Wayland parish calls for gay marriage
By John Hilliard / News Staff Writer
Sunday, March 14, 2004
BOSTON -- With their chanting voices roaring down the State House hallways, protesters lined the Capitol's wrought-iron fence and made their beliefs known to the legislators who will determine the future of a proposed ban on gay marriage.


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Marriage amendment would besmirch an honorable document
Bush's marriage clause be a vile addition to U.S. Constitution


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SAME SEX, DIFFERNET BENEFITS: Gay couples winning some fights for equal rights


Police Cite Westport Minister in New Paltz Same-Sex Marriage Ceremonies
A minister from Westport's Unitarian Church was among clergy cited by police today for performing same-sex marriage ceremonies in New Paltz, N.Y., according to Sunday's New York Times

Escalating fight rivets, divides nation
Both sides claim the advantage as watershed issue engulfs politics and personalities


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Faces of the fallen
Sunday, March 14, 2004
The Iraq War won't quit. Since Baghdad's fall, there are no battle lines. Fighting takes on a new lethal form in ambushes, bombings or plane crashes. Injury and death come almost daily.


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Young evangelicals and gay issues



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Stay by SJC called unlikely
By Kathleen Burge and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff, 3/13/2004
Legal specialists said yesterday that Governor Mitt Romney would probably not succeed in persuading the Supreme Judicial Court to stay its historic decision legalizing gay marriage.
Romney confirmed yesterday that he was considering asking for a stay as the Legislature and voters consider a proposed November 2006 ballot initiative that would overturn the SJC's ruling. The SJC ruling calls on the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on May 17. The Globe reported the strategy Friday.


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Clergymen, churchgoers protest gay marriage

Mayor Nickels is singled out by about 60 demonstrators

Minister faces complaint for performing gay marriages in church
MIELIKKI ORG
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - About two dozen parishioners gathered Saturday to sing hymns and hold discussions in support of a San Francisco minister who could lose her job for performing a same-sex marriage ceremony in a church. The Rev. Karen Oliveto was called in front of a United Methodist Church bishop last week after a formal complaint criticized her for officiating at the marriage ceremony of two men in Bethany United Methodist Church on Feb. 15.
The bishop has not yet issued any statement on the complaint against Oliveto, who performed a total of 14 same-sex marriage ceremonies after San Francisco began issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples..

Dodging Bullets, Breaking Laws:
Marriage Equality Marches On
by Margaret Porter
 Whether we're for or against marriage as an institution, whether we
lgbts assimilate, ignore or rebel, there's no getting past the fact that equal marriage rights for same-sex couples has become a defining issue for the first decade of the new century. Here's the score: San Francisco has issued thousands of licenses, Massachusetts is a draw, and Ohio is a total loss as


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Plattsburgh's Gay Republican Mayor Dan Stewart Sounds Off on Marriage, Civil Unions, and the Republican Party Our Kind of Mayor
Plattsburgh Mayor Dan Stewart first came to elected office in 1993,
capturing a seat on the City Council. In 2000, he defeated long-term
incumbent Mayor Clyde Rabideau, making Stewart the first openly gay mayor in New York. In a brief between-meetings interview last month with Out in the Mountains writer Cynthia Potts, Mayor Stewart weighed in on current events.



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this is an affront to humanity!!

King: Anti-gay remarks reflect current position
Says old editorials contain harsher tone than he'd use now
03/13/04
KIM CHANDLER
News staff writer
Alabama Attorney General Troy King said he stands behind anti-homosexual remarks he made as a law student in the 1990s but would use less inflammatory language to describe his views today

King, now 35, wrote several editorials as a University of Alabama law student discussing a gay campus club in 1992 and 1993. "The existence of the Gay-Lesbian Alliance on this campus is an affront to the state of Alabama, its citizenry, this university and its students," King wrote in The Crimson White in 1992, according to excerpts published Thursday by the university's student newspaper.

Linsky crafts an alternative: Natick rep still supports protecting gay marriage rights
By Michael Kunzelman / News Staff Writer
Saturday, March 13, 2004
BOSTON --
Undeterred by the Legislature's vote to ban gay marriage, a pair of pro-gay lawmakers have sponsored an alternative plan to amend the state constitution to reaffirm the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling that same-sex couples are entitled to wed.


