How Straight People Paved the Way for Gay Marriage

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments next week for and against the legalization of same-sex marriage, the public is increasingly coming down on the "for" side.

In fact, an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Monday (March 18) found that 58 percent of Americans now favor the legalization of same-sex marriage, a number that leaped from just 37 percent in 2003. The shift in opinion is dramatic compared with other social issues. Public opinion on abortion, for example, has barely budged since the 1970s.

Some of the change is likely the result of more advocacy and visibility by gay Americans. But marriage itself has changed, gradually toppling the gendered roles that once defined man and wife.

"Now we're organized in a gender-neutral way," said Stephanie Coontz, the director of the Research Council on Contemporary Families and author of the book "Marriage: A History" (Penguin Books, 2006).

"It's up to the individual couple to negotiate their roles and duties," Coontz said. "It's really easy for a heterosexual couple to say, 'That's what I've got, why shouldn't same-sex couples have it?'" [I Don't: 5 Myths About Marriage]

Out of the closet

Tolerance for gays and lesbians has gone up considerably. Some of this is generational: According to the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of the Millennial generation (born after 1980) supports legal same-sex marriage, compared with 49 percent of Gen Xers (1965-1980) and 38 percent of Baby Boomers (1946-1964). The Silent generation (1928-1945) is least likely to support same-sex marriage, at only 31 percent in favor.

But support within each of those generational brackets has risen over the past decade, too. For example, in 2003, only 17 percent of the Silent generation supported same-sex marriage.

Visibility of gays and lesbians has made part of the difference. When Pew asked people who had changed their minds from anti-same-sex marriage to in favor why they'd shifted their attitudes, the most common response (32 percent) was that they knew someone who was gay and that personal relationship had altered their opinion.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio recently made headlines for altering his opinion in just this way. The senator came out in support of same-sex marriage in an op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch on March 15, saying that he'd changed his mind after his college-age son came out as gay.

Another 25 percent of Pew respondents simply said they'd grown more open or thought about it more, and 18 percent said legal same-sex marriage was "just inevitable." Another 18 percent cited love, happiness or the need for the government to stay out of relationship decisions.

Changing marriage

As opinions have shifted, so has marriage. Getting married once meant signing on to traditional gender roles wholesale. Companies once refused to consider married women for employment, or required women who were getting married to resign. (IBM, for example, only altered this policy in 1951.) It wasn't until the late 1970s that women could sue for consortium, or the right to their husband's aid, support and companionship. Before then, a man could sue a third party that injured his wife (through medical malpractice, for example) on the grounds that her injury took away his right to consortium ? she couldn't provide him with services and companionship he had rights to. But because women were legally inferior to men, a wife could not sue on behalf of her husband.

It wasn't until the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 that married couples won the right to contraception. Assisted reproduction, such as it was back then, was also frowned upon. [7 Surprising Facts about The Pill]

"In the 1950s, at least two state courts held that assisted reproduction was adultery and the child was illegitimate," Coontz said.

Laws such as this gradually got overturned, Coontz said, making marriages far less gendered. At the same time, expectations that a married couple must procreate have declined ? and assisted reproductive technology is far more acceptable for couples who can't have kids the old-fashioned way.

In other words, same-sex couples haven't changed marriage for straight people, as opponents of same-sex marriage often argue, Coontz said. Heterosexuals changed marriage first.

"It's the opposite sequence than what is described by opponents of same-sex marriage," she said.

Opponents of same-sex marriage tend to hold more traditional, gendered views of marriage than supporters, Coontz said. But given that heterosexuals aren't quizzed on their plans for splitting up the household chores or having babies before being handed a marriage license, it's hard to construct legal arguments around that view.

"It's harder for opponents to say every family has to have a guy who does this and a gal who does this," she said.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Hollingsworth v. Perry on Tuesday (March 26), reviewing a federal appeals court decision that found Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, unconstitutional. On Wednesday (March 27), the Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Windsor, a challenge against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which refuses federal benefits to same-sex couples in states where gay marriage is legal.?

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/straight-people-paved-way-gay-marriage-132613801.html

Walmart Black Friday 2012 Paula Broadwell Tilted Kilt Barbara Palvin Yahoo Fantasy Football Nick Foles Auguste Rodin

MessageMe, Reuters, and More

We've got a nice balance going between utility and fun here in this round of the best iPhone apps of the week. Whether it's texting for free or shopping for, well, money, or catching up on the news and backing up your data, you'll be all set. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/j4XB-ehQWHM/messageme-reuters-and-more

Steel Magnolias Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012 carlina white Sam Champion Engaged Infield fly rule

Homeowner Susie Salazar Loses Insurance Policy Over Pit Bull ...

If you're shopping around for homeowners insurance, you'll probably want to make sure that it covers things like flooding, wintertime slip-and-fall injuries on your property, even sinkhole damage. You probably aren't thinking about whether it will cover the family dog. And you certainly wouldn't guess that the kind of dog you have could cause your policy to be rescinded.

