On Thursday in the Daily Beast, writer Jonathan Rauch called Flake's "deal-breaker" misguided -- and a GOP "suicide mission" (emphasis mine):

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So, in effect, Ryan has made himself .001 percent less awful than he was before.

In response to a question about gay rights, Ryan chalked his 1999 vote to ban gay adoption in the District of Columbia to a freshman foible during his first term in Congress:

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The non-binding opinion was in response to a request by state Sen. Dan Patrick, a Republican, who objected to the Pflugerville school district's decision to offer domestic partnership benefits.

From the Dallas Voice:

Pflugerville’s decision also prompted a Republican state lawmaker to introduce a bill that would cut funding for school districts that offer DP benefits. The bill — HB 1568 by Drew Springer of Muenster — is awaiting a vote in the House.

While Pflugerville was the first school district to offer DP benefits, several other local government entities do so, including the cities of Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio; as well as Dallas County and Parkland hospital. Most offer DP benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners.

In his opinion, Abbott writes that domestic partnerships "have various characteristics in common with the criteria for marriage," enough that "a court is likely to conclude that the domestic partnership legal status about which [Patrick inquires] is 'similar to marriage' and therefore barred by article I, section 32 of the Texas Constitution."

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The bill would offer civil unions to gay and straight couples, getting the state government out of the marriage business altogether and making "certain that every Minnesotan couple gets a civil union in the state of Minnesota," Norton told ABC's KAALTV. The measure would leave marriage "to the churches that are offering them," she added. Norton did not address how the measure, which was introduced on Thursday, would secure federal benefits for Minnesota couples or out-of-state recognition of civil partnerships.

Norton had previously supported the Republican-backed measure for gay civil unions, but withdrew her support after calling the bill unfair and unequal. This, she says, is a better compromise.

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In an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS News, Bush said that he wouldn't comment on same-sex marriage (after happily commenting on national security and immigration reform, it is worth noting): “Yeah, well, I’m not, I’m not weighing in on these issues, as you know, because I’ve made the decision to get off the stage. And so I’m off the stage,” he told Rose.

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The gay marriage legislation easily passed the Rhode Island House in January, and the Senate vote was seen as the true test. The bill passed 26-12, and now returns to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, before going to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports the legislation.

"This is a historic piece of legislation, one that literally has been in the works for more than 20 years," said Sen. Donna Nesselbush, D-Pawtucket, the bill's main sponsor in the Senate. "This is something that undoes centuries of discrimination against gay and lesbian couples."

While the other five New England states already allow gay marriage, heavily Catholic Rhode Island has been a hold-out. Supporters this year mounted an aggressive and coordinated campaign that included organized labor, religious leaders, business owners and leaders including Chafee and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.

The bill's chances improved when Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said she would allow the bill to move forward, despite her opposition to gay marriage. Earlier this week, the Senate's five Republicans announced they would all support the measure.

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A fourth-grade schoolteacher asked students to write a persuasive essay for a recent assignment, and one of those students chose marriage equality as his topic. What happened next was so good that the teacher had to post it to Reddit so the rest of us could enjoy it.

Behold (sic):

Why gay people should be able to get married is you can't stop two adult's from getting married because there grown and it doesn't matter if it creeps you out just get over it. And you should be happy for them because it's a big momment in their life. When I went to my grandparents wedding it was the happies momment.

As you can see gay people should have the right to get married and you shouldn't judge other peoples lives because if you was gay you wouldn't want people talking about you.

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According toBusiness Insider, right wing lawmaker and gay marriage opponent Henri Guaino voted in favor of the bill legalizing gay marriage despite his opposition to the measure, blaming the electronic voting system for his mistake. Three other members of his party ran into the same problem, reports France's Le Point.

Guaino blamed the "activity" in the Assembly and the flashing lights of the voting system for his momentary confusion, according to a statement: "You saw the mess that was? I've never seen such a mess in the Assembly! There were three buttons flashing, yes, I [pushed] the wrong button!"

But rest assured, he adjusted his vote, even if it didn't change the eventual outcome: "I went to the services of the Assembly to correct my vote," he said.

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On Tuesday, Cameron trolled Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, calling on the Republican lawmaker to renounce his support for gay marriage "for the sake of the son you love."

In a statement to Portman, Cameron went on to say that marriage equality is a "health hazard" and should be treated as such:

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Rep. Tom Shaw, a Republican, said that the bill was meant "to maintain the balance of power” between the different branches of government in the state. "We’re just holding them responsible for their decision, for going beyond their bounds,” he said.

The Iowa Gazette reports:

The justices “trashed the separation of powers” with their unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision and implementation of same-sex marriage without a change in state law banning any marriages expect between one man and one woman, added Rep. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull.

Their amendment to House File 120, the judicial branch budget bill, would lower the salaries of the four justices on the seven-member court who were part of the unanimous Varnum v. Brein decision to $25,000 – the same as a state legislator.

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In the final reading of the proposal on Tuesday, the National Assembly voted 331 to 225 to adopt the bill. Soon after, anti-gay marriage protestors in Paris began to clash with riot police stationed in the area.

As reported by the Local:

Despite the requests of organizers that marchers disperse peacefully, a hard core group of around 500 refused to leave the Invalides.

Their anger soon boiled over as bottles and firecrackers were hurled at the riot police, who had blocked off a street leading to the parliament.

