"Up On Top of a Rainbow, Sweeping the Clouds Away," Happy Gay Day Everybody!

It's hard to beat this week's New Yorker cover.

Once again, there is a lot to celebrate this year on the marriage front.  DOMA is no more, and marriage equality returns to California!

Plaintiffs in the Prop H8 case, Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier get legally married in San Francisco after working so hard to secure that right for themselves and for thousands of others to follow.

Other plaintiffs in the Prop H8 case, Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarillo are married in Los Angeles by outgoing Mayor Villaraigosa.  Thanks to the both of them for their courage and determination, and best wishes for a happy and prosperous life together.

And now it's time to pass ENDA and make discrimination in housing and employment a thing of the past everywhere from San Francisco to Tyler, Texas.

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Photo taken last week as thugs and cops break up a small LGBT demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Let's remember all of our brothers and sisters in places like Russia, central Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and so many other countries who struggle against tremendous odds for the freedom and dignity which we have earned in the USA, the West, and in much of Latin America.  No matter how small they are, that such groups even exist in these places is enormous progress.  Expectations are rising around the world, and nothing can stop them.

The Russian activists are among the toughest in the world, facing down the combined forces of the state, the church, and the mob.  Activists in New York faced something similar 40 years ago, though on a smaller scale than in Russia.  Let's hope that our Russian friends will enjoy the same success, sooner than 40 years, and with our help if necessary.