Free Republic

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Friday that he expected same-sex marriage legislation to be approved before the end of the legislative session next week, and indicated that to win passage of the measure he is prepared to yield to Republican concerns for greater protections of religious groups. “I am a proponent of marriage equality, and I’m working very hard to make that a reality in New York,” Mr. Cuomo told reporters on Friday as lawmakers prepared to go home for the weekend. “I am also a proponent of religious freedom, and separation of church and state, so these...

Democratic Candidates Attempt to Outdo Opponents in "Gayness" in Public Gay-"Debate" By John Jalsevac August 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last night's falsely advertised gay "debate," broadcast on LOGO, was an opportunity to answer the question about the various Democratic presidential hopefuls: "Who is the gayest of them all?" The day after the event, however, and the question appears to have no real answer, since all of the candidates that accepted the invitation to participate in the all-gay-issue forum seemed intent on outdoing each other in toeing the line of total homosexual orthodoxy, with the minor exception of the gay doctrine...

Matt Gonzalez, the former San Francisco supervisor who was city progressives' last hope for a big-name candidate to challenge Mayor Gavin Newsom in his re-election quest, said Monday he will not run for mayor this fall. The decision follows weeks of serious consideration by Gonzalez, who narrowly lost to Newsom in 2003, and paves the way for the mayor to run for re-election in November without facing serious opposition. In an interview with The Chronicle Monday, Gonzalez said polling showed voters seem to be complacent about the problems the city faces and do not hold Newsom accountable for those ills...

YES, AMERICA, there are San Francisco values, and this election displayed them in spades. Election returns show that city voters rank as the state's most liberal when it comes to candidates, social policy and taxes. San Francisco is midnight blue in a cerulean state. Phil Angelides, thumped by a 16 percent margin statewide, won by a better than 2-to-1 margin here over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each statewide Democratic candidate won at least 73 percent of the vote here, save Cruz Bustamante, who drew a healthy 58 percent in a losing bid for insurance commissioner. Maybe that's not surprising in a...

National focus: Speaker's home district often grows in reputation, financial favorWashington -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her city, San Francisco, rose to the top of the congressional political heap this week. Pelosi's impending elevation by her fellow Democrats to the post of House speaker, a first for women and for a Californian that will become official in January, already is generating national and international attention for the city. It might also mean more federal dollars from congressional appropriators who inevitably look favorably on projects from the speaker's home district, even if he or she doesn't overtly push for them. But...

11-05) 04:00 PST Glenside, Pa. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that a Republican victory Tuesday would prolong the U.S. involvement in Iraq another 10 years, as she embarked on a final push in a campaign that could make her speaker. In an interview from her Capitol office, Pelosi characterized Tuesday's vote as a referendum on the war, shrugged off President Bush's efforts to make her liberalism a national issue, described the current GOP leadership as a "freak show," and expressed confidence about her party's prospects to pick up the 15 seats it needs for a majority.

Some see breach in light of cardinal's gay adoption stance - When San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution last week condemning the city's former archbishop, now Cardinal William Levada, for a church policy barring adoptions by same-sex couples, the action drew widespread media attention. But the news didn't change plans for an official city delegation that traveled to the Vatican for Levada's installation as cardinal and presented him Friday with a glass paperweight etched with the official seal of the city. Now Supervisor Tom Ammiano, a gay Catholic who sponsored the Levada resolution, and other supervisors are...

Why the black church opposes gay marriageWhose Dream?by Keith BoykinMay 24th, 2004 4:20 PM Reverend Peter Gomes attributes black social conservatism to assimilation(photo: Kris Snibbe/Harvard University News) Maybe it was destiny. As the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17, gays and lesbians launched a new chapter in their own struggle for equality. But the black clergy that lit the fire for change half a century ago is now out to dampen that flame, at least where same-sex marriage is concerned. "If the KKK opposes gay marriage, I would ride with...