Wednesday 26 June 2013

Victory of Love in the US. Historic rulings "mark the biggest advance in civil liberties for gay people in a generation"

I am so happy and full of emotions. This is truly a historic day, and not only for the US. This is a victory of human rights. This is a victory of love.

Country by country. Regime by regime. Sooner or later. This is going to happen. Get over it.

And... congrats, gay Armenians in California!! You can now officially marry your loved ones.
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The Guardian: "A landmark supreme court ruling struck down a controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples in the US, delivering a stunning victory on Wednesday to campaigners who fought for years to overturn it.

The court also dismissed a separate appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the largest US state and nearly doubling the number of Americans living in states where gay marriage would be legal.

Together, the two rulings mark the biggest advance in civil liberties for gay people in a generation, and come amid growing political and international recognition that same-sex couples deserve equal legal treatment."

As Ben Affleck tweeted: "Goodbye #DOMA #Prop8. Hello #equality."

And the hero of the day is of course Edith Windsor.

BBC: "The legal challenge to Doma was brought by New York resident Edith Windsor, 83. She was handed a tax bill of $363,000 (£236,000) when she inherited the estate of her spouse Thea Speyer - a levy she would not have had to pay if she had been married to a man."

President Obama called Edie Windsor—the plaintiff in the #DOMA case—from AF1 to congratulate her on today's ruling (White House twitter)

*picture - via The New Yorker: How Edith Windsor learned she won

The New Yorker: Everyone at the apartment of Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer who argued Edith Windsor’s successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, exploded in screams and sobs when the ruling came down. Kaplan called her mother and said, “Total victory, Mom: it couldn’t be better.” Windsor said, “I wanna go to Stonewall right now!” Then she called a friend and said, “Please get married right away!” 

Update: Just after 11 A.M., the President called. Kaplan picked up the phone and gave it to Windsor. “Hello, who am I talking to?” Windsor said. “Oh, Barack Obama? I wanted to thank you. I think your coming out for us made such a difference throughout the country.”
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Here is how Google celebrated today's historic ruling. Any search involving "gay", "lesbian", "bisexual", "transgender", "LGBT" - turned Google search rainbow.


2 comments:

artmika said...

There is also new "feeling pride" emoticon on Facebook. Love it.

artmika said...

Statement by YouTube: Statement by YouTube: "At YouTube, we believe that everyone has the right to love and be loved. We strive to make YouTube a place where all communities can feel proud to express themselves and connect through video. That's why we're proud to stand with the LGBT community and support equal rights and marriage equality for all." #ProudToLove

http://youtu.be/mDm0zsw9vjY