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Court OKs benefits for same-sex life partners of city employees DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press PHILADELPHIA - In a victory for gay couples, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled Monday that Philadelphia has a right to give city employees in same-sex "life partnerships" the same type of worker benefits now enjoyed only by married couples. The justices overturned a lower court, which ruled two years ago that city lawmakers had overstepped their authority and created "a new marital status" by recognizing same-sex relationships. Only the state, that court said, had a right to regulate marriage. Writing for the high court, Justice Russell...

From today’s LA Times:“In a move to win back three breakaway Southern California parishes and placate conservative critics internationally, the Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles said Tuesday he will observe a personal moratorium on blessing same-sex unions. However, he said his priests were free to continue officiating at homosexual ceremonies.At the same time, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the six-county Los Angeles diocese, called for an international church summit in Los Angeles, including dissenting African bishops who have claimed jurisdiction over the three parishes. Bruno said he wanted to seek an accommodation in the controversy that erupted...

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - After Oregonians voted to ban same-sex marriages earlier this month, a gay rights advocate will no longer argue for same-sex marriage rights in the state's supreme court, activists said on Friday. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will instead argue for a legal civil unions between same-sex couples giving them the same rights and benefits as married couples. "This changes our case in only one way. We are no longer seeking marriage," said Ken Choe, a New York attorney with the ACLU who will argue the Oregon case. "But we do believe that the Oregon Constitution...

Arlington to fight civil unions ban BY ANDREA PERRINJournal staff writer Heavily Democratic Arlington County will push to repeal the state's ban on gay marriage and civil unions despite anticipated opposition from the Republican-dominated General Assembly. Although the county is not likely to succeed in rolling back a 2004 ban on civil unions or a long-standing ban on gay marriage, it hopes to "build a coalition and to raise awareness," said County Board member Jay Fisette. "The reality is when civil unions were first created in Vermont they were seen as an abomination and now they are widely accepted in...

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - After Oregonians voted to ban same-sex marriages earlier this month, a gay rights advocate has given up its fight to take its case to the state's supreme court, activists said on Friday. The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) (ACLU) will instead argue for a legal civil unions between same-sex couples giving them the same rights and benefits as married couples. "This changes our case in only one way. We are no longer seeking marriage," said Ken Choe, a New York attorney with the ACLU who will argue the Oregon case. "But we do...

I know that a few days before the election Bush inexplicably felt the need to come out and speak well of civil unions, and I know that it made some news. But did Bush actually say that he personally supported civil unions and that he thought states should implement them, or did he simply say that he thinks states should do so if they choose to? In other words, did he come out in favor of civil unions, or merely the right of states to adopt them if the people want them? I read the original press reports and I...

A loss for true conservatism (David Shuster)• November 7, 2004 | 2:26 p.m. ETOn Tuesday, eleven different states outlawed gay marriage. The basic argument I heard was not about marriage (more on that below) but about being gay. And a majority of voters seem to believe that homosexuality is an "immoral lifestyle choice." Hmmmm. The problem is that anybody who has a relative or friend who is gay also knows it is not a "choice." It is something wired into the genes of approximately 3 or 4 percent of the human population in every single culture on the planet. Secondly,...

A state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages will soon go before the Legislature and voters for approval if the state's Southern Baptists get their way. The Florida Baptist Convention, which holds its 150th annual meeting Monday and Tuesday in Jacksonville, is expected to call for the passage of a state constitutional amendment upholding the "biblical definition" of marriage between one man and one woman. "We're going to begin some type of process of saying we want to see a state marriage amendment similar to what was passed in other states this election," said the Rev. Tommy Green, pastor of First...

CHARTED: Yoko Ono, 71, has the No. 1 single on the dance chart, "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him"/"Every Woman Has A Woman Who Loves Her," a mix of techno beats and her somewhat off-key vocals that delivers a message in favor of same-sex unions. "This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans who are against the administration's decision to ban gay marriage," Ono says about the success of the tune, as quoted by the BBC.

I'VE HAD IT!!! NO...REALLY! How long do we have to tolerate these homosexual judges? How long do we have to put up with RINO's in the Republican party? This activist judge... the DIS-honorable and unrespectable William A. "Bill" Morvant, Republican, is due for re-election Dec 31, 2008. I can't tolerate this piece of garbage that long! I want to go to his home at CENSORED , and hang him in effigy to demonstrate how offensive his actions against the will of the people are unaccecptable. I'd like to call him and tell him how I will never vote for...

