Today's Double Whammy: Two Legal Victories For Gays

While you were counting out exactly 18 almonds to add to your non-fat Greek yogurt this morning, lawyers, legislators and governors were out there making life better for gay people.

Case in point:
Today Maine's highest court turned down an appeal from NOM, which will ultimately force the anti-gay hate group to release the list of donors that gave $1.9 million towards repealing same-sex marriage rights in that state. NOM claimed that the right to free speech of these ne're-do-wells was being violated--some garbage about the potential for members of the donor list of being harrassed for their views.

On the other hand, the state of California has taken a bold step by making gay conversion therapy on teenagers illegal.

According to a statement by Governor Jerry Brown, conversion therapies "have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery." The law, signed today, will be effective starting in January 2013.

Both of these are among a growing number of invigorating signs that America has prioritized repairing the damage from years of anti-gay legal repression. If anti-gay donors are shamed for their decision to support certain groups, it is their responsibility for having invested in a matter of public discourse; for gay teenagers, may it become a federal law that all forms of conversion therapy be legally considered abuse, because that's what it is. Barbaric pseudo-medical practices have no place in a 21st century society that dares to call itself enlightened!