Michelle Obama Discusses Her Support for Marriage Equality: VIDEO

First Lady Michelle Obama answers a series of questions submitted via Twitter in a new video released by the White House. The last questioner in the series asks her about marriage equality.

"Please tell us about your family discussions about marriage equality and thank President Obama for his support!"

Says Obama in the clip:

"This is an important issue for millions of Americans, and for Barack and me, it really comes down to the values of fairness and equality that we want to pass on to our girls. These are basic values that kids learn at a very young age and that we encourage them to apply in all areas of their lives. And in a country where we teach our children that everyone is equal under the law, discriminating against same-sex couples just isn’t right. So it’s as simple as that."

Watch (final question), AFTER THE JUMP...

A Smoke-Free Gay Military Marriage Proposal: VIDEO

Whether or not this is real, it's definitely evidence that the folks at anti-smoking campaign CRUSH have a firm grip on what's going viral these days.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via afterelton)

Marriage Equality Looms Large Over Obama's Minnesota Visit

President Obama takes his reelection campaign to Minnesota tomorrow, and analysts think both his overall popularity and gay marriage endorsement will help defeat a ballot measure that will further restrict marriage rights in the Northstar State.

From the Washington Post:

Minnesota’s[ballot measure] would toughen current limits on gay rights and etch the ban into the state constitution. Obama won 54 percent of the vote in the state and is expected to win it again this year, so opponents of the ban are hoping enough Minnesotans follow the president’s self-described evolution on gay marriage so they can defeat it.
…
John Murphy, an expert on presidential rhetoric at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said it’s not a stretch to think some Democrats previously unlikely to vote in favor of gay rights would be won over by Obama. When presidents take a new stand on a hot-button social issue, Murphy said, it can motivate dedicated party followers to change their own views and stay on the same page as their party’s leader.

“I imagine his newly unequivocal support for gay marriage is likely to convince at least some die-hard Minnesota Democrats to swallow personal qualms they might have in order to give their side a win,” Murphy said.

The discriminatory measure's defeat may also be aided by the fact Mitt Romney has yet to open an office in Minnesota, nor does he seem inclined to spend time and money in a largely Democratic state he lost to socialyl conservative primary rival Rick Santorum. Plus, it's unlikely Romney wants to get involved in a marriage fight when the majority of the nation supports recognizing same-sex relationships.

Obama, meanwhile, seems in it to win it. Hopefully he'll his use his clout to the best of his ability.

News: Barney Frank, Zombie-Proof Condos, Madonna's Costumes, Cardinal Dolan

Tyler Clementi's parents said that Dharun Ravi's pre-jail apology was "no apology at all." Rather, it was a "public relations piece."

The New York Times reports that New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, an opponent of marriage equality, authorized about $20,000 in payoffs for priests accused of sexually abuse.

A gay couple in South Wales recently won a £1million lottery.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule left the International Space Station to head back home today.

A Kansas-based company transformed an old missile silo into a post-apocalypse compound. Yes, it's zombie-proof, but unfortunately all of the units have sold out. And just as the zombie apocalypse takes off.

Joey Lawrence just gets more and more good looking.

Most comic readers are speculating that original Green Lantern Alan Scott will be DC Comics' new gay character. As anticipation builds, Bleeding Cool dug up a since retconned incident in which Scott and fellow Lantern Kyle Ratner hit up a gay bar.

Rep. Barney Frank reflects on coming out 25-years ago.

Michael Fassbenger let his red beard fly at the Prometheus premiere.

A leading liberal Rabbi in London says that people who use the Bible to justify anti-gay politics might as well as endorse other scriptural extremes. "You are just doing a pick and mix job, and are driven not by religious beliefs but by gay prejudice," Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain said. “If you take this approach to scripture you should also not object to stoning rebellious children or nailing your slave’s ear to the door post.”

Publishing legend Hugh Hefner and runaway bride Crystal Harris have reunited and it feels so good - for them, at least.

A Kansas-based company transformed an old missile silo into a post-apocalypse compound. Yes, it's zombie-proof, but unfortunately all of the units have sold out.

A gay professor in Nigeria has been arrested after allegedly sexually harassing a student.

Starz today released a trailer for the second season of Kelsey Grammar's Boss, which is an excellent show and worth checking out.

Prince Harry's looking for love.

Jean Paul Gaultier, Jeremy Scott, and Arianne Phillips teamed up to create Madonna's costumes for the singer's latest world tour.

Today is the third anniversary of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a man targeted for providing abortions.

New Jersey Democrats have rejected the nomination of Bruce Harris, a black gay man Gov. Chris Christie recommended for the state Supreme Court. Democrats said they worried Harris, the Morris County mayor who has advocated for marriage equality, lacked the experience necessary to sit on the court.

NOM blogger taunts: "Think gay marriage is inevitable? Think again."

Introducing The Gay Travel Guide For Tops And Bottoms. "The book was able to determine which U.S. States had the best top and the best bottom gay male locals."

Facebook will receive some special recognition at the GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco this weekend.

Appeals Court Rules DOMA Violates U.S. Constitution

In what will without a doubt be a landmark decision, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston today ruled that key pieces of the Defense of Marriage Act, that 90s-era law prohibiting the federal government from extending marriage benefits to same-sex couples, violates the Constitution.

The case, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, hinges on whether the government has a rational reason for discriminating against gay couples. The court clearly thinks not, because "moral disapproval" should not be the basis of laws.

Here's a sample of the stirring decision:

Many Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today.

One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage.

Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest.

Boudin and his colleagues are clearly aware their decision will start a fresh round of legal battles, and repeatedly in their decision admit the Supreme Court will one day have to get involved.

"A lower federal court such as ours must follow its best understanding of governing precedent, knowing that in large matters the Supreme Court will correct mis-readings (and even if it approves the result will formulate its own explanation)," they write.

Here is a PDF of the decision. Our legal expert Ari Ezra Waldman will have a more complete analysis in the very near future, so stay tuned!

British MP 'Fed Up' With Civil Partnerships: 'Since When Was Equality Not A Priority?'

Nick Herbert, the British Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice, sat down with the Evening Standard this week to voice his frustration over arguments that civil partnerships for same-sex couples are just as good as marriages.

"[I'm] getting rather fed up with people metaphorically jabbing a finger into my chest and saying I should put up with a civil partnership," said Herbert, a gay man who had a civil partnership ceremony in 2009.

“How would they like it if I jabbed a finger into their chests and said they should put up with a civil partnership instead of their marriage?"

He went on, "In my view it’s not acceptable to say to a group in society, ‘You should put up with something that is a second order institution to something that everybody else is entitled to, because we say so’."

“I think this is about nothing more or less than a fundamental issue of equality.”
As in the States, many British politicians think the government should focus on rebuilding the economy and other kitchen table issues, but Herbert marriage can and should share the stage with other pressing matters.

“It has been suggested that this issue is not a priority," he told the paper. "Since when was equality not a priority? Ensuring that people are treated equally without fear of discrimination should always be a priority. That’s why I think this proposal matters.”

Parliament has been debating gay marriage all year, with one of the most vocal supporters being Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who described marriage equality as a "conservative" issue.

"Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other," Cameron said last year. "I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.”

That is the very same argument some conservatives here in the States are trying to make.