Gayning Ground

A few strides have been made in the past week on gay rights, mostly in the Northeast. They are not clear-cut, though, and resistance to them is also growing.

The start of September 1 in Vermont signaled that state's recognition of same-sex marriages, prompting certain couples to take advantage of it immediately. The change was not that welcomed for representatives of the Westboro Baptist Church in Montpelier, VT, who themselves faced a crowd of supporters of same-sex marriage. To celebrate the occasion, Vermont's 'gayest duo,' Ben and Jerry of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream, changed the name of their Chubby Hubby ice-cream to 'Hubby Hubby' and offered free scoops of it around the state.

Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage in Maine, which is supposed to start allowing those marriages on September 12, have gathered enough petition signatures to put a measure on the ballot in a November election, which would overturn the decision to allow same-sex marriages. Their efforts are met with resistance, however, as supporters of same-sex marriage have raised their own groups advocating the upholding of the decision. As an NPR report states, battle lines are drawn in this upcoming election. The NPR audio on the issue is below.

Proponents of same-sex marriage have also launched an ad campaign on television, appealing to the independent nature of Maine residents, hoping to garner their votes when the issue goes on the ballot. One of these ads is below.

Despite all these advances, gay rights advocates are not satisfied with president Obama's performance on the issue, claiming that he is not working fast enough on national issues such as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, or the Defense of Marriage Act.

On a national level, Congress is closer to passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination at work because of their sexual preference or gender identity.