Tag Archives: California

Central California is planning a special marriage rally on the Saturday after the state Supreme Court issues its ruling on Prop 8. Rally for national LGBT equality the first Saturday AFTER the California Supreme Court issues its rulings on the Proposition 8 cases. Meet on the steps of City Hall in downtown Fresno at 1:00 PM. Why Fresno? The battle …

Two new California groups are working on 2010 marriage equality ballot amendments, but they have very different goals. The first is aiming for a straight-forward (heh) repeal of Proposition 8. “Our logic is that we should not put all our eggs in one basket and wait for the Supreme Court,” said Charles Lowe, who after campaigning against Proposition 8 founded …

LIVE FEED ENDED. Oral arguments on overturning Proposition 8 begin at the California Supreme Court in San Francisco at 9am local time (noon on the East Coast.) I recommend opening this post in a separate window at once, as you may not be able to get on to this live stream later. If this video feed crashes, you can try …

Major rallies are planned for tonight in numerous California cities in advance of tomorrow’s Supreme Court hearing on the overturn of Proposition 8. Visit the Eve Of Justice site for locations in your town. The rally in Los Angeles begins at 5:30PM at El Pueblo De Los Angeles Park: Special guests include Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LAMBDA Legal representative Jenny Pizer, …

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the California Supreme Court may reveal how they will vote on overturning Proposition 8 as soon as tomorrow. Prospects appear dim for our side. The California Supreme Court may reveal Thursday whether it intends to uphold Proposition 8, and if so, whether an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages will remain valid, during a high-stakes …

“Fundamental rights in California are recognized and protected by our constitution, which declares in Article I, Section 1 that “all people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights” and “among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” “These fundamental premises of a free …

Fresh off his Oscar win, Sean Penn has joined the reinvigorated campaign to have Harvey Milk Day declared a state holiday in California. Today Penn will appear at a press conference to lobby for Senate Bill 572. The bill would designate May 22 as “a day of special significance in California,” in which public schools would be encouraged “to conduct …

Yesterday both chambers of California’s legislature passed resolutions declaring that Proposition 8 was an “illegal and unprecedented revision” to the state constitution. The state Senate and Assembly resolutions were both introduced by openly gay men: Sen. Mark Leno (D-SF) and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-SF). Equality California, via press release: [A] full 17 Senators and 40 Assemblymembers signed on as resolution …

JMG reader Sean Chapin sends us his clip promoting this week’s Eve Of Justice candlelight vigils /rallies which take place around California this Wednesday, the day before the California Supreme Court hears arguments on overturning Prop 8. Wednesday, March 4 is the day before the California Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the validity of Prop 8. That evening, we’ll …

Two key organizers of the Yes On 8 campaign, Frank Schubert and Jeff Flint, have written a fascinating assessment of the Proposition 8 battle. Here’s just a snippet of their Politics Magazine piece. Our strategy had anticipated that the No on 8 campaign would label as “shameful lies” any claim that gay marriage had anything to do with schools, so …

Openly gay California state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-SF) has introduced a bill which would make California the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. The proposal would regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis – all of which is barred by federal law. Ammiano, a Democrat in …

The father of Brandon McInerney, the California student who murdered gay teen Lawrence King, has been arrested on two felony counts of making criminal threats and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. William Frederick McInerney, 46, had his first court appearance Friday since being arrested Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty, court records show. Judge Colleen Toy White set bail …

The family of murdered gay teen Lawrence King has filed suit against just about everybody that ever knew him for not insisting that he “tone down” his feminine ways. Because that’s why he was murdered. Not because Brandon McInerney was a Nazi-obsessed skinhead wannabe who hated gays. The family of a gay teenager who was shot to death in class …

Los Angeles City College is being sued for religious discrimination after a public speaking professor refused to allow a student to complete his speech in support of traditional marriage. The lawsuit also seeks to overturn university rules on offensive speech by students. A classroom dispute at Los Angeles City College in the emotional aftermath of Proposition 8 has given rise …

Today is the anniversary of gay teen Lawrence King’s murder by fellow classmate Brandon McInerney. Yesterday the prosecutor in the case revealed that according to students, King was not, in fact, sexually harassing McInerney. Lawrence “Larry” King wasn’t sexually harassing fellow eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney in the weeks leading up to King’s shooting death, prosecutors contend in court documents. McInerney …

As widely predicted, today eBay CEO Meg Whitman announced that she will run for governor of California in 2010. Whitman famously came out in support of Proposition 8 last fall, but tells the LA Times that she does support other LGBT right issues. Explaining her support for Proposition 8, the November measure that banned same-sex marriage, she called it a …

Via the National Center For Lesbian Rights: The California Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments on Thursday, March 5, 2009 in the Proposition 8 legal challenge. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU—with support from civil rights groups, religious organizations, labor unions, and legal scholars—argue that Proposition 8 is invalid because the …

A federal judge has ruled that donors to Proposition 8 will continue to have their names made public. “If there ever needs to be sunshine on a particular issue, it’s a ballot measure,” U.S. District Judge Morrison England said after a one-hour hearing in his Sacramento courtroom. A lawyer for the Prop. 8 campaign said it would ask an appeals …

All the parties have submitted their briefs in advance of the March hearing by the California Supreme Court as to whether to overturn Proposition 8. The marriage equality side contends that Prop 8 is invalid for three reasons: — It had such a drastic impact on individual rights that it amounted to a revision of the Constitution, not merely an …

A disappointing ruling from California in the case of the Christian school whose teacher spied on students’ MySpace pages and had two girls expelled for being gay. After a Lutheran school expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship,” the girls sued, contending the school had violated a state anti-discrimination law. …