One officer was taken to hospital with a head wound after being hit by a brick. “The clashes were extremely violent,” one officer told French media.

Police, who responded with tear gas, made 12 arrests. The protesters also turned their ire on journalists in the vicinity, shouting “scumbags" and “collaborators” at the members of the press. At one point a mob of masked protesters chased a group of journalists down the street and a photographer from AFP was sprayed with tear gas.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls later said those arrested were linked to far-right organizations.

There were also violent clashes in the city of Lyon, where anti-gay marriage protesters took to the streets to express their anger. Police said they had made 44 arrests.

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But not Gregory Angelo, the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans. He credits Mitt Romney's tone-deaf position on these issues and his crushing defeat in the 2012 election for slowly (seriously slowly) bringing the GOP around to marriage equality, as he told the Advocate:

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But even with wide voting margins in the legislature and popular support among the public, opposition to the measure that would grant equal marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples has intensified in recent weeks. Protests in Paris have turned violent, and gay couples have been the victims of vicious assaults.

As The New York Times reports:

At the margins, the demonstrations have also become more violent and homophobic, with a series of nightly demonstrations last week around Parliament that resulted in clashes with riot police officers and a number of arrests. Even opposition leaders have bemoaned the way harder-right groups have infiltrated the demonstrations, and there has been a small surge in violence against gay men and lesbians, with some beatings and angry, offensive words on social media.

Two weeks ago, a Dutch-born man walking with his partner in Paris was beaten up. The man, Wilfred de Bruijn, posted a photograph of his bloodied face on his Facebook page, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times. Last week, two gay bars, in Bordeaux and Lille, were attacked, and a same-sex couple was attacked Saturday in Nice outside a gay nightclub.

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GLAAD acknowledged the former president's evolved views on marriage equality and subsequent activism with its Advocate for Change Award, presented to Clinton over the weekend.

During the speech, Clinton reiterated his desire to overturn DOMA, essentially admitting that it was a mistake to sign the law:
"I want to keep working on this until not only is DOMA no longer the law of the land, but until all people - no matter where they live - can marry the people they love," he said.

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In response to a recent column about a bisexual woman who was wondering if she should marry, some people wrote angrily to say that one does not have to want to be in a plural marriage to be bisexual. That makes sense. They said that they were bisexual but happy in a committed monogamous relationship. That too sounds reasonable. Some claimed to have been hurt or insulted by my recent words about bisexuality. So I reexamined what I wrote.

I want to be kind and I want to be fair and want to admit that I can make mistakes. I hurt some people and I am sorry. I erred in not speaking to enough bisexual people to understand the sensitivity of the issue. I got swept away in the pure logic of it. For that I am sorry.

But let me state affirmatively what underlies my thinking. People need to make choices based on who they really are. In order to do that they must have legal choices that suit who they are.

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In a circuitous little statement about the French Revolution, the Illuminati and "history repeating itself," Robertson segued his ramblings to gay marriage, asking viewers if equal rights advocates are really "just about marriage," or if their motives "go far beyond that: to destroying the traditional family and building a country without God?”

h/t Right Wing Watch

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This is the second proxy Reagan endorsement for gay marriage to come from Davis in recent weeks. In an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, Davis said that her father would have supported marriage equality because he explained to her as a child that “some men are born wanting to love another man," and counted a lesbian couple among his closest family friends. Davis also cited Reagan's opposition to a ballot measure that would have barred gays and lesbians from working in public schools during his time as governor of California as more gay marriage credentialing.

When asked if her mother supported gay marriage, Davis responded "she does," adding that her mother likely agreed with her about the Gipper's stance on equal marriage:

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Lawmakers voted 77 to 44 in favor of the gay-marriage bill on its third and final reading.

People watching from the public gallery and some lawmakers immediately broke into song after the result was announced, singing the New Zealand love song "Pokarekare Ana" in the indigenous Maori language.

"For us, we can now feel equal to everyone else," said Tania Penafiel Bermudez, a bank teller who said she already considers herself married to partner Sonja Fry but now can get a certificate to prove it. "This means we can feel safe and fair and right in calling each other wife and wife."

In one of several speeches that ended in a standing ovation, bill sponsor Louisa Wall told lawmakers the change was "our road toward healing."

"In our society, the meaning of marriage is universal — it's a declaration of love and commitment to a special person," she said. She added that "nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander than passing this bill."

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When the waiter brought us our bottle of wine we filled our glasses to the brim, mused about the end of an era, and raised a toast: “To divorce!”

After a Mediterranean feast we headed over to her apartment nearby so I could finish up some work emails, and over some more wine flipped through our old wedding album, giggling at some of the cheesy photos from the reception. Conspicuously absent from our little album, which a federal bureaucrat had paged through some years back while scrutinizing us closely, were pictures from our honeymoon, a wild Saturday night spent at the Cubbyhole, a popular lesbian bar in the West Village where, incidentally, we also first decided to get married.

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Plural marriage, as we call it, has always been a part of my life. From an early age, I understood my family was part of a peculiar group trying to live according to old Mormon ways. Both my grandfathers went to prison for polygamy, and I grew up hearing stories of their sacrifice for the “Principle.” We lived in a middle-class area of Salt Lake City, where most of our neighbors were mainstream Mormons (the church banned polygamy more than 100 years ago), and church representatives would show up and try to convert my father. All he had to say was “polygamy,” and they were gone.

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