Ben & Jerry's Renames Ice Cream to Hubby Hubby in Support of Gay Marriage in Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ben & Jerry’s, known for its euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice, celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and, to show its support, will serve “Hubby Hubby” sundaes in Vermont Scoop Shops throughout the month of September.

Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights. Its partnership with Freedom to Marry, a national leader in the movement for marriage equality, aims to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and to encourage other states to follow the blazing trails of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, and Maine. Freedom to Marry promotes the national conversation about why marriage equality matters and brings together partner organizations into a larger whole – a shared civil rights campaign.

“At the core of Ben & Jerry’s values, we believe that social justice can and should be something that every human being is entitled to,” said Walt Freese, Chief Executive Officer of Ben & Jerry’s. “From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people. The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream.”

To kick off the celebration, Ben & Jerry’s and Freedom to Marry will be publicly supporting the first marriages of gay and lesbian couples in Vermont and raising awareness for marriage equality and how to take action by driving consumers to www.freedomtomarry.org. By logging onto the site, people can show their support, sign a Marriage Resolution Petition, have conversations about why marriage matters and learn more about how they can support the cause.

“It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full, but the most important thing that all us ice cream lovers can do to support the freedom to marry is speak with the people we know about why marriage matters and the need to end marriage discrimination in every state”,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry. “Thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, starting those needed conversations has never been sweeter – and thanks to Freedom to Marry, we all now have a great excuse to eat more ice cream.”

For more information on why marriage equality matters and to take action in your state, please log on to www.freedtomarry.org. To find your local Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop or learn more about Ben & Jerry’s social mission, log onto www.Facebook.com/benjerry.

www.benjerry.com

Read more...

LGBT History Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on Gay Marriage, Pride, Organizations and More

How much do you know about LGBT history? June is International Pride Month. Take this quiz to find out just how much you really know about LGBT rights, organizations and history of the community.  Subjects cover gay marriage, gay pride, history of LGBT organizations and more.

Access the Quiz Here

WHY I CREATED THIS QUIZ

In celebration of International Pride Month, I decided to create a survey that will test knowlege among the LGBT community.

Although an estimated 15 million Americans self-identify as LGBT (Witeck Combs), how many of us are knowledgable about our community's heritage? How many of us are active in the LGBT community? How many of us really know how it all started and what our brothers and sisters have faced for decades?

The results of the quiz are displayed immediately following completion, and include background information about each subject.

There is no better time to answer these questions and empower those in our community than 2009, the 40th anniversary since the Sonewall Riots.

Brush up on your knowledge; learn something new and pass this quiz along to everyone in the community. Armed with knowledge, we can mobilize, educate and move forward in our quest for equal and fair civil rights.

If there are questions you would like see added to the quiz, please contact me!

Happy Pride

Read more...

NY Gay Marriage Bill Could Go to Vote Soon - NY Governor to Call Special Sessions for Hung Senate

New York Governor David Paterson ordered the state Senate into special session beginning Tuesday in an effort to end the struggle for power over the chamber. After a staged coup by Republican Senators two weeks ago, the New York Senate became "hung" when the GOP leader (a Democrat who originally joined the renegade Republican takeover) stepped down and left the chamber vote at a tied 31-31, an incomplete forum for passing bi-partisan legislation.

For LGBT citizens of New York, this could mean that the proposed gay marriage bill by Governor Paterson may go up for vote after all. When polled by NY1, a local news station, nearly two thirds of the Senators either did not respond or indicated that they did not support same sex marriage.

The Governor said he will make Senators stay in Albany indefinitely until they act.

According to the Associated Press, Patterson said "I will convene a special session every day until they do. That means Saturday, Sundays, that includes July 4. There will be no excuses and there will be no tolerance to noncompliance with this order."

The 2009 session ends today.

Read more...

NY Gay Marriage Bill Up for Vote: Senators Who Would Vote 'No'

Gay Marriage Rights are up for vote in New York!
(pictured left: NY Governor David Patterson)

New York Governor David Patterson introduced a gay marriage bill that would legalize same sex marriage in New York. On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 the bill passed an assembly vote of 82 to 52, moving the legislation to the NY State Senate.

In an interesting turn of events on Monday, June 8, Republicans staged a coup and seized power of the NY Senate. Some speculate Republicans are attempting to take seat in an effort to majority rule on upcoming legislation like the same sex marriage bill. Democratic Senators have only been seated for five months when the Republicans voted them out today, just two weeks short of a term.

A frustrated and angry Governor Patterson released a statement today in a live press conference regarding the Senate take-over:

"The actions taken on the senate floor today need to be exposed for what they are, an unnecessary distraction to government, dressed up in the cloak - falsely - of reform and good government," Paterson said in a statement.

"...I don’t care if I am the only one standing, but someone has got to stand up and say that this is wrong."


NY1, conducted a poll among all 62 New York State Senators recently on the legalization of same sex marriage. Below are the results, and they are astonishing!

This is a perfect opportunity to stand up and do something: write these Senators! Tell the ones who would vote 'Yes' - 'Thank you!'

Especially for those Senators who would vote 'No,' now is the time to make your voice heard. These Senators need to know what the people think! Urge them to vote FOR the legalization of same sex marriage in NY.

I've done an extensive amount of research FOR YOU to help make this process easier. Click the name of the Senator to send a personal email! THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO DO! You can also connect to those Senators who have a Facebook page listed. A download link for all Senators' email addresses is at the end of this blog entry.

