Prop 8 Trial Tracker

France constitutional body says no to freedom to marry (for now)

By Adam Bink

Some not-so-great news out of France:

PARIS — France’s laws prohibiting gay marriage do not violate the constitution, the country’s top constitutional watchdog said Friday.

However, the Constitutional Council said it is up to the country’s parliament to make laws.

The decision leaves an opening for amendments in the future — and hope for two women who had challenged the French civil code’s stipulation that marriage must be between a man and a woman.

Corinne Cestino and Sophie Hasslauer, who have lived together for 15 years and have four children, have challenged the constitutionality of the country’s law on banning the gay marriage.

The issue exposes a paradox in France: while the country often has an anything-goes attitude to romance and sexuality, it can be conservative with family values. The couple and advocacy group Act Up Paris hoped France would soon join EU partners including Spain, Belgium and Netherlands that have legalized same-sex marriage.

However, it does leave open the possibility of a change through legislative means.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rep. Kucinich’s wife the other day, Elizabeth, who is of English decent, and we chatted about her friend who studied at Cambridge University and wished one day to be married at the University. She said England sometimes seems a long way off from abandoning religious traditions, which is something I often hear from friends in France, as well.

834390 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.prop8trialtracker.com%2F2011%2F01%2F28%2Ffrance-constitutional-body-says-no-to-freedom-to-marry-for-now%2FFrance+constitutional+body+says+no+to+freedom+to+marry+%28for+now%292011-01-28+17%3A30%3A07Adam+Binkhttp%3A%2F%2Fprop8trialtracker.com%2F%3Fp%3D8343 January 28, 2011

Casting call

By Adam Bink

We at Courage Campaign are looking for gay and lesbian couples who are currently residents of California (meaning, living on more than a temporary or transient basis in the state, for a duration of more than 6 months) who are interested in volunteering for an LGBT video project. We’ll need your help in the near-term — over the weekend and into early next week — but the time commitment itself in terms of hours is about 3-4 hours maximum. And it will be a fun project to do, no doubt about that You don’t need to be in any particular location in California, this is something you can do from home.

If you’re interested, drop me a line at prop8trial AT couragecampaign DOT org for more details. Thanks!

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Seizing our national moment

By Adam Bink

A quick thought. Over at AMERICABlog, my friend Joe Sudbay hits on an important point: through anti-equality efforts to repeal the freedom to marry in Iowa and New Hampshire, and President Obama’s “evolving” moves of late, it’s becoming virtually guaranteed that marriage equality will be a subject in the 2012 Presidential debate. I think perhaps especially in the Republican primaries, given Iowa and New Hampshire’s prominence, will it be particularly spotlighted.

It also represents some excellent organizing opportunities around both President Obama and the Republicans. My head’s been firing some neurons on some really interesting useful, and fun projects to help drive the debate. More on that when they’re finalized- including a project Courage will be rolling out next month- but I just think it’s important to keep in mind that this, combined with the Prop 8 trial ongoing, represents perhaps the biggest opportunity to come along in years to take the stage at a national level and win people’s hearts and minds. The possibilities are endless to drive this conversation into American homes. Let’s seize this national moment.

8337139 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.prop8trialtracker.com%2F2011%2F01%2F27%2Fseizing-our-national-moment%2FSeizing+our+national+moment2011-01-27+20%3A36%3A18Adam+Binkhttp%3A%2F%2Fprop8trialtracker.com%2F%3Fp%3D8337 January 27, 2011

Poll: New Yorkers support the freedom to marry by record margin

By Adam Bink

We’re blessed with having a bevy of polling outfits in my home state of New York. Sometimes it means overkill, like when an average of 4.25 polls per week on the New York Governor’s race came out every week from September 27th through Election Day last year, when it was clear Cuomo would win in a landslide, while competitive House races remained largely unpolled. But often it’s a good blessing as it helps activists gauge work to do in the state. And often there’s good news.

Today, the Quinnipiac poll, in my opinion quite reliable,  has a new poll showing that by a margin of 56-37%- the highest ever- residents support the freedom of same-sex couples to marry. A June 2009 survey showed a 51-41% margin. It’s also a big shift since 2004, when 55% surveyed were opposed.

Among other interesting numbers, the figures reach 55% support in NYC, 54% in “upstate” (an absurdly imprecise term, but we’re stuck with it) and 61% in the suburbs. Republicans are opposed 41-52%.

The test of time and many years’ hard work in getting us to this point. Now we have the hard work of moving New York State Senators to the right place. For those interested, I wrote a few weeks ago about the optics of how things are looking back in New York State. I’ll say it again- to borrow the motto of the New York State lotto, hey, you never know.

833592 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.prop8trialtracker.com%2F2011%2F01%2F27%2Fpoll-new-yorkers-support-the-freedom-to-marry-by-record-margin%2FPoll%3A+New+Yorkers+support+the+freedom+to+marry+by+record+margin2011-01-27+15%3A03%3A07Adam+Binkhttp%3A%2F%2Fprop8trialtracker.com%2F%3Fp%3D8335 January 27, 2011