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The Next Wedding I PerformOne of the neat things that we pastors get to do is to perform weddings. What a thrill it is to see a young couple declare their love before the world and to be part of their special day! And so it’s with great excitement and emotion that I will be performing a wedding this weekend. I have been asked to do the honors for a young couple I know up in Iowa, friends of the family. Steven and his partner Adam have been in a loving, committed relationship for over three months now, and since...

WASHINGTON — In 2004, Barack Obama cited his Christian faith while explaining his opposition to same-sex marriage. "What I believe, in my faith, is that a man and a woman, when they get married, are performing something before God, and it's not simply the two persons who are meeting," he said. Eight years later, he cited his faith again when he became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality. "When we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it's also the Golden Rule, you...

So I just noticed today that a few of my "Facebook friends" more like 2 people I haven't spoken to in twenty years, had those stupid gay marriage red equality signs up. I defriended them all, anyone else have the same thing happen?

Supreme Court Decides Whether Of Not To Review Challenge Of California's Prop 8. This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on same California’s Prop 8 and a section of the Defense of Marriage Act which deals with benefits for same sex couples. Same sex marriage is front and center once again and I’ve heard some interesting arguments on how supporting government involvement in defining marriage is a “conservative” ideal. During the Sunday morning talk show circuit, former Bush communications adviser took the moderate position emerging within the GOP against American Values’ Gary Bauer. Nicole Wallace tried to argue...

Today Meghan McCain and Margaret Hoover paired up to pen an op-ed for USA Today, calling on conservatives to support marriage equality. In the article, McCain and Hoover outline the inevitable demise of anti-LGBT organizations and leadership, as country continues to shift support toward marriage equality. They wrote: Marriage is marriage, whether a person is straight or gay. Marriage also promotes outcomes that we as conservatives should support: stable homes, with committed couples who take care of themselves without government intrusion. We know the benefits to society from healthy marriages, and we celebrate them. Our fellow Republicans should be strengthening...

Survey after survey has shown that views on basic social issues often move very slowly. But support for marriage equality is turning out to be one big exception to the rule. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 58 percent of Americans now think it should be legal for same-sex couples to get married. That is an astounding increase from a low of 32 percent less than a decade ago. And in another shift that is seen as directly related to support for equal rights, only 24 percent see homosexuality as a choice, compared to 40 percent almost 20...

Young Republicans in Iowa are still split on the institution of marriage being extended to gay people. But there is a growing consensus among college-aged GOPers that in order to win elections, the party's focus should be elsewhere. Gay and lesbian campus groups and College Republicans haven't exactly been friendly to one another over the years, in Iowa or the rest of the country. But there are signs that with this coming generation the trend could be changing, and for the Republican Party that could be critical. "As a young Republican, I see where the party’s coming from with the...

The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Britain, indicating that the bill is assured of passage as it moves through further legislative stages.... After a six-hour debate, the Commons vote was 400 to 175 for the bill. It will have to pass in the House of Lords, where delaying tactics by opponents are possible, but Mr. Cameron has said that he plans to have the bill enacted into law sometime this summer..... A day after the newly confirmed archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, took office saying that he shared the Church...

The Vatican's top official on family policy has opened slightly to the possibility of rights for gay civil unions, although he also stressed that marriage should remain between a man and a woman. The remarks from Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, wee made at a Vatican press conference on Monday and were quoted in Italian press on Tuesday. "Marriage is a clear legal dimension. There are then multiple other types of non-family cohabitation for which solutions should be found in terms of individual law and in my view also in terms of property law,"...

Foes of same-sex marriage are laboring to pay the tab for an epic legal case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, as the movement suffers from fundraising shortfalls that could sap its strength in future battles. ProtectMarriage dot com, the advocacy group defending a California gay marriage ban now under review by the high court, showed a $2 million deficit in its legal fund at the end of 2011 - the third year in a row that expenses exceeded donations, federal tax records show.... "Unless the pace of donations starts to pick up right away, we could soon be forced...

GREGG COUNTY, TX (KLTV) - For more than a year, KLTV has been investigating the allegations by several East Texas men that they were all married to the same woman at the same time. Now, that woman has been charged with bigamy. Candice Andrade, 32 of Kilgore, was arrested in Gregg County on November 15 and released the same day. Her trial date has not been set. In June of 2011, two men said they discovered they were married to Andrade at the same time. They told KLTV they found a third husband in Houston. In November 2011, they discovered...

President Barack Obama, occupant of the bully pulpit, set aside the past month to celebrate a most peculiar thing. "Now, each June since I took office," Obama said in a June 15 speech at the White House, "we have gathered to pay tribute to the generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans who devoted their lives to our most basic of ideals — equality not just for some, but for all." Among the places our president said he wanted "equality not just for some, but for all" — that is, presumably, including "bisexuals" — is in the institution of...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell isn’t yet ready to endorse a presidential candidate, but on Wednesday evening, he endorsed same-sex marriage. Powell, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993 when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was implemented, said in an interview on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer that he has “no problem” with marriage equality and speculated that most Americans are prepared to adapt to changing times. “As I've thought about gay marriage, I know a lot of friends who are individually gay but are in partnerships with loved ones. And they are stable...

NAACP Endorses Same-Sex Marriage Peter Wallsten 05/19/2012 The NAACP’s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage rights – adding the influential voice of the country’s leading black civil rights organization to a debate that has divided the African-American community. The decision has political implications for President Obama, who needs an enthusiastic turnout from black voters to help him win reelection in November but angered some African-American church pastors with his announcement this month that he believes gays and lesbians should have the right to marry. The NAACP now presents itself as a counterbalance to the influence of the...

Many of my fellow conservatives have an almost knee-jerk hostility toward gay marriage. This does not make sense, because same-sex unions promote the values conservatives prize. Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation. At its best, it is a stable bond between two individuals who work to create a loving household and a social and economic partnership. We encourage couples to marry because the commitments they make to one another provide benefits not only to themselves but also to their families and communities. Marriage requires thinking beyond one's own needs. It transforms two...

Maybe they should cut a deal: Gov. Chris Christie can put gay marriage to a popular vote, as long as Democrats can do the same with the millionaires tax, the Port Authority toll hikes and the governor's personal use of state helicopters. The governor's plan is not serious. It is a political dodge. He is trying to provide a safe haven to shelter his obedient Republican legislators. The idea is they could safely vote against gay marriage, saying they only want the people to decide. Imagine how different American history would be if this rule by referendums had carried the...

A lesbian couple is suing a Vermont inn, claiming it refused to host their fall wedding reception because of their sexual orientation. Kate Baker and Ming Linsley filed the suit on Tuesday in Vermont Superior Court, accusing the Wildflower Inn of Lyndonville of abruptly turning them away after learning they are lesbians. They claim the inn violated Vermont’s Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act, which prohibits inns, hotels, motels and other establishments with five or more rooms from turning away patrons based on sexual orientation. The law makes an exemption for religious organizations. ..“I think this case could set an...