Mass. Court Rejects Bid To Delay Gay Marriages
by Michael J. Meade
365Gay.com Newscenter
(Boston, Massachusetts)  A petition to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to delay the start of same-sex marriages for two years was rejected Monday by a single justice.

The Catholic Action League had asked Justice Roderick Ireland to issue a stay on the ruling by the full court that it was a violation of the Massachusetts Constitution to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

Same-sex couples will legally be able to get marriage licenses beginning May 17, but the legislature is considering a constitutional ban on gay marriage.  It has passed one session of the legislature but needs to be passed a second time in the next session before going to voters.  The earliest it could be put on the ballot would be 2006..

C.J. Doyle, the executive director of the Catholic Action League told Justice Ireland there would be pandemonium if the weddings go ahead, only to be annulled in two years.


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Both sides in gay marriage debate rally at Capitol
Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Supporters and opponents of a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Missouri attended rallies Monday at the Capitol.

"We're drawing a line in the sand and saying, `Not in our state,'" Vicky Hartzler, a former Republican state legislator, told a couple of hundred people at a rally of the Coalition to Protect Marriage, which favors the amendment.

Minutes later, a handful of people spoke against the measure, saying it would deny same-sex couples the legal rights that heterosexual couples enjoy.


The proposed amendment - which would need approval by voters - states that Missouri recognizes marriage only as existing between one man and one woman. That policy is already included in a state law, but proponents say putting it into the Missouri Constitution would protect it from judicial attack.



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Supporters of gay marriage ban pack Louisiana's Capitol
By MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated Press writer
As lawmakers get ready to wade into the politically charged debate over gay marriage, religious leaders and regular citizens today packed a meeting room of the state Capitol to support bills that would place Louisiana's ban on gay marriage in the state Constitution.

Willie Wooten, a New Orleans minister, said same-sex couples were "jumping on the bandwagon" of the civil rights movement but that the two were not linked. He called on members of Louisiana's Legislative Black Caucus to support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

"Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman. It is both a religious and social contract, and it has served civilization for over 6,000 years as a primary basis for stability, security, health and well-being," Wooten told about 250 people who filled up one room and poured out into the hall


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Supporters of gay marriage ban pack Louisiana's Capitol
By MELINDA DESLATTE
Associated Press writer
As lawmakers get ready to wade into the politically charged debate over gay marriage, religious leaders and regular citizens today packed a meeting room of the state Capitol to support bills that would place Louisiana's ban on gay marriage in the state Constitution.

Willie Wooten, a New Orleans minister, said same-sex couples were "jumping on the bandwagon" of the civil rights movement but that the two were not linked. He called on members of Louisiana's Legislative Black Caucus to support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

"Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman. It is both a religious and social contract, and it has served civilization for over 6,000 years as a primary basis for stability, security, health and well-being," Wooten told about 250 people who filled up one room and poured out into the hall.

State law has long held that people of the same sex cannot marry, and Louisiana does not recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states.


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Brad Sears and Alan Hirsch: Let's call GOP's bluff on gays
Brad Sears and Alan Hirsch
May 4, 2004SEARS0504
Here's the latest Republican spin on homosexuality: Hate gay marriages but love gays.

In his State of the Union address, President Bush noted that "the same moral tradition that defines marriage also teaches that each individual has dignity and value in God's sight." At a press conference a few months earlier, in response to a question about gay rights, the president declared it "very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country."

This attitude extends to the GOP congressional leadership. Discussing his opposition to same-sex marriage, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said recently: "We must treat all our fellow citizens with kindness and with civility."

Does all this rhetoric mean anything? It's time to call the GOP's bluff. If Republican leaders truly cherish gay men and lesbians as individuals warranting fair and decent treatment in all things except the sacrament of marriage, why not prove it? Why not once and for all protect gays from discrimination in the workplace?