Gay weddings on increase as 1,000 couples 'tie the knot'
By Steve Bloomfield
21 March 2004
Gay weddings are on the increase with greater numbers of same-sex couples saying "I do" - in settings ranging from National Trust houses to football stadiums. While marriage has been in decline for the past three decades, an Independent on Sunday survey has found that nearly 1,000 gay and lesbian couples have now "tied the knot" since partnership ceremonies were introduced two and a half years ago.


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Church jury acquits Methodist gay pastor
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BOTHELL, Wash. -- A lesbian Methodist pastor will be allowed to continue her ministry after she was acquitted Saturday in a church trial over her sexual orientation. A jury of 13 pastors ruled in favor of the Rev. Karen Dammann, 47, who disclosed three years ago that she was in a homosexual relationship. Church law prohibits the ordination of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals and the church's Book of Discipline declares homosexuality to be "incompatible to Christian teachings." But the church's social principles support gay rights and liberties.


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Same-sex wedding ceremonies continue in New Paltz with 25 new unions
Saturday, March 20, 2004
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) -- Six ministers of the Unitarian Universalist Church performed marriage ceremonies for 25 same-sex couples Saturday, defying prosecutors who view the practice as illegal.