Thurston County judge hears gay-marriage arguments
By REBECCA COOK  / Associated Press


A Thurston County judge is scheduled to hear arguments on the legality of gay marriage on Wednesday morning.

The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged Washington state's ban on same-sex marriage on behalf of 11 gay and lesbian couples from around the state.

"Same-sex couples who have formed families are being discriminated against solely because of their gender," said Kathleen Taylor, executive director of the ACLU of Washington, in a news release before the hearing. "The state of Washington has long acknowledged that gay and lesbian couples are suitable to be parents. We must no longer deny them the right to marry."


~

Rainbow tassel incident unresolved
Students still upset over U. blacking out LGBT tassel in May graduation brochure students still upset
By alex dubilet


The Office of the University Secretary sent a short apology earlier this summer to Arshad Hasan, who graduated from the College in 2003, for altering his photograph used by the University in commencement material without his permission.

But, Hasan said, neither the form nor the substance of the apology was adequate, adding that he was looking for a public apology that would circulate as widely as the original publication.

The apology came in the wake of The Summer Pennsylvanian article covering the incident. In the article, University Secretary Leslie Kruhly stated that the alteration of the photograph blackening Hasan's rainbow tassel that represented Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender pride was part of a general University policy of making the photographs reflect "official academic regalia."

She stated that there were no political motivations for the alteration



~

Anwar goes free on final appeal
Ruling reflects new era in Malaysia


SINGAPORE The high court in Malaysia overturned the sodomy conviction of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday and allowed him to walk free after serving six years in jail.
.
The decision, which took many Malaysians and officials in surrounding countries by surprise, was the clearest sign yet of a new era since the election of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi six months ago.
.
Anwar, who attended the hearing seated in a wheelchair and wearing a neck brace, had been abruptly fired by the former Malaysian leader Mahathir bin Mohamad in 1998 over differences about how to handle the Asian financial crisis. The high court ruling came exactly six years after Anwar's removal from office.
.
Soon afterward Anwar, 57, was arrested, tried and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges in what was interpreted by the deputy prime minister's supporters as personal revenge by Mahathir against the man who was his probable successor.


~

Opponents of gay marriage intervene in Arkansas court challenge


Groups supporting and opposing a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage have been gearing up for a legal battle for months. The Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee and the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will have their chance to argue before the state supreme court on September 23. This week the high court granted a request from the amendment committee to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The committee had turned in more than 200,000 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. Briefs from both sides are due September 15. "We've been preparing for the case. We knew it was going to happen and that it was just a matter of time," said Chris Stewart, executive director of the amendment committee. "We've done all our legal work already."


~

Amendment on November ballot
By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press Writer


North Dakotans will vote in November on a constitutional amendment to limit marriage rights to man-woman couples, Secretary of State Al Jaeger says.

Jaeger on Wednesday said a petition that requires a statewide vote on the amendment had 42,093 legal signatures, considerably more than the 25,688 names needed to put the idea on the statewide ballot.

The North Dakota Family Alliance, a Bismarck group that supervised the initiative campaign, had said it collected more than 52,000 petition signatures. Jaeger said his office counted 44,105 names, and rejected 1,647 signatures for various reasons, including incomplete signatures and addresses and notary errors.


~

Illinois Republicans Denounce Keyes' Remarks
Keyes Attacks Daughter Of Vice President


NEW YORK -- Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes is causing a stir at the party's national convention in New York City -- and among Illinois Republicans.

According to the Chicago Tribune, when Keyes told two interviewers on Sirius OutQ, a New York-based satellite station that provides 24-hour gay and lesbian programming, that homosexuality is "selfish hedonism," his hosts asked if Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney is a "selfish hedonist."