But that's exactly what Susie Salazar's pit bull, Gauge, ended up costing her. Salazar, who lives in Greeley, Colo., had an employee from American Family Insurance come by her home to check out a plumbing claim that she had. The employee met Gauge and asked Salazar what breed he was. A couple of weeks later, an AFI rep called Salazar to tell her that the company was dropping her policy, KUSA-TV in Denver reported.

"We were informed that you have a pit bull in your home, and we have to drop your coverage," Salazar recalled being told by the AFI rep. "I'm mad, I'm upset," Salazar continued. "They don't even know my dog. They don't know what kind of dog he is. He's just full of joy and love. He's just a happy, happy dog." She said that AFI had insured her for 17 years, and she didn't sign any paperwork that mentioned anything about pit bulls. She's had Gauge for four years.

"These are tough situations," AFI spokesman Steve Witmer told KUSA. "Many years ago, we made a decision that there were certain breeds of dogs that we would no longer insure, and pit bulls are one of those breeds." Witmer explained that the costs of dog-bite claims were too high for the company to continue to cover.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites made up more than a third of homeowners insurance liability claims in 2011 and cost insurance companies a total of $478.9 million. That was up 16.1 percent from 2010 and 47.7 percent from 2003. The average cost per claim in 2011, the Institute said, was $29,396. Sixty-two percent of U.S. households -- or 72.9 million -- own a pet, according to the American Pet Products Association. Of those, 46.3 million own a dog.

Salazar said her pit bull is like family and should not be a reason to have her homeowners insurance policy denied. "You treat them the same way you treat your kids," she said. There are other insurance companies who do cover pit bulls, but the premiums may spike to cover a dog, according to Bankrate.com.

See also:
Should You Buy a Standby Generator for Your Home?
How To Protect Your Home From Damage in a 'Perfect Storm'
Homeowners Insurance 101: What You Need to Know

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
Find homes for rent in your area.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/03/22/susie-salazar-homeowners-insurance-pit-bull/

Prince Harry Vegas pictures Avril Lavigne Microsoft Tropical Storm Isaac amber portwood Phyllis Diller Darla Moore

cyberline2012: Nsasoft DNSS Domain Name Search Software 2.0.2.0

Nsasoft DNSS Domain Name Search Software 2.0.2.0

Nsasoft DNSS Domain Name Search Software 2.0.2.0

DNSS Domain Name Search Software is the easiest to use toolkit and most cost effective software on the market for finding great web site domain names. The software checks hundreds and thousands of potential domain names for your business and allows to find great domain names that you would not normally have thought of. DNSS Domain Name Search Software includes an in-built popular search keywords and domain name generator for generating thousands of related domain names. Find high-quality available popular domain names including .com, .org, .net, .biz, .info, .edu, .eu, .ca in Minutes!

The Importance of Finding a Relevant Domain Name

Currently domain names carry significant weight in Google's relevancy algorithms if they match the search query. Also When running an online business, it is very important to put some consideration into the domain name that you use, since this is one of the first impressions that a potential customer will have of your company, which is what makes it so important to the online marketing process as a whole.

The name that you choose should, first of all, be easy to remember and be relevant to the products - services of your business.

Home Page - http://www.nsauditor.com/

?

Source: http://cyberline2012.blogspot.com/2013/03/nsasoft-dnss-domain-name-search.html

sledge hammer tax day freebies madison bumgarner wnba draft tax day april 17 boston marathon

Senate Democrats on track to pass budget

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate pressed ahead Wednesday on a huge, bipartisan spending bill aimed at keeping the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a government shutdown later this month. The developments in the Senate come as the House resumed debate on the budget for next year and beyond. Republicans are pushing a plan that promises sharp cuts to federal health care programs and domestic agency operating budgets as the price for balancing the budget in a decade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate pressed ahead Wednesday on a huge, bipartisan spending bill aimed at keeping the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a government shutdown later this month. The developments in the Senate come as the House resumed debate on the budget for next year and beyond. Republicans are pushing a plan that promises sharp cuts to federal health care programs and domestic agency operating budgets as the price for balancing the budget in a decade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats controlling the Senate appear on track to pass their first budget in four years, promising a second, almost $1 trillion round of tax increases on top of more than $600 billion in higher taxes on the wealthy enacted in January.

The nonbinding but politically symbolic measure would protect safety-net programs for the poor and popular domestic priorities like education, health research and federal law enforcement agencies from cuts sought by House Republicans, who adopted a far more austere plan on Thursday morning.

The Democratic plan caters to party stalwarts on the liberal edge of the spectrum just as the House GOP measure was crafted to appeal to more recent tea party arrivals. The $1 trillion in new revenue would accrue over the coming decade and would be coupled with a net $875 billion in spending cuts, generated by modest cuts to federal health care programs, domestic agencies and the Pentagon and reduced government borrowing costs.

The GOP budget proposal, similar to previous plans offered by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., demonstrates that it's possible, at least mathematically, to balance the budget within a decade without raising taxes. But to do so Ryan, his party's vice presidential nominee last year, assumes deep cuts that would force millions from programs for the poor like food stamps and Medicaid and cut almost 20 percent from domestic agency budget levels assumed less than two years ago.

Ryan's plan passed the House on a mostly party-line, 221-207 vote, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats against it.

