FGB: Stopgap Edition

Just a few notes from the Northeast on marriage. I'm still pretty much under the weather -- spent most of the week sleeping -- but have a little bit of energy today.

It looks as though while we are all focused on the fate of Prop 8 in California (and that looks pretty iffy), things are quietly moving forward at the opposite end of the country. From Maine:

The author of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine says more than 60 legislators from both parties have signed on as co-sponsors.

Democratic Sen. Dennis Damon of Trenton said those lining up in support of his bill include representatives from Maine's smallest towns and its largest cities.

He said many legislators sought to have their names associated with the bill, prompting leadership to open it up to unlimited sponsorship. Normally, no more than 10 lawmakers can be listed as co-sponsors of a bill.

And in Vermont:

Nearly 200 Vermont clergy are speaking out in favor of legislation pending at the Statehouse that would grant equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples. . . .

The Rev. Linda Maloney, an Episcopal minister from Enosburg Falls, said , "Civil unions are a good thing, but are still not equality."

Maloney joined about 25 colleagues of varying Christian denominations at a news conference at City Hall in Burlington Wednesday to voice their support for marriage equality. They released a roster of Christian and Jewish clergy from across Vermont who signed a statement of support for same-sex marriage rights, framing the issue as one that protects their religious freedoms.

It looks as though the only denomination actively opposed is the Catholic Church. Who would have guessed?

I haven't heard anything recently out of New Jersey, but I'd guess that by the end of the year, there will be a same-sex marriage law on the books there, unless we're once again victims of a play-it-sae mentality. And New York looks to be up for grabs: Paterson has his own problems right now.

The Illinois civil unions bill, I seem to remember reading receently, has been turned out of committee to the full legislature. What's going to happen there is anyone's guess: the Mormons are back in the fray, but it's going to be a matter of Springfield politics, and nothing else.

Realize this is not much, but trust me -- you wouldn't have wanted to be me this week. No focus, no concentration, no stamina. Yech.