U.S.Customs Issues Pro-Gay Border Crossing Policy

Finally! One of the more annoying aspects of international travel as a U.S. same-sex couple is returning home after a hellishly long flight from a foreign country (Spain, Argentina, Canada, South Africa, Netherlands, Portugal etc) where one is treated like a marital unit is the welcome from the United States Border agent completely denying the legitimacy of your relationship by refusing to allow same-sex couples to fill a single customs declaration form like other families travelling together.

On Monday came word from the Obama Administration that they are going to make an administrative rule change that will eliminate that homophobic nuisance at the border for good.

CBP Announces Proposal to Expand Filing of Joint Customs Declarations WASHINGTON— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will publish tomorrow a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to revise its regulations concerning when members of a family residing in one household and traveling together on their return to the United States may make a joint declaration for all members of the family.
 CBP is proposing to expand the definition of the term “members of a family residing in one household” to include domestic relationships, which would allow more U.S. returning residents to file a joint customs declaration for articles acquired abroad. “Domestic relationship” would be defined to include foster children, stepchildren, half-siblings, legal wards, other dependents, and individuals with an in loco parentis or guardianship relationship.  CBP would also include within the definition two adults who are in a committed relationship including, but not limited to, long-term companions and couples in civil unions or domestic partnerships where the partners share financial assets and obligations, and are not married to, or a partner of, anyone else. “Members of a family residing in one household” would continue to encompass relationships of blood, adoption, and marriage.  By expanding the definition of “members of a family residing in one household,” CBP anticipates a reduction in the number of declarations (CBP Form 6059-Bs), which would streamline passenger processing by CBP officers and reduce costs. CBP believes that this proposed change would more accurately reflect relationships between members of the public who are traveling together as a family.  Written comments must be received on or before May 26, include the agency name and docket number by visiting the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov or by mail to: Trade and Commercial Regulations BranchRegulations and RulingsU.S. Customs and Border Protection799 9^th Street, N.W. (Mint Annex)Washington, D.C. 20229-1179-CBP- U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Anyone think a Romney Administration would be making a similar rule change? "Jus' sayin'"!

NH House Defeats Marriage Equality Repeal Bill!

Great news from New Hampshire! Despite expectations that the Republican majority in the New Hampshire legislature would pass HB 437 to repeal that state's 2009 marriage equality law and that the fight would be over whether the heterosexual supremacists could override a promised veto from Democratic Governor John Lynch.

Instead, today the New Hampshire House voted 211-116 to defeat the bill, thus preserving the right of same-sex couples to receive civil marriage licenses in the Live Free or Die state.

The Washington Blade reports:

House bill 437, which would have prevented New Hampshire from recognizing any new same-sex marriages and revived the 2007 civil unions law in its place, was introduced last year by GOP Rep. Bates, along with 11 Republican co-sponsors. After the bill lost traction in the House last week, Bates introduced an amendment that would put a nonbinding question on the issue before voters in November, prior to the law’s official repeal date in March 2013, as well as have left intact the 2,000 existing same-sex marriages already recognized by the state, much like California’s post-Proposition 8 law that created, what advocates call 15,000 “limited edition” legally recognized same-sex marriages in that state. 

The floor amendment, meant to give the law a better chance of surviving a veto, failed to be adopted after a vote of 162-188, leaving the bill less likely to become law in the long run. 

After a failed first vote on returning to civil unions, the legislature voted to divide the combined civil unions-referendum amendment into separate issues, an effort that also failed on a vote of 128 to 222. 

[...] 

Countering the call for a ballot initiative, Rep. Steve Murphy (R- Bedford) declared, “The rights of the people are not subject to popular vote.”Earlier, the initial vote on the civil unions amendment — prior to the multiple votes to reconsider — failed on a vote of 82 to 266.

This is great news! It just goes to show the extent to which heterosexual supremacists like the National Organization for Marriage is losing the fight against marriage equality nationwide. NOM abandoned any pretense of principle and actually announced their support for the version of HB 437 which would have (re)enacted civil unions in New Hampshire, which is in direct contravention with public announcements they made against civil unions legislation in Illinois.

