Tag Archives: gay marriage

Cuba Moving Towards Marriage Equality

According to new interview with Fidel Castro’s niece, Cuba is continuing to move towards marriage equality for gays. The Cuban Communist Party is considering granting legal recognition to same-sex unions, as health officials prepare to authorise sex-change operations, the director of the Cenesex sex education centre in Cuba has said. The proposed change to Cuban family law would put members …

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On “De Facto” Gay Marriage

From an op-ed piece in the Annapolis Capital: Here’s how inevitable gay marriage is in Maryland, in one form or another. There was a debate on the issue last week in Annapolis, and the supporters didn’t even bother speaking. True, it wasn’t actually a debate over a marriage or civil union bill; it was a General Assembly committee hearing about …

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Iowans Pray-Walk Against Gay Marriage

Several hundred Iowans gathered at their state capital yesterday in a “prayer walk” against gay marriage. The attendees are demanding that legislators launch an effort to amend the state constitution. The issue of gay marriage gained attention last August when District Judge Robert Hanson ruled that Iowa’s marriage law is unconstitutional. He ordered the Polk County recorder to permit same-sex …

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FL Gay Marriage Ban May Not Make Ballot

Whoa, not so fast there, haters. Organizers of the ballot measure to ban gay marriage in Florida claimed in November that they’d succeeded in raising the necessary signatures to force the issue to a statewide vote. Turns out, maybe they haven’t. A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida may not make it to voters this year, after …

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Mass. Law Exam Flunker Apologizes

Remember the guy who sued the Massachusetts Bar Association after he failed their entrance exam because he refused to answer the question about gay marriage? Stephen Dunne’s federal suit prompted a national discussion on First Amendment rights, predictably garnering him support from the religious right. Well, he’s now apologized to the gay community in an email to Boston’s Bay Windows. …

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Julian Bond Joins Florida’s
Marriage Equality Fight

NAACP head Julian Bond has joined the fight against Florida’s coming statewide ballot on marriage equality. Julian Bond, an icon in the civil rights movement for nearly 50 years and longtime national Chairman of the NAACP, has stepped into a leadership role with the Fairness for All Families Campaign the statewide coalition effort to defeat the deceptively named “Florida Marriage …

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Civil Unions Begin In New Hampshire

Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Eve, gay couples began being civil-unioned in New Hampshire, as the new state law took effect. New Hampshire’s civil unions law — enacted by the Democrat-dominated Legislature early last year and signed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch in May, gives same sex couples the same rights, responsibilities and obligations of marriage without calling the …

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Gay Marriage Ban Makes Florida Ballot

Florida’s secretary of state announced yesterday that the anti-gay group Florida4Marriage has collected enough signatures to force their anti-gay marriage amendment onto the state ballot next year. Equality Florida and the ACLU will challenge the petition in court. Those opposing the amendment claim it could not only ban gay marriage but could repeal domestic partners benefits statewide, including those for …

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Ill Papa: Gay Marriage Is An
Obstacle To World Peace

“Everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of new life … constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace.” – Pope Benedict, in the 15-page annual papal message. Also standing in the way of …

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Sister Wendy On Gay Marriage

Art critic, author, PBS host, and Carmelite nun Sister Wendy spoke to the Huffingon Post about her new book, Sister Wendy On Prayer, but was also asked about her stance on gay marriage. Huffington Post: You’ve spoken out about gay marriage. How do you balance what you believe with what you have sworn to uphold?” Sister Wendy: I believe in …

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Australia’s New PM: Civil Unions OK

Newly elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said yesterday that his administration will not interfere with states or territories that move to legalize civil unions for gay couples. The state of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory are both expected to pass civil union laws early next year. Previous attempts to pass such legislation were thwarted by previous Prime Minister …

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Recap: Reading For Filth

Last night’s Reading For Filth show was moving, hilarious, historic. I read something from the JMG archives, Tripping Over The Tubs, and that went over pretty well, but then my former co-worker, the dynamic one-woman circus called Robbyne Kaamil (above, before the show) blew me off the stage with a rousing part-poetry, part gospel, sex-positive performance that had the audience …

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Fundies Surrender On NJ Gay Marriage

Via Pam’s House Blend comes news that New Jersey is getting so close to having the votes necessary to approve same-sex marriage, even the “family values” crowd is ready to throw in the towel. From Blue Jersey: Last week Garden State Equality chairman Steven Goldstein projected that they are just a few votes short of a majority in support of …

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Queers: Invented By Jews

Through the magic of Free Republic’s homo-obsession, I came across this 1993 article by Jewish theologian Dennis Prager. You may recall Prager as one of the “insider” architects of the Defense Of Marriage Act, in support of which he testified before Congress in 1996. Prager begins with this premise: To appreciate the extent of the revolution wrought by Judaism’s prohibiting …

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The Merry Ole Land Of Oz

Ha ha haHo ho ho And a couple of tra la la’s Australian Labor Party Prime Minister candidate Kevin Rudd has trounced anti-gay Bush lackey John Howard. Howard lost so badly, he no longer even has a seat in Parliament. Rudd’s historic win means that Labor now runs the government in every Australian state and territory. Also for the first …

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Spitzer Promises Gay Marriage For NY

NY Governor Elliot Spitzer preached to the choir at a private fundraiser in the West Village on Wedneday. “One of the first things we’re going to do when [Senate Minority Leader] Malcolm Smith is [majority] leader is gay marriage,” the witness recounted Spitzer as telling some 60 people who paid up to $10,000 each to attend the event in Greenwich …

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Cloudy Times In Sunshine State

The anti-gay Florida4Marriage has gathered 597,000 signatures on a petition demanding that same-sex marriage be outlawed statewide. When they reach 610,000 signatures, an amendment to the state constitution will be placed on 2008 ballot. The amendment would need a 60% vote to pass, something polls indicate it would get. However: Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida, because it is …

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A Killer Wedding

Two men convicted of killing are being allowed to marry in a Canadian prison. (Montreal, Quebec) Two men in federal prison in Quebec will marry later this month in the first same-sex marriage at the Cowansville Penitentiary. David Bedard, 22, is serving a 10-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter. Sony Martin, 26, serving a life term for second-degree murder. The two …

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Governator Nixes Gay Marriage Again

As he’d promised he would, Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed California’s same-sex marriage bill on Friday. He vetoed a similar bill in 2005. Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which sponsored the bill: “This will be part of his legacy. He single-handedly is standing in the way of lifting the cloud of discrimination for millions of Californians.” Schwarzenegger announced the veto …

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Friendly Voices: Dear Abby

Jeanne Phillips, author of advice column Dear Abby, is being honored this week by PFLAG for coming out in support of same-sex marriage. Phillips’ mother, the original Abby, first brought PFLAG into the national consciousness in a 1984 column. PFLAG is giving Phillips their first ever “Straight For Equality” award. Phillips took over for her mother five years ago when …

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