Legal arguments on gay marriage filed
The filing of motions sets the stage for a hearing on April 16.
PETER WONG
Statesman Journal
All sides in Oregon’s debate about same-sex marriage outlined their legal arguments in a test case Monday. State lawyers said same-sex couples have no constitutional right to obtain a marriage license, though courts could allow the Legislature to create a legal equivalent for them. Lawyers for same-sex couples argued that only marriage, under licenses that Multnomah County started issuing March 3, offers them the same legal protections and benefits as opposite-sex couples.


~

Petition drive to ban gay marriage launched
Campaign faces tight deadline
BY DAWSON BELL
Backers of the proposal to define marriage in the state Constitution are giving up on the Legislature and mounting an eleventh-hour petition drive. The proposed amendment -- which would limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman -- fell eight votes short of the two-thirds needed to place the issue on the November ballot in a test vote in the state House March 9.


~

UMass survey finds split among Bay Staters over gay marriage
BOSTON -- Massachusetts residents were split over the state Legislature's proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions for same-sex couples, according to a University of Massachusetts survey. Forty-seven percent of those asked backed the proposal, while 47 percent opposed it. The poll, which began March 30 -- one day after lawmakers approved the amendment 105-92 -- and continued through April 4, included 463 residents, 400 of whom are registered voters.


~

Gay marriage ban takes a hit
Colorado House won't back Musgrave's plan to amend U.S. Constitution
By Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
The Colorado House won't say "I do" to Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave's proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. There are enough votes in the House, where Musgrave served for four years, to kill the resolution supporting the amendment, according to Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez.



~

Duke threatens YMCA
Says it will end relationship if same-sex couples not given family rates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Duke University has threatened to end its relationship with the local YMCA if the organization doesn't allow school's employees who are part of same-sex couples to pay the family membership rate. A spokeswoman for the YMCA of the Triangle said the organization received a letter with the ultimatum from the university on Friday, reported the Durham Herald-Sun.


Duke, the largest employer in Durham, N.C., said in the letter dated last Tuesday that the school's agreement with the YMCA gives Duke employees and their dependents discounted memberships in exchange for Duke promoting the Y. Officials at the university claim the Y had agreed to honor Duke's "same-sex spousal equivalent" policy, the paper reported. "We had an agreement," John Burness, Duke's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, told the paper. "If they don't meet the agreement, then we don't have a relationship."


~

SEBASTOPOL
Council set to vote on same-sex benefits
Pamela J. Podger
The City Council will vote tonight on a resolution that offers equal marriage benefits to all city employees, regardless of their sexual orientation. The resolution would extend marriage benefits to city employees so that heterosexual and same-sex married couples and domestic partners are treated identically.


~

THE BATTLE OVER SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Gays find marriage a mixed bag
License doesn't guarantee benefits granted heterosexual couples
Rona Marech, Chronicle Staff Writer
When Kory O'Rourke called her car insurance company and asked that her spouse be added to her plan, the representative on the other end of the phone "didn't blink" -- even when it became clear that O'Rourke meant her same-sex partner, whom she had just married in San Francisco.

"Oh, congratulations," the representative at the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies said. "I'm going to issue you a $78 credit, so you guys be sure to go out and have a nice dinner on us."


O'Rourke was thrilled -- but it turns out the exchange should never have taken place. In changing O'Rourke's coverage, the representative apparently violated company policy. Progressive is not officially recognizing marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples, although it is investigating whether to change its policy, said spokesperson Todd Morgano.