Sausalito to take stand on gay marriage
By Carla Bova
Albert and Mayor Paul Albritton requested the city a draft resolution that supports same-sex marriages which will be considered Tuesday by the Sausalito City Council. A similar proposal will be under review by Fairfax officials that night.


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Police: Anti-gay tracts may be work of Klan
Needham police say the Ku Klux Klan may have distributed anti-gay-marriage leaflets to some residents last week. Lieutenant Thomas Leary said that, after one resident notified police that he had found a flier on his driveway last Monday morning, detectives combed the neighborhood and collected 10 leaflets from houses on Pilgrim and Winslow roads.

The document, which Leary described as an "ideological diatribe," is headlined "Gay Marriage: Why Now?" and suggests readers should contact the Arkansas-based address of a group called "The Knights" for more information. A website and information about a weekly news program were also listed, along with a mailing label from what may be a


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Volunteers hit gay bars to build support for same-sex marriage
 By Kristen Green
Leaders of the gay and lesbian community know they must do more than try to convince heterosexuals that same-sex marriage is a human right. They've got to make sure gays and lesbians are on board, too.

Recently, 37 volunteers from The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center visited San Diego gay bars to talk to patrons about fighting for the right to marry and to raise money to campaign against marriage discrimination.


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No consensus in legislature on gay nuptials amendment
By BONNA de la CRUZ
State law bars same-sex marriages in Tennessee, but a survey of state lawmakers by The Tennessean last week showed it is not clear whether a majority want to add the ban to the state constitution.


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Four gay couples denied marriage license
Associated Press
KNOXVILLE — Four gay couples seeking marriage licenses from the Knox County Clerk's Office were turned down last week in what is believed to be the first such denial in Tennessee. Kip Williams and his partner, Jason Marcus, said they made the request Friday, along with two other men and four women, in hopes that the publicity generated by their action would prompt ''people to begin thinking about intolerance.''

''Anybody should have the right to legally acknowledge their love,'' Williams said. ''What could be wrong with two people stopping to love each other, especially with all the pain and grief in the world?''


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Agencies prepare for gay spouses
By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff
State agencies have launched preparations for the likelihood that gay couples will marry in Massachusetts, reviewing rules on insurance, retirement benefits, tax filings, and even lottery winnings to determine what must be changed if the Supreme Judicial Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage goes into effect May 17.


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Marriage For None
Deborah Glick proposal would establish civil unions as only option for gays, straights
By ANDY HUMM

Civil marriage in New York would be abolished, and replaced by civil unions for all, whether gay or straight couples, under a bill to be introduced shortly by New York Assembymember Deborah Glick (D-Greenwich Village).


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Street ally quits post over hire dispute
By Marcia Gelbart
Inquirer Staff Writer
A longtime ally of Mayor Street's who defended his administration through its darkest days has made an about-face, breaking with Street over accusations that the mayor made a hiring deal to win support in the gay and lesbian community at the expense of black businesses in Philadelphia.


A. Bruce Crawley, chairman of the region's African American Chamber of Commerce, yesterday ripped Street's decision Thursday naming lawyer Michael Williams, who is gay, to lead the city agency that oversees minority contracting and promotes minority business growth.


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State senator targets school district over transgender issue
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - A state senator called for the takeover of an Orange County school district after a majority of its trustees refused to adopt a state antidiscrimination law that would protect transgender students.

State Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, whose district includes part of the school district, said Friday he has started drafting legislation that would empower the state to take control of the Westminster School District because of its failure to adopt the state rule.

"If this board majority is not interested in acting in the interests of the kids by placing the district in economic jeopardy, then I believe the state needs to take it over," Dunn said. "I am not interested in


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Military cadet makes history with wedding
19-year-old first armed forces gay to take a husband
Couple celebrates with front-row concert tickets


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State GOP urges spending cap, gay marriage ban
From Bend.com news sources

 “Our party is sending a strong message to the governor and the Oregon Legislature that we need a strict limit on spending in state government,” Oregon Republican Party Chairman Kevin Mannix said in Bend Saturday after a unanimous vote on a


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For now, an uncivil union of enemies
By ELLEN GOODMAN
Talk about shotgun marriages. The Massachusetts Legislature finally found a way to unite the opponents on either side of the gay marriage debate. These enemies are now wed in anger at the politicians.


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The changing face of marriage
BECKY SHINK/Lansing State Journal
When Loran and Janetta Graham exchanged vows in 1954, the definition of marriage was clear: A man and a woman united until death.

Fifty years later, that absolute has been clouded by a 50 percent divorce rate, a wave of single parents, more couples living together than ever before and same-sex couples fighting for the right to marry.


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State House Dome:
Bill would ease dueling hearings
By GARY RAYNO
HOUSE AND SENATE leaders always deny it, but it happens too often to be coincidental: public hearings on some of the most controversial bills are scheduled for the same time.
Perhaps the most controversial bill this session is SB 427, which says marriage means a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. This bill declares that New Hampshire shall not give legal weight to laws or judicial proceedings in other states that recognize relationships between members of the same sex as marriages or civil unions


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Same-sex marriages debated in Billings
By SUSAN OLP
When Karl Olson stood up to debate the federal and state marriage amendments Saturday morning, he joked that a friend had wished him "bocca di lupi," which roughly translates into "leap into the mouths of wolves."
It's the opera equivalent of "break a leg," Olson told the predominantly Republican audience. Olson, executive director of PRIDE, a gay-rights organization based in Helena, squared off against Glenn Stanton, director of social research and cultural affairs for the national group, Focus on the Family.


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Church group opens doors to diversity