GetUp! Australia's poignant marriage equality video hits all the right notes.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Get up! Australia released a video promoting marriage equality that beautifully and poignantly illustrates that marriage represents the culmination of love and commitment every couple might aspire to, not just those that fall under the narrow definition of “a man and a woman,” like the politicians keep flogging year after year.

As governments and people around the world struggle with the issue, GetUp! created the video to gloriously re-frame the debate—not as an issue of rights that are to be demanded so much, but as an issue of a couple’s commitment to each other being hindered by the status quo. As the campaign simply states, “It’s time. Stop marriage discrimination.”

With almost 3 million views on YouTube in less than a week, the  message has struck a chord with people and spread well beyond the Australian audience it was intended for. See the video after the jump.

Continue reading »

Tweet

5

Pin It

Living in downtown Manhattan means my kids have known same sex partners for as long as they can remember. But recent events have definitely bumped up this idea in their awareness. Ever since the Marriage Equality Act was passed in New York, my daughter has been proudly proclaiming that two women can marry each other to whoever will listen.

But I realize that my kid’s exposure to gay couples (and our family’s attitude) isn’t necessarily typical. As gay marriage gets more normalized, more children will begin to grasp the idea that love exists beyond the boundaries of the man-woman relationship. Though this warms my open-minded heart, I’m guessing this isn’t everyone’s idea of positive progress. But it’s happening; and it’s probably going to be a lot less weird for the kids who grow up with this concept than some of their parents, who have to unlearn the stigmas they grew up with.

Watch, for example, as this little boy meets his very first gay couple and puts two and two together.

Continue reading »

Tweet

36

Pin It

This acorn has fallen far from the tree.

Who says the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree? Such a notion is, um, nuts. At least as it pertains to a former first family.

During his presidency, George W. Bush made his stance on gay marriage known time and time again. He believed the institution was reserved for a man and a woman. Period. But it appears that at least one of his twin daughters doesn’t see the hot topic the same way as he does. And she recently took to YouTube to make that known. The first line she delivers in the video couldn’t be more clear.

Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

I imagine that, as a child in the foster-care system, it would be difficult to trust anyone, be it case workers, foster parents, or pretty much any adult.  But when an entire foster-care program throws up its hands and walks away, that’s got to hurt.  Especially when the reason is as irrelevant and malicious as a personal opposition to same-sex marriage.  That, however, is exactly what the Catholic Church has done in Washington D.C.

Continue reading »

Tweet

19

Pin It

One thing that opponents of same-sex marriage overlook is the fact that many, many gay couples are already raising families. And the children of those families are increasingly speaking up for their parents — and themselves.

One is Kasey Nicholson-McFadden, a blond-haired 10-year-old boy who looks like he just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

Remember Will Phillips, the ten-year-old boy from West Fork, Arkansas who decided that he was not going to recite the Pledge of Allegiance until the phrase “with liberty and justice for all” was accurate — that is, until everyone was able to marry the person they love?  Young Will was, of course, referring to the issue of marriage equality — more specifically, the lack of marriage equality in this country.  Will’s protest garnered international attention after he got in trouble for talking back to a substitute teacher about it — after four days of the teacher trying to force him to stand and recite the pledge, he told her “Ma’am, with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge.”

Continue reading »

Tweet

2

Pin It

Based on my own personal, anecdotal experience, I’d have to agree with these conclusions — the lesbian parents I know are far better parents than I am.  The same, actually, is true of the guys raising kids together too.  Of course, all that is nothing more than one person’s experience and may very well be more indicative of my lack of skill than their exceptional abilities.  There is, however, actual scientific research on the matter and it matches what I’ve encountered personally — Lesbians are better parents than straight couples.

Continue reading »

Tweet

13

Pin It