As I predicted earlier this year, in 2013 there will be more Americans living in jurisdictions where marriage equality is legal than there is right now, despite the efforts of NOM and other heterosexual supremacists to force ballot measures on these issues in Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and Maine.

PPIC Poll Says 56% Of CA Likely Voters Support Marriage Equality

Wow! The good polling news on marriage equality just keeps on coming. As this is a presidential election year, it is not surprising that there is a lot of polling going on, and I suspect more and more polls will be including the marriage equality question. Just last week we heard from the Field Poll that 59% of Californians support marriage equality (compared to just 34% who do not), the largest lead (25 points) and highest level of support for same-sex marriage ever recorded in the state by the most trusted name in California polling.

The latest poll is from PPIC and says that 52% of registered voters support allowing same-sex marriage, compared to 41% who don't a margin of +11 for the supporters of equality, which is identical to what the PPIC poll showed last September. Of course the grain of salt here is that the margin of error of the PPIC poll is ±3.8 points, so technically we can not be sure that a majority of registered voters in California support marriage equality. We can however be sure that there are more supporters of marriage equality than people who oppose it.

PPIC also attempts to sample "likely voters," and among this group support for marriage equality is even higher, at 56% with a mere 38%expressing opposition. This is a margin of +18 for the forces for equality. The margin of error on this statistic is ±4.2 points, so this time, according to PPIC, a majority of Californians likely to vote in the June 2012 primary support marriage equality (see figure, below).

Equality California immediately sent out a statement about the new poll which included the graphic at the top of this post highlighting the improvement in the "likely voter" statistic on the question of marriage in the last 3 years.

This was a somewhat curious move, since no one in California is going to be voting on the question of marriage equality anytime soon, since there is no organized effort to put a Proposition 8 repeal measure on the November 2012 ballot due to the fact that the Perry v Brown litigation about the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban is still tied up in the federal courts and is unlikely to be resolved before June 2013 (at the earliest!)

All that being said, two polls within two weeks indicating near-majority support for marriage equality and at the very least significant, double-digit leads for the pro-equality forces are very encouraging and good news!

Initiative To Abolish Death Penalty On CA Ballot

Interesting news! For the third time in 40 years, Californians will vote on whether they would like to abolish the state's death penalty, converting all capital sentences to life in prison without parole. Thanks to a new law signed by Governor Brown, all ballot measures must appear on November statewide general elections, not primary elections.

This will be the first time in over 20 years that Californians will be able to vote on the death penalty, which is has not been in effect since 2006 due to a court order.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Opponents of capital punishment said Thursday they were submitting 800,000 signatures on petitions for an initiative to close the nation's largest Death Row, which has 725 condemned prisoners. The measure needs 504,760 valid signatures to make the ballot.

"California voters are ready to replace the death penalty with life in prison with no chance of parole," declared Jeanne Woodford, who oversaw four executions as warden of San Quentin State Prison. She now heads the anti-capital-punishment group Death Penalty Focus.

It was an unusually optimistic statement in a state whose residents have consistently supported the death penalty. The most recent Field Poll, in September, showed 68 percent support - although respondents in the same survey, when asked their preferred sentence for murder, backed life without parole over death, 48 to 40 percent.

MadProfessah has long been an opponent of capital punishment, not only because of its racially discriminatory application (Black people who kill white people are much more likely to get the death penalty than white people who kill black people) but due to the principle that the legal system can never be 100% accurate and the state should not kill people to show that killing people is wrong. I have been a member of Amnesty International since college, and it works to eliminate the death penalty around the world.

Looking forward to vote YES to eliminate the death penalty and replace it with a much more cost-effective life without parole. I hope all MadProfessah.com readers will join me in voting YES on this ballot measure!

O'Malley Signs Maryland Marriage Equality Bill!

Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley signed Maryland's marriage equality bill into law on Thursday February 29th, making his state the 8th state in the country to currently have a same-sex marriage law on the books. However, since the bill will not go into effect until January 1, 2013, there will be no actual marriages in Maryland until a November 2012 referendum on the law is resolved.

