Nevada Governor Vetoes Domestic Partners Bill

Twice divorced Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has vetoed his legislature's domestic partners bill, that would give domestic partners, whether gay or straight, many of the rights and benefits that Nevada offers to married couples.

For reasoning behind his veto, the governor stated the bill conflicts with the state's 2002 constitutional amendment that only relationships between men and women would be recognized.

Gibbons says that gay couples should resort to legal contracts between themselves if they want to protect their assets and ensure medical decision-making rights. It's unknown if the legislature will attempt to override Gibbons' veto.

So, no surprise here. His solution is for LGBT people to pay thousands of extra dollars in legal fees to protect themselves and their families, on top of paying thousands of extra dollars in taxes due to being forced to file separately.

Must be nice to have a discriminatory amendment to back up your discriminatory views, protecting you from taking on any real responsibility for your decisions.

Recap for the Week of April 6-10

Just like last week, this week was full of historical moments and surprises. For many, it was almost too much to keep up with, or at the very least, keep it straight in the head (no pun intended).

So I'd like to help with a basic recap.

VERMONT

Emily Nelson of the Burlington Free Press showed the face of LGBT Vermont with a beautiful piece, but Gov. Jim Douglas didn't empathize and responded with a veto of the state's same-sex marriage bill instead, placing him on the wrong side of history. But not to be deterred, the Vermont legislature refused to lag behind its stellar civil rights record, and showed the governor where he could stick it with a veto override. Keeping true to its nature, Vermont is now the first state in history to legalize same-sex marriage through the legislative process.

The anti-gays were not happy. More on that below.

IOWA

It didn't take long for pundits to predict the future of Iowa's 2012 marriage amendment since the state's Supreme Court essentially legalized same-sex marriage the week prior, but anti-gay groups didn't care about 2012 because they began to push for an emergency legislative session to amend the state's constitution NOW, the whole while the governor remained silent on his stance. Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal told them to shut up and go away. To make the anti-gays even madder, the Gov. Chet Culver finally spoke up and said, "Nah, I won't support any discriminatory amendment". This sent the anti-gays into a tizzy, so about 400 showed up at the capitol in protest when the legislatures began to meet, calling out rudely for an amendment from the session's gallery seating. Luckily, the legislatures followed the Senate Majority Leader's example and told them once again, "Shut up!". I have a feeling that's not the last we'll hear of them though.

WASHINGTON D.C.

The District's council members, on their own but judiciously picking a great week, voted that the nation's capitol would recongize same-sex marriage legally performed else where. It still needs to be approved by the nation's congress. (Their way of governing is a bit difficult to explain) They hope to introduce legislation so that the district itself can perform same-sex marriages. Go D.C.!

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MARRIAGE (NOM)

NOM, the group that funded lots of Yes on Prop 8 ads in California (and from what I hear, are funded themselves by the Mormons), reacted to all this equality spreading throughout the country by releasing early a $1.5 million ad in battleground states. The media and bloggers (including myself) immediately reacted by talking about it, interviewing everyone and mocking the ad. Even Maggie Gallagher of NOM, and Joe Solmonese of HRC, had it out. Results pending. Unfortunately, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri decided to join the dark side by allying himself with NOM. Thankfully LGBT community stepped into the fray more than once.

Of course, other things happened during the week, like calls to action (you can see those by clicking on the "action" tag at the bottom of the post) and events, but this is the main run-down. To see older recaps, click on the "recap" tag.

If you liked this recap, let me know, and I'll keep doing this each Saturday. But you got to let me know. This takes a lot of time!

But stay tuned. New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey are gearing up for another equal rights showing. Next week is gearing up to be another wild ride!

Live Video of Vermont Senate Vote to Override Same-Sex Marriage Bill Veto

Provided by Burlington Free Press here.

Vermont Governor Jim Douglas Vetoes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

As expected, Governor Jim Douglas vetoed Vermont's same-sex marriage bill. His full statement:

Gov. Jim Douglas Veto Statement

Publish at Scribd or explore others: veto statement governor jim douglas

Don't get me started on how angry this statement makes me. The argument that even if the bill were to become law, federal benefits would still be denied to same-sex couples in Vermont (and state benefits would be denied in other states that don't recognize such marriages) and as a result, no point to the bill, is such a cop out.

Isn't the governor responsible for only Vermont? He needs to fix his own state before being concerned about what's outside his borders. But like so many who oppose same-sex marriage, the governor hides behind children and grandchildren, in the last paragraph of his statement, to mask his prejudice. I feel badly for those children.

Tomorrow, both the Senate and House are expected to vote on overriding the veto. Though the Senate should easily do so, it is unclear whether or not the House has enough votes.

Many House Democrats have expressed their intention to vote to override the veto because of the disrespectful actions of Governor Douglas with regards to this bill. That could mean that all eleven of those who voted against the initial bills will vote to override Douglas’ veto. Opponents of same-sex marriage have been lobbying hard for the six Republicans who voted in support of the bill.

See a quick video of the governor making a statement at NG Blog about his faith and religion being the factor in his veto.

Vermont Freedom to Marry is urging people to contact Vermont representatives to urge them to override the veto.

Also, they are planning to rally at the statehouse tomorrow morning.

The veto override vote is expected at 9am EST/6am PST for the Senate and 10:30am EST/7:30am PST for the House.