State laws regarding same-sex marriage in the United States¹

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  Same-sex marriage legal

  Same-sex marriage performed elsewhere recognized

  Same-sex marriage legalization pending, but not yet in effect²

  No prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriage in territory law

  Judicial ruling(s) overturning the same-sex marriage ban stayed indefinitely pending appeal

  Judicial ruling(s) overturning the ban on recognizing same-sex marriage performed elsewhere stayed indefinitely pending appeal

  Same-sex marriage banned contrary to federal appellate court precedent

  Same-sex marriage banned

If you are having a hard time keeping up with the dizzying pace of change on the same sex marriage over the past week - no one could have expected what's occurred this time just last week - the New York Times has a good summary that can be found here with the latest updates.  The image above is the latest revised version of marriage equality from Wikipedia.  For Virginia readers, here's the part of the piece that applies to Virginia:

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday was set to join the list of high-ranking American officials presiding at a same-sex wedding. Gay marriage has been legal in Virginia for only five days.

Mr. McAuliffe, who campaigned in support of same-sex marriage last fall, was scheduled to officiate at the marriage of Katherine Bradley-Black, 44, and Renée Bradley, 50, at their home in Northern Virginia.

The women, both education administrators whom Mr. McAuliffe met through a mutual friend, have been together for 18 years and have two children, ages 12 and 8. They are among the scores of couples who have snapped up marriages certificates since the Supreme Court order on Monday.

Elections DO matter - one can just imagine the chaos that would be reigning in Virginia right now had Ken Cuccinelli  won the governorship last November.

Meanwhile, the Christofascists are  beside themselves and calling for massive "civil disobedience" akin to Virginia's "Massive Resistance" after the Supreme Court ordered school desegregation - in my view, scratch a homophobe and you'll likely find a racist as well - and threatening to bolt from the Republican Party if the GOP doesn't stop same sex marriage.    They offer no explanation, of course, as to what the GOP is supposed to do since refusing to obey valid federal court orders would open up elected officials for removal from office.   Right Wing Watch has a compilation of the spittle flecked shrieks of the "godly folk."  Here are some examples:

Hate group leader Linda Harvey (who has no legitimate job and has been a parasite living off of homophobia for years) -

Linda Harvey of Mission America warned on her radio bulletin yesterday that America has entered “a time of possible civil disobedience” following the Supreme Court’s recent marriage equality announcement, telling listeners that “we must not serve the interests of sin and darkness” and “this court’s inaction is an act motivated by evil and deception and ultimately will not stand.”

“This is attempted theft of what God has ordained and our Lord will not honor this lawlessness,” Harvey said. “Allowing homosexuality to become normal in America may certainly be part of God’s judgment on our once-Christian nation for our irresponsible sexual practices and for turning our back on what the Lord has taught us.

Harvey hoped the court’s action will actually give a boost to the work of anti-gay activists

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and dean of  Liberty University Laws School, a daily embarassment to Virginia, exemplifies the shrieks against the GOP.   Ironically, he says a third party is needed to fight gay marriage which he equates to slavery, even though he and his followers are the direct descendants of the pro-slavery crowd and segregationists -

Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who is still reeling from the Supreme Court’s decision this week to allow several lower-court marriage equality rulings to stand, is now lambasting his fellow Republicans for failing to defend the party’s anti-gay positions.

Staver told Greg Corombos of Radio America yesterday that a third party will be needed to take a strong stance against the legalization of same-sex marriage, just as the Republican Party emerged in the 1850s to oppose slavery as the Whigs were foundering due to divisions on the issue.

When Corombos asked why Republicans have delivered a muted response to the marriage decision, Staver didn’t hold back: “They’re cowards, and if Republicans don’t stand up for this, the party will become a non-issue and there will be a third party that will ultimately take its place. That’s what happened with the issue of slavery and there’s no party that’s immune from this situation.”

Staver urged Republicans to ignore polls showing growing support for marriage equality: “Just because polls change, that doesn’t make the marriage issue change. You can’t change gravity because a number of people want to fly and get rid of gravity.”

He predicted that the tide will soon turn against gay rights advocates as “more people feel the impact of same-sex marriage, both directly within the family but also specifically with regards to religious liberty.”

I have long considered Staver to be mentally imbalanced and way too hysterical about gays for someone who doesn't have serious issues of their own.