Spitzer comes out for gays
By JOE MAHONEY
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF
ALBANY - State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer declared yesterday that same-sex couples should be allowed to wed - openly defying Gov. Pataki's stance on the controversial issue.


~

Gay Marriages Nixed In Chicago
by Steph Smith
365Gay.com Newscenter
Chicago Bureau
Posted: March 3, 2004 11:06 a.m. ET
(Chicago, Illinois)

Same-sex couples in Cook County won't be getting married anytime soon.  County Clerk David Orr has announced that his office will not issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples despite his support for same-sex marriage.


~

Bush's backfire
Twelve years ago, the far right's culture war helped defeat a President Bush -- and it's about to happen again.



~

Gay Ceremony Performed At Little Rock Capitol
Little Rock, AR - Same sex marriages are sweeping the country, and the divisive issue hits Sunday. A gay couple from Conway exchanged vows on the steps of the state capitol.


~

200 rally for same-sex marriage
By Heather Hare (March 1, 2004) — About 200 gay and straight supporters of same-sex marriage held a rally Sunday at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Rochester.


~

House nudges gay marriage toward ballot
* Resolution would lead to Nov. vote on amendment
By Andy Kanengiser
akanengiser@clarionledger.com
Mississippi voters should be asked to define marriage as the union between a man and woman and make it part of the state constitution, the House agreed Monday.
The House voted 97 to 17 for House Concurrent Resolution 56, which would place the issue on the ballot in November.


~

UISG passes on gay marriage
Resolution opposed Bush's ban
By Kristen Schorsch
Iowa City Press-Citizen
After a heated debate, the University of Iowa Student Government failed to approve a resolution Tuesday that opposed President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.


~

West Hollywood moves closer to recognizing same-sex marriage
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - The City Council took steps to recognize same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco and elsewhere.

Council members voted unanimously Monday to direct the city attorney to review ordinances, policies and procedures and recommend changes needed to ensure that homosexual couples will get the same protections and privileges as their man-woman counterparts.


~

the marriage question
by butch mabin
The divide between them couldn't be greater.
For many gay people, it's simply about obtaining those mundane but basic rights that make us more secure - such as health insurance for our loved ones and the ability to visit them in the hospital.
But for opponents of gay marriage and its first cousins, civil unions and domestic partnerships, the effects of legalized same-sex relationships go beyond insurance and hospital visits. Such unions, they warn, threaten a fundamental social institution: marriage between men and women.
It's a view that mystifies Barbara DiBernard of Lincoln.
She and her "partner for life," Judy Gibson, support a lawsuit challenging the "Defense of Marriage" amendment, approved by 70 percent of Nebraska voters in 2000.


~

Gay marriage equality future uncertain
Associated Press
HELENA – Supporters of same-sex marriage in Montana are unsure whether they could successfully push a marriage equality bill through the next session of the Legislature. “The Montana activist community, as small as it is, may decide that a marriage bill is not something it wants to pursue at this time, but a lot is changing pretty quick,” Rep. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena, said Thursday.


~

this is a wonderful piece of propaganda, linking child abuse with *hoom0-sex-uality*... without getting to the deeper problems, of abuse of power, celibacy, and a male dominated power structure..

Report Documents Homosexual Priest Abuse
by Stuart Shepard, correspondent
The abuse problem plaguing the Catholic Church involves mainly homosexual priests.


~

Committee Recommends Gay Marriage Bill
Bill Would Prevent State From Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages
POSTED: 10:31 am EST March 3, 2004
CONCORD, N.H. -- A Senate committee has recommended approving a bill to prevent New Hampshire from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. The committee voted 4-1 on Tuesday in favor of bill, which also defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Sen. Jane O'Hearn, R-Nashua, proposed an amendment at the Senate Public Institutions, Health and Human Services Committee meeting that would have made an exception for civil unions between same-sex couples in other states . However, that failed on a 3-2 vote before the committee voted 4-1 to recommend approval of the original bill.


~

Local clergy divided on legal, religious aspects of gay marriage
By Stephanie Chen
March 03, 2004
Although San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in mid-February, Cook County Clerk David Orr announced Tuesday that his office would not follow suit -- a statement some religious leaders in Evanston find reassuring in the debate over gay marriage.

Calling Illinois state law "discriminatory and unconstitutional" for preventing gay marriages, Orr wrote in a press release that the county would not openly flaunt the law, although it currently allows same-sex couples the option of registering their partnership.