‘David and I feel very blessed. After 23 years together, we are blissfully happy. Love is universal’
Both legendary British pop icon Elton John and his husband David Furnish marked the 11th anniversary of their civil partnership with postings on Instagram Wednesday.
The couple met 23 years ago and was among the first to have a civil partnership union when it became legal in the UK on December 21, 2005.
Later, when same-sex marriage was legalized in 2014, Elton and David changed their civil partnership status to marriage.
Elton said the following on Instagram: ‘Today is our Civil Partnership and Wedding Anniversary. I am so grateful to live in a country that acknowledges and supports same sex relationships. David and I feel very blessed. After 23 years together, we are blissfully happy. Love is universal.’
Furnish wrote this on his post: ‘23 years ago when I met this extraordinary man, I never dreamed that one day I would be able to legally marry the man I love. 2 years ago that dream became a reality.
‘I want to thank everyone that fought to make that dream possible. I also want to thank all the wonderful friends and family who loyally stand by us and support us every day.’
The couple has to beautiful sons: Zachary (born 2011) and Elijah (born 2013).
The history of gay marriage in the US and around the world
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are living the dream. When the two tied the knot back in 2014, the couple walked down the aisle in custom Tom Ford tuxedos, shared their first dance to Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This” and danced the night away to a performance from none other than gay marriage pioneer Sir Elton John. It was the kind of fairytale wedding we all hope for. But in 2014, they had to hold their ceremony in Italy because gay marriage was still a state-specific issue in America. Luckily, we’ve cleared the marriage equality hurdle in the U.S. However, it was a long time coming.
The first official gay marriage case on record is Baker v. Nelson. In 1972, Richard Baker and James Michael McConnell took their case to the Supreme Court after being denied a marriage license in Minneapolis. They filed suit and argued that the lack of sex-specific language in the local laws meant they could receive a license. At the time, the highest court disagreed.
A decade later, Richard Frank Adams and Anthony Corbett Sullivan found themselves searching for recognition of their marriage. Unlike Baker and McConnell, they’d successfully obtained a marriage license in their native Boulder County, Colorado. But they wanted federal recognition. Sullivan had come to the U.S. from Australia. His husband, Adams, wanted the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to recognize him as a direct relative. The status change seemed simple, but the INS refused. The newlywed couple sued the INS but eventually lost. The court defined the term “spouse” as the opposite sex only-a crushing defeat for the couple who should have been celebrating their union.
Joey Brown and Michael Balistreri – Photo: http://www.stephaniew.com/
We just love this amazing photo by Stephanie W Photography. Michael, a naval officer, proposed to Joey in 2013 before deploying overseas. The two had been officially married for over a year when they exchanged vows in front of friends and family in Charleston, South Carolina.
Obama affirms support for gay marriage
1996 was an active year in the marriage equality battle. Back then, Barack Obama was a long way from the White House, but there were hints of his progressive views on gay marriage. While he was running for a Senate position, he sent a typed statement to a local gay and lesbian magazine that affirmed his early support.
“I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages,” he wrote. If only the courts and politicians of this time could have followed his lead.
That year, Colorado was back at the center of the gay marriage battle. This time, it was the Romer v. Evans case. Voters had successfully voted Amendment 2 into law. The amendment was basically a broad act protecting gay people from any type of discrimination. This was inclusive of the right to marry. But local politicians weren’t on the same page with the public. They challenged the act, and Colorado’s Supreme Court overturned it. Not only were gay men and women no longer protected from discrimination-they also couldn’t marry.
President Bill Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act
Later in ‘96, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act. Known as DOMA, the act denied federal benefits to married gay couples. Later that year, a Hawaii judge ruled in favor of the right for gay couples to marry. But two years later, Hawaii citizens would vote to approve a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Over the next two decades, the fight for marriage equality was defined by a succession of small wins and big losses.
Just before the turn of the millennium, California became the first state on record to pass a formal domestic partnership law. Less than a year later, Vermont legalized civil unions. Massachusetts was next up when it legalized gay marriage in 2003. However, by the end of 2004, 11 states had voted to deny same-sex couples equal marriage rights.
California strikes down same-sex marriage ban
California became a marriage equality battleground beginning in 2005. Local lawmakers passed a gay marriage bill, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. He did the same thing again in 2007. The next year, the local Supreme Court struck down a law banning gay marriage, a move that inspired gay couples across the state to start marrying in droves. However, that same year, voters approved the controversial Prop 8, which reinstituted the ban. It took almost two years before Prop 8 was overturned.
Charles Cooper was a high-profile lawyer that defended Prop 8 before the Supreme Court. However, while he was fighting to ban gay marriage, his stepdaughter came out of the closet. After Prop 8 was overturned, his views changed, too.
“My daughter Ashley’s path in life has led to her happiness with a lovely young woman named Casey, and our family and Casey’s family are looking forward to celebrating their marriage,” he told TIME.
The United States legalizes gay marriage
From there, the tide turned in a positive direction. Several states, including New York, New Jersey and Maryland legalized gay marriage. Then, on June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court made history when it legalized gay marriage across the entire country. It was a decision that will go down in history, not just for the LGBT community, but for all Americans.
While the fight for additional equal rights and recognition, mainly those of the trans community, continues, marriage equality was a major American milestone. Abroad, the results are mixed. Notably, on the positive side, The Netherlands legalized gay marriage back in 2000. Canada did the same in 2005. Countries ranging from Norway to Iceland to South Africa to Brazil have ruled in the affirmative. Just this year, Mexico signed gay marriage into law despite many locals who vehemently disagree.
