News of the Day

April 3rd is 1 Year Anniversary of Gay Marriage in Iowa


Gayopolis.com, March 18, 2010

April 3, 2010 marks the one-year anniversary of the historic Varnum v. Brien ruling that cleared the way for gay and lesbian couples to marry in Iowa. To celebrate the one-year anniversary, One Iowa is planning a week of events, beginning with press conferences in Des Moines and Iowa City and culminating with an Anniversary Gala on April 3, 2010 in Des Moines.

DES MOINES - ONE YEAR OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY PRESS CONFERENCE Monday, March 29, 2010 11 AM Far West side of Iowa Capitol, Des Moines Supporters from across state to gather at c. Click here to read the complete article.


Catholic Charities changes benefits after gay marriage legalization


georgetownvoice.com, by Cole Strangler, March 18, 2010

Catholic Charities in the District of Columbia has enacted two significant employment policy changes in response to the District's recent legalization of same-sex marriage. New employees will no longer be able to receive health benefits for their spouses and will be required to pledge that they will not violate the tenets of the Catholic Church.

Although new employees will not be able to provide health benefits to their spouses, they will still be covered under the new policy and be able to provide benefits to their children. According to Catholic Charities spokesperson Eric Salmi, the less than 10 percent of Catholic Charities' 850 employees in the District who currently take advantage of spousal health benefits will continue receiving those benefits.

Click here to read the complete article.


NY gay groups renew push for same-sex marriage vote


Rueters.com, March 17, 2010

A group called Fight Back New York, created with money from software entrepreneur and openly gay philanthropist Tim Gill, is pledging to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get pro-gay marriage candidates elected to the state Senate in November's elections.

Advocates aim to bring the issue of same-sex marriage to the Senate floor as early as next year. The legislature voted three months ago to reject a similar bill.

"There is definitely a theme of punishment in our work," said spokesman Alex Navarro-McKay. The group would target some of the eight Democrats who helped defeat the bill, he said. All 30 Republicans and eight Democrats voted no, defeating the bill 38 to 24.

Click here to read the complete article.


New York Fights Back, Unseats Monserrate


Advocate.com, March 17, 2010
by Kelly Eleveld

One down, seven to go! - that's the mantra today for Fight Back New York, a political action committee focused solely on unseating state senators who voted against a same-sex marriage bill last year, including the eight Democrats who failed to back marriage equality.

One of those Democratic senators, Hiram Monserrate, suffered a stinging defeat Tuesday in a special election, losing to pro-marriage Democratic assemblymember José Peralta 66% to 27%. Click here to read the complete article.


N.J. gay rights advocates prepare legal action to get state to legalize same-sex marriage


By The Associated Press

March 17, 2010, 1:02PM - NJ.com
TRENTON - Gay rights advocates are preparing legal action to attempt to get New Jersey to legalize gay marriage.

Lambda Legal is expected to announce details along with other groups on Thursday.

Lambda represented seven gay couples in a 2006 case in which the state Supreme Court came one vote shy of requiring the state to recognize gay marriage.

Ultimately, the state created civil unions. Gay rights advocates said the arrangement doesn't create equality that marriage would.

Click here to read the complete article.


Withers: Monserrate loses in special election


By James Withers, contributing editor, 365Gay Blog
03.16.2010 11:39pm EDT

At least for now Hiram Monserrate is on permanent leave from Albany. The disgraced politician was easily beaten in tonight's 13th State Senate District special election. With 35 percent of the vote counted, he pulled in 34 percent while Senator elect Jose R. Peralta garnered 60. Republican challenger Robert Beltrani was third with six percent.

We've covered the whole Monserrate mess, from the misdemeanor assault conviction of his former girlfriend to his tacit support of anti-gay fliers, so I'll repeat nothing tonight. It's good to know this guy is gone from doing the people's business.
Click here to read the complete article.


Florida tax rebate plan could backfire


Los Angeles Times - March 16, 2010

A proposed change in incentives offered to 'family friendly' film shoots may by discriminatory and prompt gay rights supporters to take their business elsewhere, critics warn.

Seeking to be family friendly, Florida may have learned a hard lesson in how not to be Hollywood friendly.

