Gay Marriage is Called Off in California

Just 2 days before California would have allowed same-sex marriages to begin again, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit announced that they are keeping the stay in place of Judge Walker’s historic decision striking down Proposition 8.

So, same-sex couples in California are once again being denied the right to marry, despite the fact that Judge Walker had clearly shown that it was unconstitutional to do so.

First Same-Sex Marriage Law Takes Effect in Latin America

The AP news announced that many of Mexico City gay and lesbian couples registered for marriage licenses Thursday, the day Latin America's first gay-marriage law took effect.

The first same-sex weddings will take place within a week to 10 days, after the paperwork is processed.

Mexico City's legislature approved the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The change will allow same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, rights they were denied under civil unions allowed in the city.

"This is great, it is a feeling of relief, of celebration, everything," said Daniel Ramos, 20, a medical student planning to marry his boyfriend, Temistocles Villanueva, on March 12.

"For Latin America, this is not only a precedent, but an example to follow," he added.

For now the law applies only to residents of Mexico City, though a marriage performed in one Mexican state must be recognized in the rest of the country.

While activists are trying to get the law extended to the rest of Mexico's 31 states, conservatives say they will seek to pass a constitutional reform so that other states won't have to recognize marriages that do not conform to their laws.

For the time being, it appears easy to circumvent the residency requirement, because the city accepts a phone or utility bill as proof of address — often even if the bill is in someone else's name.

Activist Jaime Cobian showed up Thursday with a sheaf of required documents — birth certificates, official IDs and residency documents — in a bid to get marriage licenses for 16 gay and lesbian couples in states where no such law exists.

"What we still have to do is take this battle to all the states in the country," Cobian said.

An Argentine couple participated in Latin America's first gay wedding in December. But interpretations vary on whether Argentine law allows same-sex unions, and the question is now before that country's supreme court.

Argentina's constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to provincial officials, who approved the wedding. A law specifically legalizing gay marriage has stalled in Argentina's Congress since October.

The Mexico City law is being challenged by the federal government in Mexico's Supreme Court on constitutional grounds, but remains in effect while the appeal is heard. The Roman Catholic Church has hotly criticized the new law, which allows same-sex couples to adopt children — something several couples said they were thinking of doing.

David Razu, the Mexico City legislator who proposed the law, said he is confident the Supreme Court will uphold the law.

"There is always a wave of reaction to these kinds of measures, but we are prepared to face it," said Razu, a member of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party.

Gay couples entered the city government building and submitted their documents to the clerks amid hundreds of heterosexual couples doing the same thing.

Patria Jimenez, 54, waved a multicolor gay pride flag outside the building, shouting: "Freedom! At last, we have freedom!"

But she said she must overcome other, more personal obstacles before she can register for her own marriage license: "I still have not convinced my companion. I don't know if she will say 'yes.'"

Source: AP News

Argentine Congress Considers Same-Sex Marriage

The Associated Press just reported that Argentina may ready to become Latin America's first nation to legalize gay marriage.

Gay and lesbian activists think so — and they have a growing number of supporters in Congress, which opened debate Thursday on whether to change dozens of laws that define marriage as a union between a "man and woman."

"We can't expect social equality if the state is legitimizing inequality," said Maria Rachid, president of Argentina's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Federation. "We now have the social and political context necessary to change the law."

It remains to be seen whether they have enough votes to overcome opposition from religious groups. The Roman Catholic Church remains a driving force in Argentina, where presidents were required to be both married and Catholic until a 1994 reform.

Some Catholic and evangelical Christian groups have accused the government of trying to subvert the natural order of life, promote perversions and destroy the family as an institution.

"This should not be understood as the denial of anyone's rights," said Archbishop Jose Maria Arancedo of Santa Fe, who took a gentler tone in a recent radio address. "It's possible both to be progressive and to defend the family, founded on the institution of marriage."

Argentina's capital established its gay-friendly reputation in 2002 by becoming the first Latin American city to legalize same-sex civil unions. Four other Argentine cities later did the same, and such unions also now are recognized in Mexico City and some Mexican and Brazilian states. Uruguay alone has legalized civil unions nationwide.

Canada is the only nation in the Americas where gay marriage is now legal; in the Spanish-speaking world, only Spain has taken this additional step.

The capital's civil unions law was initially celebrated as a huge victory for gay and lesbian rights, but such partnerships don't confer many rights exclusive to married couples, such as the right to adopt children in the name of both parents, to enable a partner to gain citizenship and to inherit wealth or be included in insurance policies.

"A civil union is a link that grants certain rights, but not those available to a married couple, which only a national law can grant," the bills' co-sponsor, Rep. Vilma Ibarra, told The Associated Press. "This is the first round in a long process, but it is already a success to have it out there."

Rep. Julian Martin Obiglio is among lawmakers who would rather expand the rights that apply to civil unions than alter the definition of marriage.

"I don't think the term should be the same for a union between a man and a woman and two people of the same sex," Obiglio told The AP.

Rachid said more than 20 lawmakers have signed on as supporters of same-sex marriage, and they believe they have enough votes in committee for a full vote in the lower house. It would then go to the Senate.

