The Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts is retiring. She made history:

“The Massachusetts chief justice who wrote the state’s landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage has announced she’s stepping down.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall said Wednesday she will retire by the end of October to spend more time with her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner retired in 2001 and has Parkinson’s disease.

The 66-year-old Marshall is a native of South Africa.”

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said that the UK Government will allow same-sex couples to have “civil marriage” with same legal status as marriage between a man and a woman.

Under current law, same-sex couples may receive a civil partnership, which is recognized but not given the same status as marriage is for heterosexual couples. Hughes predicts that before the next general election, the law will be changed to give an equal right to full marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

“It would be appropriate in Britain in 2010 to have civil marriage for straight people and gay people equally,” he told British news source  The Telegraph. “The state ought to give equality. We’re halfway there. I think we ought to be able to get there in this Parliament.”

Ireland has signed into law benefits for gay and lesbian couples in the prominently Catholic country. Ireland now provides more rights for gay couples then the United States. The Civil Partnership Bill, which provides legal recognition for same-sex couples was signed today by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin.

This Bill extends marriage-like benefits to gay and lesbian couples for property, social welfare, succession, maintenance, pensions and tax.

After the signing of the Bill, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern described it as “one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation to be enacted since independence.”

The widely supported Bill was approved by 48 votes to 4 on Friday July 9th.

Wednesday the Argentinean Senate is expected to pass a Gay Marriage bill that would allow same-sex couples the same rights at heterosexual couples in the nation. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has said she would sign the bill, which already passed the lower chamber of the legislature. Both she and her Congressman husband have been supporters of marriage equality in the nation. If the legislation passes and is signed into law, Argentina will become the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriages. In December, Mexico City became the first jurisdiction in Latin American and two other nations, Uruguay and Colombia, allow civil unions for gay couples.

 There has been a vast religious opposition towards the legislation in Argentina from the Roman Catholic Church, organizing many protests against the bill. President Kirchner responded by criticizing the church for its lack to adjustment of modern reality. Supporters cite polls showing that the overwhelming majority of citizens, around 70 percent support marriage equality. The bill is expected to be passed.

Victory for Marriage Equality! A Boston Judge ruled today that the 1996 DOMA is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage. U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro handed down two influential rulings Thursday declaring DOMA unconstitutional.

 The first case was brought by the state of Massachusetts. Judge Tauro declared Congress violated the Tenth Amendment by originally passing DOMA. They took away the states decisions determining which couples can be considered married.

His second ruling was on Gill v. Office of Personnel Management. It was decided that DOMA violated equal protection embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. This case was argued by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), GLAD represented eight married couples and three widowers in the suit.

 Two other major equality court cases continue to develop in California, the Prop. 8 trial and Log Cabin Republicans trial against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The decision in Boston today is a great step toward equality for all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation.