Greater Gay Acceptance Poll Shows
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
(Los Angeles, California) Gays and lesbians have come a long way down the road to full acceptance but same-sex marriage continues to be a stumbling block a new poll shows.

The survey by the Los Angeles Times shows that almost seven in 10 Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian and say they would not be troubled if their elementary school-age child had a gay teacher. Six in 10 say they are sympathetic to the gay community.

When it comes to marriage, a majority of people remain opposed, but 59% of respondents nationwide said they believe legal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples is inevitable.   

In less that 25 years the attitudes of Americans towards gays and lesbians has steadily evolved. In the first L.A. Times poll on gays in 1985, only 46 percent of respondents said they knew someone who was gay and the idea of gay marriage was unfathomable.


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Same-sex weddings continue in New Paltz
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- Five ministers married 16 same-sex couples Saturday in this Hudson Valley village, two weeks after a similar group of ceremonies in defiance of authorities who have charged two ministers with performing such ceremonies without a license.
There were no arrests and eight people showed up briefly to protest, said James Fallarino, a spokesman for the organizers. The presiding clergy included three Universalist Unitarian ministers, one from the United Church of Christ and an Interfaith minister, he said.


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Gay Marriage: What Are Conservatives Afraid Of?
By Scott C. Smith

Republicans like to talk about the "sacred" institute of marriage, and they believe that by allowing homosexuals to marry, it will destroy this sacred institution.

Hey, guys, it's already been destroyed. By heterosexuals. We've been running the show for a long time now, and the damage has been done. The fact that I can perform a ceremony with no formal education or training is proof enough that marriage is not as sacred as Republicans make it out to be. I think homosexuals might have a real shot at actually repairing the foundation of marriage. A real shot if we'd let them.

In the United States, a gay couple that has been together 20 years cannot get married. Yet a convict serving a 20-year sentence in prison can - even a prisoner on death row! Just think: you can commit horrible crimes against humanity, but as long as you're heterosexual, you don't lose your right to get married. You know, if I had to choose, I'd think the convict would do more damage to the institution of marriage than the gay couple with a murder-free background. Call it a hunch.


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Anti-gay billboards indicative of culture clash in N.C. town
THE BALTIMORE SUN
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The billboard worker owed money he didn't have, so to erase his debt, he let his creditor cover six billboards with a biblical passage condemning homosexuality. That backfired spectacularly for the employee. When sign company executives saw them some weeks ago, they fired the worker and papered over the unauthorized messages.


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Rally in Central Park supports same-sex marriage prohibition
By VICTORIA MARTY,
Supporters of a stalled bill in the Kentucky House that would prohibit same-sex marriages gathered Saturday in Central Park to air their concerns.


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2 local ministers targeting same-sex marriage
BY TAMMY GRUBB AND MARK SCHULTZ : The Herald-Sun
news@heraldsun.com
DURHAM -- Two local ministers have joined Durham's gay marriage debate, asking a judge to let them challenge two men seeking a marriage license because the county attorney cannot adequately do so.

In a motion filed Thursday, the Revs. Ernest Ferrell and Gregory Clark asked to intervene in the lawsuit that Durham residents Richard Mullinax and Perry Pike filed March 22 after Durham County Register of Deeds Willie Covington rejected their marriage license application.

The next day, County Attorney Chuck Kitchen filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the couple's attorney had filed it in the wrong court. The suit should have been filed in Superior Court, not District Court, because the couple is trying to compel a public official to issue them a license, Kitchen said. The case is scheduled to be heard May 10


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Clerks will get license training
By Thea Singer
City and town clerks can expect to receive training on issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples starting next month, according to the governor's office.
     ``We anticipate holding training sessions for them (the clerks) in early May - well in advance of the May 17 start date for gay marriage,'' said Gov. Mitt Romney's communications director Eric Fehrnstrom.
      In the meantime, Provincetown has instituted its own policy. Unless they're told otherwise, as of May 17, the day same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts, town officials plan to issue licenses to residents and nonresidents alike who complete the Department of Public Health's Notice of Intention of Marriage.