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Dawn Ennis
Monthly Archives: June 2015
After 54 Years Together, Jack Evans And George Harris Become First Same-Sex Couple To Marry In Dallas
After 54 Years Together, Jack Evans And George Harris Become First Same-Sex Couple To Marry In Dallas
They waited over half a century to say “I do.”
On Friday, Jack Evans, 85, and George Harris, 82, became the first same-sex couple to wed in Dallas County, Texas.
Judge Dennise Garcia, left front, watches as George Harris, center left, 82, and Jack Evans, center right, 85, kiss after being married on Friday, June 26, 2015, in Dallas.
According to NBC 5 News, the octogenarians were the first of 170 same-sex couples to be married in Dallas County on Friday. Their nuptials came just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide.
Evans and Harris have been together for more than 54 years.
“You would have been blown away by the crowd there, there must have been 450 people there, people waiting to get married, reporters. It was amazing. Just amazing,” Evans told People magazine about the unforgettable moment. “Ten years ago [marriage equality] was not within the realm of possibility.”
Evans (left) and Harris show their marriage license after being the first couple to receive it from the Dallas County Clerk on June 26, 2015.
Evans and Harris have reportedly spent decades fighting for gay rights and marriage equality, founding both the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce and The Dallas Way, a project aimed at preserving and documenting the history of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the city.
“Our real focus has been our legacy for the community, that our whole lives have been trying to improve, to encourage the young people to make a difference,” Harris told D Magazine last year. “They think they can walk down Cedar Springs holding hands, and it’s just automatically come to that, but there was a lot of struggle to get there.”
Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week, Texas had been one of 13 states where gay marriage was banned. However, the battle is still not over. On Sunday, the state’s attorney general Ken Paxton (R) announced that county clerks in Texas will still be able to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on religious objections.
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Kiss in the Doorway – Ironwood – Michigan
Man Angry About Marriage Equality Decision Arrested For Assaulting LGBT Bar Owner
Uncomplicating Same-Sex Marriage Law
Uncomplicating Same-Sex Marriage Law
With its decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court uncomplicated same-sex marriage law. The Court’s clear-cut rule that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry replaces the previous piecemeal approach generated by over a decade of new federal court decisions and state laws. Some states had banned same-sex marriage, some states permitted it legislatively, and some states permitted it by state court decision. Some federal courts upheld the state bans, others struck them down. The U.S. Supreme Court has now definitely settled the debate by allowing same-sex marriage across the county.
The U.S. Supreme Court found constitutional protection for same-sex marriage in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Court had previously interpreted this Amendment to encompass various constitutional rights not explicitly enumerated, including, for example, parental rights, the right to marital privacy involving the use of contraceptives, and the right to marry. In Obergefell, the Court confirmed that the right to marry applied to same-sex couples for the same reasons it applied to opposite-sex couples, such as the benefits of supporting marriage in society.
The speed of the development of same sex-marriage is practically unparalleled in the family law. Just in 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Bowers v. Hardwick, which upheld a Georgia law that criminalized certain homosexual acts. In 1996, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was enacted to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples under federal law. Contrast this to 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its own Bowers decision and 2012, when the Court struck down part of DOMA. Same-sex marriage is now guaranteed across the country, 12 years after Massachusetts became the first state to permit same-sex marriage.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Bill Nye Explains The Mysteries of Time Travel: VIDEO
Bill Nye Explains The Mysteries of Time Travel: VIDEO
In a new video for Big Think, Bill Nye tackles some big questions from a student at Columbia University.
The student asks what you would see if you were to travel at the speed of light, saying her professor told her you would see the past and future at the same time. Nye responds by discussing both the logistics (and impossibility) of time travel. He says that while it’s “big fun” to ask the question — a favorite in physics classes — his main point is that (despite the fun of speculation) it’s impossible for anything with mass to travel at light-speed.
The student also asks whether human beings could send garbage into outer space. Nye responds with an emphatic “no,” citing money as the limiting factor. He encourages young people to get used to the idea that Earth is a closed system, that people “cannot leave the Earth,” and they must “reduce, reuse, and recycle” to combat the problem of the waste we create.
Check out the video here:
The post Bill Nye Explains The Mysteries of Time Travel: VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.
