There are many heterosexual couples that say they won’t get married until after marriage equality is achieved and same sex marriage has been legalized — Brad and Angelina are probably the first couple that comes to mind. This isn’t a decision I’d ever have to think about because, well, same sex marriage is already legal in Canada where I’m from. It’s a decision I admire, and it’s cool to see that one woman has taken the fight for equality a step further.

Yes, an openly gay Texan judge has said she won’t perform marriages until she is able to get married to a person of her choosing. This week Tonya Parker told Stonewall Democrats:

“I don’t perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality, and until it does, I am not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn’t apply to another group of people.’ And it’s kind of oxymoronic for me to perform ceremonies that can’t be performed for me, so I’m not going to do it.”

It’s a bold move that I completely support. In Canada churches are not required to marry two members of the same sex, and I don’t think a judge should have to perform marriages when they don’t support biased legislation.

[Lead image via Lasse Kristensen/Shutterstock]

In today’s society, coming out is one of the most personal and difficult decisions a person can make. Coming out means that you are sharing, sometimes with complete strangers, a part of yourself that has been buried and hidden for a long time. It means you are acknowledging the fact that you are different (although I wish being gay wasn’t classified as “different”).

Keeping the difficulty of such a task in mind, I applaud Matt Bomer for not only coming out, but for doing so without dramatization. Instead of acknowledging that he is different than the majority of people in the world, he did exactly what everyone else would do when they accept an award: he thanked his family. While some celebrities may choose to come out through magazine covers or interviews, Bomer treated the situation like it was completely normal when he said, “I’d especially like to thank my beautiful family: Simon, Kit, Walker, Henry. Thank you for teaching me what unconditional love is. You will always be my proudest accomplishment.” I love that Bomer took a situation that easily could have been escalated into an Us Weekly cover story and came out in a way that makes him just like any other celebrity dad and partner. His speech, I hope, gives us a glimpse into a future in which being gay is no different than being straight. Read More »

A federal appeals court knocked down California’s Proposition 8 — an amendment to the state constitution that banned gay marriage. In 2008, California voters decided to restrict marriage to just a man and a woman. Now, four years later, the court has found that measure to be in violation of the equal protection rights of lesbian and gay individuals. This is big news for California, but doesn’t mean much for other states. The court was ruling on the constitutionality of Prop 8 specifically, not the restriction of gay marriage in general. And, despite the decision, gay couples still can’t get married in Cali — they’ll have to wait ’til the decision goes before a larger panel of justices. However, the debate is now only a couple steps away from the Supreme Court, which means the gay marriage issue could come before the nine almighty justices by the beginning of next year.

President Obama backed off (somewhat) on a rule that would require religious organizations to provide their employees with health insurance covering birth control. Now, groups can “opt out” of this type of coverage, as long as they offer their employees alternative healthcare options that provide contraception. This comes after weeks and weeks of criticism from religious groups that believe contraception is immoral. Maybe Obama came up with a good compromise…but still, getting birth control will require an extra step for lots of people, including students at religiously affiliated colleges. Read More »

Cities across England turned dangerous as violent riots, spurred by the death of a black man by police, spread throughout the country. Mobs took over the streets, setting buildings and cars on fire, shattering windows, and looting stores. Things were particularly bad in London, where the Prime Minister sent 16,000 policemen on Tuesday to calm things down. It worked- the worst is over- but the cost of clean up is estimated to be in the tens of millions. Even though the riots began because of one man’s death, the social and economic inequality may have been what really heated things up. That’s an issue pretty familiar to those living in the U.S., and now, many are wondering, could the same thing happen in the states? Read More »

I must have been out of town when this memo was passed around, so perhaps someone can clue me in. When did “feminist” become a four letter word?

I noticed this first earlier this summer, while reading “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan. My book began to cower in fear any time I attempted to take it out of my purse to do some reading public. While people can openly read Harry Potter books and trashy romance novels, my book was met with hostility.

“Why are you reading that trash?” my cousin scowled.

“What are you, becoming some kind of feminist?” a friend of mine asked, while I did some pool-side reading.

I thought to myself, if I had been reading a book about civil rights and the end of slavery, I wouldn’t get a second glance. But a book about feminism, one that applies to over half of our population, apparently offends people. Read More »