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A Pennsylvania Christian bridal shop owner who refused to provide wedding gowns to a lesbian couple because of her religious beliefs was bullied by the lesbians on Facebook, where their post about the shop owner’s refusal to serve them went viral. The New York Daily News reports the lesbians, who tried to schedule an appointment at W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, were “unidentified,” but said the owner – who was identified as Victoria Miller – told them she “[does] not service same-sex couples.” “We feel we have to answer to God for what we do,” Miller told The Press...

WASHINGTON (AP) — All of a sudden, abortion, contraception and gay marriage are at the center of American political discourse, with the struggling — though improving — economy pushed to the background. Social issues don't typically dominate the discussion in shaky economies. But they do raise emotions important to factors like voter turnout. And they can be key tools for political candidates clamoring for attention, campaign cash or just a change of subject in an election year. "The public is reacting to what it's hearing about," said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. In a political season, he...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban. The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trumps a lower court judge's order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday. Lawyers for the two gay couples that challenged the ban said Monday they would not appeal the panel's decision on the stay to the Supreme Court.

The United States has responded vigorously to this crisis. In 2003, I asked Congress to approve an emergency plan for AIDS relief. Our nation pledged $15 billion over five years for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in many of the poorest nations on Earth. In the years since, thanks to the support of the United States Congress and the American people, our country has met this pledge. This level of assistance is unprecedented, and the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history.

Leave it to a California high school, a charter member of a state now ranked 48th out of 50 states in academic proficiency, to demonstrate exactly why so many parents are pulling their kids out of government educational institutions. Silverado High School, located in the city of Victorville in the California high-desert region, has had its share of student-body challenges, most recently an outbreak of racially motivated fisticuffs between black and Latino students during an assembly on February 4. "It was divided along racial lines," said Superintendent Greg Lundeen, of the Victor Valley Union High School District. "A lot of...

A judge declared Friday that a law banning same-sex marriage violates the state constitution, a first-of-its-kind ruling in New York that would clear the way for gay couples to wed if it survives on appeal. Gay rights activists hailed the ruling as a historic victory that "delivers the state Constitution's promise of equality to all New Yorkers." "The court recognized that unless gay people can marry, they are not being treated equally under the law," said Susan Sommer, a Lambda Legal Defense Fund lawyer who presented the case for five couples who brought the lawsuit. "Same-sex couples need the protections...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that San Francisco's mayor overstepped his authority by issuing same-sex marriage licenses this spring. The court also voided all the marriages of gay and lesbian couples sanctioned by the city. The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates and performed the marriage ceremonies in a monthlong wedding march that began Feb. 12, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. The court, however, did not resolve whether the California Constitution would permit a same-sex marriage, ruling instead...

The intellectual contradictions of liberals and conservatives are often hilarious, but they've outdone themselves with their philosophical somersaults over gay marriage. Liberals are squawking about gays being denied rights, but as lovers of big government, they have endorsed government programs that infringe on the rights of gays. Conservatives, on the other hand, love small government but want more government when it comes to gays. Neither liberals nor conservatives seem to understand that gay rights wouldn't be an issue and wouldn't be plastered all over the media if the government had not made it an issue by putting its nose where...

Bravo for your compassionate Feb. 6 editorial A marriage, not a ''civil union' on the injustice that lesbian and gay couples face by being denied the rights that come only with civil marriage. No ''separate and unequal'' solutions will solve this inequity short of full civil-marriage equality for all. As a gay man, my relationship of nine years with my partner is not afforded the same immigration rights as straight married couples. Therefore, we will be forced to leave the United States next year for a nation that respects gay people's civil rights. America needs to wake up. TIM MILLER,...

UN Conditionally Recognizes Gay Marriages Peter Heinlein United Nations 29 Jan 2004, 21:48 UTC AP The United Nations has decided to recognize same sex marriages involving staff members if the union is valid in the employees' home country. The decision will entitle gay partners of some but not all employees to the same rights as other U.N. spouses. Secretary General Kofi Annan has ruled that marriages recognized under the law of a U.N. employee's home country will qualify that employee for all benefits provided to eligible family members. In a bulletin issued Thursday, Mr. Annan ordered the new policy effective...

