I was seconds from posting this, but I wasn't logged in on my phone. Lol But anyways, that's 2 states in 2 days! (!)(!)(!)
Haha I was seconds away from posting this too. I'm glad marriage equality has been speeding up super fast lately.
Nice to see this ruling! And just to the north of us, completing the entire east coast, DC and north. I imagine this is also going to be appealed to the circuit and probably supreme court level. I wonder, despite all these victories, what the eventual outcome will be. Note: "An appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely." So far, in almost all of thee states with court rulings, one still can't marry, pending all these 'appeals'...so, while these victories are nice to see, I have to remind myself there is still a long ways to go until they are actual, functional victories.
I'm a bit surprised it got announced now since I heard that the ruling wasn't going to be decided on until June.
I'm so happy! When you look at all of the states in the Northeast region, PA has the lowest amount of LGBT rights (and I live here too).
Even if Tom Corbett does appeal the ruling, he'll be leaving office in January, so PA's next governor, Tom Wolf (a Democrat), will probably drop any appeal that Corbett makes. We win.
Pretty awesome. ---------- Post added 20th May 2014 at 04:29 PM ---------- Corbett won't appeal, and the bolded part is not a certain as you think. Corbett's poll numbers may be poor right now, but there is a ton of time before the election and Pennsylvania's economy has improved significantly. Unemployment, which is now 5.7%, is below the national average and is the lowest it's been here in six years. A good economy is a powerful approval rating booster. They aren't the exact same situations, but John Kasich was in a somewhat similar situation in Ohio. His approval rating was quite poor, but it's now really increased. Not to mention Corbett will have money to spend and a talented campaign team.
Corbett is toast if he appeals this or not. Anyways, glad to put another state on the board for Equality. Missouri's case starts in September.
I was born in Pennsylvania, Philly, and pretty much most of my relatives there are major supporters of gay rights. I'm glad my birth state finally made a ruling on this. Although, this was merely a stature ban, so it's not as major as all the other rulings. Still, great progress.
With this ruling, the entire Northeastern bloc becomes a total marriage equality region. ride: Of the 19 jurisdictions with legal marriage equality in the United States, 12 are in the Northeast corridor, from Maine to D.C. The Northeast and West Coast are now complete. The marriage map is starting the resemble the old red-state, blue-state maps of the 2000/2004 presidential elections. Basically all the states that voted for either Al Gore and/or John Kerry over George W. Bush are now marriage equality states. (Wisconsin and Michigan are the only two holdouts, Wisconsin only has limited civil unions while Michigan had its ban struck down but the ruling stayed). Not one solid Republican red Bush-Bush state has legalized marriage equality, although several have had their bans struck down with the rulings stayed. And yeah the idea of Tom Corbett being re-elected is a laugh. :roflmao:
It's certainly not a sure thing. In fact, Corbett's chances right now aren't good at all, and I might actually vote for Tom Wolf because he's a good guy. But to say that it's laughable that there's a chance Corbett could be re-elected almost six months out of the election demonstrates a lack of understanding of campaigns/elections. As I said before, the number one issue for most voters is almost always the economy, and if the economy is in good shape those voters don't typically vote against the incumbent. Unemployment has dropped significantly in Pennsylvania and, rightly or wrongly, average low information voters will base their vote solely on that. Plus, Corbett eliminated a $4 billion deficit that he inherited from a Democrat governor. Corbett's approval ratings are shitty right now and he has some baggage, but he's got some things going for him that could give him a decent shot in November.
Philly is in pretty rough shape, no thanks to Corbett. The schools and surging violent crime rates almost make Baltimore look like the Ritz, thanks to his huge cutbacks in funding. It's really sad how he's had such a negative impact on the poor/working poor/lower classes in general. After all, the state has a child poverty rate of 20%, which is not really all that flattering. Given Maryland is solidly Democratic, I'd almost be willing to volunteer to get Corbett out, if I had more time. He's a mean old Grinch, that Corbett.
Unemployment has dropped in Illinois, and yet Pat Quinn is looking at a steep uphill battle for re-election in one of the bluest states in the country. Same goes for Rick Scott in Florida, who's beating the economy drum to death, although his corruption and corrupt administration, and his once-elected Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, could still be the death of him.
This is a blatant distortion of Corbett's record that's been made up by Democrats to cover up Ed Rendell's stupidity. Corbett did not cut education. What happened is that Rendell appropriated millions of dollars to schools that came from a temporary federal grant that was going to run out. Consequently, hundreds of teachers had to be laid off and schools lost funding after this grant ended. In other words, Rendell and schools used the money as if the state would be receiving it long-term, even though it was only a temporary grant. Corbett could not replace that money that ended from the grant because the state was already in a $4 billion hole thanks to Rendell's reckless spending. Corbett has actually appropriated more to education in his last two budgets than any other Pennsylvania governor. So, yeah, his record on education isn't nearly as bad as Democrats make it out to be.