Strangely enough, New England seems more and more recently to be fitting the bill.
So far five states have legalized gays to legally marry, and Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts have joined Iowa in the Midwest. Vermont was so committed to the cause that they even overrode the governor’s veto! Once considered to be the most open and welcoming state in the union, California is poised to lose a great deal, especially with New Hampshire poised to become the sixth.
New England has a common culture with media outlets that share regions, so it’s logical that it would move as a group. Though Rhode Island seems to be the lone holdout, legislation is said to be pending, though it isn’t probable that it will make it to its governor’s desk this year.
Many East Coast leaders assert that the rest of the country has gradually figured out that after Massachusetts passed their law in 2004 allowing gays to marry, our sacred union hasn’t turned into Sodom and Gomorrah, nor has Western civilization fallen to the heathens.
As for Maine, Governor John Baldacci lost no time and signed the bill seemingly before the ink dried Wednesday, May 6, 2009. Maine’s Senate Majority Leader Phillip Bartlett asserts that the long overdue legislation won’t force religious institutions to recognize gay marriage, which has always been an ultra-right wing “bogeyman” thrown out to derail past efforts.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jet
As per Dave Nalle:
"BTW, everyone DIGG this article using the link at the top. We're trying to see if we can increase the awareness of some of our BC politics articles using DIGG."
2 - Bill
I think that CA will quickly overthrow the decision to outlaw gay marriage. It is a major infringement of civil rights. is a great site that provides unbiased coverage of CA politics.
3 - roger nowosielski
Jet,
This one's short and sweet.
Are you trying now to match Dave in a tennis match? How many sets shall we have? And does the sudden-death rule apply?
PS: Don't forget what I said about the Bay Area. It's still a dream come true.
4 - roger nowosielski
And I'm not even gay!
5 - Jet
Dave and I are like flying buttresses on opposite sides of the BC Political cathedral. If either of us stopped pushing, I think the building would fall over.
Dear God, Roger-I hope it doesn't turn out to be a love set!
6 - roger nowosielski
Right now it's 40-love. Your serve in a tiebreaker.
7 - Alyse
As my husband pointed out to me, California is a much bigger state than we remember. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and while we are one of the most populace cities in the world, there is a whole lot of California out there. Outside of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, there are A LOT of people who are most closely aligned with conservative views.
I'm not sure who was predicting a mass exodus of homosexuals after Prop 8 (a prop which was one of the most poorly worded pieces of legislation I have ever seen, and I would like to think that part of its failure was due to voter confusion), but I think that is a little ridiculous. I certainly don't think that the outlaw of same-sex marriage has made this state any less "friendly" toward homosexuals, or has inspired any of them to move.
8 - roger nowosielski
Hey Jet,
You've got a competitor. Check out the site, "Canada Rocks," among recent comments.
It'll make you salivate.
9 - roger nowosielski
I can assure you, Alyse, that no gays will be leaving California, regardless of the present status of the same-sex marriage legislation. It's still the most gay-friendly state in the union.
Besides, California is California. Once you check in, you can never leave.
10 - roger nowosielski
I like your website, BTW. Very attractive.
11 - Jet
When my business contacts in San Diego, San Francisco and L.A. tell me that they've been looking for an excuse to uproot to New England because the cost of doing business is less, and now that the entire region is going gay friendly, I'd have to disagree with both of you.
One contact however did say he's not going to the east coast... He moved his home design firm to Houston Texas...
He said he wanted to see if his lover really can fill a 10-gallon hat... I'll let you use your imagination as to what that entails...
12 - roger nowosielski
Well, if the gays have braved all those years in CA when it was unfriendly, they're not going to desert her now. You can't just visit; you've got to live there for a while. It's beyond the legislation in progress, Jet; it's the whole culture. I know what I'm talking about. And the weather ...
God's country in every sense of the world! I've told you, I'd rather be homeless there then indigent in the Midwest.
