Tuesday News Gay: Feb. 14

The unicorn that brings me weekly news updates in a wicker basket has – instead of providing a fruit salad of LGBT odds and ends – brought me the five biggest fruits from the queer news orchard. There's some marriage mangos, some bitter anti-gay tomatoes in the Ugandan parliament, and a angry bowl of lemons that Ellen DeGeneres turned into delicious lemonade.

Well, don't just stand there staring at the still life – sink your teeth in!

MARRIAGE BELLS: While Washington Governor Christine Gregoire just signed a marriage equality bill into law, the New Jersey senate just passed a marriage equality bill with more votes than expected. However, while Washingtonians will likely have to defend their law at the November ballot box, New Jersey governor Chris Christie has promised to veto the Jersey bill if it reaches his desk.

Oh, and three gay Illinois legislators just introduced their own statewide marriage equality bill in the well

HATERS' BALL: This last week America's looniest right-wingers (including GOP Presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney) gathered for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference where they spent their time bashing queers and selling T-shirts of American soldiers peeing on dead Taliban soldiers – fun!

DON'T MESS WITH POWER-LESBIANS: After JCPenney announced comedian and daytime talkshow host Ellen Degeneres as their new spokesperson, a right-wing group with only 40,000 members called "One Million Moms" lead a campaign to get her fired… a campaign that spectacularly backfired and even got Howard Stern and Bill O'Reilly publicly calling out anti-gay haters and standing up for LGBT rights.

PROP 8 GETS SPANKED: The 9th Circuit Court declared Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-enacted California ban on marriage equality, unconstitutional. It will now either get a second hearing at the 9th Circuit or get appealed to the Supreme Court who may or may not take up the case.

UGANDA BE KIDDING ME: For the second parliamentary session in a row, anti-gay politician David Bahati has introduced his infamous "Kill the Gays" bill for consideration. The only problems: Uganda's president opposes the bill and its definition of "aggravated homosexuality" is so broad as to criminalize all touching between members of the same sex.