Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton Signs Marriage Equality Bill: VIDEO

An historic and joyous day in Minnesota as Governor Mark Dayton signed the marriage equality bill into law.

Watch it go down, AFTER THE JUMP...

Take Action on Hawaii's Civil Unions Bill

 

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has been deluged with letters over the civil unions bill which sits on her desk on a list of potential vetoes.

 The AP reports: "Gay rights groups hoisted signs in favor of same-gender civil unions at the Hawaii Capitol on Tuesday, while religious leaders asked their congregations to urge the Republican governor to veto the measure...Lingle's office has received about 20,000 letters, faxes, e-mails and phone calls, most of which oppose civil unions."

Alliance Pride Hawaii wants your help in lobbying Governor Lingle not to veto the civil unions bill, and urge you to write letters to that effect.

They write: "Keep in mind that timing is very crucial; to get it to her before she must make her decision (July 6, 2010), the letters must be sent this week. We have in mind letters with the following two themes: 'We are from _____ and we would sure love to have our civil union in Hawaii,' and 'We recently got a civil union in _____ but would much rather have had it in Hawaii.'"

Letters should be mailed to:

The Honorable Linda Lingle
Governor, State of Hawai`i
Executive Chambers
State Capitol
Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813

Federal Court Hears Challenge to DOMA Today in Boston

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) appeares in federal court today to argue its lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The group wrote, in April:

"The hearing will address the central issue of the case – is DOMA constitutional? –six years after the first same-sex couples in the country started marrying in Massachusetts, the result of GLAD’s groundbreaking marriage case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. Arguing before U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro on behalf of seven married same-sex couples and three widowers will be Mary L. Bonauto (inset), GLAD’s Civil Rights Project Director. Bonauto was the lead attorney in Goodridge...In opposing the government’s Motion to Dismiss and arguing in favor of the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment, GLAD will assert that DOMA Section 3 violates the federal constitutional guarantee of equal protection as applied to federal income taxation, Social Security benefits, and federal employee and retiree benefits."

Said Evan Wolfson Executive Director of Freedom to Marry:

"GLAD's historic challenge to DOMA marks an important step on the road to ending federal marriage discrimination and securing the freedom to marry nationwide. DOMA creates two classes of marriage - those the federal government respects and some it doesn't - denying married same-sex couples and their families equal treatment and depriving them of the safety-net that marriage brings. Because of federal marriage discrimination, same-sex couples cannot share Social security benefits with a spouse, sponsor a partner for a green card or citizenship, or pool resources without being unfairly taxed. In the United States, we don't have second-class citizens, and we shouldn't have second-class marriages either."

Watch GLAD attorney Mary Bonauto explain the case, AFTER THE JUMP...

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone Marry in St. Bart's

Guest of a Guest reports: "Marc Jacobs made an honest man out of Lorenzo Martone this week, by marrying him in a private ceremony in St. Barts. Following the ceremony, the couples were feted at an exclusive private dinner hosted by Larry Gagosian, with guests including Russell Simmons and girlfriend Porschla Coleman."

Close-up of cake topper, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sponsored Posts Launch: Milk on the Move

Sponsored Post:

With this, we're pleased to announce the launch of Sponsored Posts. They won't appear every day. Just on special ones. And to avoid any doubt, they are not tied to nor do they influence our regular posts. The point is to try to make it easier for certain companies and brands to connect with our users (so they can contribute to footing the bill for keeping Towleroad growing and improving). We hope they're compelling to those who are interested and are only a minor inconvenience to those who prefer to wait for the next one.

It seemed auspicious to broaden our offerings as Milk, starring Sean Penn, increases its number of theaters. More cities are being added to the initial limited release because of the response so far. This means it's coming to more Americans in their hometowns. We're pleased to now partner with the film's distributor, Focus Features inaugurating Sponsored Posts with dispatches from a few major gay organizations. We asked for a quick dispatch on something that seems remarkable for how much (or little) it's changed since the Milk era, 1978 to be exact.

Guess which sector of American society has made the biggest gains for our equality since those days? It's in the first dispatch later today....

And if Milk is meaningful to you and something you can get behind, it could be a very good thing to let family, friends, and allies know about the film and its expansion to more cities. And please get in touch for more information on what we do, who reads our site, sponsored posts, and other advertising programs across Towleroad and our ModUrban Media partners. We are able to offer efficient ways to reach highly influential segments of consumers. Thanks again for your continued support. That really is the only way we're able to pull off what we do.

--Mike (mike at towleroad.com)

Gay Ad Network & Advertising on Towleroad

                           

New (and more fun) ways to reach the high-end demographic, the influencers leading the gay market and the media world.

Towleroad continues to have advertising space available with our friends at Blogads:Buy a Towleroad Super Premium Ad -- GUARANTEED the top position. Buy a Towleroad Premium Ad -- upper strip. Branding & Response. All Pages

We  offer banners (Leaderboard 728x90px), medium boxes (300x250) --perfect for video and clicks, and the classic skyscraper in a 160x600 classic. Get in touch for a first-timer discount and info on our other inventory.

Click the "contact" link on any page.
Email me: "mike" and "towleroad.com"
Call me: Click this button,  and we'll be connected by phone for free.

Or call direct:310-746-5324

Tell me what you're working on and i'm likely to have some ideas. (and those are free)

Thanks,
Michael Goff Chief Executive
Modurban Media's Gay Ad Club.

Modurban Media, our gay ad network; teams Towleroad with our friends at the best gay blogs and top sites to target the influential, city-living, men about town. Somewhat even to our surprise, to a great extent we're building the culture. And it couldn't be  a more interesting time for that. Recent studies showed us that our readers are to a large degree living in the big cities and doing some interesting things. We had only one ranch hand, but 72 writers (or about 5% of our sample). With others, we found a total of almost 40% of our readers working in Arts, Entertainment, Media, and Technology.

Towleroad's readers are media-savvy gay men and creative,
style-oriented individuals interested in reading about and discussing
international pop culture, current events, media, sports, and
entertainment in a visually-engaging and ahead-of-the-curve forum.