's lead and legalize gay marriage at Sunday night’s Miss USA Pageant, and she responds with something about "opposite marriage" and thinking that marriage should be between a man and a woman, alienating every gay person out there ... including two of the pageant judges.
And by now we've seen Perez Hilton on countless news chat shows explaining how he personally helped take Miss California down by denying her the crown for an answer he (and a lot of viewers) found offensive.
Typically, a televised beauty pageant doesn't achieve this kind of media attention, unless a contestant falls on her skinny ass, either literally or figuratively. And all the other questions posed to the pageant contestants were just as politically charged: Kelly Monaco asked about the bailout, that "Deal or No Deal" model asked about Hillary Clinton's request for a boatload of moolah for Afghanistan, Brian Graden asked about the Chris Brown/ Rihanna situation.
Posted 11/7/08 5:43 pm ET by MTV News in Uncategorized
By Elena Torres
"Welcome to California. Where chickens have more rights than I do."
That was one of the most common signs I saw yesterday at the Los Angeles Mormon temple. After a 2,500-person rally in West Hollywood on Wednesday night, thousands of protesters gathered once again outside the temple to express their outrage about the passage of Proposition 8 — a ballot measure that sought to amend the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry — and the church's involvement.
While driving through Los Angeles over the past few days, I have noticed that one proposition on the California ballot is getting more attention than any other: Proposition 8, an initiative that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. You can't go more than a mile on the streets of L.A. without seeing a sign for or against the proposition.
"Sex and the City" star and real-life New Yorker Cynthia Nixon made her way to Florida for this Election Day. Florida Street Teamer Anthony Wojtkowiak caught up with the actress at the University of Miami today, where she was encouraging students to vote.
"I'm just talking to students here, making sure everyone is voting," she told MTV News. "If they haven't, I'm telling them the clock is ticking. Today is D-day. Gotta vote."
Nixon was also there to speak out against Florida's Proposition 2, which would define marriage as being between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage. "It's an antigay initiative," said Nixon, who is in a lesbian relationship. Read more...
What's more socially acceptable: Gay marriage or gays in the military?
That was the question posed this morning after nearly 20 college students, mostly from Harvard Divinity School and all part of the Right To Serve Tour, marched to the Times Square military recruitment office to protest "Don't Ask Don't Tell," a policy signed into law by President Clinton in 1993.
Ex-Soulforce leader and Equality Ride co-founder Jake Reitan led the demonstration. He attempted to enlist, but once he announced to the recruiters that he was gay, recruiters ordered him to leave the office or (incredibly) be arrested for trespassing. Reitan refused and was quickly led away in handcuffs in front of picketing Right To Serve students and hordes of Times Square gawkers. An hour later, he was released from police custody with a summons to appear in court by the end of July. Read more...
Here come the brides...Ellen DeGeneres and longtime girlfriend Portia De Rossi are getting hitched in a good, old-fashioned, legally recognized style.
Ellen announced the news while taping her show yesterday –- the same day California courts ruled against a ban on gay marriages. Studio audience members cheered and gave a standing ovation as Portia watched from the sidelines. (You might remember Portia from "Ally McBeal” and, more recently, “Nip/Tuck.”)
"I'm thrilled that the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage," she told The Advocate magazine yesterday. "I can't wait to get married. We all deserve the same rights, and I believe that someday...not allowing gays to marry will seem as absurd as not allowing women to vote."
by Jaime McLeod
By now we've all seen the 
By Elena Torres
"Sex and the City" star and real-life New Yorker Cynthia Nixon made her way to Florida for this Election Day. Florida 