Your daily homophobia

As same-sex marriage spreads across New England, Louisiana moves to block gay rights.

Published May 7, 2009 12:36PM (EDT)

 Gay marriage is having a pretty damn good week. On Wednesday, DC voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Maine's governor followed up by signing gay marriage into law. And then! New Hampshire lawmakers passed a gay marriage bill which now goes to the governor, leaving us all staring, longingly, at little old Rhode Island.

 

But as the big gay storm sweeps across New England, conservatives in other states are scrambling to bar the doors against gay rights. For instance: "The Louisiana legislature is moving forward with legislation that would bar the state from issuing birth certificates showing two people of the same sex as parents."

The move stems from a federal lawsuit in which a gay couple, who adopted a child in a New York court, tried to add their names to their child's birth certificate for health insurance purposes. When Louisiana refused to do so, saying they didn't recognize gay adoptions, the couple filed suit and won. (The state is appealing.)

The unfolding gay rights showdown is one of the most fascinating stories going on right now, so it will be interesting what happens when the bill goes up for a vote in the Louisiana House. Governor Bobby Jindal supports the bill. (Of course he does.) Because nothing says family values like denying kids health insurance and -- what's that other thing? -- their parents.

Meanwhile, as Obama stays eerily silent on the gay marriage debate, opponents like the ever-understated Marion Barry are kicking up dustclouds of outrage, warning of a "civil war." Rhode Island, your move.

 


By Sarah Hepola

Sarah Hepola is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, "Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget."

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