DOMA, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, prevents same-sex couples whose marriages are recognized by their home state from receiving the hundreds of benefits available to other married couples under federal law.
Plaintiff Edie Windsor, 84, sued the federal government after the Internal Revenue Service denied her refund request for the $363,000 in federal estate taxes she paid after her spouse, Thea Spyer, died in 2009.
YAY!!!
ReplyDeleteCan I get a Hell Yes!!!!!! :D
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter WHO you love, so long as you love. Congrats to the LGBT community!
ReplyDeleteLOVE ALWAYS WINS.
ReplyDeleteAnd--wedding planners, cake decorators, DJ's, wedding singers, caterers, and even divorce lawyers.
*happy dance*
HOORAY
ReplyDeleteSuch fantastic news on the day before my partner and I marry!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!
DeleteCongrats!!!! Much peace & love to you!!
DeleteCongratulations!!!!!
DeleteAwesome! Hope it is all you dreamed of and the happiest day for you both!!!!!
DeleteCongrats!!!
DeleteMay you both be blessed with many happy years to come :)
Congratulations, Dixie. May you and your partner have a long and happy life together.
DeleteHow cool is THAT?! NOW we gotta get going on the ERA, pay equity and a few thousand OTHER ways that people get ripped off by their circumstances of birth.
DeleteYay!
ReplyDeleteLove is love
ReplyDeleteLove is love
ReplyDeleteSuch great news. Way to go SCOTUS!
ReplyDeleteYay!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Dixie!
ReplyDeleteAnd Prop 8 is dead too. Congratulations to everybody. This is a victory for human rights, even if it impacts only the gay community directly.
ReplyDeleteI am astonished and gratified to see how fast the country has moved on this issue. It may not have felt fast if you were hurt by DOMA, but the mere idea of polls showing a majority of Americans supporting same-sex marriage would have been unthinkable ten years ago.
Way to go, USA!
It's about time. Equal protection under the law applies to everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSigned by Clinton in 1996. Wow, can't pawn it off on the GOP religious kooks. Liberal Bill Clinton helped hold gays back.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1996 was very complicated politically, Count. Remember the "Contract on America"?...oops...'with'.
ReplyDeleteThat's the year Newt took over, and Clinton's second term looked like it would be DOA unless he gave them that BS.
Just in time for GAY PRIDE NYC Parade this Sunday. This year's celebration is going to be bananas
ReplyDeletewhy are you asking for permission? why are you letting a corrupt court system tell you what you can and cannot do?
ReplyDeletethis should not even be a government issue. you are just validating your rulers.
1996 was also when he signed the Telecommunications act, Count.
ReplyDeleteEver wonder why it's rare to hear local radio anymore?
Yeah.
I would be interested to know how each of the justice's voted.
BR--4 Liberals + Roberts. Kennedy dissented, surprisingly. That's what was on tv a bit ago. I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteCongrats @Dixie!
ReplyDeleteLiving history!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Dixie!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! Congrats to everyone, this is HUGE for humanity.
ReplyDeleteLibby - That's the Prop 8 vote. The DOMA dissenters were Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. Kennedy actually wrote the opinion striking down DOMA.
ReplyDeleteI think he (Kennedy) dissented on Prop 8 b/c he wanted to hear it rather than just sending it back.
WooHoo! DOMA and Prop * are gone!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Dixie!
This is a good day for America.
Oh, and congrats Dixie! Great timing!
ReplyDeleteJamie--I was just coming to correct myself. All the reporters were confused/confusing in the cheering aftermath. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWe may not be perfect but it is awesome to witness history going in the right direction! HELL YES!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteCongrat @Dixie, but maybe 'humanity' is overstating it - Americans, yes, but the US is way behind the curve on this. Those of us who live in countries where equality is old news welcome the US to the 21st century.
ReplyDelete@Munch - haha, very true story! Sad but very true.
DeleteCongrats Dixie!!
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I did today was text my gay sister about the news.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Dixie!
ReplyDeleteWe should all celebrate whenever *any* two people are willing to stand up in front of society and declare their love. Marriage isn't a religious construct -- it is a conjoining of two people into one family. Hurrah that the Supreme Court recognizes that, and married couples will now benefit from federal recognition.
Very nice!! Great day for equality!
ReplyDeleteYAY!!! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteBetween this and last night's filibuster, it's a VERY good day.
ReplyDeleteHave been ignoring news. Filibuster?
Delete❤💛💚💙💜
ReplyDeleteLibby said: "1996 was very complicated politically, Count. Remember the "Contract on America"?...oops...'with'."