The Sunshine state startled the film industry recently when a bill was introduced in the state Legislature that would disqualify movies and TV shows that contained "nontraditional family values" from receiving a supplemental "family friendly" tax credit that's been in effect for a couple of years.

Click here to read the complete article.


UPDATE: Anti-gay-marriage bill defeated in Pennsylvania


March 16th, 2010 - DallasVoice.com

This just in: The Senate Judiciary Committee in the Pennsylvania Legislature has defeated Senate Bill 707, which would have banned same-sex marriage in that state.

According to an announcement sent out by Sen. Daylin Leach, an LGBT ally in the Pennsylvania Legislature, this vote comes just two years after the same committee voted 10-4 in favor of a similar bill.

Click here to read the complete article.


Pennsylvania Senate Committee Takes Up Gay Marriage Ban Bill

By Carlos Santoscoy - On Top Magazine
Published: March 16, 2010

A key Pennsylvania Senate committee will take up the issue of gay marriage on Tuesday, the AP reported.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Senator John H. Eichelberger, Jr's joint resolution that aims to define marriage as a heterosexual union in the state constitution, effectively outlawing gay marriage and blocking the state Supreme Court from legalizing the institution.

Eichelberger announced the effort last May during a press conference held on the steps of the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg. The freshman senator represents Pennsylvania's 30th district, which includes Blair County. Introduction of the bill was postponed until January due to the economy, Eichelberger said.

Click here to read the complete article.


Gay marriage foes attack Calif. GOP Senate hopeful

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell's support of same-sex marriages came under attack Monday in a statewide television ad funded by a national group that promotes traditional marriage.

Like Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer, Campbell opposed Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California.

The 30-second commercials are funded by the National Organization for Marriage, which has been a leading opponent of legalizing same-sex marriages in California and other states. The organization most recently filed friend-of-the-court briefs opposing a federal challenge to California's same-sex marriage ban.

Click here to read the complete article.


Gay Marriage Returns To Court In New Jersey


By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: March 15, 2010

Prominent gay rights group Lambda Legal is ready to file its promised lawsuit to win gay marriage in New Jersey.

NJ.com's blog The Auditor reported on Sunday that the group will petition the state Supreme Court on Thursday.

"We've lived the agony of defeat," Steve Goldstein, CEO of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's largest gay advocate, told the website. "Now it's time for the thrill of victory."

Click here to read the complete article.


SF mayor Newsom to run for CA lieutenant governor

By The Associated Press
03.15.2010 1:00pm EDT

(San Francisco) After dropping out of the gubernatorial race last year, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he is running for lieutenant governor.

Newsom's announcement wasn't a surprise - he filed papers Feb. 17 with the secretary of state, a necessary step to run again for a statewide office. But he had refused to confirm his candidacy until Friday's deadline.

"Like many, I've openly questioned whether the office of LG is the right place to lead a reform movement that has the power to shake up Sacramento," he said in a statement Friday.

Click here to read the complete article.


McCain Rival: Gay Marriage Ruling Might Lead To Bestiality

By On Top Magazine Staff
Published: March 15, 2010

Former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging Senator John McCain in the Republican primary, called Massachusetts' gay marriage law "dangerous" and would likely allow a man to marry a horse, the Huffington Post first reported.

Hayworth made his comments during an interview on Orlando-based radio station WORL Sunday.

The fifth-one-year-old politician called the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage in the state "dangerous" because it defines marriage as simply "the establishment of intimacy."

Click here to read the complete article.


Cynthia Nixon Receives Award From GLAAD


ABCnews.com - March 14, 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gay media group GLAAD honored the TV series "Brothers & Sisters" and singled-out actress Cynthia Nixon for her work at a Saturday night gala highlighting gay marriage rights.

"We are bringing marriage back to its fundamentals and revitalizing it from its roots up," "Sex and the City" actress Nixon said in accepting an honorary award at the 21st annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards.

ABC drama series "Brothers & Sisters" won the outstanding drama series award for their storyline of a gay married couple looking to start a family.

Actress Sigourney Weaver accepted the award for outstanding TV miniseries for Lifetime's "Prayers for Bobby." In the program, based on a true story, Weaver played a 1970s religious housewife who struggles to accept her son is gay.

Click here to read the complete article.