Heterosexual supremacists have already announced that they intend to place the question on the ballot, and thus have until July 1, 2012 to collect 55,736 signatures and must also submit at least one third of that amount, 18,579 by June 1, 2012.

But February 29th was all about celebrating a long journey to have Maryland join the other states in the Union which have ended illegal gender discrimination in civil marriage (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa, New York, New Hampshire and Washington). Governor O'Malley himself used to oppose marriage equality and only supported civil unions but has since moved enthusiastically into the pro-marriage equality camp and demonstrate that by his willingness to sign the bill in front of television cameras and then open the Governor's mansion for a celebration afterwards.



Maryland is the third state legislature to pass a marriage equality bill in 2012 (following Washington State on February 8, 2012 and New Jersey on February 17, 2012) with the two Democratic Governors (like Chris Gregoire in Washington and O'Malley in Maryland signing the bills into law, both of which will be faced with referendum campaigns to annull these measures at the ballot box. In New Jersey, Republican Governor Chris Christie vetoed his state's marriage equality bill, but said he would have signed it into law if it included a referendum provision, which is anathema to Democratic legislators and LGBT activists in New Jersey.

Congratulations to Maryland! Now let's make sure same-sex couples will have the right to protect their families with all the responsibilities and privileges of civil marriage starting in January 2013 by defeating any campaign to prevent the bill from going into effect.

Welcome Home, Gay Marine!

The above pictures of U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Brandon Morgan kissing his partner Dalan Wells on his homecoming in Hawaii have gone viral in the last 24 hours.

According to Steve Rothaus of Gay South Florida, on learning of his new-found fame, Brandon is quoted as saying:

I'm glad I can be an inspiration to someone. Thank you so very much for sharing my story

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2012/02/marine-brandon-morgan-comments-on-his-kissing-photos-gone-viral-im-glad-i-can-be-an-inspiration.html#storylink=cp

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God and Gay South Florida

Conservative Federal Judge Strikes Down DOMA

Karen Golinksi legally married her partner Amy in 2008 and literally
 made a federal case of getting health benefits for her spouse

Wow! Clearly, the days for which the so-called Defense of Marriage Act will remain viable in the United States Code are numbered, and appears to be decreasing rapidly. Recall that two weeks ago the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Proposition 8. This week, a federal judge named Jeffrey White appointed by Republican president George W. Bush issued an opinion in Golinski v Office of Personnel Management in which he summarily strikes down Section 3 of DOMA as violating Karen Golinski's constitutional right to receive federal benefits based on her legal marriage to her wife Amy.

The case involves Karen Golinski, who married her longtime partner in California in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal between June and November. She has been an employee of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for decades and so when she got married she asked that her employer put her spouse on her health benefits plan like her heterosexual co-workers have been able to do. As a federal employee, but of the Judicial Branch, her case raised a host of interesting constitutional issues. Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit, Alex Kosinski, twice issued orders to the Office of Personnel Management (in the Executive Branch) to process Golinski's request, which were ignored.

Golinski was represented by MadProfessah friend Tara Borelli of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and pro bono by Morrison Foster. Amazingly, the judge ruled based just on the briefing on motions  for summary judgment (from the good guys) and motion for dismissal (from the bad guys represented by Paul Clement and the House Republican majority led by Speaker John Boehner).

U.S. District Court Judge White's opinion is remarkable for many things, as Ari Ezra Waldman notes at TowleRoad:

First, Judge White declared that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation merits heightened scrutiny in an equal protection analysis. 

Second, the court distinguished old and outdated precedent that Judge Randy Smith recently used in his dissent in Perry v. Brown, highlighting the doctrinal vacuum that is denial of gay rights. 

Third, in dismantling the proffered and any conceivable justification for DOMA Section 3, the court authoritatively rejected House Republican attempts to buttress DOMA with recourse to certain conceptions of morality. 

Fourth, Judge White's reliance on the other DOMA cases and Ninth Circuit precedent in other gay rights cases emphasizes the primacy of a federal litigation approach in our quest for marriage recognition.

