Assorted same-sex marriage notes and links
I've been following the Prop 8 trial this week and last week via the magic of Firedoglake. Teddy Partridge, Marcy Wheeler, and David Dayen have been doing a phenomenal job of liveblogging the trial, essentially transcribing it (though a fair bit of what they're writing is obviously not word-for-word transcription). It's not quite as good as getting to actually watch video of the trial, but it's a lot better than the daily summaries that most news outlets are publishing.
(And by the way, FDL could use donations to support their coverage.)
Meanwhile, unrelatedly, Cindy McCain endorses same-sex marriage, despite her husband's continued opposition. I'm very pleased and impressed. Ms. McCain contacted the NOH8 website and offered not only her support but the use of her face, in a striking photo. Way cool.
Meanwhile, the Hawaiʻian state Senate is expected to vote on civil unions today. A petition page is requesting signers from anywhere, not just Hawaiʻi, to show support for civil unions.
Meanwhile, Nepal's new constitution, which is expected to be completed in a few months, will apparently recognize same-sex marriage. And Nepal is courting gay tourism.
I keep forgetting to mention that New Hampshire's recognition of same-sex marriage came into effect on January 1 of this year. Yay! Apparently fifty-four same-sex couples got married that first day.
I think I also neglected to mention here that New Jersey failed in its last chance to push through a marriage equality bill before the new governor (who's said he'll veto any such bill) takes office. Made me sad and angry, but it wasn't, alas, unexpected.
Finally, Washington, D.C. easily passed its marriage equality bill back in December; the US Congress has thirty working days to attempt to overturn that bill, but it's widely considered unlikely that that'll happen. The expectation is that same-sex couples will be able to apply for a license in D.C. as of March 2; after a three-day waiting period, the first weddings will presumably happen on or about March 5.