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Episcopal leader opposes ban on gay marriage in U.S. Constitution

LONDON (AP) - The leader of the U.S. Episcopal Church said he opposed any proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said in a broadcast interview last Sunday that such a change would be "unwise at this point." "The debate both within churches and certainly within civil society needs to continue," Griswold told British Broadcasting Corp.'s "Breakfast With Frost" TV program. "I'm fearful that a constitutional amendment at this time would preclude the continuation of that debate." President Bush urged swift action on an amendment, after the top court in Massachusetts granted gay couples the right to marry in that state. The Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. branch of the global Anglican Communion, is in the midst of its own divisive debate over homosexuality. The Episcopal General Convention last summer voted to confirm V. Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in the denomination's history. Robinson was installed last Sunday as leader of the Diocese of New Hampshire. The same General Convention voted to acknowledge that some dioceses were holding blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. In response, Episcopal conservatives have formed their own network that is separating itself from the denomination's leaders. The Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes held a planning meeting earlier this month in Pittsburgh, forming a missionary society to provide fellowship for Episcopalians who have left the 2.3 million-member denomination.
Seven dioceses have ratified their association with the network, according to local dioceses and the American Anglican Council, a Washington group that represents traditionalists. Those dioceses are: Central Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Pittsburgh; Rio Grande, N.M.; San Joaquin, Calif.; Springfield, Ill.; and South Carolina, which voted to participate in the network last Friday.

---
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/index_flash.htm

Florida Might Become Next Battleground In Gay Marriage Debate
By TED BYRD tbyrd@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 13, 2004
TAMPA - Maureen Ayral wants her partner to get her south Tampa house when she dies. Under state law, it automatically would pass to her son.
If she were married, correcting that would be easy. The 46- year-old financial analyst also could pass along about $1 million before estate taxes kick in.

``I don't have a burning desire to be married and recognized by a church,'' Ayral said Friday, but she does want the legal protections she enjoyed when she had a husband.


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Unitarian ministers continue same-sex marriages in New Paltz
The Associated Press
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. --
Another 25 same-sex couples were married by Unitarian Universalist ministers here Saturday, even as prosecutors consider filing charges against the clergywomen.

The emotional toll of a court's decision
NEARLY WEDS: Couples who just missed out vent sadness, anger


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The emotional toll of a court's decision
SETBACK: Disappointment fuels determination for Tiburon couple
Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer Saturday, March 13, 2004
Jeanne Rizzo and Pali Cooper had spent a whirlwind week getting ready for their wedding. They had called friends and relatives, cleaned the house and gotten food and champagne for the party afterward. Thursday was to be their big day. As they drove across the Golden Gate Bridge from their home in Tiburon they sang "Going to the Chapel'' at the top of their lungs. But their euphoria turned to confusion, dismay and, ultimately, heartbreak when they walked up to the clerk's office in San Francisco City Hall. Minutes earlier, the California Supreme Court had put a halt to the marriages, and Rizzo and Cooper were told there were would be no more same-sex weddings.


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For Gays, Toronto Is the Marrying Kind
By Gary Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 14, 2004;
When John Wagner and Jim Hurlburt decided to get married, they wanted to do it right. Guests would gather in a space decked out with their favorite flowers. The ceremony would be followed by a formal dinner and capped by a late-night dance party. The Cleveland couple also had a dream location in mind for the event: Toronto.

Be tolerant, let gays marry
Last Updated: March 13, 2004, 06:20:31 AM PST
Homosexual marriage is a church/state issue. The civil aspect of marriage is straightforward contract law; gender need not enter into it. "Civil unions" address this handily and should be available to everyone, regardless of their


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Sebastopol to support gay marriage
Saturday, March 13, 2004
SEBASTOPOL -- Sebastopol may become the first Sonoma County city to voice its support for same-sex marriages.


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Gay rights advocates consider cautious campaign
By ROGER DuPUIS II
Journal Staff
ITHACA --The fight for same-sex marriage rights could take many forms, but many within the gay community recognize that fight could have as much to do with winning over the hearts and minds of straight people as it does with legal battles.

"We need allies and supporters to be active for us," said Pat Pryor, a former city alderwoman and member of the Ithaca Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Task Force.




Portland can keep marrying gays State's attorney general refuses to try to stop the ceremonies



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'Nyack 10' files lawsuit to legalize gay weddings
Saturday, March 13, 2004
By Jim Fitzgerald
Associated Press writer
NEW CITY, N.Y. - The mayor of Nyack, his partner and nine other same-sex couples filed a lawsuit yesterday against the state and the town clerk who denied them marriage licenses.
. Dubbed the "Nyack 10" by their lawyer, Norman Siegel, the couples alleged that New York's marriage laws are gender-neutral and therefore allow for same-sex marriage. They also claimed that the denial of marriage licenses unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.


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come on amerika.. why are you not out in the streets.. stop this now..

Senate passes same-sex marriage amendment
WISCONSIN:The bill, which already passed the Assembly, must be passed by lawmakers a second time before going to voters in a referendum.


