Opposition Increases To Gay Marriage In California
By Mark Worrall

(San Francisco, California) Opposition to same-sex marriage has increased among California voters over the past four months according to a poll released Friday.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they are opposed legalizing same-sex marriage, while 43 percent were in favor, according to the Field Poll. That is a full percentage point drop in support, and an increase of three percent among those opposed.

The dip in support for gay marriage will be of little help to President Bush in November however.

California voters remain opposed to amending the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriages by a margin of 5-to-4.


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Supervisors honor gays with resolution
By James Tressler The Times-Standard


EUREKA -- Toni Weaver and Bette Ashworth are planning to tie the knot this weekend, along with perhaps dozens of other same-sex couples.

The happy couple, who will have a "commitment ceremony" this Sunday on the Arcata Plaza, joined representatives from Humboldt Pride and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance on the courthouse steps Tuesday to celebrate this weekend's 12th annual Humboldt County Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender parade and festival.

Meanwhile, inside the courthouse, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution proclaiming June 12-13 Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Awareness Weekend. The item was passed on the board's consent calendar with no comment from the board or public.

"Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans form an important part of (our) national tapestry and have contributed to every facet of our society," the resolution states. "Humboldt County recognizes the equal rights and responsibilities of its diverse population, and opposes any oppression and discrimination, which diminish the quality of life for any Humboldt County resident, including those in its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community."


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Right Wing Now Hijacking PBS by Moving to Control Content
by Ed Garvey
 
"It's not easy being green," or so Kermit the Frog sang on public television for many years.

And today "it's not easy being liberal" on PBS, as Ken Auletta explains in the most recent issue of the New Yorker magazine.

Ah, the channel of choice in our family forever, or so it seems, is now the target of those who control or own virtually all commercial radio, television and print outlets. Yup! Not Barney or the Muppets or Kermit anymore. Now it is former Congressman Newt Gingrich, Vice President Dick Cheney and the Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot.

Not satisfied to have "unfair and unbalanced" Fox News on TV; talk radio dominated by Rush Limbaugh, Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling; and newspaper chains that are more interested in packaging advertising supplements than reporting the news, the right wing is taking over PBS. They have decided that they cannot eliminate public television and radio - despite years of trying - so now they are dead set on controlling the programming.