A new ad called “Together” began airing in Maine today advocating for marriage equality. The ad comes on the eve of a decision that may force marriage equality to a November vote provided enough signatures are gathered in opposition to the law, despite the governor having signed the measure on May 6. The 60 second spot is produced by Equality Maine, GLAD and MCLU.

Marriage equality in Maine is opposed by StandForMarriageMaine, as well as the usual suspects, the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic Church.

The California Assembly held a hearing today on resolution ARJ 15 which urges Congress and the President to pass the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their foreign-born partners, providing a legal path to citizenship. The bill, authored Assembly Member Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), in part says:

This resolution urges Congress to support the removal of legal barriers to immigration that affect permanent same-sex partners in binational relationships. Specifically, the resolution calls on Congress either to include the Reuniting Families Act, which incorporates the Uniting American Families Act, in comprehensive immigration reform, or to pass the Uniting American Families Act on its own as stand-alone legislation. In support of the measure, the author writes:

The federal Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to add same-sex “permanent partners” to the list of family members that a U.S. citizen or legal resident could sponsor for immigration.

Since current law does not allow gay and lesbian Americans and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign-born partners for legal residency, they cannot access the family immigration system for green cards and immigrant visas. Because of this inequity, thousands of lesbian and gay bi-national couples are kept apart, torn apart, or forced to stay together illegally, with one partner living in constant fear of deportation.

ARJ 15 is co-sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE). Melanie Nathan, human rights attorney, Amos Lim, co-founder of Out4Immigration, Gina Caprio who is unable to sponsor her British partner, and representatives from EQCA and AACRE will be providing testimony.

The bill is opposed by Capital Resource Family Impact, which believes UAFA undermines the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Republican Mayor Dan Sullivan has chosen to veto a city ordinance which would have banned discrimination against the LGBT community in Anchorage.

“My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance,” the mayor said. “My review also shows that the vast majority of those who communicated their position on the ordinance are in opposition.”

Sullivan said he had received almost 2,500 comments as he was considering whether to let the measure stand.

The ordinance was the subject of intense public interest and debate all summer. The Assembly approved a compromise measure last week by a 7-4 vote.

The Assembly can override the mayor’s veto, but it needs eight votes to do so. The panel has 21 days to take up the issue again. The next opportunity will be at its next meeting, Aug. 25.

We had been thinking about taking a cruise up to Alaska now that Palin has thankfully resigned. Perhaps we need to rethink that idea.

In response to the new DOMA brief filed today by the DOJ, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) issued a press release asking Obama to live up to his pre-election promises while trumpeting their growing list of bigots… I mean membership.

“In a high-profile interview with Rick Warren, Barack Obama convinced millions of Americans he opposed gay marriage; we are calling on the President to live up to his campaign commitment” said Brian Brown [NOM Executive Director].

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announces today that their 2 Million for Marriage campaign now has topped 500,000 active supporters, part of a planned expansion of its activist base in preparation for fighting to prevent President Obama from overturning DOMA.

“NOM’s activist base is exploding, increasing tenfold in the first five months of this year,” said Brian Brown, “We’ve moved from 50,000 to more than 500,000 Americans pledging to protect DOMA.”

NOM’s goal for 2009 is to build an army of 2 million Americans willing to fight against efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. “At this rapid rate of growth, we will meet or exceed our ambitious goals by the end of 2009,” notes Brown.

“The National Organization for Marriage has emerged as the nation’s only major national grassroots organization dedicated to protecting marriage,” notes Maggie Gallagher, president and founder of NOM. “DOMA is the only federal law that protects marriage as the union of husband and wife, and guarantees voters in Georgia or Wisconsin that a handful of judges in Massachusetts will not be able to impose gay marriage on their state.”