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BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A Brazilian court on Friday barred the lesbian partner of the outgoing mayor of an Amazon town from trying to succeed her, citing a ban on political office passing between family members. Eulina Rabelo was forced to quit the mayoral race in Viseu, in the state of Para, when judges ruled that her relationship with incumbent mayor Astrid Maria Cunha e Silva would violate a constitutional article that prevents executive posts in local government being transferred between members of the same family. The unanimous ruling by the country's top electoral court effectively recognized the two women...

With the recent passage of two state ballot measures banning same-sex marriage, opinion polls and advocates on both sides of the debate say similar initiatives are likely to be approved in as many as 10 other states in November, leading advocates of such marriages to pour money and manpower into a last stand in Oregon. "Everything seems to point to a tougher battle in Oregon than it has been elsewhere," said Gary Bauer, "But I still think my side's got a good chance there." [ snip ] .....the proposed bans appear on the ballot in 11 states, and opinion polls...

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- The Catholic Church blasted the Socialist government's plans to legalize gay marriage, saying Monday it would be like releasing a "virus" into Spanish society. The Cabinet is expected Friday to pass a bill allowing same sex marriages, setting predominantly Roman Catholic Spain on course to join the vanguard of largely secular northern European countries that allow gay marriage or some version of it. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office in April with an ambitious agenda of social reforms, such as streamlined divorce and a relaxed abortion law. The church is furious, and spoke out...

Posted on Tue, Aug. 24, 2004 Cheney Backs Freedom for Gay Relationships TODD DVORAK Associated Press DAVENPORT, Iowa - Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter Mary is a lesbian, spoke supportively about gay relationships on Tuesday, saying "freedom means freedom for everyone." At a campaign rally in this Mississippi River town, Cheney was asked about his stand on gay marriage - an issue for which his boss, President Bush, has pushed for a constitutional amendment to ban such unions. "Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with," Cheney said. "With the...

Margot McShane and Alex D'Mario of Napa were the fourth lesbian couple to get 'married' in San Francisco, but their childrens birth certificates have spots only for 'mother' and 'father.' The pair had planned to go to court, marriage licence in hand, and demand that McShane has the same parental benefits as D'Amario.California's justices ruled narrowly on the limits of the mayor's authority to interpret state law, and did not resolve whether the state constitution would permit same sex marriage, as Massachusetts highest court found. The couple still may have a case, said John Mayoue, who wrote 'Balancing Competing Interests...

Almost 4,000 gay couples, including Rosie O'Donnell and her lesbian partner, learned yesterday that their marriages are null and void. The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the controversial mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, overstepped his authority by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The justices also ruled, 5-2, to nullify the same-sex weddings performed between Feb. 12 and March 11. Those weddings ignited a fierce nationwide debate and prompted President Bush to push for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. "The struggle for civil rights continues in America, as usual," O'Donnell told the Daily News through a...

Article III, section 3.5 provides in full: “An administrative agency, including an administrative agency created by the Constitution or an initiative statute, has no power: [¶] (a) To declare a statute unenforceable, or refuse to enforce a statute, on the basis of its being unconstitutional unless an appellate court has made a determination that such statute is unconstitutional. http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/081204_calif_gaynuptialruling.pdf

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Thursday voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco this year and ruled unanimously that the mayor overstepped his authority by issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. The justices separately decided with a 5-2 vote to nullify the marriages peformed between Feb. 12 and March 11, when the court halted the weddings. Their legality, Justice Joyce Kennard wrote,...

Remember those "cutest couple" votes in high school? It was always some super-jock paired with the perennially perky cheerleader. Well, if same-sex marriage is legalized, the new winners will probably be two super-jocks, Josh and Matt, who've been going out since seventh grade. Dating will become a whole new game. Josh and Matt will probably garner the sympathy vote because they lost out at homecoming to "queen" and "queen" Megan and Katie, both bisexuals. It won't bother these girls to parade arm in arm across the football field. They'll be attracted to each other anyway, after hooking up at several...