Diocese bars anti-war activist Sheehan


Click here to read the complete article.


The San Francisco Marriage Case, Part One: Possible Outcomes


By Matt Coles
Huffington Post
3.11.10

1. Four Possible Outcomes.

There are essentially four possible outcomes in the San Francisco marriage case (Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case brought by Ted Olson and David Boies): the Big Win, the Smaller Win, the Smaller Loss and the Big Loss.

The Big Win would be the ruling the lawyers were shooting for when they filed the case: a decision saying that it is unconstitutional for a state to refuse to marry same-sex couples. A decision like that from the U.S. Supreme Court would mean that same-sex couples could marry in all 50 states.

The Smaller Win would turn on the fact that through its Domestic Partnership system, California gives the same legal rights to same-sex couples that it gives to married couples. A court could focus on that, and say that since the state gives all couples the same legal treatment, the only reason it could possibly have for giving some relationships a different name would be to make a statement that some relationships are not as good, not as important. 


Click here to read the complete article.


Iowa gay marriage foe equates gay sex with smoking risks


By Ruth Schneider, 365gay.com
03.13.2010 8:00am EST

The president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, a group that opposes marriage equality, released a statement that made gay sex appear to be a health menace.

"The Iowa Legislature outlawed smoking in an effort to improve health and reduce the medical costs that are often passed on to the state," Chuck Hurley said, according to the Des Moines Register. "The secondhand impacts of certain homosexual acts are arguably more destructive, and potentially more costly to society than smoking...  Homosexual activity is certainly more dangerous for the individuals who engage in it than is smoking." Click here to read the complete article.


Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues


March 12, 2010
New York Times
By KATE ZERNIKE

For decades, faith and family have been at the center of the conservative movement. But as the Tea Party infuses conservatism with new energy, its leaders deliberately avoid discussion of issues like gay marriage or abortion.

God, life and family get little if any mention in statements or manifestos. The motto of the Tea Party Patriots, a large coalition of groups, is "fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets." The Independence Caucus questionnaire, which many Tea Party groups use to evaluate candidates, poses 80 questions, most on the proper role of government, tax policy and the federal budgeting process, and virtually none on social issues.

Click here to read the complete article.


Mexico City hosts nation's first gay marriages


Several couples wed at the Municipal Palace in Mexico City, which legalized same-sex marriage in December. The law has been challenged by the federal government.

By Tracy Wilkinson

March 12, 2010

Reporting from Mexico City

The mayor was there. So were the protesters. Judith Vazquez wore an ivory wedding dress. So did her bride.

Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda on Thursday became the first gay couple to marry in Mexico under a new law that allows same-sex couples to wed and to adopt children.

The law was passed by the Mexico City legislature in December and applies only to the capital. It is the most far-reaching gay-rights law in Latin America and one of several measures that have put the city and its leaders at odds with the more conservative country.

"This is a historic day," presiding judge Hegel Cortes said shortly after pronouncing Vazquez and Castaneda "legitimately united in matrimony." Three other same-sex couples also tied the knot.

Click here to read the complete article.


SF marriages in '04 a boon to researchers

Bay Area Reporter

Six years ago today (Thursday, March 11) the California Supreme Court halted the marrying of same-sex couples at San Francisco City Hall. The weddings during what became known as the city's "Winter of Love" stunned the nation and built momentum for the fight for marriage equality.

It also turns out that Mayor Gavin Newsom's decision to buck state law and order city officials to wed gays and lesbians was also a boon to academics. Researchers have interviewed and surveyed the couples that raced to marry before the court's decision came down and are just now publishing their findings.

Click here to read the complete article.


How Churches May Actually Help Gays Win the Marriage Fight

By Byard Duncan, AlterNet
Posted on August 8, 2009, Printed on August 8, 2009

At the top of a hill in Berkeley, California -- above the city's stucco angles, crinkled palm fronds and coffee shops -- Rev. Mark Wilson is seated at a piano. Horizontal bands of evening sun pour through the stained glass to his right, dotting his forehead with pearls of sweat. He closes his eyes.

Today is July 5, 2009 -- the day after Independence Day. Wilson, a broad, boisterous man with a neatly etched triangle of beard, is feeling political. Click here to read the complete article.



