Arizona: Normally, you wouldn't expect too much coming out of Arizona related to civil unions or same-sex marriage. But the City Council of Brisbee, AZ, voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance allowing "any two unrelated, unmarried adults of any sexual orientation to enter into a civil union." These civil unions would not be recognized outside of the city limits, but would be fully recognized and honored within the community and these civilly unionized couples will be treated equally as any married couple. Those interested would need to apply at the local City Clerk's Office and pay a $25 fee. Box Turtle Bulletin notes that these civil unions are pretty identical to other cities' domestic partnership registries, but by using the term "civil union," the leadership of Brisbee appears to be communicating a stronger message about their commitment to marriage equality.
Colorado: As noted this morning, Colorado's governor signed a civil union bill into law this past Thursday! It will go into effect on May 1, 2013.
Nevada: A resolution was introduced to the Nevada Senate this past Tuesday that would repeal the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Assuming that this goes anywhere, it would be years before the repeal would go into effect. Early this month, I shared the results of a Public Opinion Strategies poll indicating that most Nevada voters support the repeal of their constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by a margin of 54/43.
New Mexico: Early this week, the mayor of Santa Fe, NM, David Cross, declared that there is nothing in that state's law that bans same-sex marriage. He and the Santa Fe city attorney plan to introduce a City Council resolution on March 27, 2012, recognizing that same-sex marriage is legal in New Mexico. Santa Fe's City Attorney noted that New Mexico already recognizes same-sex marriages from other other states and also that the New Mexico Constitution requires equal treatment on the basis of sex. San Francisco tried this strategy several years ago and it didn't work, but maybe Cross and Zamora know something that I don't! A marriage equality bill was introduced to the New Mexico House early this year, but was ultimately defeated. At the same time, a PPP survey indicated 67% support for civil unions and marriage equality by New Mexico voters.
Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee listened to testimony for and against same-sex marriage this past Thursday. The testimony continued for 12 hours. I had the misfortune of listening to the first hour of testimony. Those opposing marriage equality used some pretty vile arguments against our families -- and in at least one case grossly mischaracterized random culture war incidents as symptoms of religious people being penalized by gay marriers. Despite this week's testimony, the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee will not be voting on this bill yet for a while. The Rhode Island House passed a marriage equality bill in late January 2013.
Lastly, I have another marriage equality poll to share from this week:
Florida: The Public Policy Polling group released the results of a new poll earlier this week indicating that 38% of Florida voters support marriage equality, 37% support civil unions, and 23% oppose any legal recognition for the state's gay and lesbian families. On top of that, apparently there is a domestic partnership bill being proposed within the Florida Senate. If approved, it would allow gay couples limited right, including hospital visitation rights, the ability to make funeral and burial arrangements of deceased partners, and child education decisions. The PPP poll shows only 23% support for this domestic partnership bill versus 17% opposition. 60% of Florida voters have no opinion one way or the other.