TORONTO (CP) - Barely a year after an Ontario court gave its blessing to same-sex marriage, a lesbian couple is trying to untie the knot in what critics dismissed Wednesday as little more than a judicial stunt to test the limits of Canada's divorce laws. The pair, identified in court documents only as J.H. and M.M., were together for five years prior to their decision to get married last June, but were separated just five days later - two weeks after the Ontario Court of Appeal legalized same-sex marriages. "It's clearly a set-up case after five days where they are...

AME rejects same-sex unions National convention forbids ministers from performing gay marriages By CHRISTINA LEE KNAUSS Staff Writer Delegates at the national convention of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church voted unanimously Wednesday not to allow any of the church’s ministers to perform same-sex unions. The 2.5 million-member, mostly African-American denomination is the most recent Christian group in the nation to address the hot-button issue of gay marriage. Delegates at the AME convention in Indianapolis used a unanimous voice vote to pass the motion, which made it illegal within the denomination for any minister to perform a same-sex marriage or...

A private same-sex ceremony in April between two Episcopalian women has escalated into charges of deception, "secret protocols" - and even a taunt of perjury against a retired Colorado bishop. "Jerry Winterrowd knew such covert blessings were being done," says the diocese's most outspoken leader of the traditional wing, the Rev. Don Armstrong. He argues that Winterrowd, who retired in January, paved the way for today's disputes by secretly laying down guidelines for same-sex blessings 10 years ago - but testified otherwise during a 1999 lawsuit brought by a lesbian youth minister. "That's a bald-faced lie," Winterrowd retorts. "If Mr....

The New Mexico Supreme Court yesterday ruled against a county clerk who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples and helped start a wave of administrative disobedience nationwide. Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap asked the court to lift a temporary restraining order preventing her from issuing the licenses, but the justices dismissed the case without comment. "The county clerk was asking the court to let her break the law. She simply had no authority to petition the court to have the restraining order lifted," said Kevin Theriot, a Kansas City-based attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which wrote a friend-of-the-court brief...

Gay Republicans challenge Frist over vote 40 minutes ago Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network SUMMARY: The leader of the nation's largest gay Republican group sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, challenging his reasons for scheduling a Federal Marriage Amendment vote. On Wednesday the leader of the nation's largest gay Republican group sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., asking why the U.S. Senate is considering the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) instead of more pressing issues. The Senate vote on the FMA, which proposes to amend the Constitution to forbid same-sex couples from marrying, is scheduled...

BALTIMORE (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday sued the city of Baltimore and four Maryland counties for the right of same-sex couples to marry. The lawsuit was filed in Baltimore Circuit Court on behalf of nine couples and a man whose partner recently died. The couples had sought marriage licenses and were denied, said Ken Choe of the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, based in New York. Maryland law specifically defines marriage as between a man and a woman. In February, Attorney General Joseph Curran sent a memo to state legislators and the 24 clerks of...

Among the first things Katy Gossman and Kristin Marshall did after their May wedding in Massachusetts was change Marshall's last name to Gossman. But they are still waiting for her new driver's license to make it official. When the lesbian couple made the trek to the Connecticut Motor Vehicle Department, the clerk was at a loss for what to do. "He started to punch it into the computer, and then he looked at the marriage license again. He looked at us, he looked at the license," Katy said. "He said he didn't know what to do with us. They weren't...

...."There is no such thing as the perfect candidate," Jacques said. "But I will take that candidate over George W. Bush any day of the week." "I disagree vehemently with John Kerry's stand on the constitutional amendment in Massachusetts," said Sue Hyde, New England Field Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "But John Kerry has been chopping wood and carrying water on lots of other issues of interest to our community."....

There are two key reasons why the legal rights, benefits, and responsibilities of civil marriage should not be extended to same-sex couples. The first is that homosexual relationships are not marriage. That is, they simply do not fit the minimum necessary condition for a marriage to exist--namely, the union of a man and a woman. The second is that homosexual relationships are harmful. Not only do they not provide the same benefits to society as heterosexual marriages, but their consequences are far more negative than positive. Either argument, standing alone, is sufficient to reject the claim that same-sex unions should...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - In his latest blunt assessment of U.S. society, Pope John Paul II on Friday denounced the acceptance of abortion and same-sex unions as ``self-centered demands'' erroneously depicted as human rights. The pontiff said that ``in the face of such erroneous yet pervasive thinking,'' visiting U.S. bishops should stress to congregations ``their special responsibility for evangelizing culture and promoting Christian values in society and public life.'' ``Rights are at times reduced to self-centered demands: the growth of prostitution and pornography in the name of adult choice, the acceptance of abortion in the name of women's rights, the...

