• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest which gives you limited access.

    By joining you will gain full access to thousands of Videos, Pictures & Much More.

    Membership is absolutely FREE and registration is FAST & SIMPLE so please, Register Today and join one of the friendliest communities on the net!



    You must be at least 18 years old to legally access this forum.
  • Hello Guest,

    Thanks for remaining an active member on GayHeaven. We hope you've enjoyed the forum so far.

    Our records indicate that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks. Why not dismiss this notice & make your next post today by doing one of the following:
    • General Discussion Area - Engage in a conversation with other members.
    • Gay Picture Collections - Share any pictures you may have collected from blogs and other sites. Don't know how to post? Click HERE to visit our easy 3-steps tutorial for picture posting.
    • Show Yourself Off - Brave enough to post your own pictures or videos? Let us see, enjoy & comment on that for you.
    • Gay Clips - Start sharing hot video clips you may have. Don't know how to get started? Click HERE to view our detailed tutorial for video posting.
    As you can see there are a bunch of options mentioned in here and much more available for you to start participating today! Before making your first post, please don't forget to read the Forum Rules.

    Active and contributing members will earn special ranks. Click HERE to view the full list of ranks & privileges given to active members & how you can easily obtain them.

    Please do not flood the forum with "Thank you" posts. Instead, please use the "thanks button"

    We Hope you enjoy the forum & thanks for your efforts!
    The GayHeaven Team.
  • Dear GayHeaven users,

    We are happy to announce that we have successfully upgraded our forum to a new more reliable and overall better platform called XenForo.
    Any feedback is welcome and we hope you get to enjoy this new platform for years and years to come and, as always, happy posting!

    GH Team

Gay marriage now legal in all 50 US states

Stonecold

GTM Movies
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
15,124
Reaction score
50,257
Points
391
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has made same-sex marriage legal across the United States.

The high court has voted 5-4 in favor of marriage equality with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion.

'Today is a big step in our march toward equality,' President Barack Obama tweeted immediately after the ruling. 'Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else.
The ruling comes in gay marriage cases from four states (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee) that have been consolidated into Ohio case Obergefell v. Hodges.

In each of those cases, federal judges had struck down marriage bans but those decisions were reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit which resulted in the Supreme Court taking the issue on.

The high court's decision comes at a time that same-sex marriage is already legal in 37 US states plus the District of Columbia.

It was two years ago today that the court struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act which resulted in same-sex marriages being recognized on a feeral level.

It was also on that day in 2013 that the justices allowed same-sex marriages to resume in California by upholding the striking down of Proposition 8.

In order, the other 20 countries where same-sex marriage is already legal: the Netherlands (2001), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), Sweden (2009), Portugal (2010), Iceland (2010), Argentina (2010), Denmark (2012), Brazil (2013), France (2013), Uruguay (2013), New Zealand (2013), United Kingdom (2014), Luxembourg (2015), Finland (2015), Greenland (2015), and Ireland (2015)

 

fkboy1

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
806
Reaction score
36
Points
28
I am sooooooo HAPPY for all my American GLBT friends!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :big hug: :heart: :thumbs up::hug:
 

ChriPhenix

New member
Joined
Jul 19, 2010
Messages
203
Reaction score
0
Points
0
The internet is going so crazy today over this ruling, and I love it! I'm happy to see how far we've come as a people. The fighting is all worthwhile.
 

socrates

New member
Joined
Jul 4, 2010
Messages
152
Reaction score
4
Points
0
Tomorrow is Pride day here in Milan. We'll all be talking about USA :3
Hoping to follow your lead... and that there'll be no violent reactions to the Court's decision :/
 

gb2000ie

Super Vip
Joined
Dec 19, 2010
Messages
4,532
Reaction score
223
Points
0
We had our happy day here in Ireland a few months ago, so I know how happy all my US friends must be feeling today - congratulations!

I'm really going to enjoy watching the right wing's collective heads explode :devil:

B.
 

W!nston

SuperSoftSillyPuppy
Staff member
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
11,938
Reaction score
1,196
Points
159
US same-sex marriage ruling likely to impact other countries

US same-sex marriage ruling likely to impact other countries
Associated Press | By GREGORY KATZ | June 27 2015

Filipinos%20Gay%20Pride%20rally%20Saturday_%20June%2027_%202015.jpg

Filipino LGBTs (Lesbians Gays Bisexual and Transgenders) hold hands as they gather for a Gay Pride rally Saturday, June 27, 2015 in Mania, Philippines to push for LGBT rights and to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing gay marriages in all U.S. states as a victory for their cause. The rally was scheduled to commemorate the 1969 demonstrations in New York City that started the gay rights movement around the world. Jonas Bagas, executive director of the pro-LGBT rights group TLF Share, said the U.S. court ruling “will reverberate in other corners of the world.”

LONDON (AP) — The landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriages has no legal force outside the United States, but gay rights activists in many parts of the world believe the court ruling will help their cause.

In the Philippines, in India, in Australia and elsewhere, gay rights advocates think the U.S. ruling may help change attitudes, just as American activists — and judges, educators and legislators — had earlier been influenced by the easy acceptance of same-sex marriage in some European countries, where the laws were changed smoothly without much fuss.

In today's wired world, political movements cross national boundaries in the blink of an eye, and the trend toward legal acceptance of same-sex marriage is gaining pace, though still rejected outright in some parts of the globe. The U.S. is neither laggard nor leader in this movement, which reflects a fundamental change in public views in many parts of the world, but the ruling of its highest court is expected to have a ripple effect elsewhere.

In the Philippines, activists seeking to win legal recognition for same-sex marriages believe the U.S. ruling will be useful, particularly since the country's legal setup is largely based on the U.S. system, said Sylvia Estrada Claudio, a gender rights advocate and professor at the University of the Philippines.

