New York City's Power Brides

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - From the beginning, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s wedding plans were played out on a very public stage — last year she interrupted a news conference to announce the passage of same-sex marriage legislation, and said it would make her own nuptials possible.

But the celebration itself was mostly private. The media wasn’t invited on Saturday when Quinn — the city’s first openly gay council speaker — married her longtime partner, Kim Catullo. But 1010 WINS reporter Gary Baumgarten was able to speak with residents in Chelsea who came out to support the happy couple. www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/christine-quinn-wedding-s_n_1529500.html?ref=gay-marriage-new-york

Congratulations are in order for Cynthia Nixon and Christine Marinoni, who were legally married this weekend in New York!

Cynthia Nixon made the long Memorial Day weekend extra special this year by tying the knot with her long-time partner, Christine Marinoni.

Cynthia, 46, and Christine, 45, have been together for nearly eight years and have a one year old son, Max Ellington.

“On May 27, 2012, Cynthia Nixon and her girlfriend, Christine Marinoni, were legally married in the state of New York,” Cynthia’s rep told People. “Nixon wore a custom dress by Carolina Herrera.”

http://lezgetreal.com/2012/05/cynthia-nixon-and-christine-marinoni-wed-in-new-york/

NYC Pride Guide Now Out & Celebrating Marriage Equality!

http://issuu.com/nycpride/docs/prideguide2012 


Check out my Bouquet on page 62 and 63!


 Photography  by .Steve Rosen www.stevenrosenphotography.com/


And The "Maid's " were never more charming!

Only in America!

By Rick Klein 

President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president.

Obama declares support for gay marriage

In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this place, based on conversations with his own staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and conversations with his wife and own daughters.

"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told Roberts, in an interview to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday. Excerpts of the interview will air tonight on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer.”

The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own. But he said he’s confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married, citing his own daughters’ comfort with the concept.

“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” the president continued. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know,  believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”

[Related: Join the debate about gay marriage]

Roberts asked the president if First Lady Michelle Obama was involved in this decision. Obama said she was, and he talked specifically about his own faith in responding.

“This is something that, you know, we’ve talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do. And that is that, in the end the values that I care most deeply about and she cares most deeply about is how we treat other people and, you know, I, you know, we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and hopefully the better I’ll be as president.”

Previously, Obama has moved in the direction of supporting same-sex marriage but has consistently stopped short of outright backing it. Instead, he’s voiced support for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples that provide the rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples, though not defined as “marriage.” At the same time, the president has opposed efforts to ban gay marriage at the state level, saying that he did not favor attempts to strip rights away from gay and lesbian couples.

The president’s position became a flashpoint this week, when Vice President Joe Biden pronounced himself “absolutely comfortable” with allowing same-sex couples to wed.

Obama aides insisted there was no daylight between the positions held by the president and his vice president when it comes to legal rights, but as other prominent Democrats also weighed in in favor of gay marriage, the disconnect became difficult for the White House to explain away.

[Related: How will Obama’s gay marriage decision affect his re-election campaign?]

The announcement completes a turnabout for the president, who has opposed gay marriage throughout his career in national politics. In 1996, as a state Senate candidate, he indicated support for gay marriage in a questionnaire, but Obama aides later disavowed it and said it did not reflect the candidate’s position.

In 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he cited his own religion in framing his views: “I'm a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”

He maintained that position through his 2008 presidential campaign, and through his term as president, until today.

As president in 2010, Obama told ABC’s Jake Tapper that his feelings about gay marriage were “constantly evolving. I struggle with this.” A year later, the president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “I’m still working on it.”

“I probably won't make news right now, George,” Obama said in October 2011. “But I think that there's no doubt that as I see friends, families, children of gay couples who are thriving, you know, that has an impact on how I think about these issues.”

Obama’s decision has political connotations for the fall.

The issue divides elements of the Democratic base, with liberals and gay-rights groups eager to see the president go farther, but with gay marriage far less popular among African-American voters.

Just yesterday, in North Carolina, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage. President Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, and its status as a 2012 battleground was guaranteed by Democrats’ decision to hold their convention in Charlotte this summer.

Obama’s likely Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, opposes gay marriage, and fought his state’s highest court when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2004, when Romney was governor. Romney said on the campaign trail Monday that he continues to oppose gay marriage.

“My view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “That’s the position I’ve had for some time, and I don’t intend to make any adjustments at this point. … Or ever, by the way.”

The Truth

Jennifer Roberts of Sweet Elements offered to share her booth with me today.

We look forward to supporting out gay friends, family and neighbors in a very sweet way!

http://www.SweetElement.com    http://idogayweddings.blogspot.com/

   

Why I Believe in The Separation of Church and State

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Floral Tithing & Mitzvah Wedding Flowers for Freedom to Marry!

For EveryGay Couple/Family I work with this year, I will give 10% of my profits to Freedom To Marry!

It's is so important for all in love should have the right to live with the Dignity and Grace of marriage .

A small token of my political affection!  

www.freedomtomarry.org 

Best,

Nancy Swiezy

Events Weddings & Flowers

Pope Claims Gay Marriage Is a Threat to Humanity

Monday, 09 January 2012 21:16

By Brittny Drye

During a Monday address to the diplomatic corps assigned to the Vatican, Pope Benedictsaid that same-sex marriage threatens the future of humanity, reports Reuters.

Diplomats from nearly 180 countries listened as he touched on economic and social issues facing our world. “This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself,” Benedict said.

Vatican and Catholic officials have protested against moves to legalize gay marriage around the world, including New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, whom the pope will elevate to cardinal next month.

The Roman Catholic Church reaches 1.3 billion members worldwide, and teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and children should grow up in a traditional family with a mother and a father.

Oh Dear!

BRAVO To TLC's FOUR WEDDINGS The First Gay Wedding in SEASON 3 EPISODE 17

I was so touched when their Officiant started to tear up. I guess this was her first gay wedding as well !
Brovo....  I mean Koodo's TLC.

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/four-weddings

A Comment From Anonymous

SHAME on TLC again or taking a seemingly family friendly show and dragging it through the mud and tossing it right on top of the garbage heep. Another TLC show bites the dust! Disgusting. By Anonymous on BRAVO To TLC's FOUR WEDDINGS The First Gay Weddin... on 3/11/12 Dear Anonymous,    Shame on You For  1. Being anonymous  2. Not wanting my family and maybe even yours??? to have the same rights that you have. 3. By the way their is no shame in being gay, their is being a racist! 4. So who's in the closet now .... Anonymous