Jake Folsom
Chicago 46th pride parade
Elizabeth Berkley Celebrates Marriage Equality At ‘Showgirls’ Screening, Cements Status As Gay Icon
Elizabeth Berkley Celebrates Marriage Equality At ‘Showgirls’ Screening, Cements Status As Gay Icon
Fans of Showgirls who were in attendance at its Cinespia screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery this weekend got a surprise treat from none other than Elizabeth Berkley herself. The Saturday night event kicked off with the actress providing an introduction to the film that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.
The woman who brought Nomi Malone to life on the big screen sent the audience into a frenzy as she discussed the movie that was once ridiculed, but has since become one of MGM’s top selling video/dvd releases. Berkley who described the evening as “a full circle moment” expressed her gratitude to the die-hard fans who “made this the cult film that it is.”
Berkley also made reference to SCOTUS’s historic marriage equality ruling stating, “I truly can’t think of a better night to have come to the first screening of Showgirls in twenty years, a night after a day that we got to witness in this lifetime.” She is obviously keenly aware of the movie’s huge appeal to the LGBT audience.
Elizabeth ended the introduction with some signature Nomi Malone hand-ography. Take that, Cristal Connors!
Showgirls opened in 1995 to reviews calling it “impossibly vulgar, tawdry and coarse,” and declaring, “the absence of both drama and eroticism turns Showgirls into a bare-butted bore.” However, it was Berkley who unjustly bore the brunt of the criticism. It’s nice to see that she has developed an appreciation for the film’s now-cult classic status and is embracing Showgirls rather than disassociating herself from it.
Related: Hollywood Shocker! Faye Dunaway Reportedly Writing Book About Mommie Dearest
The actress and New York Times best-selling author of Ask Elizabeth posted the following on her Instagram account after Saturday’s event:
With her display of gratitude and love, Elizabeth Berkley can now add icon to her list of accomplishments.
Jeremy Kinser
Houston Mayor Annise Parker: Marriage Equality Too Late For Many LGBT Seniors
Houston Mayor Annise Parker: Marriage Equality Too Late For Many LGBT Seniors
In a powerful column published Friday, out lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker wrote that for many LGBT seniors, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage comes too late.
Parker, writing with Ann J. Robison (right), executive director of Houston’s Montrose Center, notes that many LGBT people who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s — the “Invisible Generation”— are still suffering under the weight of a lifetime of discrimination. LGBT seniors are two times more likely to age alone and four times less likely to have assistance from their families, according to Parker and Robison.
From the column in The Houston Chronicle:
For many LGBT Texans who cared for and nurtured their life partner in the final years of their life, marriage equality will be too late. They never had the benefit of access to their partner’s Social Security benefits or employer-sponsored pension. They faced the stunning realization that not only did they lose the love of their life; they will eventually lose the home they shared that life in, too, because of financial inequality and equal access. Many LGBT seniors have already been displaced from their homes, unable to maintain their previous standard of living on one income alone or with advanced care needs that no longer allow them to live independently.
Parker and Robison add that those who enter senior housing or assisted living often remain closeted out of fear, and that few such facilities properly train their staff on LGBT issues. As a result, those who do come out often face discrimination and even abuse from staff and residents. According to the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, 43 percent of LGBT seniors in long-term care reported mistreatment and only one in four felt it was safe coming out.
From the Chronicle:
With approximately 10,000 Americans reaching retirement age every single day, it is critical that we take steps to ensure that all seniors – who were among the first generations to defy cultural norms of discrimination and inequality – can enjoy their retirement years in the communities that they helped to define and make better places to live. We owe this especially to our LGBT seniors, those that have already suffered a lifetime of marginalization and discrimination. As we are on the brink of achieving many gains, we recognize the sacrifices made by our LGBT seniors. There remains much more work to be done on their behalf as we continue the work towards full equality.
Houston is currently working to build an $18 million housing facility for low-income LGBT seniors. However, the project is facing resistance from nearby residents — some of which is fueled by homophobia.
Watch a report on the project from KHOU-TV below.
The post Houston Mayor Annise Parker: Marriage Equality Too Late For Many LGBT Seniors appeared first on Towleroad.
John Wright
Houston Mayor Annise Parker: Marriage Equality Too Late For Many LGBT Seniors
A chicken, a cop, a crowd…
