Same-sex marriage rulings

I am pleased and relieved by the Supreme Court ruling striking down part of DOMA, and unsurprised that they have ducked the issue on the California marriage cases.

IANAL, but it looks as though, in addition to symbolism, this is a significant benefit for same-sex couples in a dozen states, in terms of federal income tax, benefits, and immigration.

Oh, and try a google search today on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.

Wednesday reading meme

What I'm reading:

A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski: Bronski interweaves specific LGBT-related history information with broader questions of sexuality, gender policing, and cultural change, such as the growth of cities, immigration, and ethnic identity. I'm still going slowly through this, but enjoying it and I think learning from it.

What I've read recently:

Odds on Miss Seeton, by Heron Carvic: Reread of a deliberately lightweight mystery, starring a retired art teacher who stumbles into and somehow resolves a variety of crimes. Part of a series. Carvic wrote five of these, which are fun; then he died, and the publisher came out with some inferior sequels under other names, probably pseudonymous.

Midnight Bluelight Special, by Seanan McGuire. This is a fast-paced urban fantasy in the older sense of the term, not the form-of-romance sense. There are an implausible number of sapient "cryptid" species; it seems as though every monster, therianthrope, etc. that anyone ever heard of is real, along with a few McGuire made up (I like the Aeslin mice). Second in a series, and I will continue to read them.

Dave Barry's Greatest Hits, by Dave Barry: This is a collection of columns from the 1980s, which hold up pretty well in terms of still being funny. We're giving a lot of Dave Barry stuff to the Friends of the Library, but keeping this. (The downside of topical humor is that it does age: if you've never heard of Iran-Contra or the Meese Commission, you're probably not the audience for this book.)

What I'm likely to read next:

The Cambrian Explosion by Douglas H. Erwin and James W. Valentine and A Natural History of Dragons: a memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan. (On the other hand, none of the three books I've finished since the last post was in its list of things I was likely to read next; there's a significant grab something random factor.)