A few select news stories. Things we just want to talk/rant/snark about. Briefly.

by Lorraine Mazza & Amanda Vontobel

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After life stuff getting in the way and then Amanda’s internet being down for a few days, which was fixed by blowing air on her ethernet cable like an old school Nintendo cartridge. Seriously. We are back! Now on to the news…

We’ve had some ups and downs in the world of marriage equality. 



First, Australia’s new Prime Minister decided to uphold the position that marriage is between a man and a woman. We guess having their first female Prime Minister is enough of a step forward for them at the moment.  Let’s give them more time, maybe they’ll come around.
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Then after several weeks of deliberations, Hawaii’s governor ruled against a bill that would have allowed same sex civil unions. To us Hawaii’s always been known as a favorite romantic spot for honeymooners and lovers.  It’s a shame that same-sex couples can’t feel as welcome there as straight couples. We would think it would make the islands beautiful in ways that go beyond the visuals, but we guess they are not ready for that yet.
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But Argentina made more positive headlines with being the first Latin American country to legalize gay marriage (are you listening USA?).  This is an exceptionally big win since much of Argentina is Roman Catholic (are you listening now, USA?).  And they’re not the first Roman Catholic country to legalize gay marriage, Netherlands, Belgium and Spain citizens are also afforded their basic civil rights.  We haven’t checked too recently, but I think the fabric of their societies are still intact.
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And closer to home in Washington, DC, lawmakers ruled against making any referendums to the same-sex marriage law that went into effect in December 2009. They agreed it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act.  Bravo to DC for realizing that we are humans too!
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And big props to Google for retroactively paying back their gay and lesbian employees who had to pay a higher tax for domestic partner benefits than heterosexual couples had to pay.  The cost will also be covered by Google going forward.  That just plain rocks!
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But over in Texas, things are getting downright scary.  The GOP Republicans platform for 2010 calls for all sorts of new rules & regs, including making same-sex marriage a felony.  Also included in the platform is “outlawing sexually oriented businesses” like strip clubs and banning “all pornography.”  Ummm, yeah good luck with that.  What they fail to understand is same-sex marriage does not “tear at the fabric of society”.  All it does is allow a society of accepting individuals who can be true to themselves without fear of hate. The things that DO rip a society to shreds are the lies, greed, corruption, cover ups, and bigotry that runs rampant in politics, and the country as a whole.
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At least with all of the ups and downs going, we have going for us is a sense of humor.  After all, let’s not forget that gay means happy!  And what’s happier than gay animals?   Check it out…
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