Rachid and her partner, Claudia Castro, were among the first same-sex couples in Buenos Aires to form a civil union — and the first to test Argentine law by applying for a marriage license in 2007. Their suit over the denial is pending at the Supreme Court.

"The opinion of religious leaders who dictate how other people should lead their lives should apply only to those who share their creed, and not to the rest of society," Rachid said during an interview with Castro in the Buenos Aires apartment they share with their dog, Lola.

"We don't need a law to define us as a couple — we've already been a couple for more than 10 years," Castro added. "We just want to have equal rights."

If the law passes, they plan to be first in line for a marriage license.

Support Rises for Civil Unions for Gay Couples

The Associated Press reported today that an increasing majority of Americans favors allowing same-sex couples to obtain most of the same rights as married straight couples, but only 39 percent support legalization of same-sex marriage, according to a poll released Friday. The Pew Research Center said support for civil unions has risen to 57 percent, up from 54 percent a year ago and 45 percent when the question was first asked by Pew in 2003.

Views on legalizing same-sex marriage remained almost unchanged from last year, with 53 percent opposed and 39 percent in favor, the center said.

Supporters of same-sex marriage were divided over the best way to pursue legalization. Forty-five percent of those surveyed favored pushing hard to legalize it as soon as possible, while 42 percent said pushing too hard for swift legalization might trigger a backlash against gays and lesbians.

There was more support for same-sex marriage among women, adults under 30 and college-educated people.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont, and will begin in New Hampshire in January.

A November referendum in Maine will determine the fate of a same-sex marriage bill passed by the Legislature in May, and the City Council in Washington, D.C., is to vote soon on the issue.

This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Spread the word to help repeal DOMA

Although we are thrilled about our victories allowing tens of thousands of same-sex couples across the US to finally be able to join in marriage, we are far from true marriage equality.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law enacted in 1996, prevents the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriage.

Spread the word to help repeal DOMA

Just click the link below to send a message urging Congress and the president to advance legislation to repeal this backwards law.
http://www.RepealDOMAnow.org

This hurtful and discriminatory law is denying millions of Americans the full federal rights of marriage including Social Security survivors' benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws, the right to take family and medical leave to care for a spouse, and much more.

There's no time to lose! Legislation to repeal DOMA is closer than ever to being introduced.
Now is the time to let Congress and President Obama know that DOMA must go. Please join me in sending a message urging them to push forward legislation to repeal DOMA.
http://www.RepealDOMAnow.org

Once you've sent your message to Washington, please help get the ball rolling by forwarding this message to your friends and family and asking them to join you.
Thanks for your help!

Will Maine Lose Gay Marriage Rights?

Maine's election officials announced today that they had received enough signatures to put an anti-gay marriage law on the November ballot, setting the stage for a two-month campaign that'll determine whether the number of states allowing same-sex marriage will shrink to five.

Maine's gay marriage law was to go into effect on Sept. 12, but it was put on hold while the secretary of state's office verified the number of signatures. With the signatures validated, Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday signed a formal proclamation putting the gay marriage law to a statewide vote Nov. 3.

"I fully support this legislation and believe it guarantees that all Maine citizens are treated equally under our state's civil marriage laws," Baldacci said. "But I also have a constitutional obligation to set the date for the election once the secretary of state has certified that enough signatures have been submitted."

The announcement was anticipated.

Gay marriage opponents needed at least 55,087 registered voters signatures for the "People's Veto," and they turned in almost 100,000 signatures. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said officials stopped counting once they found that 60,391 of the submitted signatures were valid.

Election officials were facing a deadline of Sept. 4 -- 60 days before the election -- to certify the signatures. Otherwise, the vote would've had to wait until June.

Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality, said it's no surprise that so many signatures were collected because professional signature gatherers were used. "Theirs is a cynical, pay-for-every signature approach that doesn't reflect the homegrown values of our state," he said in a statement.

The Rev. Bob Emrich, who supports the repeal of the gay marriage law, brushed aside the criticism.

"The facts are that tens of thousands of Maine citizens signed the petition," said Emrich, the minister at Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth. "Now we'll be on the ballot and we'll let the people of Maine make the decision."

Maine became the fifth state to allow gay marriage when Baldacci signed the bill on May 6, and New Hampshire became the sixth when Gov. John Lynch signed a bill less than a month later. New Hampshire's law goes into effect Jan. 1. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Iowa also allow same-sex couples to marry.

Sorce: Boston Globe

West Hollywood to Install Plaque Honoring Gay Marriages

A bronze marker engraved with a quote from Nelson Mandela will be placed at a park in West Hollywood where some of the first same-sex marriages in California were performed.

The City Council plans to unveil the rectangular plaque at its Sept. 8 meeting before permanently installing it at West Hollywood Park off North San Vicente Boulevard, a site which was full of pride June 17, 2008, when same-sex couples could legally marry for the first time in California.

“It happened on a single day but it went on for months,” said Jeffrey Prang, the West Hollywood councilman who thought of the plaque. “And it meant something much bigger than that.”

The plaque will bear one of the former South African president’s noteworthy remarks: “I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”

Read more at LA Times