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The 11th Commandment
    It is with great joy that I read the Opinion section of The Tribune each morning. I generally get a big kick out the diversity of opinions and the passion of the writers, whether I agree with them or not.
    I stand firmly confused and somewhat troubled by all the controversy surrounding same-sex marriage. My traditional marriage of nearly 20 years does not seem in any danger whatsoever from what my gay and lesbian neighbors do. The very idea of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage strikes fear into my heart, however. A constitutional amendment on the state and/or federal level is not small potatoes. Since most of those in favor of a constitutional amendment seem to claim the higher moral ground, I decided to seek guidance through religious studies.

    And lo, it came to me as a flash of light. In my studies I discovered the long lost 11th Commandment, "Thou shalt mind thine own business."


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Equal protection guides actions
03/13/04
Issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples is a matter of basic constitutional rights, and we should not submit the "equal protection" clause of the state constitution or any other constitution to a process of "public comment" or, worse yet, majority rule.

I know I am in fascist amerika now.. and amerika.. I am waiting to see if you will let history repeat it self of create a future of freedom?


Pitching Pennsylvania into the national debate on gay rights, a state lawmaker is advancing a proposal to strengthen the state ban on same-sex marriage by prohibiting the recognition of any civil unions.


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when will they outlaw us from walking on the street?

The ACLU on Friday said the St. Tammany Parish School Board is "wasting time" by investigating whether it can shut down a gay-rights group formed by high school students in Mandeville.

As of Thursday, March 11, 554 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq

really who are these people who make these laws...I feel like we are living through the reformation...shame on these politicians for saying we do not deserve rights... shame on them...... this would not be happening if it was about the color of one's skin, or country or origin.. this is about a new world order trying to regiment who we love... these are evil people, truly a hold over of patriarchal fascism

Wisconsin Senate passes amendment to ban same-sex marriage
By JR ROSS
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP)
- A proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and woman and bar civil unions has cleared its first hurdle with passage by the full Legislature.


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Seven states debate marriage amendmentsChristopher Lisotta, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
Friday, March 12, 2004 / 06:19 PM

Although developments in Massachusetts' same-sex marriage amendment debate on March 11 dominated media coverage, at least seven other states took up the issue of whether their constitutions should be changed or laws should be enacted to prevent gays and lesbians from legally marrying.



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you are damn right, when its time I want a queer retirement home,.. I want a fuck queer president not one with an IQ of 50 who is filled with hate..

Retirement homes for US gay couple

someone please go to eagle county and apply for a marriage license... please !!!!

Same-sex marriage licenses absent in Eagle
Randy Wyrick
March 12, 2004
Eagle County won't be on the frontlines of the battle over gay marriage.
First of all, a same-sex couple has yet to seek a marriage license from Eagle County. Secondly, Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Teak Simonton says even if a gay couple shows up in the Eagle County Building asking for a marriage license, they probably won't get one.


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Gay Tampa City Workers Get Domestic Partner Benefits

Spouses for Life?
By Patrick Letellier, AlterNet
March 12, 2004
The California Supreme Court has ordered that San Francisco officials stop marrying same-sex couples. As a "militant homosexual activist," a label I've always adored, I'm surprised to say that my reaction to this news was not anger, outrage or even disbelief. Instead I got completely choked up. More than 4,100 same-sex couples were married in San Francisco in the past month, but this ruling means countless others will for now be denied that tremendous thrill. How sad.


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Republican gay rights group hits Bush, Romney stances

call Mitt today.. do not let this happen, tell Mitt to abide by the court

Gov. Mitt Romney May Ask Courts To Postpone Gay Marriages
Mar. 12, 2004
Another big development in the gay marriage controversy that has been the talk of the nation for weeks now. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said today he may ask the state supreme court to postpone the start of gay marriages this spring.
That's because the state legislature has given preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages but legalize civil unions.


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Rx: Marriage
By Gary Cohan, M.D., FACP 
What are the medical benefits of equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians? A California physician predicts weddings could usher in improved self-esteem, decreased self-destructive behaviors, clearer priorities, and better health.



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County evaluating state AG's opinion on gay marriages
03/13/2004
By TYPH TUCKER  / Associated Press
Oregon's most populous county is evaluating whether to continue issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, after an opinion by the state's attorney general found that the county was breaking state law.
Rebecca Uherbelau, a county spokeswoman, said that the county would issue licenses until the close of business on Friday.
After that, she said, the marital license office will be closed to everyone until noon on Monday, while county officials evaluate the opinion issued Friday by Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.


