Marriage Equality

NEW YORK — Out Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, 27, tied the knot with boyfriend Victor Voronov, an attorney from Russian, in a New Year’s Eve ceremony on Saturday, then tweeted the news to his nearly 103,000 Twitter followers.

Welcome to 2012! We got a lot of work to do this year, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work. The new year marks new civil union laws in Delaware, Hawaii, and California. Psychologists in North Carolina lash out at anti-gay prejudice, LGBTs can marry in Cancun — probably — and something fishy’s going on with civil unions in the European Union.

HONOLULU — For Donna Gedge and Monica Montgomery, the path to becoming a legally recognized lesbian couple took 33 years. One hour after midnight Hawaiian time in the New Year, their dream became a reality as they and another couple became the first same-sex couples to enter into civil unions in Hawaii under a new law that took effect with the New Year.

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Saturday once again vowed his support for a federal constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, and under such an amendment, said all existing same-sex unions should become “invalid.”

Significant events are crowding the calendar for 2012, and each promises considerable drama and suspense for the LGBT community. Here is our special report on the ten most important stories to keep an eye on:

From the repeal of “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell,” a policy which had banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U. S. military, to winning strategic battles in gaining civil unions and full marriage equality for same-sex couples in several states, victories in a significant series of elective offices across the country, 2011 ended on an upbeat note for the nation’s LGBTQ community.

One leading advocate called 2011 an “epic” year for marriage equality. Was it? While only one state — New York — enacted full marriage rights for same-sex couples, it was the most populous state to do so. Five other states also moved closer to marriage equality than ever before. Public opinion shifted dramatically towards supporting equality. And the Obama administration announced that it no longer considers a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act constitutional.

“President Obama has long relied on his oratorical gifts to ease him through tricky political situations. But on the emotionally charged issue of gay rights, Mr. Obama has been content recently to let his lieutenants do the talking. And they have said some striking things,” reported Mark Landler, Senior White House Correspondent for The New York Times, on Friday.

NEW YORK — Same-sex couples are paying as much as $6,000 a year in additional taxes because the federal government doesn’t recognize gay marriage, according to a new report by CNN.

OMG, 2011 — what a year for marriage equality. We’re still not ready to get married yet, but wow we are so close. Think about where we were a year ago — so much has happened. Let’s do a quick year-in-review to look at all the amazing stuff of 2011, and look ahead to where we’re going to win in 2012…