Wedding bells ring in Detroit suburb where gay life thrives By SARAH KARUSH The Associated Press 6/4/2004, 4:10 p.m. ET FERNDALE, Mich. (AP) - Driving past Mom and Pop businesses along an American flag-lined boulevard, a first-time visitor might not see much to distinguish this Detroit suburb from any small Midwestern town. But look around - at the rainbow stickers on shop doors, a church sign exhorting people to "celebrate pride," the "Hate-Free Zone" advertised from a basement window - and it's not hard to see why it is in Ferndale that some 15 Michigan couples are joining the legions...

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (CP) - The Anglican Church of Canada approved a measure Thursday to "affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships." The move stops short of authorizing dioceses to hold same-sex blessing ceremonies, but is still likely to complicate efforts aimed at unifying the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. The worldwide Anglican body is deeply divided over homosexuality. Delegates to a national church meeting handed the victory to supporters of gays and lesbians as a consolation prize the morning after they voted to delay any national go-ahead on church blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples until 2007 and...

Fears of split grow as African leader says church is 'going berserk' The precarious international unity of the worldwide Anglican communion will come under renewed strain tomorrow as the church in Canada decides whether to bless same-sex unions. The Canadian Anglican Church, meeting at its three-yearly synod near Niagara Falls, could precipitate further divisions in the 77 million-strong communion, headed by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, if it decides that its 30 dioceses should be allowed to choose whether to carry out services for gay couples. On Saturday night Canon Gregory Cameron, secretary of the international commission set up...

<p>The Salvation Army could be marching out of New York.</p> <p>The evangelical nonprofit organization is facing a major showdown with the city over a bill that would force it to offer health benefits to gay and unwed spouses of New York staffers.</p>

Recently, a congressman whom I have known for many years and whom I greatly respect asked me about objections he’s hearing to the Federal Marriage Amendment. He said, “I don’t have a good answer when people say to me, ‘Isn’t it better for kids to be raised by two fathers or two mothers than single parents raising kids.’ Why is gay ‘marriage’ bad for kids?” My response to him was that if two were better than one, why wouldn’t four be better than two? If it’s just a matter of the number of people in the home, then polyamory is...

<p>Hundreds of homosexual couples in Massachusetts yesterday received the nation's first state-sanctioned marriage licenses, amid joyous celebrations, weddings and music.</p> <p>"Next to the birth of our daughter, this is the happiest day of our lives," Julie Goodridge said.</p> <p>"It's exhilarating, it's absolutely thrilling, it's overwhelming. I'm so happy," Hillary Goodridge said.</p>

Public remains divided on constitutional amendment to ban gay marriagePRINCETON, NJ -- Same-sex marriages have been cleared to become legal Monday in Massachusetts after a federal judge last week refused a challenge to the Massachusetts court ruling that granted same-sex couples the right to marry. A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey finds a modest increase in the number of Americans who support giving gay couples some of the legal rights that heterosexual couples enjoy. The public is about evenly divided on a law that would establish gay civil unions with some of the same rights that marriages have, and it remains...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Two by two they emerged from City Hall, the nation's first gay couples set to legally marry Monday, breaking a barrier many never believed would fall and putting the United States among four countries where gays can marry. With the passage of a midnight deadline, Massachusetts became the first state to process marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples Monday. And quick court action waiving the required three-day waiting period meant that some marriages would take place by midday. Cambridge was the only city to seize the first possible moment at midnight, opening its offices to 260...

Catholics, Protestants, Jews Join on the Eve of History to Bless Gay and Lesbian Couples Preparing to be Wed 5/14/2004 5:28:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Rabbi Devon Lerner, 781-643-7759; Brad Reichard, 617-536-1122, both of the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry; Web: http://www.rcfm.org News Advisory: WHAT: On the eve of history - as committed, loving gay and lesbian couples are able to receive the critical rights and protections that come only through civil marriage - leaders of Massachusetts' many communities of faith join in an interfaith prayer service to celebrate the issuing of marriage...

