The Inquisitr » gay marriage

Same-Sex Marriage Bill To Be Introduced In D.C.

AHN — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:00:10 +0000

The District of Columbia on Tuesday begins debate on a gay marriage bill that is expected to become law. The District earlier this year passed a measure recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.

D.C. Council member David Catania, an independent, is the main author of the bill, which already has 10 co-sponsors and which Mayor Adrian Fenty has said he will sign.

The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 will make it legal for gay couples to marry in the District, and for same-sex domestic partners to get a marriage license with no additional cost.

The legislation amends the District’s statutory requirements for civil marriage, and provides protection to members of the clergy or any church from marrying gay couples against their religious beliefs.

“I have an enormous amount of respect for our many communities of faith, and I would not support any legislation which would interfere with the freedoms they enjoy,” Catania said in a statement.

The District already has a 1992 law allowing unmarried couples to register as domestic partners, but the statute only took effect in 2002 when Congress lifted a ban on using public money on the District’s domestic partner registry. D.C. began recognizing gay marriages from other jurisdictions on July 7, the end of a 30-day congressional review required after Fenty signed a bill that was passed by the Council by a 12-1 vote.

In September, a coalition of conservatives, including Bishops Harry Jackson and James Silver, filed a request with the District of Columbia Board of Elections for a ballot initiative next year that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. The initiative has the support of the Archdiocese of Washington.

There has been a growing nationwide movement to grant gays the same rights and privileges as different-sex couples. Six states now allow same-sex marriages: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Moreover, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriages, Massachusetts, sued the federal government in July over the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which provides the federal definition of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. In California, there is a push to repeal the ban on same-sex marriages, Proposition 8, through a referendum in the 2010 ballot.

Battle Over Washington State’s Gay Partnerships Law In Court

AHN — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:37:47 +0000

The battle between a gay advocacy group and conservatives behind a referendum petition for a bill granting same-sex couples domestic partnership rights is in the hands of a Thurston County judge, who hears arguments on Tuesday about the validity of thousands of voter signatures counted by the Secretary of State.

The hearing before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee comes less than a week after a King County Superior Court Judge dismissed an earlier lawsuit from Washington Families Standing Together that similarly argued that 35,000 petition signatures were wrongly counted by the state.

The pro-gay group is blocking the initiative, called Referendum 71, saying conservatives want to repeal a new law, Senate Bill 5688, that grants more rights to state-registered domestic partners similar to those enjoyed by married couples.

To qualify for the November 3 ballot, sponsors led by Protect Marriage Washington needed 120,577 valid signatures and a rejection rate of no more than 12.4 percent.

Protect Marriage Washington has said the law “will demolish the state’s historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life.”

Secretary of Sate Sam Reed on Sept. 2 certified the referendum for the ballot on the basis of 122,007 signatures verified by checkers and an error rate of 11.51 percent, the third lowest in the last two decades. He has asked the Thurston County court to issue a timely ruling, given that the state needs to print a Voters’ Pamphlet that will include the whole text of the contested gay partnerships law — about 37 pages of text — by Thursday.

The issue on whether to publicly disclose the petitions is also expected to be settled around the same time when U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issues a ruling.

Protect Marriage Washington had successfully gained an order from Settle keeping the names and addresses of those who signed the petitions private, citing possible harassment an retaliation.

Discrimination advocate Carrie Prejean sues for… discrimination?

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:19:41 +0000

Carrie Prejean, who shot to fame for her advocacy of “opposite marriage,” is suing Miss USA officials for libel, slander and religious discrimination with claims they asked her to “stop talking about God” before she even made her offensive statements regarding gay marriage.

Prejean was fired in June because, as pageant officials said, she missed several contractually obligated appearances. But Prejean’s lawyer, Chuck LiMandri, believes that Prejean was actually sacked for her opinions on same-sex marriage and general devotion to her religious beliefs. Pageant director Keith Lewis and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler are named in the suit, which alleges that not only did Prejean not skip contractual obligations, but that Lewis and Moakler improperly revealed Miss USA’s financing of Prejean’s breast implants. (Does that make anyone else think of Silvio from The Sopranos and Tracy the stripper’s teeth?)

The suit claims that Prejean suffered stress and anxiety after being fired, and that she has lost work. She’s also suing pageant publicist Roger Neal, and claims that pageant officials defamed her on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. A lawyer for Moakler says the suit is without merit:

“More importantly, as everyone who watched or read her public statements is well aware, Ms. Prejean’s unfortunate and bigoted statements are responsible for any public humiliation or damages to her reputation that she has claimed to have suffered,” Avanzado wrote. ”Ms. Moakler strenuously denies that she did anything wrong and looks forward to proving that in a court of law.”

While discrimination is never a good or positive thing, it seems apparent that Prejean’s views precipitated her public perception, and not any nefarious collusion by pageant officials.

[Image: Roflrazzi]

Vermont Begins Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples

AHN — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:41:44 +0000

Vermont’s gay marriage law began taking effect at exactly midnight on Tuesday, a little over four months after state lawmakers voted to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of the legislation and added to the number of states who have legalized same-sex marriages.

Couples and gay advocates will be marking the day with celebrations, one of which is a wedding reception in Essex that will benefit the Vermont People with AIDS Coalition and other groups.

Rallies will be held by members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church at the capital city, Montpelier, to protest the new marriage law, but one of the state’s leading same-sex marriage groups, the Vermont Freedom to Marry, has urged supporters not to engage with the demonstrators, saying doing so “would only lend relevance and newsworthiness” to their opponents.

Equality Vermont also told members, “September 1st should also be a day to celebrate the LGBT community and our supporters who helped accomplish marriage equality.”

Montpelier Mayor Mary Hooper has released a statement making a similar call, and warning that protesters will “likely, chant slogans and songs… purposely designed to be highly offensive, insulting, and hurtful.”

“The City of Montpelier condemns the Westboro Baptist Church’s message of hate,” the Mayor added. “Surely our high school students, citizens and visitors deserve better than to be subjected to nasty messages denouncing primarily gay people but also Jews, Catholics, fallen soldiers… We are fortunate to live in a country where citizens are guaranteed the right to free speech and free assembly… The community of Montpelier has a tradition of generosity, engagement and thoughtful dialogue. We ask that you rise above and show this group the attention they deserve – none.”

Vermont became the fourth state to allow gay marriages on April 7, when the state House and state Senate voted 100-49 and 23-5, respectively, to override a veto by the governor.

Douglas had made clear his opposition in the weeks of contentious debate during passage of the bill, saying in a statement, “Vermont’s civil union law has extended the same state rights, responsibilities and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. I believe our civil union law serves Vermont well and I would support congressional action to extend those benefits at the federal level to states that recognize same-sex unions. But like President Obama and other leaders on both sides of the aisle, I believe that marriage should remain between a man and woman.”

Vermont is the first state to legalize same-sex marriages without an order from the court. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa all allowed such marriages only after bitter court battles. In Iowa, the state supreme court upheld a lower court decision ruling the state’s ban on gay marriages unconstitutional.

A total of six states now allow same-sex marriages, four of which adopted their statutes in the past five months. The District of Columbia has also began recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries. In addition, Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriages, sued the federal government in July over the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which provides the federal definition of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman.

In California, there is a push to repeal the ban on same-sex marriages through a referendum in next year’s ballot.

Proposition 8 was passed November 2008 overturning a California Supreme Court ruling the same year saying gay couples had a constitutional right to be married. In May, the same court rejected by a 6-1 vote a constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, keeping the ban in place and giving social conservatives a victory even as several eastern states moved to amend their marriage laws. But the California court also unanimously declared the 18,000 gay marriages conducted last year legal.

Massachusetts sues US Government over gay marriage

Duncan Riley — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:28:26 +0000

Massachusetts is suing the United States government over the Defense of Marriage Act, the Federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Massachusetts is claiming that the law interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit. The law not only denies federal recognition of same-sex marriage, it gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

According to reports, the suit claims that the act “constitutes an overreaching and discriminatory federal law.” The argument strongly comes down to States rights, with Massachusetts noting that before the act, the federal government recognized that marital status was the exclusive domain of the states.

Here’s a local news report on the move:

Carrie Prejean’s Mother is…wait for it…..Gay

Duncan Riley — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:55:20 +0000

Now we known why Miss California Carrie Prejean hates gay people: she was spawned from one.

Star Magazine is said to have reported that Prejean’s mother Francine Coppola was previously in a lesbian relationship.

Ex-girlfriend Valerie Vetrano tells the magazine that “Yes, Francine and I dated.”

But the affair didn’t last long. “Francine explained how she was a Christian and that her loved ones would never accept her if she were gay” said a friend. “Valerie feels that if Francine had just been open about her sexuality with her family, Carrie would have a better understanding of what gay people have to go through. They just want equal rights.”

Despite the revelation, Miss California continues on her quest to save the world from those evil gay people who will destroy straight marriage. Lets hope her mother doesn’t bring any friends along on the campaign trail

(via Just Jared. Note we can’t link to Star because it’s georetarded.)

Reddit beats Funny or Die in the NOM ad satire stakes

Duncan Riley — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:26:52 +0000

The “storm is coming” ad from the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gained widespread controversy when it was released, and rightly so.

In the ad, NOM makes claims based on existing discrimination laws and falsely applies them to gay marriage in an attempt to scare viewers over what might happen if gay marriage became legal. You’d think watching it that the end of the world was nigh, and bizarrely NOM claims that gay marriage is a threat to freedom.

The ad was ripe for a takeoff, and now we have two. Users on Reddit got together to dub the ad, changing gay marriage to inter-racial marriage to prove that discrimination against gay couples is really no different than past bans on inter-racial marriage. Funny or Die went for a more humorous take, with a range of actors poking fun of the storm message.

The two versions following. The Funny or Die take has its moments, but the Reddit version really cuts through; it’s so good that it was given a “Homo Hero” award from Lesbian and Gay Foundation in the UK.

Reddit version

Funny or Die version:

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Google comes out against Proposition 8

Duncan Riley — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:33:57 +0000

Google, well known for its fence sitting on most political issues, has come out against California Proposition 8, an Act if passed that would see same sex marriage made illegal in California.

In a post to the Google Blog, founder Sergey Brin notes that while Google does not generally take a position on issues outside the tech field, especially not social issues, it felt the need to do so here:

However, while there are many objections to this proposition — further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text — it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 — we should not eliminate anyone’s fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

It’s a first for Google and a move that will be widely welcomed in the tech, liberal and GLBT communities. However, you’d think that Google is hoping for an Obama win in November, because all the fence sitting of the past means nothing now that Google has come out against the Christian right, the core constituency of the Republican Party.

Update: the vote has been taken and Proposition 8 passed. See Proposition 8 passes: gay marriage to be outlawed in California .