I encourage you to read the rest of Ari's insightful analysis as well as Chris Geidner's at Poliglot. What is not becoming remarkable is the sight of federal judges ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional. Judge White of the 9th Circuit follows Judge Joseph Tauro of the 1st Circuit who struck down DOMA in July 2010. The decision in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management is still on appeal before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

MD: Senate Passes Marriage Equality Bill 25-22!

Woo hoo! The Maryland State Senate completed work on  HB 438, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, by passing the legislation on a 25-22 vote, sending the measure to Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley who has promised to sign it into law.

NGLTF's Executive Director Rea Carey made a statement:

“Maryland and marriage equality will certainly make a lovely couple. Maryland is the Free State, after all. To be able to share and celebrate one's love and commitment both publicly and legally is a lifelong dream for thousands of same-sex couples and their families. It’s thrilling that Maryland is poised to make this a reality by becoming the latest state to treat its families fairly. This has been a long journey of changing hearts and minds, of breaking down walls, of shining a spotlight on our common humanity. Congratulations to Equality Maryland, Marylanders for Marriage Equality and all those who have been part of the journey leading to this victory.”

By this action Maryland will likely become the 8th state to legalize marriage equality. However, as I noted earlier in a blog post, it is not clear if the law will actually go into effect January 1, 2013 due to the referendum process in Maryland.

Heterosexual supremacists have until May 31st to gather 55,736 signatures to put the measure up for a vote on the November 6, 2012 ballot. Whether same-sex couples will be able to get married will depend on the outcome of the vote.

REPORT: Aussie Marriage Equality Worth $161M

The Williams Institute at UCLA Law School released a report analyzing the fiscal impact of Australia legalizing marriage equality and came up with a big number: at least $161,000,000 over 3 years.

This is a conservative estimate, as the executive summary states:

Extending marriage to Australian same-sex couples would boost the country’s economy by $161 million over three years. This estimate is based on a projection that 54 percent (or 17,820) of Australia’s approximately 33,000 same-sex couples would marry. Tasmania, in particular, stands to claim a large share of that $161 million should it become the first state to allow same-sex couples to marry. In addition to marriages by Tasmanian couples, an estimated 15,236 couples would travel from out-of-state to marry in Tasmania, resulting in an economic gain of $96 million or more for the state. The figures in the report draw upon recent surveys, estimating the total number of Australian same-sex couples and the number of same-sex couples interested in marriage. Notably, the estimates in the report are conservative compared to other estimates because they only include spending by resident couples.  They do not include spending by wedding guests, or wedding or tourism spending by couples traveling to Australia to marry. One recent study that took this additional spending into account estimated an economic boost of $742 million.

Come on, Australia! Don't you want 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur to be able to legally marry her girlfriend?

Today The Simpsons 500th Episode Airs

The Simpsons, regarded by many (including yours truly) as one of the best shows in the history of television, is now in its 23rd season and airs its 500th(!) episode today.

The Holloywood Reporter has a synopsis of the 500th episode:

The Simpsons' 500th episode, "At Long Last Leave," centers on the Simpsons family getting evicted from Springfield and join an off-the-grid community outside of town. But when Homer and Marge try to return to Springfield, their friends give them a hostile welcome. 

Fox has already announced that the show has been renewed for two more seasons, ensuring it will air on television for a record 25 years, longer than any scripted show in history. The Simpsons premiered in 1989 (I saw the the very first show when I was in college) and George H.W. Bush was president of the United States!

Maryland House Passes Marriage Equality 71-67!

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (D)

On the same day (within hours actually) that Republican Governor Chris Christie joined the wrong side of history by vetoing marriage equality legislation passed by the New Jersey legislature the day before, Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley showed the potency of his political capital with the 71-67 passage of a marriage equality bill in the Maryland House of Delegates.

Just one year ago, the Maryland House of Delegates had failed to even vote on a marriage equality bill after it passed the Maryland State Senate. During that vote, it revealed a lack of political will, even among allegedly progressive politicians like Sam Arora who had campaigned on their support for marriage equality then changed their minds when the vote became a reality.