It wasn't a same-sex blessing - but it was close enough that conservative Episcopalians are demanding to know from Bishop Rob O'Neill what happened last weekend at the Good Shepherd parish in Centennial. A church official confirmed Thursday that the parish hosted a same-sex celebration in honor of Bonnie Spencer, an assistant pastor at the church, and her partner. Spencer said she would have no comment until she spoke to O'Neill, who is out of town until next week. She added, however, that "there was no same-sex blessing." The Rev. Lou Blanchard, who is the overseer of the region that...

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. -- Out-of-state gay couples will be able to get marriage licenses in Provincetown. The Cape Cod town's board of selectmen voted unanimously Monday to give licenses to nonresident couples, even if they have no intention of living in Massachusetts. Gov. Mitt Romney immediately issued a statement saying those marriages would be considered null and void. He also said his office will pursue "appropriate enforcement action" against clerks who defy state law. Romney previously said that a 1913 state law bars out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts, unless they have immediate plans to move here. The Provincetown decision...

If members of the American Catholic hierarchy are as politically astute as they pretend, they will abort their current efforts to torpedo the presidential campaign of John Kerry, a practicing Roman Catholic, because of his pro-choice position on the issue of abortion. They will also drop all the shrill rhetoric about him not taking Communion, as is currently being voiced by St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke and Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley. Nobody likes bullies, especially a group of men who were invisible and timidly inarticulate at the height of the worst scandal in the history of their church. When John...

WHAT NEXT? Will we have a political reporter to cover John Forbes Kerry at each Sunday Mass from now to November? Will there be a Holy Communion beat? A wafer watch? ADVERTISEMENT One of the more unseemly stories of the Easter weekend hovered around the controversy over Kerry and Catholicism. The intra-church debates about whether a prochoice, pro-civil union Kerry could consider himself a good Catholic ratcheted up into a public spectacle about whether he would step up to the altar and whether a priest would offer him the sacrament. The whole thing, fumed Frances Kissling of Catholics for a...

"Married and Gay Couples Not All that Different," proclaimed the headline of a news article portraying homosexual households as remarkably similar to married couples. "We're the couple next door," claimed one partnered homosexual. "We have a dog and a cat. I drive a Volvo. I'm boring."[1] Such down-home portrayals of homosexual couples are meant to provoke the question: Since gay couples really differ only in that both partners are of the same sex, what rational basis exists for denying them full marriage rights? Are homosexual households, as the article suggests, simply another variant of human relationships that should be considered,...

Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples Summary: Many times, homosexual relationships are touted as being no different than ordinary married couples. But research shows that in several key respects, the homosexual lifestyle differs radically from other types of relationships. by: Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D. "Married and Gay Couples Not All that Different," proclaimed the headline of a news article portraying homosexual households as remarkably similar to married couples. "We're the couple next door," claimed one partnered homosexual. "We have a dog and a cat. I drive a Volvo. I'm boring."[1] Such down-home portrayals of homosexual couples...

<p>For one side, the goal is preserving an institution that for centuries has been seen as a sacred bond between a man and woman. For the other side, it's about winning equal legal rights to marry regardless of the gender of their chosen life partner.</p>

<p>NEW YORK — The Brazilian government, bowing to economic and political pressure from the Islamic world, yesterday withdrew its effort to protect the civil rights of homosexuals.</p> <p>Brazil had introduced a resolution before the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Commission to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.</p>

John Kerry believes that same-sex couples should be granted rights, including access to pensions, health insurance, family medical leave, bereavement leave, hospital visitation, survivor benefits, and other basic legal protections that all families and children need. He has supported legislation to provide domestic partners of federal employees the benefits available to spouses of federal employees. He was one of 14 Senators -- and the only one up for reelection in 1996 -- to oppose the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

<p>PORTLAND, Ore. — Benton County commissioners voted Monday to postpone issuing marriage licenses to everyone — not just same-sex couples — until a court decision is made on whether gay marriages in Oregon are legal.</p> <p>Benton County Commission Chairwoman Linda Modrell said the commission was respecting a request from Attorney General Hardy Myers.</p>