Murder Defendant Testifies In Araujo Trial
Transgender Teen's Murder Trial Continues

Murder defendant Jason Cazares, testifying in his own defense, said today that he found transgender teenager Eddie Araujo to be attractive but he never was interested in having a sexual relationship with her.

Cazares, a 24-year-old Newark man, said that he and co-defendant Michael Magidson met Araujo, 17, on a street one day several months prior to Araujo's death in October and she asked them if they "wanted to party."

Cazares said he and Magidson picked up Araujo in their car and drove her to the home of the third defendant in the case, Jose Merel.

The three men stand accused of killing Araujo, 17, in the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 2002, after learning that Araujo was a biological male. According to testimony in the case, Magidson and Merel had sex with Araujo under the assumption that Araujo was a female.

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The Politics of Gay Marriage
The Tavis Smiley Show audio

Political consultants and pollsters believe that gay weddings in Massachusetts will influence the decisions of hundreds of thousands of Americans in their choice for president this fall. That is despite statements from both President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry opposing homosexual marriage. With voters slated to pass judgment on effective gay marriage bans in 14 states, which side wins with an energized electorate? NPR's Tavis Smiley hears from a gay activist and a conservative political scholar.

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Gay Marriage Foes Work to Reverse Ruling
By DAVID CRARY
BOSTON - With gays and lesbians now legally wed in Massachusetts, foes of gay marriage vowed Tuesday to campaign hard, in state and national elections, for candidates willing to reverse the tide.

"It's very difficult, once a right has been claimed in law, to reverse that right, but we're going to try," said the Rev. Christopher Coyne, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
The election battle will be waged on two main fronts: an effort nationally to elect congressional candidates supporting a constitutional ban on gay marriage, and an effort in Massachusetts to tilt the balance in the Legislature by ousting 10 to 20 lawmakers who opposed a state ban.

"We're not going to let this issue go away," said Kristian Mineau, president of the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute. "Our theme is `Remember in November.'"