Would vote "Yes" (Email All Supporters)

Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn: Email | Facebook
Neil Breslin, D-Delmar: Email
Martin Dilan, D-Brooklyn: Email | Facebook
Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan: Email
Pedro Espada, D-Bronx: Email
Craig Johnson, D-Nassau: Email
Jeffrey Klein, D-Bronx/Westchester: Email
Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan: Email
Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn: Email
Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Westchester: Email | Facebook
Kevin Parker, D-Brookyn: Email
Bill Perkins, D-Manhattan: Email
Diane Savino, D-Staten Island/Brooklyn: Email
Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan/Bronx: Email | Facebook
Jose Serrano, D-Bronx/Manhattan: Email
Malcolm Smith, D-Queens: Email | Facebook
Daniel Squadron, D-Brooklyn/Manhattan: Email
Toby Ann Stavisky, D-Queens: Email | Facebook
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Westchester: Email | Facebook
Antoine Thompson, D-Buffalo: Email

Would vote "No" (Email all NON-Supporters)

Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent: Email
John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse: Email | Facebook
Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx: Email | Facebook
Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna: Email
John Flanagan, R-Suffolk: Email
Charles Fuschillo, R-Nassau/Suffolk: Email
Martin Golden, R-Brooklyn: Email | Facebook
Joseph Griffo, R-Rome: Email
Shirley Huntley, D-Queens: Email | Facebook
Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn: Email
Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island: Email
William Larkin, R-Cornwall: Email
Kenneth LaValle, R-Suffolk: Email
Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton: Email
Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury: Email | Facebook
Carl Marcellino, R-Nassau/Suffolk: Email
George Maziarz, R-Newfane: Email | Facebook
Michael Nozzolio, R-Seneca Falls: Email | Facebook
George Onorato, D-Queens: Email
Senator Onorato sent me a personal email explaining he believes marriage is between a man and a woman. Tell him you disagree!
Frank Padavan, R-Queens/Bronx/Nassau: Email
Michael Ranzenhofer, R-Amherst: Email
Joseph Robach, R-Greece: Email | Facebook
Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie: Email | Facebook
James Seward, R-Milford: Email
Dean Skelos, R-Nassau: Email
William Stachowski, D-Buffalo: Email | Facebook
Dale Volker, R-Depew: Email | Facebook
George Winner, R-Elmira: Email | Facebook
Catharine Young, R-Olean: Email | Facebook

Undecided (Email ALL Undecided Senators)

John Bonacic, R-Mt. Hope: Email | Facebook
Brian Foley, D-Suffolk: Email
Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Bronx/Westchester: Email
Owen Johnson, R-Suffolk: Email
Kemp Hannon, R-Nassau: Email
Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga: Email | Facebook
Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens: Email
John Sampson, D-Brooklyn: Email
David Valesky, D-Oneida: Email

Wouldn't Say (Email ALL Senators Who Wouldn't Say')

Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens: Email
James Alesi, R-East Rochester: Email | Facebook
Vincent Leibell, R-Westchester: Email
Thomas Morahan, R-Rockland: Email

Download ALL Senators' Email Addresses (Text File)

Read more...

California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8, Denies Same Sex Marriage

California Supreme Court announced its decision today to uphold Proposition 8, denying same sex marriage in the state.

All marriages held prior to the ruling will remain valid.

National protests are being held tonight (May 26).  For information on a rally in your city, visit www.dayofdecision.org.

Read more...

Same Sex Marriage Legal in Connecticut

Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions through the courts.

The ruling comes just weeks before Californians go to the polls on a historic gay-marriage ballot question, the first time the issue will be put before voters.

Connecticut’s court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution. It was a logical next step for a state that was the first to voluntarily pass laws affirming and protecting civil unions.

"I can’t believe it. We’re thrilled, we’re absolutely overjoyed. We’re finally going to be able, after 33 years, to get married," said Janet Peck of Colchester, who was a plaintiff with her partner, Carole Conklin.

"I’m just ecstatic. It’s such a relief, the joy of it," said another plaintiff, Jodi Mock of West Hartford, who sued with partner Elizabeth Kerrigan.

"Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice," Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote in the majority opinion that overturned a lower court finding.

"To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others," Palmer wrote.

The Family Institute of Connecticut, a political action group that opposes gay marriage, called the ruling outrageous.

"Even the legislature, as liberal as ours, decided that marriage is between a man and a woman," said executive director Peter Wolfgang. "This is about our right to govern ourselves. It is bigger than gay marriage."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday that she disagreed with the ruling, but will not fight it.

"The Supreme Court has spoken," Rell said in a statement. "I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision - either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution - will not meet with success."

But House Speaker Jim Amann, a Democrat, said he expects the issue to be taken up by the General Assembly.

"The legislature, as the lawmaking branch of government, debated this issue and made Connecticut one of the few states that offers civil union status for same-sex couples," Amman said.

The lawsuit was brought in 2004 after eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses and sued, saying their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated.

They said the state’s marriage law, if applied only to heterosexual couples, denied them of the financial, social and emotional benefits of marriage.

Peck said that as soon as the decision was announced, the couple started crying and hugging while juggling excited phone calls from her brother and other friends and family.

"We’ve always dreamed of being married," she said. "Even though we were lesbians and didn’t know if that would ever come true, we always dreamed of it."

by Dave Collins
Associated Press

Read more...