THE BATTLE OVER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Suits challenging state law get OK
Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer A San Francisco judge gave the green light Thursday for two lawsuits that challenge state laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman to go to trial.
Superior Court Judge James Warren consolidated a suit brought by the city of San Francisco with one filed by six same-sex couples and two gay-rights groups that claim that state laws banning gay marriages violate the state constitutional guarantee of equal protection for all Californians.


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Carrboro mayor wants town leaders to support same-sex marriage
Associated Press
The openly gay mayor of Carrboro wants the town to go on record supporting same-sex marriage. Mayor Mike Nelson will submit a petition to aldermen Tuesday night calling on the Legislature to repeal portions of the Defense of Marriage Act. The act defines marriage as a union between a man and woman and specifically says same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries are not valid in North Carolina.


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Former Moseley Braun manager talks women's movement and politics in NH
By JAMES W. PINDELL
PoliticsNH.com

The former campaign manager to Carol Moseley Braun’s presidential campaign and former head largest women’s rights organization said in New Hampshire Thursday that just because it appears that there is progress on women’s issues it doesn’t mean there is equality.


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Domestic partner bill loses ground
By PAUL CARRIER, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.  
AUGUSTA — An inheritance bill backed by gay-rights activists looked like a sure bet in the Legislature two weeks ago, but it has now become so contentious that it is impossible to predict its fate.

The bill won Senate backing Wednesday by only a one-vote margin, and Thursday the House postponed action instead of going along with the Senate version.


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DOMA author Barr testifies vs. FMA, cites states rights
By ADRIAN BRUNE
Anyone who walked into the March 30 congressional subcommittee hearing on the Federal Marriage Amendment and recognized conservative former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Georgia), could have reasonably assumed he was there to testify in favor of the gay marriage ban.

“Certainly, religious conceptions of marriage are sacrosanct and should remain so — the government should have no say whatsoever in how a given faith chooses to recognize marriage among its adherents,” Barr said. “However, how a state decides to dole out hospital visitation rights or insurance benefits, and what it decides to call these arrangements, are and should be a matter of state law.


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‘The forces of hate won’
Marriage ban will go before voters on November ballot
By RYAN LEE
Georgia voters will decide whether the state constitution should ban same-sex couples from marrying, after the state House of Representatives — on its second attempt — approved the anti-gay marriage amendment Wednesday.


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Time for HRC to fight
Cyd Zeigler Jr., is associate editor of the New York Blade

The Human Rights Campaign can silence its critics by putting up a spirited battle against the Massachusetts anti-gay marriage amendment


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protection for the privileged

Two pro-gay bills advance in Maryland

Gender identity dropped from hate crimes measure, angering activists


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Marriage as a civil right
Some straight allies recognize the parallels between the issues behind marriage and the African-American struggle for civil rights.


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Catholic Church condemns gay marriage in Scotland
GLASGOW, Scotland — The Catholic Church in Scotland has urged local authorities to abandon plans for gay marriage ceremonies, according to a report in Scotland’s Herald newspaper. The civil partnerships bill will give all couples who sign up to a committed relationship the same rights, regardless of sexual orientation. Gay couples will be able to register in a procedure similar to a marriage. But local authorities will be left to decide whether couples will, like heterosexual partnerships, have to go through an official ceremony. The Catholic Church has condemned the prospect of the ceremonies as an “absurd” misuse of resources and urged councils not to support them, according to the Herald.


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Students to rally for gay marriage in Washington
By Kate Slusark
About 100 university students are expected to rally for gay marriage rights with other Washington-area schools this Saturday in downtown Washington, university Pride Alliance President Eric Loewenthal said.


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Divorce, adultery a bigger threat to marriage
By: JIM DAIL - For The Californian
One of the great moral and political debates of 2004 concerns gay marriage and whether it would destroy the sanctity of marriage. However, some might say that as far as sacredness and marriage go, the sanctity as already been damaged ---- by heterosexuals, including many Christians.


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Civil unions strongly opposed by lawmakers
By DUREN CHEEK
and ANNE PAINECivil unions and domestic partnerships are overwhelmingly opposed in the state House, a survey by The Tennessean shows.