And no - I don't get the hyperbole.
13 - Jet
Back when the emron scam was going, a business I was making $40,000 a year at for only 4-5 visits a year had to flee to New Orleans because of the electric bills at "business rate". Another fled to New York.
Although I'm no longer financially connected, virtually every business contact I've talked to in the last few weeks has said economically it's practally financial suicide to stay in California in the condition it is now and rather than sit and be miserable losing money, they'd rather sit and be miserable on the East Coast MAKING money... in a gay-friendly town.
You can sell anything on the web and make money if you have a good product no matter where you're based, and fly to L.A. etc 4-5 times a year like I did. In fact I started setting up shops in San Dieto with people who wanted to stay as managers while I controlled the major decisions from Columbus Ohio.
14 - roger nowosielski
I'm little out of touch with that aspect, but I don't buy the energy cost story. I paid nothing for utilities there (lived in a residential hotel, only $450 a month). Here in KY, my electric is over $50, water $35, and the AT&T over $70 (no lifeline). Plus I lost my SSI because the standard of living is supposed to be lower. And that's not counting the rent. So I don't always buy this crap. These smaller states have a way of getting their money, by hook or by crook.
What line of business are you in? If it's too personal, don't bother.
15 - roger nowosielski
BTW, I've been to Columbus, in passing. Beautiful Victorians if I remember correctly. Old town. There was a substantial hippie community when I was there last.
16 - Jet
The victorians are near campus on Neil Avenue and are crammed with students from basement to attic, the really nice ones are in... wait for it... Victorian Village.
The hippies are in nursing homes.
17 - roger nowosielski
You mean they aged prematurely for all the pot they were smoking. The one thing that kind of disturbed me was a communal living - everybody's kids were public property so to speak and under everybody's care. I didn't see any good coming out from those living arrangements.
But that's before I settled in Oregon and eventually in California.
18 - Jet
I wonder how many moving vans it'd take to move Iowa to the west coast?
19 - roger nowosielski
The only part of Iowa I could possibly tolerate is Des Moines. Leave the rest to the rednecks.
20 - Jet gardner
You've obviously never seen an electric bill for a warehouse that was converted to a movie studio, especially when you compare the same kilowatt rate to a facility in a Boston suburb.
21 - Jet Gardner
I guess when the Name/url got its memory back I converted back to "Jet" instead of "Jet Gardner"
22 - tink
Great article, Jet. When you can get people to discuss issues, you have made a mark.
I can't even begin to tell you how galling it is to live in California and see how the swaying votes for same-sex marriages were taken in by a ruse used by the opposition. An ad campaign had too many voters believing that an equal voice for personal choices would equate to a change up in elementary, middle and high school curriculum promoting a lifestyle the (im)moral majority is appalled by. I believe this, in part, led to the confusion Alyse mentioned. It's the ole muddle up the issue theory of getting votes routine. Unfortunately, it seems to have worked.
With the passing of these laws in the New England area of the country, it seems to me their once staid reputation is actually more in standing with them having a clearer view of our constitutional rights than those in California, both in how they now read and how they can be changed. One can hope we on the West Coast can do the same.
A mass exodus though? It's not always a question of being able to pack up and move. Family and career ties are binders no matter what. Moving to a friendlier political state has it's appeal but is not always practical in application. The concensus among my peers is to stand and fight the good fight, regardless of orientation.
23 - roger nowosielski
Yes, I have. I had a 4000 sq. feet live-work space/warehouse in the eighties, before the earthquake. I owned the damn property and was paying 13 percent for the "bullet loan" - my mortgage payments being over $3,500 a month. But I was making money then, upwards of $400,000 a year.
24 - roger nowosielski
That's why, you know who, calls me a filthy capitalist pig - an aficionado of market economy. Whatever, may they rest in peace.
25 - roger nowosielski
But Tink, it's only a matter of time. And could you really shed the California culture?