Bloomberg: I will enforce gay marriage law
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
March 3, 2004, 4:47 PM EST
NEW YORK -- A day before same-sex couples plan to go to the City Clerk's office en masse to demand marriage licenses, the city's top lawyer ruled Wednesday that local law prohibits gay marriage, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed to enforce the law.
~


Gay-Marriage Amendment Faces Senate Vote This Year (Update2)
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- A constitutional amendment banning gay marriage will come to a vote this year, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, drawing a campaign issue to the floor of the U.S. Senate.
``It is clear that we must act,'' Frist said at a press conference in Washington. ``We are gambling with our future if we allow activist judges to redefine marriage for our whole society.''


~

Stormy Congressional Hearing on Gay Marriage
Wed Mar 3, 2004 03:42 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Opposing sides clashed at a U.S. congressional hearing on a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage on Wednesday when Republicans said it would protect "traditional marriage" and Democrats branded it a divisive political exercise in an election year.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee declined to predict if his Republican-led chamber would muster the needed two-third vote for the White House-backed measure.


~

Gay marriage debate comes to Upper Cape
By Marcia Kozubek / mkozubek@cnc.com
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Forum is Sunday afternoon in Sandwich
The right of gays to marry has been headlining the news for several weeks as legislators grapple with an issue that muddies the boundaries between church and state. Now, the debate is coming to Sandwich as the Quakers present a program of speakers and a community forum set for 2 p.m., Sunday, March 7. The event will be at the Quaker Meetinghouse on 6 Quaker Road in East Sandwich.
~

Gay Marriage Supporters Rally in Detroit

Posted: March 3, 2004 at 11:27 a.m.
DETROIT (AP) -- Half a dozen couples have been turned down for a marriage license in Detroit.
The reason: They're gay.
Instead of licenses, they were offered copies of the state law that outlaws same-sex marriage.
The couples were among about 60 gays, lesbians and supporters who rallied in Detroit. They protested President Bush's support of a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriages -- and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's televised statements opposing gay marriage.


~


Marriage Must Be Put Out Frist Says
by Paul Johnson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau Chief
(Washington, D.C.) A Senate subcommittee began hearings Wednesday on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Calling gay marriage a wildfire that is spreading across America, Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Ten) said it must be stamped out.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) the chair of the subcommittee on the Constitution called on Congress to move quickly to stop same-sex marriages.


~

Poll: Vermonters Support Gay Marriage
POSTED: 3:54 pm EST March 3, 2004
Polls in Vermont show most people back some form of state-recognized same-sex partnership.
Forty-four percent of those polled support gay marriage and 32 percent are for civil unions. Only 14 percent were opposed to both.
Nationwide polling shows a generation gap on the issue.

Sixty percent of voters 30 and under support the idea, but, of voters over 65, only 21 percent support gay marriage.