The fight for equality continues on
Countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where staunch religious beliefs prevail, continue to enforce anti-gay laws and policies. Many of these places, like Egypt, Algeria, and Libya, still have laws on the books that make gay sexual activity illegal and punishable by jail time, fines, and even death. Gay marriage in these places is still light years away.
Still, the U.S. has joined a small list of countries that are leading the way globally. According to CBS News, there are almost 500,000 same-sex marriages in America. As we move forward, powered by this historic decision, we’ll continue to see the rest of the world follow our lead.
Should I let it go and just tolerate that he is stealing my man?
Dear Max, I met this guy online through a friend and we talked all the time, on the phone and online.
Turns out he was from my area doing time in North Dakota for the military. I really liked the guy and after a while he got discharged from the military and returned home.
I come to find out that he and my best friend have been talking and all. I have no problem with that but my friend has a habit of stealing men from people.
Ever since he moved back, he and my friend have both been talking a lot more, seeing each other and who knows what else. Should I talk it over with them or just let it go, even if it means that my friend is stealing my man?
Dear Lance, If you are serious about this guy, you need to talk to him and talk to your friend. Make sure that you find out exactly what is going on between those two, or you may end up losing both a potential partner and your best friend.
It is obviously bothering you so try to clear the air. If it turns out that your friend and the military guy is actually having a relationship, you need to figure out if the guy is worth risking your relationship with your best friend over.
On the other hand, if it turns out that your friend knew that you like this guy, and he knew that you had something going on with him, then you have to consider if he really is your friend after all. Maybe it’s time to look for a better friend?
Sorry, guys. Unfortunately, Chris Evans is probably not gay. He seems like the kind of hottie that flirts with everyone, male or female, and doesn’t really care what anybody thinks.
And the fact that he’s so gay friendly is no coincidence, because he has confirmed that his brother Scott Evans is gay:
“Yes, I do have a gay brother. I’m down with the gays. Mostly I’m hanging out with him and his gay buddies, who are f*cking hilarious. They’re the funniest people I know. They’ve invited me out to gay bars before, and I said, ‘Look, guys, I’ve got to draw the line there.’ That’s where a photo will get taken, it will run in magazines, and before you know it, I’ll be living down the gay rumor for the rest of my life. [My brother looks like me], but he’s about an inch taller and about four shades tanner than I am. He’s a very fit young man. Believe me, he does quite well for himself.”
In a interview with The FIX, Chris Evans discussed how having a gay brother and sisters helped him “cultivate compassion and understanding” for people with identities that differ from his own.
“I’ve never felt any sort of backlash or friction as a result of the stance I’ve taken in my career in support of [my brother] or any other human rights… hopefully, it stays that way going forward,” said Evans.
“It’s important to understand, whether it’s growing up with women, whether it’s growing up with other ethnic groups, it’s important to experience anything different from what you know,” he continued, “to encourage and cultivate compassion and understanding.”
“Growing up with women helped me, but growing up in the theater helped me, growing up in a progressive community helped me. I think it’s really important to put faces to the situations that we’re navigating as a society.”
Chris Evans went on The Ellen Show to promote his new film, Captain America: Civil War, and also managed to raise funds for charity by showing off his hot bod.
And he’s been more than happy to tease his audience with his close to perfect body at several occasions.
Just take a look at this hot video compilation:
But does that make Chris Evans gay?
I would love to be wrong on this one, but I really don’t think so…
New Kids on the Block member Jonathan Knight has proposed to his longtime boyfriend, personal trainer Harley Rodriguez.
Knight popped the question when the couple was vacationing in Africa.
“We were in Africa, our parents were there — our moms were there — and I just figured this was the time to pop the question and make it official,” Knight revelaed on Sirius Radio’s The Jenny McCarthy Show.
“We were on the Zambezi River—it’s right above Victoria Falls. We took a nighttime raft dinner, just the four of us out on the river, there was like a hippopotamus in the background. It was a super moon. It was just absolutely beautiful, it was so romantic.”
The couple met back in 2008, when NKOTB released their comeback album The Block.
“We were rehearsing the day I met him. He’s a trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp, so I would be with the band all day, then the only time I got to see him was to go take his class,” Knight told ET. “I’d take his class then we’d go for dinner afterwards. He’s been around from the beginning and seen [NKOTB’s comeback] morph into what it is today.”
Jonathan Knight said his boyfriend had no clue that a proposal was coming, even though they both have considered their relationship similar to marriage, and they have taken each other’s names on social media.
The couple was ecstatic after last year’s monumental Supreme Court ruling, which legalized gay marriage nationwide.
“Me and Harley called each other right after it happened and were crying our eyes out on the phone,” says Knight.
“It’s just something that’s been long overdue and it was really aggravating to see other countries have it legal,” he added. “In Massachusetts it’s been legal [since 2004], so I always felt if my state can do it why are other states not doing it? To have it done nationally was awesome.”
In the interview with ET, Knight also said that he thinks the world has been moving forward on LGBT issues and that it has become easier to come out.
“If we were then where we are today, I would have been openly gay from day one with the New Kids and it wouldn’t have been an issue,” he said. “Back then there was such a stigma that I couldn’t even tell my best friend. These girls I went to prom with were really good friends and today most girls love gay guys and would be like, ‘Yeah! Let’s go to prom!’”
“Being able to be open back then, we would’ve just had a better time. I know I would have.”