The news today that Republican politicians like the karmically challenged Ken Mehlman and even the odious Dick Cheney were lobbying legislators in favor of the marriage equality legislation while Sam Arora was refusing to take a public stand roiled the LGBT blogosphere.

Governor O'Malley released a statement:

“Today, the House of Delegates voted for human dignity. Speaker Busch and his fellow Delegates deserve a lot of credit for their hard work. At its heart, their vote was a vote for Maryland’s children….Now, as the Senate prepares to vote, all of us are needed – and we’re prepared to redouble our efforts. The common thread running through our efforts together in Maryland is the thread of human dignity; the dignity of work, the dignity of faith, the dignity of family, the dignity of every individual. Love is an unalienable right.”

As for Arora? He voted no (again). There are numerous people, yours truly included, who have a decided interest in making sure that his vote today against equality for all (after being personally lobbied by phone to vote yes by Bill Clinton, Governor O'Malley and Terry Mcauliffe) was a career-ending decision.

The bill is expected to pass the State Senate fairly quickly and be enthusiastically signed into law by Governor O'Malley, who becomes another 2016 Democratic presidential contender and sitting Governor who fought for marriage equality in his state (following in the footsteps of New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Washington governor Chris Gregoire). Only New York will definitely have marriage in 2013, because there is no practical process by which the state's marriage equality law can be challenged by referendum.

It also means that the 2012 elections will have three affirmative marriage equality ballot fights (if we win then same-sex couples can get married) in Maryland, Washington and Maine and two defensive marriage equality ballot fights (if we lose then marriage equality is banned at the state constitutional level) in North Carolina and Minnesota. Interestingly, all 5 states are considered "blue" (Democratic) states likely to cast their votes for President Barack Obama.

A serious question will need to be asked: do you spend more money on defense (North Carolina and Minnesota) or on offense (Washington, Maryland and Maine)? Plus there's the possible election of Tammy Baldwin as the first openly LGBT member of the United States Senate from Wisconsin.

It's definitely going to be an interesting election year!

WA: Gov. Gregoire Signs Marriage Equality Bill!

As promised, Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington, signed the marriage equality bill into law today which was passed by the legislature last week. The bill will not go into effect until June 7th at the earliest, and with her signature today opponents now have the opportunity to collect 120, 557 signatures by that date to place a referendum on the enactment of SB 6239 on the November 2012 ballot. The referendum process prevents the law from going into effect unless and until the referendum is approved by the voters. If you're feeling a sense of déjà vu you are not alone. In 2009, Washington State enacted a comprehensive domestic partnership statute (which on the east coast they call "civil union" or an "everything but the title marriage" law) that became subject to a referendum, Referendum 71.

The ballot measure was later approved by voters and went into effect on December 7, 2009. However, since we all know that separate but equal does not work, Washington marriage equality advocates continued to work for full equality and now have convinced the Legislature and Governor to enact a marriage equality bill. It is quite likely that Evergreen State voters will again approve of equality for same-sex couples and become the first state to enact marriage equality at the ballot box in the process.

If so, Washington will join Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, District of Columbia and New York as granting equal marriage rights to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

WA Legislature Passes Marriage Equality Bill!

Wow! Another day of great news in the ongoing kulturkampf about marriage equality. 15 years after the Washington State legislature enacted a defense of marriage act over the veto of Democratic governor Gary Locke, the same body has passed a marriage equality legislature bill and sent it to Democratic governor Christine Gregoire for her enthusiastic signature.

Last week the State Senate passed the marriage equality bill SB 6239 by a bipartisan vote of 28-21. Earlier today, the State House of Representatives passed the bill by another bipartisan vote of 55 to 43.

The Advocate reports:

A spokeswoman for Gov. Christine Gregoire said Wednesday afternoon that she expects to sign the bill early next week, making Washington the seventh state plus the District of Columbia to legalize same-sex marriage. 

A round of amendments from Republicans looking to stop the bill all failed. One of the failed amendments had tried to require a referendum before same-sex marriage could be approved.  

