Great news: gay marriage becomes legal in Washington!!

*via The New York Times

picture - by Alex Wong/Getty Images - Jonathan Howard, above left, and Gregory Jones applied for a marriage license on Wednesday in Washington

[...] “This is a dream come true,” said Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, as she smiled ear to ear and held up her ticket indicating she was first in line with her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47. “We wanted it so bad.”

Gay rights advocates hailed the day as a milestone for equal rights and a symbolic victory as same-sex marriage became legal in the nation’s capital.

Washington is now the sixth place in the nation where same-sex marriages can take place. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. [...]

The new law was already having regional implications.

Maryland’s attorney general, Douglas F. Gansler, issued a legal opinion last week concluding that Maryland should immediately recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. [...]

Because of a mandatory waiting period, couples will not be able to marry in the city until Tuesday.

City officials say the measure will also provide a financial boost to the local economy. A study by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, predicted that more than 14,000 same-sex marriages would occur in the city over the next three years, which would bring in $5 million in new tax revenue and create 700 jobs.

Four stars for US marriage equality flag: Vermont

Few days after Iowa's decision, "Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

The vote came nine years after Vermont adopted its first-in-the-nation civil unions law.

It's now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are the others. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts." (source: AP)

Just checked the US marriage equality flag started by New York-based engineer and designer of Armenian origin Carl Tashian. The flag of equal marriage was updated with four stars. No doubts, more to follow...

Carl Tashian: US marriage equality flag

In 1902, the Women's Suffrage movement created their own version of US flag with only four stars, one for each state that allowed women to vote. The Cali Garmo reports that following this historic example of women’s right movement, New York-based engineer and designer of Armenian origin Carl Tashian started a protest flag for equal marriage rights. The flag was made before the Prop 8 passed in California, so originally it had 3 stars. However, after the Prop 8 passed, the designer had to remove a star.

Currently, as Carl Tashian writes in a specially established Facebook group – The flag of equal marriage - “The flag only has two stars, for Connecticut and Massachusetts (the 5th and 6th state in the union), the only states with legalized same-sex marriage. The suffragists did the same thing in 1902, and it seemed to work...”

Gay marriage: Good (Connecticut, US) and Bad (Portugal) news

Good news: Connecticut's Supreme Court has overturned a ban on same-sex marriages, making it the third US state to legalise such unions. Earlier, California legalises gay marriage. The only other state where it's legal is Massachusetts.

The court ruled that the law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples was unconstitutional as it discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. Gay marriage was legalised in California earlier this year and in Massachusetts in 2003. Connecticut already permits same-sex civil unions.

Unfortunately, the fate of California's historic gay marriage ruling is under the threat now, facing re-ban by a put forward "Proposition 8" to be voted in November.

Bad news: Portuguese parliament says no to gay marriage. No surprise here considering pretty conservative mentality dominant there under the strong influence of the Catholic church. This is despite the announced "Portugal's process of modernization".