Faces of Family

The Faces of Family are everywhere. They are the common thread that runs through us all. Regardless of color, race, spiritual belief, love orientation or political persuasion, we all share a family heritage.

The Wedding Party is proud to announce The Faces of Family project! The Faces of Family project will continue The Wedding Party's promise to provide the media and the world with the honest and provocative truth about same-sex relationships and families.

How can you be a part? Send us your story! Tell us about your family and why it is important. Tell us what family means to you and how your understanding of marriage was affected by your experience of family. Send us your picture and we will tell your story.

The Faces of Family Project is raising funds to send the message to Albany to leave no family behind and that all families deserve protection through marriage. Click here to contribute to our Faces of Family Project.

Values Are For Everyone

Rebecca A. Kanis Captain, U.S. Army (1991-2000)

I was investigated for being a lesbian while I was at West Point in 1989, before the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I lied to the investigators and was allowed to continue at the academy.  I didn't believe I had other options and the possibility of returning to my family in Kansas as a "disgraced" lesbian was unthinkable. In a crisis at 19 years old, I chose to lie to keep an opportunity open to me, instead of losing it all for the truth. I would choose differently today, but no one should be put in that situation. Click here to read her complete story!


Elizabeth Grosse - Mother and Friend

My son Charlie was an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life. But to his family and friends, he was extraordinary. The fact that he was gay was only a part of who he was, what was really extraordinary about him was that he was funny, and had a big heart. He was a man that could make you laugh until tears rolled down your face, and when he befriended you, he loved you wholly and completely and his loyalty had no boundaries. Just when Charlie had found someone whom he really loved and wanted to spend his life with, he died rather tragically. Click here to read her complete story!


Community Bulletin Board

Marriage Equality Event Schedule

Check here for MENY events!



Click here for event information!


Lambda Legal's Upcoming Events

Every year Lambda Legal hosts award galas, garden parties, intimate dinners and other events. We also hold educational forums, seminars and rallies, sometimes with partner organizations - and our attorneys and public education staff participate in a wide range of conferences and workshops open to the public. Click through below to find out what's happening in a town near you!
Click here for more information!


ACLU LGBT Project Update

The LGBT Project brings impact lawsuits in state and federal courts throughout the country - cases designed to have a significant effect on the lives of LGBT people.  Visit our LGBT web page for information on everything that the ACLU LGBT Project is doing!

Click here to visit the website now!


 Photo Album

Alicia, Leslie and Piper

Alicia, Leslie and Piperthumbnail ofAlicia, Leslie and Piper

Lori, Cin and Family

Lori, Cin and Familythumbnail ofLori, Cin and Family

Juanita and Amy, Wedding Party ceremony 2004

Juanita and Amy, Wedding Party ceremony 2004thumbnail ofJuanita and Amy, Wedding Party ceremony 2004

Gay, straight and married!

Gay, straight and married!thumbnail ofGay, straight and married!

Renee Rotkopf and Sam, 2004 Gay Pride parade

Renee Rotkopf and Sam, 2004 Gay Pride paradethumbnail ofRenee Rotkopf and Sam, 2004 Gay Pride parade
Click to see the full picture.
  Send us your photos
 Call to Action
 Prop 8 Trial Gets Online Reenactment

In its January 13, 2010 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the public broadcast of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California Proposition 8

Working from court transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers who are present at the trial, marriagetrial.com is re-enacting the trial and posting it here for public viewing.


Click here to watch the trial reenactment!
 Wedding Party Forums
BE OUTSPOKEN -
JOIN OUR FORUM

The right to marry is a fight for civil rights. What can you do? Stay in action by transforming the conversation. You possess the power of words, help enlighten others - share your thoughts - voice your opinions. Be out spoken, go to the new forums area of the website.
 Marriage equality on Caprica
Long-awaited Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica starts on January 22 and guess what, gay marriage is legal! 
Click here to read more!
 From the Heart - A CD tribute to marriage equality
Looking for a compilation of todays best new artists?  How about a collection of songs devoted to equality?  Check out FROM THE HEART, a CD celebration of love benefitting The Wedding Party!
Click here to buy the CD!
 OMG
March 12, 2010
Texas Board Backs Curriculum Stressing Role of Conservatives

New York Times
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

AUSTIN, Tex. - After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas School Board on Friday voted to approve a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the role of Christianity in American history and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.