Sen. Ed Murray, the gay man who has led much of the push for same-sex marriage in the state, said he and others are already gearing up for an expected referendum in November spurred by a petition drive. He told TVW that first a "decline to sign" drive would try to keep a repeal measure off the ballot.

Interestingly, as a result of yesterday's decision in Perry v Brown, the only chance that heterosexual supremacists may have to stop Washington from becoming the 7th state to allow same-sex couples to legally marry is through the referendum process. If they allow the marriage equality law to go into effect on June 7th and use an initiative to repeal it they will be repeating the state of facts which occurred in California in 2008 and that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled are legally impermissible in the 9th circuit (which includes Washington state).A referendum puts the law on hold until the voters decide whether they want to approve it or not. In November 2009, Maine voters rejected a similar marriage equality referendum by rejecting Question 1.

Regardless, Washington state voters have previously affirmed a same-sex relationship law by referendum in November 2009 (Referendum 71 in a non-presidential year) and will almost certainly do so again in 2012 where the President and a U.S. Senator is on the ballot. Bizarrely, it is somewhat likely that both Maine and Washington will have simultaneous ballot fights going on again in November 2012.

Congratulations to Washington!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Black Atheist Public Awareness Campaign

This is great news! African Americans for Humanism has announced a new publicity campaign to raise awareness about the presence of religious skepticism in the Black community. It is not as rare as one might think, a point a recent New York Times article raised that I promoted here on Godless Wednesday a few months ago.

Friendly Atheist alerted me to the ads and supports the campaign, as do I. Apparently they will be running in various major metropolitan areas like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas. Each ad shows a prominent historical African American (it is Black History Month after all!) along with a local Black freethinker.

What do you think?

Celebrity Friday (bonus): Barney Frank Engaged To Marry

The longest serving openly LGBT member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who previously announced he would retire from Congress at the end of this term, has also announced he will be getting married to his longtime partner Jim Ready.

Marriage has been legal in Massachusetts since 2004, what took you so long,Barney? Congratulations!

WA: Majority Of Senators Support Marriage Equality

Excellent news! In Washington State, there is now a majority of Senators who have publicly announced their support for pending marriage equality legislation.

According to the Seattle Times ("Legislature has the votes"):

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, announced Monday that she supports gay-marriage legislation in the Senate, giving proponents the 25 votes needed for passage.

The state House already has enough lawmakers in support of the measure to approve it. Gov. Chris Gregoire backs the bill as well.

[...]

"I know this announcement makes me the so-called 25th vote, the vote that ensures passage. That's neither here nor there. If I were the first or the seventh or the 28th vote, my position would not be any different," Haugen said in a statement.

"I happen to be the 25th because I insisted on taking this much time to hear from my constituents and to sort it out for myself, to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy," she added. Haugen said her preference would be to send the issue to voters to decide, but there aren't the votes in the Legislature to do that.

It is widely expected that the same heterosexual supremacists who forced a referendum in 2009 on Washington's comprehensive domestic partnership bill (which they lost!) will do so again when Governor Gregoire signs the marriage equality bill into law.

The legislative majority correctly is refusing to include a ballot measure provision in the legislation because marriage equality is a civil right and they are supporting the  principle that the rights of a minority should not be decided by a majority vote.

In other exciting marriage news, the Democratic Governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley is expected to introduce a marriage equality bill today.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

NJ Poll Shows Majority Support For Marriage Equality

More good news on the marriage equality front. For the first time, a publicly released poll is showing majority support for marriage equality in the state of New Jersey. The Quinnipiac University Poll shows that 52 percent of respondents support marriage equality while 42 percent oppose it, with a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points.

There are interesting details in the poll, such as:

In today's survey, support for same-sex marriage is 62 - 33 percent among Democrats and 54 - 38 percent among independent voters. Republicans are opposed 59 - 35 percent. White Catholics support it 50 - 45 percent while white Protestants are opposed 51 - 44 percent. Voters who attend religious services weekly are opposed 58 - 36 percent, while voter who attend services less frequently support same-sex marriage 61 - 33 percent. 
On related issues, New Jersey voter opinions are:

• 65 - 32 percent that same-sex marriage is not a threat to traditional marriage;

• 53 - 45 percent that denying same-sex marriage is discrimination;

• 69 - 26 percent support for New Jersey's same-sex civil union law;

• 66 - 29 percent support allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

New Jersey's Democratic legislators have set marriage equality as a legislative priority, naming the bills to enact the priority S.1 and A.1. And although Republican Governor Chris Christie had previously declared he would veto any marriage equality bill, but now Christie is taking a "wait and see" approach.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad.

