Yesterday, Governor Martin O’Malley signed a law legalizing same sex marriage in Maryland. This news is the latest in a series of big victories for marriage equality. In February, an appeals court in California ruled Proposition 8 (the amendment banning gay marriage in California) unconstitutional, Washington state legalized gay marriage, and the New Jersey legislature passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage, although NJ governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill. The Maryland law takes effect in 2013, and opponents are expected to fight it. Even though the movement toward marriage equality is still a struggle, these events are important signs that things are changing.

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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 »

Great news out of California this week! Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same sex marriage in California, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court on Tuesday.

Prop 8 has been very controversial since 2008, when it was narrowly passed by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent. You probably remember the Yes on Prop 8/No on Prop 8 campaigns. Even though the law only affected California, people from around the country got involved with the issue. And even though countless celebrities and big companies like Google threw their weight behind the No on Prop 8 campaign, it still managed to pass.

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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 »

The Village was alaze with celebration and excitement Sunday as the 42nd Annual Gay Pride Parade took to the streets of mid and lower Manhattan.  The parade comes only two days after the New York Senate voted to legalize same-sex marriages in the State of New York.  NYC Gov. Andrew Cuomo was the obvious hero of the day, leaving the McCords from Real Housewives NYC as the obvious zeros.  Alex and hubby hugged the outer edge of the route in extreme effort to assure camera’s like ours caught it.

Caught it we did, in addition to 100 or so more pics.  So check out these 135 photos from Sunday’s historic Pride Parade.  And give cheers around to NY for having the cajones to recognizing equal rights for all.

(all photos © CollegeCandy.com 2011)

Real Housewives New York’s Alex McCord

The Man of the Hour Governor Andrew Cuomo

initiating the gallery...

News broke that Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child with a family housekeeper almost fifteen years ago. The famous movie actor, body builder and former Governor of California has a history of not-so-savory sexual drama. When he was running for office back in 2003, a number of women came forward claiming he had sexually harassed them. His now-separated wife, Maria Shriver, stood by her man back then, but news that he impregnated their employee at the same time she herself was pregnant must have been too much. Can’t say I blame her.

LinkedIn went from being a privately owned company to a publicly owned one that anyone can invest in. The switch happened Thursday with a bang- it was the biggest company opening on the market in two years. Demand for the stock was so high that less than 5% of people who wanted to buy shares could. The stocks even reached a price three times what had been predicted. (Read more on this.) Read More »

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Yesterday, two years after Prop 8 – a proposition to ban gay marriage in California – was passed, Federal Judge Vaugh Walker released a 136-page document deeming the proposition unconstitutional. To say it was a big day for the gay and lesbian community in this country is an understatement. In fact, to say it was a big day for this very straight woman is an understatement, too.

Having been raised in a liberal household before attending an extremely liberal college, I literally cannot understand the idea of banning gay marriage. Say what you will about the whole “marriage is between a man and a woman” thing, making it illegal for a gay couple to get married is unfair, unjust and in opposition to the morals and ideals this country was built on. Read More »

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