Pentagon Revokes On Base Marriages

The Washington Post is tweeting that the Pentagon has revoked the U.S. Navy memo granting permission for chaplains to perform on-base same-sex marriages. This comes after two days of intense anti-gay lobbying on the issue by House GOP members working under the orders of the Family Research Council.

Tony Perkins On Navy Weddings

"If the administration keeps pounding its agenda through the military, we'll need the Navy SEALs to rescue marriage. Last week, we started to see some of the fallout from the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal. Without bothering to consult Congress-or the law-Navy officials decided to revise their training manuals to better accommodate same-sex 'marriage.' In a letter to the chaplain corps, Rear Admiral M.L. Tidd says it starts by freeing up military chaplains and facilities for homosexual weddings. 'This is a change,' Tidd wrote, 'to previous training that states same-sex marriages are not authorized on federal property.'

"Call it what you will, but that's not a change to 'training'--that's a circumvention of U.S. law. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)--which governs not just the military, but every federal entity--states that marriage is the legal union of a man and woman. Now that the ban on homosexuals in the military is overturned, the White House is trying to enlist the troops in its war on DOMA. And if the administration won't uphold the law, then it shouldn't surprise anyone that the President would order the military to ignore it." - Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, calling the decision to allow gay weddings on Navy bases "an assault on religious freedom."

Navy OK's On-Base Gay Marriages

It appears that the U.S. Navy has authorized the usage of military chapels for performing same-sex marriages in jurisdictions where it is legal. Lez Get Real reports:

The changes came in the form of an April 13 advisory memo issued to all chaplains which said the Chaplain Corps was revising its Tier I DADT Repeal training manuals, which had previously indicated that same-sex marriages are not authorized on federal property. Citing “additional legal review” by Navy attorneys, the Chief of Navy Chaplains, Admiral Michael Tidd said the Navy “has concluded that, generally speaking, base facility use is sexual orientation neutral.” “If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then the base facilities may be used to celebrate the marriage,” added Tidd.

The above-cited memo also excuses chaplains from performing any ceremony that conflicts with their religious beliefs.

CANADA: Florist Refuses Gay Wedding

A florist in New Brunswick has refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding because she "must respect her conscience before God."

After agreeing to provide the flowers for a wedding, Kim Evans of Petals and Promises Wedding Flowers sent an email last month to the couple, saying she didn't know it was a same-sex wedding and would have no part of the ceremony. "I am choosing to decline your business. As a born-again Christian, I must respect my conscience before God and have no part in this matter," the email said. Evans has not returned calls from CBC News to explain her decision. Mario Bourgeois Leduc, wedding planner for the couple, who didn't want their names released, said he was appalled by the florist's email, especially since "you're celebrating love and you're going against all of the odds to celebrate what is important in your life." "This is going to stay with them for years, because they were again told that their lives are not OK."

According to the New Brunswick Human Rights Act, businesses cannot refuse customers based on sexual orientation. This Saturday a group of LGBT activists will hold a protest at the shop.

A group of gays and lesbians form New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are planning a protest at Petals and Promises florist shop, 39 Glen Pine Drive, in Riverview, New Brunswick. The demonstration will take place on Saturday, March 19, from 3 to 6 PM. Protesters are encouraged to bring flowers to lay at the doorstep of the florist shop to make the point that the LGBT community is aware of the illegal actions of the florist in refusing services for a same-sex wedding, yet they are not condemning them for their religious beliefs.

Should the couple pursue a complaint, you can bet this incident will be heralded by the Christianist right as yet another example of the legalized homofacism coming to America.

CANADA: Appeals Court Rules Against "Religious Objection" On Gay Weddings

Saskatchewan's provincial Court of Appeals has ruled that it is unconstitutional to allow marriage commissioners to opt-out of performing same-sex weddings due to religious objections. In its decision, the Court noted that marriage commissioners are "the only option" for Canadians who wish to marry in a non-religious ceremony.

The Appeal Court said that accommodating commissioners' religious convictions does not justify discriminating against same-sex couples who want to tie the knot. Five judges on the bench at Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal have been considering the case since it heard arguments on the proposed law last May. That's when the provincial government sought advice on two versions of its proposed law -- one that would allow all of the province's approximately 370 commissioners to refuse to wed couples on religious grounds, and another that would only allow the exemption for those who held the job before gay marriage was legalized in 2004. In the ruling issued Monday, the court said the effect of both options runs counter to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "Either of them, if enacted, would violate the equality rights of gay and lesbian individuals. This violation would not be reasonable and justifiable within the meaning of s. 1 of the Charter. As a result, if put in place, either option would be unconstitutional and of no force or effect."

