Episcopal Diocese of Utah offers blessings of same-sex unions
By ALEXANDRIA SAGE
Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A church known for its colorful history in Utah is taking a stand as a progressive voice on one society's most divisive issues -- same-sex unions -- ruling that Episcopal priests will be allowed to bless those partnerships.

The Episcopal Diocese of Utah has a history of open-mindedness -- one former bishop was an avowed socialist, while another was an avowed pacifist -- and dedication to community. After the church became the first major Protestant denomination to organize in the state in 1867, it opened the first hospital and Utah's first private school.


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We won gay marriage in Massachusetts
Take this fight everywhere!
GINA SARTORI, CONOR MOREY-BARRETT and ELIZABETH SCHULTE report on the victory for gay marriage in Massachusetts.

THOUSANDS OF people gathered at city halls across Massachusetts May 17 as the state took its place in the history books as the first to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. In Cambridge, thousands gathered in front of city hall the night before--laughing, embracing and cutting cake as they waited for licenses to begin being issued at midnight.

"When everybody wakes up tomorrow and sees nothing bad happened--it’s the same world it was the day before, there are only more people that are equal to them--they're going to see that there was nothing to fear,'' Sheldon Goldstein told the Boston Globe after getting her own marriage license in Provincetown.

That same day, gay marriage supporters organized solidarity actions in cities across the country to celebrate this civil rights victory--and to demand licenses of their own. Hundreds of people marched in San Francisco and Seattle. In Chicago, dozens of protesters occupied the Cook County marriage license office all day long, demanding the right to marry.


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Oregon voters support gay rights in primary election

Oregon voters did not punish gay candidates or those supporting gay marriage in Tuesday's primary, despite an aggressive challenge from the Christian Coalition. Conservatives had targeted supporters of gay marriage in response to Oregon's issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples earlier this year--apparently to little effect.


Maria Rojo de Steffey, a Multnomah County commissioner who helped clear the way for the same-sex marriages, sailed back into office in a field of five opponents, all opposed to gay marriage. Her colleague Lisa Naito, one of the most vocal proponents of gay marriage, won 47% of the vote, with two thirds of the vote counted. But because she did not clinch 51% of the vote, she will have to face second-place finisher Ron McCarty, who received 31% of the vote, in November's election.