Senators braced for dozens of votes during a marathon session expected on Friday, with pessimists in the Capitol predicting a final vote on the Democratic plan in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday.

That tall stack of votes follows up a quintet of politically freighted Senate tallies Thursday night, including a move by Democrats to force a vote on the controversial Ryan budget, which was rejected by a 59-40 vote, with five Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition.

Republicans countered with a move by Jeff Session, R-Ala., putting Democrats on record in opposition to balancing the budget by the end of the decade. It failed on a near party-line vote.

Indeed, Thursday's votes demonstrated the raw politics driving the budget debate, which is more a display of party positions and priorities than an attempt to move the combatants closer together.

The dueling House and Senate budget plans are anchored on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum in Washington, appealing to core partisans in warring GOP and Democratic tribes long gridlocked over how to attack budget deficits. The GOP plan caters to tea party forces while Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., crafted a measure designed to nail down support from liberal senators like Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who vehemently oppose cuts to safety net programs.

What the Ryan and Murray budgets both fail to do is reach out to the political middle, where any possible bargain would have to be forged. President Barack Obama has been reaching out to lawmakers in hopes of sparking a budget compromise that has proved so elusive.

But Murray's plan would actually increase government spending ? on top of a baseline that already assumes automatic budget increases averaging more than 5 percent a year ? after accounting for the $1.2 trillion cost of repealing the automatic cuts, known as sequestration. That means the net cuts to the deficit would amount to just a few hundred billion dollars in a federal budget estimated at $46 trillion or so over the coming decade.

Murray's position is that the automatic cuts were designed to prod Washington into action on the debt and were never intended to take effect. By that math, her budget promises $1.85 trillion in lower deficits after 10 years. She points out that Republicans on a 2011 deficit "supercommittee" used the same math when describing their proposals.

"Sequestration was not deficit reduction," Murray said. "It was there to trigger deficit reduction that would come from replacing it."

Murray's plan promises a $693 billion deficit in 2014, dropping to the $400 billion range for the middle years of the decade. While large, such deficits would hover just above 2 percent of gross domestic product, a level that many analysts see as economically sustainable.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-22-Budget%20Battle/id-5e1c24245b15428ab88a5d4532d3acba

kourtney kardashian DNS Changer ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012 venus williams Freeh Report direct tv

Universe is older than previously thought, new study shows

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:11pm EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Closer scrutiny of radiation left over from the creation of the universe shows the Big Bang took place about 13.8 billion years ago, 100 million years earlier than previous estimates, scientists said on Thursday.

The findings are among the first results from analysis of data collected by the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft, which is providing the most detailed look to date at the remnant microwave radiation that permeates the universe.

This relic radiation was first detected in 1964 and later mapped by two NASA spacecraft - COBE, launched in 1989, and WMAP, which followed two years later. With even greater sensitivity, Planck has picked out details of tiny temperature variations in the so-called cosmic microwave background.

The fluctuations, which differ by only about 100-millionths of a degree, correspond to slightly more dense regions of space, places that later gave rise to the stars and galaxies that fill the universe.

"It's as if we've gone from a standard television to a high-definition television. New and important details have become crystal clear," Paul Hertz, NASA's director of astrophysics, told reporters on a conference call.

Overall, the new data fits well with existing models of how the universe evolved, but it presents some new puzzles as well.

"The variations from place to place in the map that Planck has made tell us new things about what happened just 10 nano-nano-nano-nano seconds after the Big Bang when the universe expanded by 100 trillion, trillion times," said Charles Lawrence, Planck project scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"We can see the subtle effects of gravitational pulls from literally everything in the universe."

Compared to the previous best measurements, the universe is a little older and, surprisingly, is expanding a little more slowly than currently accepted standards.

Plank's data also shows that ordinary matter - the stuff that makes up stars, galaxies, planets and everything visible - accounts for a relatively tiny 4.9 percent of the universe.

Dark matter, which does not interact with light but can be detected by its gravitational pull, comprises 26.8 percent of the universe, nearly one-fifth more than previous estimates.

The rest of the universe is dark energy, a mysterious and recently discovered force that defies gravity and is responsible for speeding up the universe's rate of expansion. New results from Planck show dark energy accounting for 69 percent of the universe, slightly less than previously estimated.

The research is the fruit of Planck's first 15 months on orbit. Additional information, including details of how the universe's early light was polarized, are expected next year.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Todd Eastham)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/xbI3UD2gxHk/story01.htm

micron ceo glenn miller who do you think you are superpac steve appleton bishop eddie long madonna give me all your luvin video

MetroPCS picks up Huawei Premia 4G

MetroPC this morning announced the availability of the Huawei Premia 4G, a 4-inch Android smartphone. It's running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 5-megapixel camera with Flash and is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The display is covered with Gorilla Glass.

On the software side, expect MetroPCS to push the "joyn" feature, which adds video and Wifi-calling, instant messaging, and file sharing. You'll have to have a 4G LTE data plan to use it.

The Huawei Premia 4G is available today for $149.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/McqwRTqB-nk/story01.htm

avengers soa andy williams andy williams Lady Gaga New Girl Avalanna