Gay marriage recognition ban nearly passes Senate


(Columbia-AP) May 27, 2004 -- For a while Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to a bill that would ban recognition of gay marriages in South Carolina. It turned out to be a procedural error, but it still took about 30 minutes for Senate Democrats to get Republicans to agree to reconsider the successful voice vote.

Charleston Senator Robert Ford had handed a note to the Senate's clerk's staff that would have held up the vote. But the note didn't reach the clerk before the bill was amended to include the gay marriage ban by Spartanburg Senator Jim Ritchie.

Ritchie apologized to Ford later, saying he was not trying to mislead the body. Ford said that type of thing is one of the reasons it's important to pay attention in the waning hours of the legislative session, which ends next week.


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Gays Rights 'Leads To Obesity' 
by Peter Moore
365Gay.com Newscenter 

(London) A high ranking Conservative member of the House of Lords says that the push for civil rights by gays is leading to a nation of obese people.  Lord Tebbit then compared same-sex marriage to the promotion of buggery.

Tebbit, the former chair of the Tory party and its current Whip in the Lords, was debating the growing problem of obesity with a member of the governing Labor party on a British radio program.

He suggested Labor's ''promotion of buggery'' was ''intimately connected'' to the increasing number of overweight people.

''Families now so seldom eat together. They don't prepare meals properly. Wives are pressurized into thinking they ought to go out to work instead of looking after their children. And it is the breakdown of family that is at the root of it.''


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Romney Seeks To Block Gay Marriages In 2 More Towns
by Associated Press

(Boston, Massachusetts) Gov. Mitt Romney's office has requested marriage documents from Attleboro and Fall River after clerks there acknowledged issuing licenses to out-of-state gay couples in defiance of the governor's residency requirement, the clerks said Thursday.

Romney press secretary Shawn Feddeman would not comment on the request, but said, ''Anytime we find reason to believe there are blatant violations of the law, we will refer them to the attorney general's office.''

The Republican governor warned clerks that the state would not recognize marriages by nonresident gay couples.

Soon after gay marriage became legal on May 17, Romney's office requested records from four other municipalities Provincetown, Somerville, Springfield and Worcester which had openly defied the residency law.


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Tune in on Tuesday Night and Support Human Rights, Says CAW's Hargrove


TORONTO, May 27 /CNW/ - In response to the trashing of Tapestry Pictures
offices earlier this week, Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove
is urging Canadians to tune into "Prom Queen" airing on Tuesday, June 1, at
9 p.m. EST, on CTV.

The made-for-TV movie that Tapestry produced is about former Oshawa
Catholic high school student Marc Hall who, in 2002, stood up to his high
school, his school board, and the Catholic Church in asserting his basic human
right to take his same-sex date to his prom.

Given the reported heightened anti-gay activity on the internet in recent
weeks aimed at denouncing "Prom Queen," says Hargrove, it seems clear the
trashing of Tapestry Pictures is a hate crime against gays.


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Vandals again hit Poly "P" as it is painted for Pride week
Jeff Ballinger
The Tribune


For the third straight year, the Cal Poly "P" on the hillside above campus has been painted rainbow colors to honor a gay pride week on campus, only to be defaced during the night.

Members of the Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals United club last week painted the "P" in rainbow colors -- a symbol of gay pride -- after obtaining permission from the campus group that maintains the giant letter.

The gesture was part of CommUNITY Pride Week to celebrate diversity and foster unity on campus and in the surrounding community.


Sometime late May 19 or early May 20, the "P" was painted white. On May 21, club members repainted the rainbow colors.