What an unexpected but lovely surprise. The D.C.  Council unanimously voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Gay council member David A. Catania and Mayor Adrian Fenty responded to the decision in the Washington Post…

Catania: “I feel really heartened by this vote … I am obviously proud to be a part of the legislature of this city. I fully expect if we go forward, when we go forward, on marriage equality we will have a super-majority in support of it.”

Fenty: “I fully support today’s action and look forward to signing the legislation once the Council takes final action next month.”

Rea Carey, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force also praised today’s vote…

“We commend the D.C. Council’s vote. It marks another step toward the full recognition of same-sex couples, their families and their lives. We urge the council to affirm today’s action during its final vote on the bill, and call upon Mayor Adrian Fenty to then sign this important legislation. It is our hope that Congress will ultimately respect the District of Columbia’s passage of a just measure that will provide fair recognition of our relationships.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council which is based in Washington, D.C. opposed the decision:

“Same-sex ‘marriage’ is a movement driven by wealthy homosexual activists and a liberal elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well. Time and again, we see when citizens have the opportunity to vote at the ballot box, they consistently opt to support traditional marriage.”

“The vote today by the D.C. City Council was a direct affront to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The radical Left wants to destroy the traditional union of one man and one woman across the country and they will not rest until they do so.

What’s is ultimately so wonderful about this decision is that it will force Congress to deal with the issue of gay marriage much earlier than expected, as the District’s laws are subject to their approval.

We’ll soon see if  marriage equality extends all the way to the Oval Office.

That’s right. As reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the number of hate groups have grown from 602 to 926 since the year 2000. The highest concentration not surprisingly falls below the Mason Dixon line, and unfortunately, my own home state of California with 88 groups.

From the SPLC Report…

As in recent years, hate groups were animated by the national immigration debate. But two new forces also drove them in 2008: the worsening recession, and Barack Obama’s successful campaign to become the nation’s first black president. Officials reported that Obama had received more threats than any other presidential candidate in memory, and several white supremacists were arrested for saying they would assassinate him or allegedly plotting to do so.

While the vast majority of hate groups groups are comprised of neo-Nazis, white nationalists, skins heads and the KKK, some have made it their mission to target and vilify the LGBT community as well. Those include…

• Traditional Values Coalition – Anaheim CA
• Abiding Truth Ministries – Temecula, CA
• Family Research Council – Colorado Springs, CO
• Traditional Values Coalition – Washington D.C.
• Illinois Family Institute – Carol Stream, IL
• Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment – Downers Grove, IL
• Westboro Baptist Church – Topeka, KS
• The School of Christian Activism – Springfield, MA
• Mass Resistance – Waltham, MA
• Watchman on the Walls – Seattle, WA

Noticeably absent from the list…

• The American Family Association – Tupelo, MS
• Focus on the Family – Colorado Springs, CO
• Americans for Truth – Naperville, IL
• Concerned Women for America- Washington, D.C.

It’s hard for me not to believe that the rise in the number of hate groups, or at least a rise in their membership, has been fueled in part by anti-muslim sentiment after 9/11, the LGBT community demanding equality, and stoking the fires of  hard religious right leading up the election.

And sure, I definitely blame the Bush administration, which allowed an environment of hate, intolerance and economic suffering to grow and fester during his watch, allowing hate groups to flourish. Need we be reminded of the hate we witnessed during the end of the Presidential campaign?

From WCAX TV in Vermont…

The Vt. Senate gave its final stamp of approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in Vermont. Passage came on a voice vote with no debate, one day after the Senate gave the bill preliminary approval on a 26-4 roll call vote. Now the issue moves to the House, where the Judiciary Committee has scheduled a week’s worth of testimony on the issue. It is expected to pass.

Governor Douglas has said that he opposes the bill, and this afternoon he announced he plans to veto it. He said he made the announcement to stop speculation and to focus attention on economy.

From Burlington Free Press live blog…

DOUGLAS: I believe our civil union law serves Vermont well … I believe that marriage should remain between a man and a woman … I’m announcing that I intend to veto this legislation when it reaches my desk.

Bastard.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler of NY will introduce the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) tomorrow February 12 which would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners and provide a legal path to U.S. citizenship.

Originally introduced in 2007, the 2009 version of the bill is essentially unchanged and has a growing list of 43 original cosponsors. You can help add to the list of cosponsors before and after the bill’s introduction by doing the following:

• Find out who your U.S. House Representative is. Go to www.congressmerge.com, enter your address, and you will be provided the name of your U.S. Representative.
• Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative.
• Tell your representative’s staff:

I am calling to ask Representative ________________ to be an original cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act of 2009. To cosponsor, he/she must contact Rep. Jerrold Nadler who is the lead sponsor.

The U.S. government discriminates against gay and lesbian binational couples by not allowing us to sponsor our foreign-born life partners for immigration. Because of this, we face the terrible choice of separating from the person we love or leaving our country. As Americans, we should not have to choose between family and country. Please ask Rep. _________________ to cosponsor the Uniting American Families Act of 2009.

While not a cosponsor of the 2006 bill, former senator and now President Obama wrote in an open letter to the LGBT community in early 2008 that he worked to improve the Uniting American Families Act, “so we can afford same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married couples in our immigration system.”

Rahm Emanuel former Congressman from Illinois and now President Obama’s Chief of Staff was also a cosponsor of UAFA bill.

On a more personal level this issue is of tremendous importance to me. Many of my closest friends live with the threat of forced separation every day, knowing that each day could be their last together. And considering my personal background and history, it is a situation that I could easily find myself in. So it’s hard to remain optimistic and hopeful as friend after friend says goodbye…

But the significance of the introduction of this immigration bill on February 12, on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, shouldn’t be lost on any of us. Like Lincoln before him, Obama must heal a nation that is divided, with the promise of expanding freedom and opportunity to all Americans, regardless of race… regardless of gender… regardless or sexual orientation. The echo’s of Lincoln we see in Obama, give me pause, and give me hope. It makes Lincoln’s words especially relevant now as we hunger for change…

“Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”

For additional information and resources vist

Immigration Equality

Out4Immigration