Senate passes same-sex marriage

[Dennis 8,391]

11 republicans joined democrats to pass legislation codifying gay marriage, after fears that the conservative supreme court might stike it down.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/politics/same-sex-marriage-vote-senate/index.html

[Standing-o 198]

Finally they do something right!

[PartySick 172,486]

About time. We can't rely on this supreme court to uphold anyone's rights that were decided via court decision.

Next, codify abortion rights and contraceptive access.

[Brainiac 11,171]

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

[Borisapillar 10,128]

2 minutes ago, Brainiac said:

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

The “well guess what Mimi” of the thread 

[Argentum 1,705]

3 minutes ago, Brainiac said:

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

oh took my yaas reaction back

well, at least thats something

[ProfessionalClown 10,647]

11 minutes ago, Brainiac said:

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

It’s still a move in the right direction at least

[Cameltoe Chariot 15,310]

9 minutes ago, Brainiac said:

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

Yeah I got excited when I saw the headline and then read that this doesn't stop individual states from banning same sex marriage so... it basically does nothing. The only states that won't ban it are the current safe haven's queer people already have in america, like the state of California.

Meanwhile gay marriage has been flat out legalized across the country since 2005 and no one up here gives a sh*t about it  america is so f*cking messy, I feel bad for everyone down there stuck with these backwards freaks.

[PartySick 172,486]

3 minutes ago, Brainiac said:

Guys, I hate to break it to you but this law does NOT "codify" same sex marriage across all 50 states. It merely makes it so that every state must recognize your same sex marriage if you got married in a state that has it legalized. It does not stop specific states from making same sex marriage illegal in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges is ever overturned.

Which is a huge step in the right direction anyway, let's not underplay this tbh. Even if you live in the scummiest red state your marriage will be recognized by law where as before, overturning the decision and the GOP passing restrictive laws could have totally upended gay marriages and lives across the country.

I don't think Republicans would be stupid enough to overturn same sex marriage anyway. Some of them seem to be opening their eyes to the fact that Americans in general don't like crazy. It's even more popular than abortion rights and between Roe being overturned and Trump inserting himself in key races, they totally blew it with this last election cycle.

Continuing their war on women and adding a legislative edge to their cultural lashings of the LGBT community would cost them everything in any state that doesn't already vote 15%+ Republican. And margins would shrink in those safe states.

So, I mean, I guess it's a win-win for us in the long run. We either protect our rights or Republicans completely sh*t the bed and delegate themselves to representing only electorally useless flyover states.

[Brainiac 11,171]

2 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Which is a huge step in the right direction anyway, let's not underplay this tbh. Even if you live in the scummiest red state your marriage will be recognized by law where as before, overturning the decision and the GOP passing restrictive laws could have totally upended gay marriages and lives across the country.

I don't think Republicans would be stupid enough to overturn same sex marriage anyway. Some of them seem to be opening their eyes to the fact that Americans in general don't like crazy. It's even more popular than abortion rights and between Roe being overturned and Trump inserting himself in key races, they totally blew it with this last election cycle.

Continuing their war on women and adding a legislative edge to their cultural lashings of the LGBT community would cost them everything in any state that doesn't already vote 15%+ Republican. And margins would shrink in those safe states.

So, I mean, I guess it's a win-win for us in the long run. We either protect our rights or Republicans completely sh*t the bed and delegate themselves to representing only electorally useless flyover states.

You make a really good point. Thanks for putting this into the right perspective for me. I feel a bit more optimistic now. I appreciate your thought out response.

[PartySick 172,486]

1 minute ago, Cameltoe Chariot said:

Yeah I got excited when I saw the headline and then read that this doesn't stop individual states from banning same sex marriage so... it basically does nothing. The only states that won't ban it are the current safe haven's queer people already have in america, like the state of California.

