And now Maine...and still we wait.

The NY TImes reports,

Gay-rights advocates moved remarkably close to their goal of making same-sex marriage legal throughout New England on Tuesday, when the Maine House of Representative voted to legalize such unions.

One vote against it came from State Representative Sheryl Briggs, who voted against the bill although her daughter is a lesbian:

[H]er daughter has been out to her for 15 years, and ... she still regards her daughter’s sexual orientation as a choice. The representative tearfully announced that she made her own difficult choice to oppose marriage equality..... Briggs said. “I can’t change how I feel. These feelings run very deep. I have kept this secret within me for 15 years, but because of who I am, and where I am today, and as a member of this legislative body, ethically, it is my duty, and my responsibility, to publicly say to my daughter, that I do not support her way of life."

Ah, maternal love. (I'm so lucky that my parents are so accepting!) I hope the daughter has a huge, huge wedding.

Meanwhile, the LA Times points out

Those rights are expanding as legally married gay couples relocate to states that don't allow same-sex marriage, forcing courts, legislatures and employers to deal with the resulting issues of custody, divorce, inheritance and end-of-life decisions....

And as more same-sex couples wed in places where it is legal, the administrative fallout in other states is expected to keep expanding......

Though still few in number, the states recognizing same-sex unions are home to nearly a third of the U.S. population, said Gary Gates, senior research fellow at the Williams Institute. He estimates that at least a quarter of the 780,000 same-sex couples married or registered in civil unions across the country are raising children, boosting the likelihood of legal challenges to secure equal protection from insurers, employers and the government for their families.

In some states, it is illegal to marry your first cousin. In other states, it's allowed. A marriage in an allowed-state is recognized in a not-allowed state. Even though said marriage is technically illegal in the new state! Similarly, marriage to a child: legal at 14 in some states, absolutely not in others. But all marriages are recognized in other states.

In some states, transgender people can receive a birth certificate in their new gender. In other states, they can't. Thus, a MTF transgender woman marrying a man in a permissive state is okay (and their marriage will be recognized wherever they go). In other states, a MTF transgender woman will be considered legally male, and unable to marry a man. Just to confuse things further, in the permissive state, an MTF woman can't marry a woman, while in the non-permissive state, an MTF woman CAN marry a woman. But any marriage legal where it occurred is recognized in the states where it didn't.

Any marriage, but one where the two couple are of the same sex.

And all I want is to stop feeling on tenterhooks waiting to hear if my marriage is still legal. We'll know within a month, and the decision may come any day.