Happy Marriage Equality Day, Nevada!

It's here! It's finally here! It's finally happening.

Washoe and Clark Counties are now good to go. Carson City was actually first to the marriage equality party, as the County Clerk there decided not to wait for Judge Mahan's order. But once that injunction order hit the Twitter wires, everyone else quickly hopped on board the Equality Express.

Here's the official Freedom Nevada statement on today's joyous news.

“Today is a day for the history books. The freedom to marry has come to Nevada, and soon across our great state, loving same-sex couples will at long last share in the respect and dignity only marriage can provide,” said [State Director Ward] Curtin.



“From this day forward, marriage equality will strengthen our families, strengthen our communities and make Nevada a better place to live and work.”



“We are forever grateful for the incredible legal team at Lambda Legal and the brave plaintiff couples who put their families front and center in this historic fight. Without their heroic efforts, today’s victory would not have been possible.”

And here's Lt. Governor candidate Lucy Flores (D) on tonight's most pleasant (not really a) surprise.

“My sincere congratulations to my good friends Kelvin and Woody,” Assemblywoman Flores said in her official statement. “This is a great day for the LGBTQ community in Nevada. Allowing people to marry who they love is fundamentally the right thing to do. Very soon all Nevadans will be able to experience the legal rights that come with full marriage.”



“It is unfortunate that my opponent does not support equal rights,” she continued – referring to Sen. Mark Hutchison, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor.

Here's what Rep. Dina Titus (D-Paradise) tweeted:

#MarriageEquality finally! Congratulations to the couples getting married! #Nevada is on the right side of history! #NVproud #LGBT

Oh, and according to KSNV/News 3's Reed Cowan, State Senator Kelvin Atkinson (D-North Las Vegas) is now married! Congrats to Kelvin & Woody!

Consider this an open thread. We may update later if more major news breaks. Otherwise, we'll have a clean summary of the big break tomorrow morning.

Happy Marriage Equality Day, Nevada!

Marriage Equality... Is Finally Coming to Nevada!

Boom goes the dynamite. Just like this, it's over.

We hold that the Idaho and Nevada laws at issue violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they deny lesbians and gays who wish to marry persons of the same sex a right they afford to individuals who wish to marry persons of the opposite sex, and do not satisfy the heightened scrutiny standard we adopted in SmithKline.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote the majority opinion. Judges Marsha Berzon and Ronald Gould agreed, so the panel was unanimous in rendering this decision. The full Ninth Circuit opinion is now up. And like that, marriage equality is coming to Nevada! Oh, and it's coming to Idaho, too!

Actually, this is no suprise. Back in September, the Ninth Circuit judges were highly skeptical of the H8ers' whines and screams. H8ers are going to hate... But the Ninth Circuit panel wanted none of it.

Now keep in mind that this decision will not be appealed by the State of Nevada. And since the US Supreme Court just turned down seven cases appealing lower court pro-marriage rulings, it's probably a good idea for our world famous wedding chapels to prepare for the onslaught of wedding requests that's about to begin any day now.

Moments ago, Reps. Dina Titus (D-Paradise) & Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) tweeted their congratulations. We're still awaiting word from Cresent Hardy (R-"Segregation Laws"), Adam Laxalt (R-"Political Issues"), & Barbara Cegavske (R-License to Discriminate). And we have a feeling we'll see far more reactions from elected officials across the state as the news sets in.

The Golden Opportunity Presented

Last week, we lamented the failure of this G-O-TEA plagued 113th Congress to accomplish anything other than the usual and unnecessary manufactured crises. But now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) is making another effort to break past the gridlock and accomplish something. And here's where it gets really interesting.

Remember ENDA (or the Employment Nondiscrimination Act)? Senator Reid does. This past May, he made a personal revelation when he spoke of the need to finally pass federal legislation to curb workplace discrimination against LGBTQ Americans. And now, Senator Reid is matching his words with action.

Gays and lesbians should not be fired from their jobs just for being themselves. Senate will soon work to #PassENDA.

Earlier today, Senator Reid announced that ENDA will finally get a Senate vote late next month. Congress took on this bill before (in 2007 and 2010), but this time it looks like a solid bipartisan majority has emerged in the Senate. After all, 2 of the current 54 Senate cosponsors are Republicans (Susan Collins [R-Maine] and Mark Kirk [R-Illinois]). And conservative pro-equality groups are promising an aggressive lobbying effort to win over more Republicans, such as Senator Dean Heller (R).

This really shouldn't be a difficult choice. After all, happy and fear free workers make better workers. This is why 16 states (including Nevada) have already passed comprehensive ENDAs, and why nearly all the Top 50 Fortune 500 companies have already banned anti-LGBTQ discrimination in their respective workplaces.

So equal rights at work is the right thing to do as well as good for the bottom line. So why is it so difficult for this to become federal law? Sadly, the G-O-TEA Crazy Caucus cares more about impractical ideology than lucrative & innovative policies. And as we've seen all too often in the (112th &) 113th Congress, Republican "leaders" tend to coddle the crazy rather than curb it.

But now, they have another chance to prove they can drop the "Culture War" nonsense and move into the 21st Century. Will Republicans take this golden opportunity Senator Reid is giving them? Or will they just screw up on both this and comprehensive immigration reform (CIR)?

It's up to Congressional Republicans now. Will they seize golden opportunities like ENDA & CIR? Or are they willing to throw their own party into the demographic dustbin of history just to hurt people for a few more years?

Obama Coming to Save Reid? Looks Like It.

Well, so much for all the initial GOoPer celebrations over the death of Harry Reid's political career. It not only looks like President Obama has forgiven him over the much-ado-about-nothing "scandal", but he will be coming here next month to campaign for him!

The White House is about to make another big gesture demonstrating its support for Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader under fire for remarks he made about President Obama’s race.

In February, Mr. Obama will head to Nevada to appear with Mr. Reid, who is facing a tough reelection battle there, aides said today.

The decision by the president to fly to Nevada for the majority leader comes as the Reid operation has made an all-out effort to rally Democrats and African-Americans around Mr. Reid, and to head off a crisis that has grown amid crucial health care negotiations and his own campaign. Several Republican officials – including the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele – called on Mr. Reid to resign.

Mr. Reid made clear he would not.

Whoops! I guess this story isn't over yet.

Well, hopefully at least the "nothingness scandal" story is...