July 11, 2008

Note to Lesbian Pioneers: Avoid Wisconsin

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Now that gay marriage is legal in California, a same sex marriage showdown is brewing in Wisconsin.

An obscure Wisconsin state law circa 1915 declares fraudulent any marriage performed outside the state if the couple intends to return to Wisconsin to live. I’m gonna spare myself the research and wager that this law had everything to do with anti-miscegenation impulses.

A pioneering lesbian couple has every intention of courting prosecution by traveling to LA on August 8 to marry and return home. Cue “the family values” contingent in Wisconsin.

It was almost amusing watching the spokeswoman keep a straight face while forcefully arguing that their only impetus was fending off this couple’s “defrauding” of Wisconsin and not, you know, the hot girl-on-girl action.

So, come August 9th, look for a round of gay marriage prosecutions.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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