Today's a special day in California and the USA. One month after the California State Supreme Court struck down a ban on gay marriage, today at 5:01 PM county clerks will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Citizens of Massachusetts are fiercely lobbying their legislators, trying to swing their votes in favor/against a ballot measure allowing Massachusetts voters to decide whether or not gay marriage will survive in the Bay State.  

I've been getting emails from my friends in Holyoke (a wonderful city in Western Mass), who met with their local representative, Tim Kane, to ask him to vote against a ballot measure, and I write to you to say: I'm torn, friends. Help me out.

Just a quick shout out to all the couples that married in Massachusetts three years ago today.  What a giant leap forward.

We should take a minute to thank our friends at MassEqualityfor their continued fight to defend equal marriage rights.

Proponents of same-sex marriage, the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance (www.wa-doma.org), have introduced Initiative 957 that would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years of marriage or face having their marriages annulled.  Marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children and couples would be required to prove they can have children to get a marriage license. All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized" and people in them would be ineligible to receive any marriage benefits.

Why this seemingly absurd initiative?

Despite the fact that we are a living in a democratic state allowing for free elections, there are some things that should not be allowed on a ballot- such as minority rights.

Even in states that have been passed over for a large portion of national support, when we talk about the issues and we talk about the value of LBGT people, we can produce good results.

Take a look at South Dakota.

A new poll in South Dakota out today says that if the election were held today, South Dakotans would reject a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in the state.

After several states handily passed similar amendments in 2004, it would seem that South Dakota could be emerging as a progressive oasis right in the middle of the country.

Well, probably not, but this poll is refreshing news.  When conservative states like South Dakota balk at ballot measure that would have almost certainly passed just two years ago, you know the tide is changing.  Of course, that is not to say you will see gay wedding bells anytime soon in South Dakota, only that the people of middle America are starting to see through and question the hate filled agenda being pushed by conservative Republican extremist.  

* Congrats to those in South Dakota who are leading the fight against the ammendment, including Class of 2005 YP4 Fellow Jon Hoadley who is the campaign manager for South Dakotans Against Discrimination.

A recent ad tries to personalize marriage equality by having straight people place themselves in the LBGT community's shoes.

The LBGT community and our allies have been trying innovative marketing strategies to change public opinion. Check out the best below the fold.

The fight for gay marriage suffered another blow as Washington State upheld a ruling that bans same-sex marriage. In a 5-4 decision, the courts supported the Washington state's Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which restricts marriage to opposite sex couples.

If vetoing marriage equality bills is worth $100,000, imagine what actually passing the bill would be worth.