After winning approval from both the Washington state House and Senate in recent weeks, a historic piece of gay-marriage legislation went before Washington governor Chris Gregoire today for her signature. Signing the bill in the presence of multiple gay-rights activists, Gregoire said, "I'm proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal." Opponents are vowing to fight the law before it's set to take effect June 7, but this was nonetheless a big victory for the cause of gay marriage, which frequently finds itself being fought in courts and via ballot measures, rather than arising wholly out of a state legislature — as it did last year in New York. more ›

Gay marriage supporters and anyone with an ounce of common sense and normal human decency are expecting another major turning point in the fight to overturn Proposition 8 tomorrow morning. The decision on whether or not California's ban on same-sex marriages is legal under the U.S. Constitution will be made around 10 a.m. tomorrow morning when the Ninth Circuit Court is scheduled to release their decision. During earlier oral arguments, the LA Times reports, the three-judge panel "appeared to be leaning toward" siding with Judge Vaughn Walker's 2010 decision ruling Prop 8 unconstitutional. more ›

Bradford Wells and Anthony John Makk, a married gay San Francisco couple who were almost forced to split up last fall due to the threat of Makk's looming deportation, will be able to stay together for at least two more years. Makk, who is an Australian citizen, has been married to Wells, a U.S. citizen, for 19 years but was denied a green card under the Defense of Marriage Act. more ›

So, yeah. Prop 8. It's still being kicked back and forth around the courts like a bullied gay child on an unfriendly playground, and today it goes back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after several procedural questions were settled by lower courts this year. Onetime SFister Matt Baume, now vlogging for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, brings us this handy primer (with visual aids!) on where the case has been and where it's headed. Yes, it will likely be punted to the Supreme Court at some point, but when is the big question — and will SCOTUS even care to hear it? more ›

The California Supreme Court has announced that at 10 a.m. Thursday (tomorrow), they'll be issuing a ruling regarding the standing of the assorted plaintiffs in the appeal to uphold Prop 8. The court is a couple weeks early on this one — most legal wonks expected this in December — and as we discussed earlier, they are more than likely to rule unanimously in favor of allowing the case to go forward to the Ninth Circuit. Let us explain again for those just tuning in. more ›

Mayoral candidate Dennis Herrera's kid, Declan, wrote a letter to President Obama about the importance of making same-sex marriage legal. And it's totally cute! And sweet. And wildly accurate. It reads: "I think same sex marriage should be allowed because people love each other, then they should be able to get married no matter what. Just because they're a male or female doesn't meant they shouldn't be able to get married. because eveyobody' is differnt in one way or another. No person is exactly the same." more ›

Today was another big day in court for the backers of Prop 8, who remain unhappy that federal judge Vaughn Walker did not agree with their view that homosexual marriage constitutes a horrible, civilization-destroying movement bent on ruining the blessedness of marriage for everyone. The California Supreme Court today heard arguments on the procedural question that has hung over the case for the past ten months since Walker's ruling came down: Can a few average citizens appeal a ruling regarding a ballot initiative, on behalf of the citizenry, even though the state itself does not care to appeal. As predicted by a number of legal experts, the seven justices all appear to say yes, they can. more ›

In what could be a minor blow to the cause of gay-marriage haters, U.S. District Chief Judge James Ware has notified lawyers in the ongoing Prop 8 battle that he'd like to videotape the hearing on August 29 at which he will be deciding whether to make public the digital video recordings made by Judge Vaughn Walker in the earlier federal trial. Judge Walker hoped to upload and/or live-stream video of the earlier trial, a plan that was quashed by the Supreme Court. It was announced last month that when the Prop 8 appeal hearing comes to the California Supreme Court on September 6, that hearing will be televised. more ›

Sex advice columnist and It Gets Better founder Dan Savage stopped by The Cobert Report last night to discuss monogamy in marriage. Profiled in the New York Times recently, he "argued that sometimes monogamy is what dooms a marriage." Some foes of gay marriage have since blasted Savage for being pro marriage, against divorce and yet not having a monogamous relationship with his partner. more ›

This is probably one of the sweetest things we've seen in our lives. On the morning after a euphoric night of celebrating the New York State Senate's decision to legalize same-sex marriage, contributor Garth Johnston penned a lovely proposal to his boyfriend of five and a half years, Woody Loverude, on Gothamist: more ›

Two years after the New York State Senate strongly rejected gay marriage, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced passage of the Marriage Equality Act today by a margin of 33 to 29, granting same-sex couples the freedom to marry under the law. New York is the sixth and largest state to approve gay marriage, effectively doubling the number of Americans living in states with the freedom to marry. more ›

