same sex marriage

I'm loving this just-released video from Lush, whose employees give an inspiring and often moving declaration of support for marriage rights. Just in time for Pride Month, Lush is teaming with the Freedom to Marry campaign, which aims to end marriage discrimination and allow everyone — gay, straight, bisexual — to wed the person they love. From now until June 26, its North American shops are being transformed into "freedom to marry campaign centers," where shoppers can sign a postcard petition to encourage their lawmakers to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). To raise funds for Freedom to Marry, Lush is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the new Freedom Foamer ($6), a cool green citrus-scented bubble bar available online and in the shops for the next two weeks. Want to join the campaign to end marriage discrimination? Visit Lush to shop and find out about events in your community.

First, Meghan McCain said it — and later mom Cindy — and now one of the Bush twins has. Barbara Bush released a video urging New Yorkers (she lives in Manhattan) to get behind gay marriage, saying, "I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality."

The founder of a global health organization, Barbara rarely talks politics, but The New York Times dug up one of her old Yale classmates who said, "She was loved by the gay community at Yale.”

It's easy to smirk at this — it's music to my ears, like Cher or Madonna — but you have to admire her. It's hard enough to disagree with your parents' politics; when your dad is George W. Bush, doing it publicly takes some serious chutzpah.

Why did I doubt the celebrity gay marriage endorsement yesterday? Alec Baldwin restored my faith today with this video for Fight Back New York. "Why does everyone assume I'm straight. Is it the way I walk, talk," he laments. "What is it?"

Alec answers Modern Family's star Jesse Tyler Ferguson's marriage proposal in August, saying there's only one reason he can't marry Jesse: New York won't allow it.

• Same-sex marriage opponents not pleased with overturn, file appeal — CNN
• Rosie O'Donnell inks talk show deal with Oprah's TV network — LA Times
• Fugees bandmate won't endorse Wyclef's bid for Haitian presidency — NY Daily News
• Vogue Italia glamorizes oil spill with fashion spread — Refinery 29
• Find out what the Russian spies left behind — New York Times
• Crime on rise in NYC's Central Park — Gawker
• When pop stars become politicians — Daily Beast

US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled that California's voter-approved gay marriage ban violates the US constitution. In his 136-page decision, the judge ruled that Proposition 8 violates both the due-process and equal-protection clauses of the constitution. He wrote:

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.

Almost two years ago, 52 percent of voters chose to change the state's constitution to explicitly limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. Now the state's gay couples will have a chance to marry, like the 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot while it was briefly legal in California. If the ruling gets held up on appeal, it will likely invalidate gay marriage bans across the country.

Update: Couples tried to get marriage licenses at San Francisco's city hall until a stay was granted.

• Ruling on CA's same-sex marriage ban to come today — Daily Beast
• US labor market not kind to mothers — New York Times
• Wyclef Jean confirms that he's running for president of Haiti — Time
• Celebrated photographer snaps artifacts from Michael Jackson's home — Flavorwire
• Sean Penn in talks to play iconic literary editor Max Perkins — BuzzSugar
• UK version of Girl Scouts lobbying to get airbrushed photos labeled — BBC
• Katie Couric mocks Sarah Palin in leaked video — Huffington Post

Yesterday, we quoted Mike Huckabee saying "children aren't puppies" when a student-reporter at The College of New Jersey asked about same-sex adoption. After his choice words went viral, Huckabee posted a bitter reply on his website and said the student took his words out of context and should probably find a career other than journalism. Silly Huck! Taking quotes out of context is what journalists do. Unfortunately, not this journalist. He posted a full video of the interview in response to Huckabee's attack, and it looks like everything is in perfect context. Watch Rachel Maddow meticulously deconstruct the drama.