The vote was 11 to 4, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting for the curriculum, and four Democrats voting against.

The board, whose members are elected, has influence far beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest buyers of textbooks.

 Faces of Family Postcard Project

Send us a self-addressed stamped envelope, and we will send you 2 photo postcards at no cost!

These simple but effective tools allow you to affix your picture to the postcard and tell your story to whomever you wish. Just mail your request to:

"TWP Postcard Project"
332 Bleecker St., #d24
New York NY 10014

A picture of your family will tell a thousand words, if you let it. So let us help you tell your story. Send us a SASE today!

 The Difference Between Marriage and Civil Unions
Portability of Rights, Medical Decisions in Emergencies, Gift and Property Transfer Tax, Inheritance and many more to name a few!  GLAAD has recently published and comprehensive explanation of these very real differences.  Check it out!
Click here for more information.
 A New Symbol For Marriage Equality
WhiteKnot.org is the website for White Knot for Equality, a non-profit organization founded by Frank Voci in November 2008 in response to the passing of Proposition 8 in California and bans on same-sex marriage and denial of other civil rights for gays and lesbians across the nation.
Click here to visit whiteknot.org!
 How To Contact Your Elected Officials

Now more than ever, contacting your elected officials to tell them what is important to you is CRITICAL!   Writing letters, sending emails and making phone calls are powerful tools in the fight for equality.  Take action today!

 


Click this link to find your elected official.
 15 Questions Couples Should Ask Before They Marry

(December 17, 2006 New York Times)

Relationship experts report that too many couples fail to ask each other critical questions before marrying. Here are a few key ones that couples should consider asking:

1) Have we discussed whether or not to have children, and if the answer is yes, who is going to be the primary care giver?

2) Do we have a clear idea of each other's financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh?

3) Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?


Click here for more information.
 Box of Intolerance

German Archbishop Expresses Shame Over Scandal

March 18, 2010
New York Times
By JACK EWING

BAD STAFFELSTEIN, Germany - The leader of the Catholic Church in Bavaria expressed "deep shame" on Thursday for cases of sexual molestation that have shaken the home region of Pope Benedict XVI, and said he was in favor of changing German law so that church officials would have a greater duty to report suspected child abuse to prosecutors.

But in an often combative exchange with reporters at a hilltop pilgrimage site north of Nuremberg, the church official, Archbishop Reinhard Marx, defended the overall integrity of the church and said it would never be possible to ensure there is no abuse. He also refused to discuss individual cases or shift any responsibility to Benedict.




Click here to read more.
 Human Rights Alert

Some victories, much pain in Va. General Assembly session

By Robert McCartney
Sunday, March 14, 2010

The state's new attorney general made a big splash by picking a fight with public universities over gay rights and challenging the EPA's efforts to limit greenhouse gases. He ensured that his agenda of social conservatism and state's rights will be a prominent feature of government and politics in Richmond for the foreseeable future.


Click here to read the complete article.
 German Priest Close to Pope Is Suspended in Abuse
March 15, 2010
New York Times
By NICHOLAS KULISH

MUNICH - The priest at the center of a German sex-abuse scandal that has embroiled Pope Benedict XVI was suspended Monday, more than 30 years after the church first heard allegations that he had molested children.

The priest, Peter Hullermann, was suspended after church officials acknowledged in a statement on Friday that he had continued working with children even after being forbidden in 2008. His supervisor, Prelate Josef Obermaier, resigned, according to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

In 1980, Benedict, then archbishop there, approved Father Hullermann's move to Munich after he was accused of sexually abusing boys in the Diocese of Essen, though on Friday a deputy took full responsibility for allowing the priest to return to full pastoral duties shortly thereafter. Father Hullermann was convicted of sexually abusing children in the Bavarian town of Grafing in June 1986 by a district court in nearby Ebersberg, church officials said Friday.

Hundreds of victims have come forward in recent months in Germany with accounts of sexual and other physical abuse from decades past. But no case has captured the attention of the nation like that of Father Hullermann, because of the involvement of the future pope, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, but also because of the impunity that allowed a child molester to continue to work with altar boys and girls for decades after his conviction.


Click here to read the entire article