More details emerge this week as the U.S. Census Bureau releases another round of summary data from the 2010 Census, and guess what!? San Francisco has a lot of same-sex couples! Over 10,000 in fact, compared to 300 in Walnut Creek. We now have the first ever, nationally recognized, and close-to-accurate-as-we're-going-to-get data regarding gay marrieds around the nation, and the info is sure to be a boon for gay marriage advocates too as a picture emerges of just how many gay couples are raising children, in every state of the nation. Sadly, though, there's still no question about sexual orientation on the Census, so there won't be any accurate numbers regarding single gay people. more ›

Chief Judge Ware has ruled against anti-marriage ilk, throwing out the inane argument that Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling against Prop 8 was unconstitutional since he is a homosexual." Their complaints, if you recall, were that Judge Walker's ruling "should be invalidated based on the fact that he had a bias in the case, being himself a gay man who potentially wanted to be legally married." more ›

After news broke that Obama will no longer defend DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Maeo) released the following statement: more ›

Word just came down from the White House that President Obama's administration will,, according to KRON 4 Morning News, "no longer defend a constitutional clause that bans the recognition of same-sex marriage." Which is to say, Obama will not defend DOMA. We'll update as soon as we hear more. more ›

Working with the Human Rights Campaign's New Yorkers for Marriage Equality, former President George W. Bush's daughter Barbara released a video supporting gay marriage in New York. In the video, Barbara Bush, 29, says, "Everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love." more ›

Buried as it will be in the Christmas weekend news cycle, Vice President Joe Biden showed up on Good Morning America and said that legalizing gay marriage was "inevitable," and that the same thing was happening with national attitudes toward the issue as has happened with gays in the military. Biden's statements come after President Obama hinted that his views on gay marriage are "evolving." Is this just pandering to the gay voter base who have, up until now, been getting pretty soured by being ignored by the Administration? Time will tell. more ›

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, an anti-gay and mentally-unhinged traditional marriage activist, argues that the rainbow symbol, once a prism of God or whatever, should be reclaimed by confused proponents of Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban. more ›

Deja vu. National Organization of Marriage (NOM), an anti-gay group with strong ties to the Mormon church and icky thoughts about men having anal sex, unleashed another ignorant (or intentionally misleading) ad about--you guessed it--gay marriage. This one involves the state of Iowa. The video is fearful and perverse, nothing unusual for NOM. more ›

Gay marriage stay was granted by 9th Circuit Court while the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban is bandied about. Brian Devine at Calitics notes: "[T]he panel that issued this Order (the motions panel) is not the same panel that will hear that case on the merits. The merits panel will be selected shortly before December 6th and we don't know the three judges who will be on the merits panel. But this is a very good sign that the appeal could be dismissed on the ground of standing alone." For now, this means no same sex weddings anytime soon -- until DecemberGod knows when. [Calitics] more ›

Judge Vaughn Walker, the federal judge who last week overturned Proposition 8, California's same sex marriage ban, issued a ruling to lift the stay on same sex marriage in California. The majority of the crowd gathered at City Hall, as expected, is elated. more ›

As we await the decision from Judge Walker about the stay in the Prop 8 case, allow us to point you to a new graph and a CNN poll showing the ongoing trend since 1988 of decreasing opposition to gay marriage and increasing support for it. As of this week, 52% of Americans polled support marriage equality. more ›

A few Yes On 8 protesters gathered outside San Francisco City Hall today to voice their anti-gay marriage stance. They also made these lovely blouses crafted out of anti-gay marriage banners. Fancy. more ›

After California's gay marriage ban was overturned last week, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said he would make a decision today whether or not marriages could resume. If Walker chooses to lift the stay, that means marriage could start as soon as noon. more ›

In an "extraordinary" court filing today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asked for same-sex marriage to be "allowed to resume immediately in California after a federal ruling that the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional," reports Sacto Bee. more ›

San Francisco is gearing up to marry people. But they need volunteers! Might you be one of them? SF Appeal reports, "Sometime in the next week or so, Judge Walker is expected to issue a very short ruling saying that the current hold on same sex marriage (called a 'stay') will either either remain in place through the appeal process (which could be many months), or will rule to lift it and allow same sex marriages to be performed in California." Which is to say, same-sex couples could get married (legally!) as soon as a few hours or a few weeks or a few months. But said ceremonies will have to be done fast before the 9th Circuit court reinforces the stay. more ›

A day after California's gay marriage ban was ruled unconstitutional, proponents of Prop 8 "formally appealed a federal judge's ruling striking down the voter-approved law," reports Sacramento Bee. Both sides of the issue will probably have to submit written arguments before a hearing is set with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. more ›

For those of you interested in Walker's decision in its entirety, you read the full Proposition 8 decision. Judge Vaughn Walker found California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional under both the equal protection clauses and due process. more ›

Today, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Proposition 8 -- California's discriminatory same-sex marriage ban -- unconstitutional. Here are some scenes from outside the San Francisco Federal Courthouse shortly after Walker's decision was announced. more ›