ReplyDeleteHur hur hur. Lame lefty humor. And lame lefty excuses. Youdon'tunderstand it's complicated!!eleventy!!
2008-10 wasn't complicated." Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress and Democratic President. And ... nothing. I'm sure there's an excuse, though! Mean Republicans did it. Hurhur.
Left of liberal here. BURNINGLY furious at Demsellouts. Not even CLOSE to having the needs of the citizens looked after. Frankly our political system has failed us all. Need to hold a Constitutional Convention. 42 states have legally & officially filed the documents. Only 35 are needed. Go to Rootstrikers.org or Firedoglake to get more info.
DeleteThis seems like the last best hope because the current Constitution has been flushed down the toilet along with our civil rights, and uh, there ain't nobuddy but us chickens to get the train back on track politically.
The Rethuglicans got us a good start heading into fascism and the Obama administration has pretty much sealed the deal. The entire government has been taken over by the PNAC fanatics. Look at Barbara Honneger's extensive, well-documented presentation in Seattle on youtube on the Pentagon BOMBING on 9/11. It definitely connects the mysterious dots about some leftover questions. I do not completely support evetything she says but she provides a hellova lot of information that is quite well supported.
And for the lovely but complacent Canadians, are you aware that the 2011 national election was STOLEN and that this has been VERIFIED? HARPER is as much of a fake & a fraud as Shrub who was fraudulently handed the presidency in 2000, and it has been ADMITTED by Sandra Day Oconnor that the decision was unconstiutional. DUH!!
FURTHERMORE, it is completely documented that here in Canada, the Conservatives here have expanded the government payroll, especially the Defense dept, and causedhas deficits and all manner of economic and ecological havoc, just like the pseudo-Conservatives in the US who steamrolled us all and brought about the massive trillion dollar deficits.
IMHO, the liberal/conservative nyah nyah nyah finger pointing needs to stop, the banks need to be dismantled, and the financial shenanigans need to he prosecuted. Accountability is deeply missing and the US is rapidly removing any way for individuals & groups to sue or use class action suits to get compensation from corporations or government entities that willfully, knowingly cause harm. How is that not fascism? We are ALL at risk.
Canada is about to have a huge housing bubble bust just like the US did. It is all part of the game plan. The banks are still playing games with the unrestrained theft of homeowner equity by forcing foreclosures and blaming their own venality on poor people of color.
Oh and BTW, I am pretty sure the recent BC elections were totally stolen. The polls for the NDP were way too far ahead of the Libs to have such widespread failure. 9 POINTS. No way!!
I am sure it will take 3 years to prove that this election too was rigged. Too late to save us from the damage about to be done to this once prosperous province. It hurts to watch the devastation happening in slomo after witnessing California's demise over the past 10-15 years.
All of this crap is CONNECTED. As I have stated in previous posts, my longterm illness left me with just enough time on ky hands to do a boatload of research, scare myself shitless, and get my ass banned from Celebitchy. But the big picture is not so fuzzy to ne and my years of activism in clean elections, medicare for all/single payer health coverage, etc should indicate that I am very solution oriented and not just another Sky is Falling Doom and Gloomer. I put what little energy I have into solving the serious problems we face.
So thoee of you who CARE about all of this and DO something about it, I salute you. And those who eay, drink & be merry, I am with ya cuz life is too crazu and short not to live and love fully.
And those of you who snark and smear and criticize without any useful actions, you will just be dust under someone's feet soon enough.
Pink bubbles, all. Kiss those you love, say what you mean and mean what you say. Life is so very PRECIOUS. And the children deserve our best efforts to preserve a livable world where equality is the norm and not a huge battle to fight over and over again.
Its about time the church took one up the ass.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDOMA is not dead, just Section 2. Section 3 (the full faith and credit waivers) are still alive and kicking.
ReplyDeleteProp 8 is not dead, it's just currently unenforceable. There are ways it could be revived easily enough (but I'm not going to give anyone any ideas).
@dball...it is effectively dead unless they can find someone who has standing to challenge the District court's ruling that prop 8 is unconstitutional which seems highly unlikely (the state is refusing to do so). The 9th circuit's ruling was struck down which means the lower court's ruling stands. The stay was not lifted but never assumes that will follow shortly.
DeleteWithin a month or two (25 days for the ruling to be finalized + a mandate sending it back to the lower court) and gay marriage will once again be legal in California.
*it's highly unlikely because to have standing you have to prove you have suffered harm (harm can mean economic, and other less concrete "injuries") and on the subject of gay marriage, it's highly unlikely anyone outside of the state would be able to prove "harm".