While liberal judges strike down law after law after law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, polls show that most Americans are against legitimizing gay marriage. This fact has led conservative congressmen to draw up a Federal Marriage Amendment to "protect traditional marriage," and rightly so. Activist judges have repeatedly shown themselves to be out of step with the Constitution; apparently, this is not enough. Now, they are proving to be out of step with public opinion--making the Judicial branch of government increasingly resemble a web of Communist dictators. However, the margin of support for...

The question of homosexual marriage presents the American people with an inescapable moral challenge. The words homosexual and marriage are inherently contradictory. The very fact that these terms are in public conflict demonstrates the radical character of the social revolutionaries that now demand the legalization of homosexual marriage. For at least the last one hundred years, America has experienced an unprecedented season of social transformation. Now, this transformation has been extended to experimentation with the most basic institutions and cherished principles of our common life. A conversation about "homosexual marriage" is only possible if the concept of marriage is completely...

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (BP)--I received an e-mail from a member of our community about a sermon I had preached concerning homosexuality. "Why do you feel you can speak with such authority on this subject when Jesus is quoted not one single time on the topic of homosexuality?" he asked. If you are a connoisseur of the cable news channels, you probably heard the same question posed to those who opposed the election of a homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church last year or Massachusetts' supreme court declaring that "marriage" rights must be extended to homosexuals. "If Jesus had nothing to...

BOSTON - A 21st century battle for gay rights is being fought with rhetoric from the civil rights movement of the 1960s - ideals that have echoed through Massachusetts' gay marriage campaign from its outset. Denunciations of "separate but equal" laws have energized a crowd of protesters fighting for new rights. U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, has weighed in with a brief to the state's highest court, as the legislative phase of the debate began and the courts prepared to revisit the landmark decision. "Let freedom ring. Let freedom ring. My...

Ran across this website and their conference this weekend. They have Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter scheduled to speak.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican leader of the U.S. Senate said on Sunday he supported a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. Reuters Photo Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist expressed concern about the Supreme Court's decision last week to strike down a Texas sodomy law. He said he supported an amendment that would reserve marriage for relationships between men and women. "I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament, and that sacrament should extend and can extend to that legal entity of a union between, what is traditionally in our Western values has been defined, as between a...

<p>Gay couples around the Bay Area and California are cheering a vote in the state Assembly last week to provide same-sex partners with nearly every legal right that married couples have.</p> <p>If approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Gray Davis later this year, the measure, sponsored by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, and supported by many Bay Area Democrats, would put California at the forefront of gay rights in the United States, just behind Vermont, which has legalized a form of gay marriage known as ``civil unions.''</p>

Ex-Wife Walks Him To Gay Alter by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: December 28, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET/+5GMT/-3PT (Manchester) It is unusual enough for a couple who divorce to remain friends, but for the ex-wife to escort her former husband down the isle at his next nuptials is the stuff of Hollywood. But this wasn't Hollywood. It was gritty Manchester, home to the original TV series Queer As Folk. 39 year old Norma Stain says she was overjoyed when ex-husband David Goodall asked her to walk him down the aisle. Goodall said his "I dos" Saturday at a gay civil...

Love, Post-9/11 Commentary (09/10/02) It took me until Monday night to finish reading the Sunday New York Times this week. There was tremendous 911 coverage and reflection that I wanted to take my time and digest. And then I stumbled upon the weddings and celebrations page, which I don’t usually read. Notice of Thomas Leonard and Chris Lione celebrating their same-sex commitment. Pre-911, it’s not the sort of thing I would have been comfortable with. But after reading about 3,000 Americans of all walks of life who lost their lives on that fateful day, I had a changed perspective. While...