Issuing Licenses, Quietly, to Couples in Asbury Park
By THOMAS CRAMPTON
Published: March 10, 2004

ASBURY PARK, N.J., March 9 - For a woman who set her entire state talking, D. Kiki Tomek has few characteristics of a firebrand.
On Tuesday, Ms. Tomek, the deputy city clerk of Asbury Park who processed the first same-sex marriage licenses in New Jersey, sat as quietly as possible behind her desk, accepting more marriage applications from gay couples. The soft-spoken clerk, called "Ma" by some colleagues, also processed a dog license, answered queries on a liquor license and declined many requests for interviews. (She also declined to say how old she was, though she said she came of age during the 1960's.)
"I am not Rosa Parks, I am just doing my job," Ms. Tomek said when her daughter called urging her to speak at a rally at Rutgers University. "I appreciate that invitation, but I am not speaking anywhere. They can just read my statement."


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Gay GOP group challenges Bush on marriage
Log Cabin Republicans to air TV ad in D.C., seven states
By Howard Kurtz
Updated: 12:31 a.m. ET March  10, 2004
In a dramatic break with President Bush, a prominent group of gay Republicans that supported him four years ago is launching a $1 million advertising campaign today attacking the administration for trying to ban same-sex marriage. The ad, by the Log Cabin Republicans, uses grainy footage of Vice President Cheney saying during the 2000 campaign that the matter should be left to the states.

Bush's decision to endorse a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage was "the line in the sand" for the 27-year-old group, which has never run a campaign ad, said Executive Director Patrick Guerriero.He said he had warned the White House as Bush edged toward supporting an amendment that "despite our historic loyalty to the party and the president, we would be forced to speak out if gay and lesbian families were going to be used as wedge issues in swing states."


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Asbury Park officials will decide Wed. whether they'll halt gay marriages
(03/09/04) ASBURY PARK - A few hours after the state attorney general warned Asbury Park officials not to preside over same-sex marriages, the city said they will make an announcement Wednesday concerning the issue.City attorney Frederick Raffetto says he will be discussing the matter with officials, and a decision would then be announced as to whether they intend to abide by Attorney General Harvey's order.


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Mayor adds policy to protect gays
Order prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in city government.
By Tim Evans and John Fritze
tim.evans@indystar.com
March 9, 2004
 Calling it "the right thing to do," Mayor Bart Peterson issued an executive order Tuesday prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation within city government.
The move comes two months after a Senate committee refused to consider a bill that would have extended similar protection to all Hoosiers.
Peterson said concerns about backlash from the national debate over same-sex marriage prompted the order.
"I think it's really important that we make a statement that we in city government here in Indianapolis will not tolerate any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation," he said.
Kathy Sarris, a member of a statewide coalition working to expand the state's civil rights law to include protections for gay and transgendered Hoosiers, called the action long overdue.



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Homophobia 's Reach
By Tony Kushner
Published in The Washington Post
American democracy provides inspiration by example (rather than by military occupation) to people all over the world who are seeking justice and freedom. And it is important to note that democracy circumscribed at home can encourage anti-democratic forces abroad.

In 1999 Ruslan Sharipov, a student from Uzbekistan, came to the United States, participating in an exchange program. Upon returning home, Sharipov and two colleagues formed the Independent Journalists Association of Uzbekistan. He began subject was the dismal human rights record of the Uzbek government of Islam Karimov, whose zeal in persecuting Muslims and torturing political prisoners, and on occasion murdering them, is routinely deplored by human rights groups.