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!