DeleteAmartel--It was 72 days---From September 24th, over the holiday VACATION, then the new Congress was sworn in in January.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link:
http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/09/the-myth-of-the-filibuster-proof-democratic-senate/
YOU forgot about Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, and Robert Byrd. Nice try. Keep fucking that chicken, er, perpetuating the two-year super-majority myth.
(edited)
It is over a thousand benefits. The impact on this is huge.
ReplyDeleteWOOT!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@unknown...Don't ask don't tell led directly to gays being allowed in the military because it gave concrete proffered that having gays serve was not detrimental to combat effectiveness.
DeleteAlso, arguably, DOMA gave an actual target to address and challenge the issue if gay marriage and how it is/is not recognized. The rule of unintended consequences and all.
Next up...a challenge to the "full faith and credit" section.
*proof
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis is great news and I'm not going to engage in the partisan butthurt going on
ReplyDeleteThis is a very, very happy day! Special congratulations to Dixie!
ReplyDeleteCongrats and best wishes Dixie.
ReplyDeleteI was so happy to hear this news on GMA this morning. Everyone was excited, it's beyond awesome.
Congrats Dixie!! And yee haw. This doesn't threaten my marriage one bit. All my friends and family should be allowed to have the same rights and benefits whether they are gay, black (remember when THAT was illegal? Sheesh!) or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, you will pay taxes as married couples do in order to finance PRISM, NSA and Jabhat al Nusra.
ReplyDeleteI hope threesomes are soon allowed, therefore many of this BI are revealed.
NJ101.5 is still going Bacon Ranch. As long as I get my Chime Time I'm happy w/ my local radio.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya though. I hate the media conglomerations. No way 1 corporation should own multiple news papers in one city.
101.5? That dribble is still on?It made my ears bleed. The only reason I ever listened was they had good traffic reports.
ReplyDeleteAnd they kicked Prop 8 to the curb (and out into the gutter where it belongs.)
ReplyDeleteDear Mormons, please keep your narrow-minded phobias in your own state, m'kay? Thanks.
Good for the gays, I guess. Not that your unions will ever be real marriage, but you can pay the divorce lawyers half or more of your income when you split. So really, they are the ones who win. At least you'll get to pretend to be "normal" and be "married" while all your supporters get to preen and pat themselves on the back for being so enlightened and evolved and superior than those religious/RepubliKKKans or whatever boogeyman it is this week. Huzzah!
ReplyDeleteTroll.
DeleteWait there's a gay union? Wonder what the annual dues are. Can you do a queer "Taft Hartley " and just "experiment" in college before you absolutely must join? Aw fuck it I guess I have to join after all these years.
DeleteHey Dixie can you get me the union # so I can sign up? Thanks chica!
Yikes, Dixie. I hope your wedding guests and bride are not going to be impossibly hungover tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteSorry for implying that you even touch the demon alcohol, but if you do - wait! I claim copyright on the screenplay!
Awesome!!!! Congratulations Dixie. I hope you 2 have a long and happy life together.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Dixie!
ReplyDelete@Lulu: How dare you!! What is a sunny summer drive w/o Big Joe Henry?
ReplyDeleteAnd you have any idea how many people were helped during Sandy by getting their message out on 101.5?
Annoying as mosta them people are, it is a great resource.
lol @Jamie - We are saving the drinking for post ceremony. Thanks again to everyone! My reader pic is going to be a pic of me and my bride after our wedding. :)
ReplyDelete@Dixie - can't wait for the pic. Have a wonderful day. It is beautiful when two people invite the people they love AND their prospective in-laws to say, we are committed. Straight or gay, I always tear up when they do that.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking about the plaintiff in DOMA, Edie Windsor, who had a 42-year-long love affair with her partner and wife. I hope you and your bride have the same good fortune.
Thanks also to Paul, Weiss (the law firm) and the ACLU for representing her pro bono. I never thought I'd have a good word to say about a lawyer, but today I have plenty of good words to say about lawyers.
Supreme court justices, not so much.
I hope your wedding is everything you want it to be.
Yay for equality!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Dixie and all those who this affects personally. And congrats to those who have worked and fought so hard for equal rights.
Yeah baby! :))))
ReplyDeleteScalia and Thomas can suck it
ReplyDeleteHELL MOTHAFUCKING YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ABOUT DAMN TIME!
ReplyDeleteWOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! PARTY IN FRISCO THIS WEEKEND!!! WOOP! WOOP! WOOP! WOOP!