Harry Enten: “All the southern states except for West Virginia have a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, which requires an amendment to repeal the previous one. The process for doing so in many southern states requires a majority in the state legislature, which is to say that voters can’t just petition to get something on the ballot… Republican control is a big deal because though the rest of the country has moved, Republicans, especially southern Republicans, have not. Only 26% of Republicans support gay marriage. The percentage of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage rose by 15pt over the past decade; the percentage of Republicans favoring gay marriage only rose by 3pt over the same period. That’s a growth rate of only 0.3pt a year.”

A new Rocky Mountain Poll in Arizona finds 55% of voters now favor legalizing same-sex marriage, while just 35% said they are opposed.

“After about 4 hours of debate, the Minnesota Senate has voted 37-30 to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

“The House approved the measure 75-59 last Thursday. The bill will now head to Gov. Mark Dayton (D), who is likely to sign it into law Tuesday. If he does, that would make Minnesota the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage.”

A new Gallup poll finds 53% of Americans “say the law should recognize same-sex
marriages, the third consecutive reading of 50% or above in Gallup
polling over the past year.”

More interesting: “Although a majority of Americans themselves support legal gay marriage,
an even larger majority perceive that most Americans come down on the
side of not legalizing it. When asked their impression of how
most Americans feel about the issue, 63% say the public is opposed to
gay marriage and 30% say the public favors it. These data suggest that a
segment of Americans who support same-sex marriage believe that their
views are in the minority, while in reality they are in the majority.”

“My heart breaks for Minnesota.”

— Miinesota State Rep. Peggy Scott (R), quoted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, on the Minnesota House approving same-sex marriage legislation.

“A pivotal vote Thursday in the Minnesota House positioned that state to become the 12th in the country to allow gay marriages and the first in the Midwest to pass such a law out of its Legislature,” the AP reports.

The Minnesota House will hold a final floor vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage Thursday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

“House Speaker Paul Thissen (D) said he would not bring the measure up for a floor vote until he was certain it had the votes to pass. The Senate is expected to take up the measure soon after. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is a supporter of same-sex marriage and said he will sign the proposal into law.”

Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady is expected to resign Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“The resignation comes after Brady survived an attempt last month to oust him as GOP chairman over his support for gay marriage…
Brady created a controversy within the state GOP in January
when he endorsed pending legislation that would legalize same-sex
marriage in Illinois. The measure passed the Illinois Senate in February
with the support of one Republican.”

“Delaware lawmakers will take up a gay marriage bill on Tuesday in a bid to make the state the 11th to allow same-sex couples to wed,” Reuters reports.

“The scheduled vote in the state’s Democrat-controlled Senate follows the General Assembly’s passage of the bill several weeks ago. Governor Jack Markell, an outspoken supporter of gay marriage, has vowed to sign the bill into law if it clears the Senate.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) likened the Boy Scouts stand against gay membership akin to being opposed to slavery, the Dallas Morning News reports.

“Perry, speaking from the library in the Governor’s Mansion, referred to a portrait of Sam Houston, whom he called Texas’ greatest governor. He told how Houston’s principled stand against slavery and Texas’ joining the Confederacy cost him his governorship.”

Said Perry: “That’s the type of principled leadership, that’s the type of courage that I hope people across this country on this issue of Scouts and keeping the Boy Scouts the kind of organization that it is today. If we change and become more like pop culture, young men will be not as well served, America will not be as well served and Boy Scouts will start on a decline that I don’t think will serve this country well as we go into the future.”

“Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry,” the AP reports.

“Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening, immediately following a final procedural vote in the state’s General Assembly. The outcome of the vote is not in doubt.”

A group of Iowa Republican lawmakers have attached an amendment to a judicial branch budget bill that would reduce the salaries of the four remaining justices who were part of the groundbreaking case to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, the Sioux City Journal reports.

Their salaries would be reduced from about $163,000 annually to $25,000, the amount legislators are paid.

Said state Rep. Larry Sheets (R): “If the justices are going to behave like legislators, they ought to receive lawmakers’ pay.”

“Following more than an hour of riveting and personal floor speeches — during which one state senator publicly announced for the first time he is gay — the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to begin the process of repealing the gay marriage ban from the state constitution,” the Las Vegas Sun reports.

[Read more…]

All five Republicans in the 38-member Rhode Island Senate plan to support the same-sex marriage bill backed by supporters of the issue, Rhode Island Public Radio reports.

“The unanimous support among Senate Republicans reflects how GOP lawmakers are not uncommonly more socially liberal than the Democrats who control the General Assembly. It is also reportedly marks the first unanimous backing from a partisan legislative caucus in the US for same-sex marriage.”

“The French parliament has approved a bill legalising same-sex marriage and adoption, following a divisive public debate,” the BBC reports.

“France becomes the 14th country to pass a law allowing gay marriage, and follows New Zealand last week.”

The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, Reuters reports, “but the organization’s board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution.”

Iowa State Sen. Dennis Guth (R) said the media has “bamboozled” the public into a growing acceptance of gay relationships and argues his family faces “multiple health risks” because of sexually transmitted infections he says are associated with a gay lifestyle, the Mason City Globe Gazette reports.

Radio Iowa quotes Guth: “If I saw someone going the wrong way on a one-way street, I would make every effort to stop and redirect them.”

New Zealand is set to become the one of the latest nations to allow same-sex marriage after the country’s Parliament passed a bill legalizing the practice, CNN reports.

MP Maurice Williamson gave a remarkable speech in support of the bill.

[Read more…]