Microsoft Endorses WA Marriage Equality Bill

Good news! Microsoft corporation, one of the largest employers in the state of Washington and still one of the leading tech companies in the world, has endorsed marriage equality legislation currently pending in their state's legislature.

In a posting on its website, Microsoft said:

“Microsoft’s greatest asset is a talented workforce as diverse as our customers. As other states recognize marriage equality, Washington’s employers are at a disadvantage if we cannot offer a similar, equitable and inclusive environment to our talented employees, our top recruits and their families. This legislation would put Washington employers on equal footing with employers in the six other states that already recognize the committed relationships of same-sex couples. Passing the bill would be good for our business and for the state’s economy.”

This is excellent news and is another measure of the growing momentum for the legislation to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage in the state of Washington.

According to Dan Savage's The Slog, Washington State marriage equality advocates are now just one vote short of having a majority of Senators as publicly declared in support of voting for SB 6239, the legislative vehicle which was introduced and endorsed by the state's governor, Chris Gregoire.

There are still 5 Washington State Senators who are undeclared on marriage equality. Let them know your thoughts on SB 6239, especially if you live in Washington state.

1 Million Signatures On Recall Walker Petitions

Wisconsin Democrats submitted over one million signatures on petitions to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker today. Walker is infamous for sparking an intense partisan divide in Wisconsin by using a narrow Republican legislative majority to end collective bargaining rights for public employees in the state.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports:

It would mark the first such gubernatorial recall in state history and would be only the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history. Organizers Tuesday also handed in 845,000 signatures against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch as well as petitions against four GOP state senators including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

The sheer number of signatures being filed against Walker - nearly as many as the total votes cast for the governor in November 2010 and almost twice as many as those needed to trigger a recall election - ensure the election will be held, said officials with the state Democratic Party and United Wisconsin, the group that launched the Walker recall.

"It is beyond legal challenge," said Ryan Lawler, vice chairman of United Wisconsin.

The filing marks a milestone following Walker's controversial legislation ending most union bargaining for public workers. But Democrats have challenges before them to winning a recall election, including Walker's substantial fundraising and their lack of a candidate.

In addition, there were recall petitions filed for four Republican state senators. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Pam Galloway, Terry Moulton and Van Wanggaard. Last year there were 9 recall elections held in Wisconsin, 6 against Republicans and 3 against Democrats. The results were 5 wins by Democrats and 4 by Republicans ending up in changing the Wisconsin State Senate from 19-14 to 17-16.

Haters Effort To Repeal CA DREAM Act #Fail

Ha-ha! This is excellent news. The California DREAM Act was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown last year and the racist xenophobes started circulating petitions to put a referendum on the November 2012 ballot. The CA Dream Act  allows undocumented youth to receive state financial aid and scholarships for college.

Today comes words that the haters have had a major #fail!

Opponents of the California Dream Act have failed to gather enough petition signatures to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would have repealed the legislation, organizers said Friday. 

Volunteers and a small group of paid signature gatherers had hoped to collect more than 500,000 valid signatures by this week to stop the legislation, which gives illegal immigrants access to state financial aid at public universities and community colleges. They were able to gather nearly 450,000 signatures, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-San Bernardino) said in a statement. 

Supporters of the California Dream Act have argued that many young undocumented immigrants came to the country through no fault of their own; those opposed stressed that the state should not use scarce resources on illegal immigrants.

The haters can still try and get signatures to put an initiative statute on the ballot in November but they have to collect twice as many signatures, and they have to have that done at least 150 days before the election.

I think even if the DREAM Act was up for debate on the ballot that California voters would re-affirm their commitment to equal opportunity and fairness.