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Oregon AG Questions Gay Marriage Ban
CHARLES E. BEGGS
Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. - The attorney general said Friday that banning gay marriage probably violates Oregon's constitution, effectively placing the issue in the hands of the state's highest court.

Brazil State First to Allow Same-Sex Unions
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - A judge in southern Brazil has allowed same-sex unions to be officially registered in a groundbreaking ruling that gay activists on Friday hailed as a model for the rest of the country.


via
chris murray's tex files

thank you chris

VICTORIA (CP) - Police led five women's rights activists out of the B.C. legislature in handcuffs Friday.
The women, from the B.C. Coalition of Women's Centres, had been pleading with women's services minister Ida Chong to reinstate $1.7 million in funding for the province's 37 women's centres.

and this from: Taylor Brady


kari,

hear, hear. not much time right now, but was wondering -- in line with the forum at the reading in april, would it help to have a stack of lambda
legal materials there? i wrote the copy for their most recent phone
campaign, and have access to lots and lots of informational brochures,
donation forms, etc. would be good, if, in tandem with the discussion, we
could put together a group donation -- Im usually skeptical of throwing
tax-deductible cash at social struggles, but with this one, since the
courts are going to be one of the primary means that the rightist
coup-leaders use to throw up roadblocks to liberation struggles (for
queers, for people of color, for dissenters -- i agree with you that the
failure of the left, especially its parliamentary liberal wing, to connect
the *defense of marriage* amendments with the myriad of interconnected assaults on civil and human rights is shameful), all the bodies out in the streets are going to need some bodies in counsels chair, if this isnt going to become another mass mobilization dismissed as a *focus group.*

also, wanted to say that, while i understand the serverity of
disappointment and even rage at what's being carried out in massachusetts, potentially in california, and potentially against the constitution -- that theres actually a place for optimisim here. the reason for the sudden reaction-formation on the right is that the tempo of actual peoples struggle has picked up dramatically. the severity of the reaction is, in a way, testimony to the effectiveness of what liberatory political progress has already been made _on the ground, in the streets_, etc. so, not to dismiss the very, VERY real threat posed by the various amendments and the invocation to violence they only barely paper over -- vigilance and struggle are definitely necessary. but simply to recognize that their incoherent frothing is in a way congruent with their desperation. look, for example, at the polls (yeah, i know, unreliable and manipulable -- but theyre looking too, youd better believe) that indicate that for the generation currently under thirty, the whole *issue* of writing gender into the secular marriage contract is simply a non-issue -- in other words, 70% of twenty-year-olds look at the maniacal rush to *save* marriage and say, simply, *what the fuck?*

the right knows this, knows their time is limited in the extreme (at least
when it comes to human and civil rights -- fighting them on the terrain of political economy will take a much longer struggle to counteract the whole *end of history* myth of capitalist triumphalism), and is thus thrashing about wildly trying to put something in place to halt or divert all that momentum. it's true that they're especially dangerous at times like this, but it's also true that the stakes have been raised, and the prospects for a real advance for liberation are materially open before us in a way they havent been in some time.

yrs in solidarity,
t

Same-sex couples jilted by court order sue to overturn ruling
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, March 13, 2004
The legal battle over same-sex marriage in San Francisco moved into a new phase Friday as couples who were left stranded at City Hall, and others who were awaiting wedding dates, sued to overturn the state laws that prohibit them from marrying.

Newlywed Gays Brave Critics in Search of Security
arch 12 — By Teresa Carson
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters
- Daffodils line the walkway, a tricycle sits by the front door and family photos are proudly displayed on the shelves in the house where two-and-a-half year-old Avery is trying to finagle himself a cookie.


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South Africa's gays enjoy new freedom after apartheid but are still vulnerable

TWO TF ALL AMERICAN SOLDIERS KILLED BY IED 3/11/2004
TF IRONHORSE SOLDIER KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK 3/11/2004
MARINE DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUND 3/8/2004

San Francisco Mayor puts future on line with gay marriage quest
BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Friday, March 12, 2004
(03-12) 14:08 PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
Slapped down by California's Supreme Court, Mayor Gavin Newsom immediately approved a new constitutional challenge in pursuit of his quest to make same-sex marriages legal, and predicted that his view will prevail eventually.

"I hope every elected official in the United States takes a look at that Constitution that they swore to uphold," he said shortly after the justices ordered the city on Thursday to stop marrying gays and lesbians.