Meanwhile gay marriage has been flat out legalized across the country since 2005 and no one up here gives a sh*t about it  america is so f*cking messy, I feel bad for everyone down there stuck with these backwards freaks.

No, it doesn't "do nothing". It means people living in red states who are married to someone of the same sex won't wake up one day to find out their marriage has no legal standing in their home state which could throw off everything from power of attorney, survivorship, property ownership, tax statuses, etc.

It may not protect the right to sign the marriage license in some states stupid enough to ban it but it does mean, regardless of bans, your marriage WILL be recognized by law even if you have to have it done in a different state than the one you live in.

But again, while these steps are entirely necessary to protect us, I really don't think Republicans are stupid enough to try to gun for same sex marriage rights. It would doom them politically.

[Brainiac 11,171]

Also, @Cameltoe Chariot, THANK YOU for giving me my 10,000th reaction!!!! 

[Cameltoe Chariot 15,310]

1 minute ago, Brainiac said:

Also, @Cameltoe Chariot, THANK YOU for giving me my 10,000th reaction!!!! 

OMG CONGRATS QUEEN! 

[Cameltoe Chariot 15,310]

3 minutes ago, PartySick said:

No, it doesn't "do nothing". It means people living in red states who are married to someone of the same sex won't wake up one day to find out their marriage has no legal standing in their home state which could throw off everything from power of attorney, survivorship, property ownership, tax statuses, etc.

It may not protect the right to sign the marriage license in some states stupid enough to ban it but it does mean, regardless of bans, your marriage WILL be recognized by law even if you have to have it done in a different state than the one you live in.

But again, while these steps are entirely necessary to protect us, I really don't think Republicans are stupid enough to try to gun for same sex marriage rights. It would doom them politically.

Absolutely, you're right. I just struggle to see the positives in these situations because it feels like it's always a "Yes, but..." result for LGBTQ+ Americans, meanwhile countries all over the world are fully legalizing same sex marriage or already have decades ago. The fact that it will protect existing marriages is amazing, but it's insane that if it is banned in someone's state they'll have to travel somewhere to get married. That absolutely isn't physically or financially possible for everyone.

Anyway, sorry if I came across as dismissive. It IS a good thing for sure. Just wish you guys had more.

[PartySick 172,486]

19 minutes ago, Cameltoe Chariot said:

Absolutely, you're right. I just struggle to see the positives in these situations because it feels like it's always a "Yes, but..." result for LGBTQ+ Americans, meanwhile countries all over the world are fully legalizing same sex marriage or already have decades ago. The fact that it will protect existing marriages is amazing, but it's insane that if it is banned in someone's state they'll have to travel somewhere to get married. That absolutely isn't physically or financially possible for everyone.

Anyway, sorry if I came across as dismissive. It IS a good thing for sure. Just wish you guys had more.

Oh absolutely, you're right. It's not enough and we won't settle for it or accept it, but it's a good safety net to have until we can push for something better.

I mean, the fact that they had to compromise for "rEsPeCtInG rEliGiOn" to get a yes vote from the Republicans who signed is a whole ass joke. As if other peoples faith should have any kind of impact on our legal rights.

Anyway, what's reassuring and what you have to keep in mind is that no matter who says otherwise, the US is generally left leaning. And the Republicans are kind of realizing attacking peoples rights is a losing game after Roe being overturned backfired on them in our midterm elections.

Do I expect them to keep that lesson and take it to heart? No, absolutely not  but it's at least semi-comforting to know that even the majority of right leaning voters support LGBT rights and that number continues to increase (from an average of 47% of GOP voters in 2019 to 55% in 2021). And as their leaders keep pressing the issue, the voters keep pushing back harder.

It's our systems of representation that are broken here. Our state and federal governments are heavily skewed to the right and rural/conservative areas are massively overrepresented. If we had accurate representation of American citizens in government, none of these rights would be at risk at all.

That's why I'm left thinking "it'll be a bumpy road but we'll make it. We'll be ok".