"This ruling will have positive repercussions for our own movements here," she said.

The Philippines' civil code limits marriage to a union between a man and a woman — but the constitutionality of this proviso is being challenged by a lawyer, Jesus Nicardo Falcis III.

Countries are taking different routes to the same conclusion: the U.S. pathway relied on a Supreme Court ruling to establish that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, while Ireland last month used a popular vote that showed strong public backing, despite the country's deep Catholic roots.

Influence is a two-way street. Five years ago, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize gay marriage. Activists there said they believe their example helped influence the U.S., and that Friday's U.S. ruling will in turn shape attitudes and actions in other Latin American countries.

"The U.S. decision will have a big impact in other countries," said Esteban Paulon, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals, adding that his organization contributed documentation to U.S. legal groups arguing the case before the Supreme Court. "Sometimes U.S. influence is negative, but we believe in this case it will be positive and accelerate the process of approving gay marriage in other parts of the world."

Twenty-one countries now allow same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Research Center, and Mexico permits it in some states, with many other countries offering various legal rights that fall short of marriage to same-sex couples. In most of those countries, well-organized advocacy groups are lobbying for full marriage rights.

These movements, and startup campaigns incubating in other countries as well, may get a real but hard-to-measure boost from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Australia, where parliament may vote on a same-sex marriage law later this year despite opposition from Prime Minister Tony Abbott, legislators who back the measure said the U.S. ruling leaves Australia alone among developed, English-speaking nations in its refusal to legalize marriages between same sex couples.

Opinion polls show backing for the measure has increased in Australia in the month since Ireland endorsed same-sex marriage. Opposition leader Bill Shorten — capitalizing on the momentum building in other countries — introduced the bill in Parliament just days after Ireland voted.

He said Saturday that Australians should see the U.S. ruling as "a call to action." Legislator Janet Rice, Greens Party leader, called the U.S. ruling "the loudest call yet for marriage equality in Australia ."

Still, staunch opposition remains, with Australian Marriage Forum president David van Gend calling the U.S. Supreme Court decision proof of "moral dementia."

"We must not let that happen here," van Gend said.

The issue is different in India, where activists believe the U.S. ruling may make Indian judges and legislators feel uncomfortably isolated by the 2013 Indian Supreme Court decision to reinstate a colonial-era law making homosexuality a crime.

The law calls homosexuality an "unnatural offense" punishable by 10 years in jail. In the past, police have used it to harass people and demand bribes from gays.

Ashok Row Kavi, head of the Humsafar Trust advocacy group, said the U.S. ruling may force India's highest court to take a fresh look at the issue.

"In the light of globalization, the (Indian) Supreme Court judgment is being cited as a totally reactionary judgment," he said. "A judgment that goes against the whole concept of human rights which had been on a progressive upsurge in India."

At gay pride parades in Dublin, Paris and other cities Saturday, the U.S. ruling was hailed by many as a watershed.

"Soon in all countries we will be able to marry," said Celine Schlewitz, a 25-year-old nurse taking part in the Paris parade. "Finally a freedom for everyone."

Gay%20Pride%20parade%20in%20Dublin%20Saturday%20June%2027_%202015.jpg

Participants on O'Connell Street in Dublin take part in a Gay Pride parade in Dublin Saturday June 27, 2015

The U.S. ruling boosted street celebrations Saturday in Dublin, where Ireland mounted the biggest gay rights parade in the country's history.

Led by rainbow banners and drag queens, more than 60,000 people paraded through Dublin at the culmination of a weeklong gay rights festival in the Irish capital. While the mood was already high following Ireland's referendum last month to legalize gay marriage — becoming the first nation to do so by popular vote — many marchers said the Supreme Court decision provided a bonus reason to celebrate.

"Everybody seems to be gay in Dublin today," said Sen. David Norris, Ireland's most prominent gay rights activist. He quipped that Ireland was pleased to see the United States, though the Supreme Court judgment, "start to catch up to us."

In other countries where gay sex is treated as a crime, beleaguered activists said they took heart from the U.S. ruling even though same-sex marriage is not on the horizon. In most cases, activists seek to decriminalize homosexuality before pressing for marriage rights and other benefits.

In the deeply conservative Arab world, where homosexuality is regarded as a crime in many countries, some clerics warned that the U.S. ruling would lead to the collapse of civilizations.

In Jordan, where homosexuality is not illegal but is considered taboo, one member of the small gay community said the U.S. ruling is "a victory for human rights in general and gives everyone hope."

He is hopeful same-sex marriage will one day be legal in Jordan.

"In this region, we are going through the dark ages, and when we come out, we will move toward full rights," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared the consequences of being identified as gay.

Marriage equality is also not part of the conversation in many parts of Africa, where more than two-thirds of the countries treat homosexuality as a crime.

That is true of Cameroon, which has pursued dozens of prosecutions in recent years under an anti-gay law imposing up to five years in prison for same-sex acts.

Lambert Lamba, a leading Cameroonian activist who has been imprisoned on accusations of violating anti-gay laws, said he was "exulting" in the U.S. ruling.

"It's a giant step for the fight in the United States," he said. "And it confirms for me that we can take giant steps in Cameroon as well."

Lynn%20and%20Monica%20Serling%20Swank.jpg

Lynn and Monica Serling Swank celebrate marriage equality outside of Lucky's in downtown Sioux Falls, S.D. on Friday, June 26, 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized marriage for same-sex couples in all 50 states

SOURCE

There seems to be so much hope and optimism following the successes in Ireland and the United States. It's enough to make one smile :)
 
Last edited:

flikhem

New member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Points
0
How long will it take for anti-LGBT to realize they've lost, nothing in their lives has changed, and it's time to move on?
 
Top