Stand by for the World Net Daily headline: "Canada FORCES Christians To Marry Homosexuals! And It Can Happen HERE!"

UPDATE: That didn't take long. Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber just tweeted: "Liberty of conscience dead in Canada. Dying here."

In-Flight Gay Wedding Rap

From SAS Airlines' in-flight gay wedding.

(Tipped by JMG reader James)

British Newspaper's "Win The Cover" Contest Results In Gay Marriage Proposal

The British version of Metro, a free daily newspaper, held a contest in which the winning reader would be allowed to use the front page for whatever reason they liked. The winner decided to use the space to propose to his boyfriend of five years. Here's how his partner got the news.

Having missed out on his own copy from the station on his way through, it was a fellow Tube passenger's Metro that caught Ben's eye. Clocking his name, the 23-year-old panicked at the sight of it on the front cover. 'I don't always get a Metro at my station - depending on the time of the morning there can be hardly any left,' he explained. 'So I didn't get a Metro this morning and, on the train, this guy was reading it in front of me. 'Then I saw my name and I thought "what?" I sort of blinked twice, then I'm looking around for a Metro - I gave up my seat to try to find one. 'When I found one and saw the front cover properly it was a shock - and as soon as I got above ground again at Marble Arch I had five or six missed calls on my phone from people asking if I'd seen it.' Ben eventually gave his partner a resounding 'YES' when the pair were able to get through to each other a few hours later - after Ben initially texted Jon with the promise: 'I'm going to kill you!'

The couple says they may tie the knot on their next anniversary in May.

Essence Magazine Publishes Online Photo Essay Of Lesbian Wedding

With the guidance of GLAAD, Essence Magazine, which is aimed at black females, has published an online photo essay of a lesbian wedding. The article includes a profile of how the women met and later married in Washington DC. This is a first for the magazine.

New Jersey Jewish Paper Vows Not To Run Any More Gay Wedding Announcements

The Jewish Standard says that it is SO very sorry to have run that gay wedding announcement and won't be doing that again.

We set off a firestorm last week by publishing a same-sex couple’s announcement of their intent to marry. Given the tenor of the times, we did not expect the volume of comments we have received, many of them against our decision to run the announcement, but many supportive as well. A group of rabbis has reached out to us and conveyed the deep sensitivities within the traditional/Orthodox community to this issue. Our subsequent discussions with representatives from that community have made us aware that publication of the announcement caused pain and consternation, and we apologize for any pain we may have caused. The Jewish Standard has always striven to draw the community together, rather than drive its many segments apart. We have decided, therefore, since this is such a divisive issue, not to run such announcements in the future.

Reader responses appears uniformly against the ban.

SAS To Host In-Flight Gay Wedding

Scandinavian Airlines wants to be the first to host an in-flight gay wedding and has launched a contest to find that couple. One proviso - the nuptials must take place in Swedish airspace in order to be legal.

"It will be a very traditional wedding," SAS spokesman Anders Lindstroem told AFP. "There will be wedding cake and dancing in the aisles." SAS is accepting entries from gay couples who wanted to celebrate their nuptials mid-flight from Stockholm to New York on December 6, with the winning entry will be chosen by an online vote. The airline said it would pay for the winners' tickets, hotels and honeymoon in Los Angeles, and cater the on-board banquet, albeit with a special wedding menu instead of normal passenger fare. Linstroem said SAS was playing catch-up to US airlines, who have spent years courting gay, lesbian and bisexuals in the United States with targeted marketing and sponsorship campaigns.

The airline does note that the ceremony will be held in the closed-off business class section so as "not to offend any other customers who may not approve." Well, boo to THAT part. Will there at least be a mile-high consummation?

One Step Forward

(Via - Andrew Sullivan)

Gay Weddings Begin In Argentina

Subtitles by Andres Duque at Blabbeando.

Mexico City Offers Free Honeymoon To First Gay-Married Argentine Couple

Mexico City's tourism agency is offering a free honeymoon to the first gay couple to wed under Argentina's just-passed marriage equality law.

The offer was "in recognition of tolerance, but also to promote gay friendly tourism in Mexico City," said Alejandro Rojas, according to a statement. Argentina on Thursday became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following a landmark Senate vote which stirred controversy in the majority Roman Catholic nation. Authorities in the Mexican capital, which legalized gay marriage last year, offered air tickets for the first couple to benefit from the Argentine law, and was seeking sponsorship from hotels and restaurants in Mexico City and the beach resort of Cancun, Rojas said. Around 15 percent of world tourism -- 150 million tourists per year -- is gay friendly, while gay tourists are discerning, respectful and spend 47 percent more than heterosexual tourists, Rojas added.

Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in December.

Freep This Poll

UPDATE: The poll is open again.

Last week Good As You's Jeremy Hooper alerted GLAAD that a wedding contest planned for the Today Show would not allow entries from same-sex couples as the winners could not be legally married in New York, where the show is produced. Yesterday the show bowed to pressure from GLAAD and announced that the contest was now open to all couples, a decision that was met with many bigoted responses on the show's site. Today Yahoo News has posted the above poll. You know what to do.

Bob & Henry Get Married

After 64 years! Video by the Washington Blade.

ManCrunch Launches Wedding Contest

A lot of folks had decided ManCrunch was a fake site created just to screw with CBS over their Super Bowl advertising policies. But today we hear they are launching a contest to win a gay wedding during Toronto's gay pride parade.

As North America’s fastest growing same-sex dating service, ManCrunch.com has enabled thousands of men to find happiness in a lasting relationship. At this year’s Pride Parade, in Toronto, Canada, our ceremonial float will be loaded with 10 couples ready to receive their nuptials. As the float progresses through the parade, wedding ceremonies will be performed by an officiant, with 1.3 million cheering witnesses. As a proud supporter of gay marriage we believe that ALL people, no matter where you live, your sexual orientation or what gender you are, you should have the right to say “I do” to the person you love. To emphasize our point, we’ve set out to make history.

Does anybody here actually belong to ManCrunch? Reviews?

Gay Weddings Begin In Portugal

Same-sex marriage became legal is Portugal today and the weddings have already started.

A lesbian couple wed Monday in Portugal's first same-sex ceremony since the predominantly Catholic country introduced a law allowing gay marriage last month. Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced Portuguese mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married in a 15-minute ceremony at a Lisbon registry office. "This is a great victory, a dream come true," Pires said as the couple kissed and hugged. "Now we're a family, that's the important thing," Pires said, adding they would continue to fight for equal rights for homosexuals, including adoption. The ceremony came less than a month after Portugal's conservative president ratified a gay marriage law passed by Parliament in January.

The Pleasure Of Your Company

(Via - Wedinator)

Gay Couple Takes Second Place in Crate & Barrel's $100,000 Wedding Contest

Gregory Jones and Jonathan Howard have finished in second place in Crate & Barrel's $100,000 Dream Wedding Contest. They and the other gay couples in the contest generated quite a lot of positive press for the marriage equality movement (as well as some internet nastiness, of course.) Today they write via email:

To those of you who stood alongside us, and helped make this happen, we thank you. We thank you for your hard work, determination, and repeated sacrificing of Facebook status updates to help us reach this extraordinary place. Through your efforts, you have helped unite a community fighting for a common goal: full federal equality, including the right for same-sex couples to marry nationwide. We never imagined that our attempt to win a wedding would become a social statement that gained national coverage. Thank you all for giving us the chance to represent our community which, in the end, showed us the true meaning of community. We are still speechless when we think about the last 48 sleepless hours of the contest, which were probably some of the most exciting hours of our lives; more than 7,000 of you voted for us at that time.

Terrance McNally Marries In DC

While Christianists around the nation protested and rained down death threats on tiny college productions of his play Corpus Cristi, author Terrence McNally married his partner in Washington DC.

On Tuesday, the 71-year-old playwright and his partner, Tom Kirdahy, 46, exchanged vows on the banks of the Potomac River with the new same-sex marriage law in the nation's capital. Never mind their 25-year age difference, he said. They don't feel it, except for their tastes in music. During a small ceremony under a tree blooming with white flowers, Kirdahy read from a scene in McNally's play "Corpus Christi," in which a gay Christ-like figure named Joshua marries two apostles. "It is good when two men love as James and Bartholomew do and we recognize their union," Kirdahy read. "Love each other in sickness and in health." Kirdahy, a lawyer and Broadway producer, choked up as he recalled seeing the play before meeting McNally. "The first time I saw it, I knew that I could love the writer of those words," he said. Once they met, McNally said, it was love at first sight. Since then, they have battled McNally's lung cancer and worked together, as well as apart. After nearly 10 years and a clean bill of health, it feels like a lifetime, McNally said.

Witnesses to the wedding included actors Tyne Daly, John Glover, and Malcolm Gets.