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Right Wing Law Firm Ejected From Florida Gay Marriage Case


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Lawsuit challenges recognition of same-sex marriages in Seattle
A Mississippi family advocacy group has filed a lawsuit in King County, Wash., superior court on behalf of a Seattle resident seeking to block Mayor Greg Nickels from recognizing the unions of gay city employees who marry elsewhere. The Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, representing Randall Leskovar, asked Judge James Doerty on Thursday to issue an order preventing the city from implementing the executive order the mayor signed earlier this week, said Brian Fahling, the attorney who filed the papers. "A renegade mayor can do whatever he wants until he gets shut down by the law," Fahling said.
"This mayor has defied the express will of the people." Doerty did not indicate when he would make a ruling, according to Fahling and Marianne Bichsel, the mayor's spokeswoman.


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Gay rights groups challenge California marriage laws in court
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund announced Friday morning that they had filed a lawsuit seeking to give same-sex couples in California the right to marry on behalf of six same-sex couples as well as Our Family Coalition and Equality California. Five of the six couples had appointments to obtain marriage licenses at San Francisco City Hall, but their appointments were canceled as a result of the California supreme court's order on Thursday directing San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The lawsuit argues that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates the California constitution's guarantees of equality, liberty, and privacy. "This is a historic moment," said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "It is long past time for California law to fully embrace and protect the relationships of lesbian and gay couples. We are confident that the issues presented in our lawsuit and the real-life stories of these couples will provide the court with compelling justification finally to correct this long-standing injustice."

March 12, 2004. The Lambda Literary Foundation announced that "The Man Who Would Be Queen" has been removed as a 16th Annual Lambda Literary Award finalist.

The change was prompted by a request from the panel of judges that is reading all the finalists in the transgender category, which said the book was not appropriate for the category. The Foundation does not identify the judges to the public or each other until the Awards banquet, which this year will be held June 3, in Chicago, IL. Upon receiving the request, executive director Jim Marks went back to the Finalist Committee, which had selected the book originally. A majority of the committee agreed to honor the request.

Because the action was unprecedented, it provoked heated discussion within the Finalist Committee. Finalist Committee member Kris Kleindienst said, "Removing the book from the list is not censorship. The book is widely available, has been widely reviewed and is not about to be denied to the public. What we are doing is behaving in a responsible manner to make sure the list of finalists is compatible with the Foundation’s mission. Having looked at the book closely, I am sure it is not." Several committee members echoed Kleindienst’s views.

Finalist Committee member Victoria Brownworth, along with several others, disagreed on the censorship issue. "Banning a book and censoring a book are two different things. While I hate to be the titular voice of the ACLU here, especially since I personally disagree with many aspects of Bailey's book, if we take the book off the list we are indeed censoring it. It doesn't matter what our reasons are."

"This has been a difficult and humbling experience for the Foundation," said Executive Director Jim Marks. "We’ve never before had a case in which a book, whose author and publisher both affirm their support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, has at the same time been opposed by those who say its content in fact is antithetical to those rights."

"Throughout the controversy that has raged over the book’s selection as a finalist, we have struggled to maintain the integrity of the process." Marks said. "Since the impetus for the change came from the within the category’s judges, and was reviewed and voted on by the Finalist Committee, we feel that the decision is consistent with our process."

The recipients of the 16th Lambda Literary Awards will be announced at a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel. Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004. For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or call 202-682-0952.

--
Jim Marks, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation
LLF Programs: Lambda Book Report, The James White Review, Lambda Literary Awards and Lambda Literary Festival
Online at www.lambdalit.org
202-682-0952; 202-682-0955 fax; PO Box 73910, Washington, DC 20056-3910 shipping address: 1217 Eleventh St. NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC 20001

Young Americans More Likely to Support Gay Marriage, Polls Suggest

Oregon AG says gay marriages illegal  
02:38 PM PST on Friday, March 12, 2004
From KGW.com Staff and Wire Reports
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski (left) and Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon's Attorney General said counties issuing same-sex marriage licenses are violating current state law. But then he took aim at the state law itself, saying it probably violates Oregon's Constitution.

check out!!
Marriage Equality California

IT is time to act... if you do nothing you are complicit in the act of discrimination and the possible rise of hate crimes..

it is easy... with many options:

the simple first:

1. buy a rainbow flag..

2. support Lambda Legal defense fund..who's doing all the legal work for us queers

3. be queer that is right.. wear a tee shirt that has a pink triangle on it or a saying *queer, here, and proud* - *white, black, gay or straight, everyone deserves equal rights*

4. make phone call, call you state and local representatives, daily

the harder part...

1. go get married..in act of civil disobedience, in every town and city at every court house.. at least once an hour, a same gender couple should go to the court house to get married..

if you do nothing but sit by and watch, it's like watching a crime taking place and doing nothing!!!

NO!! it is participating in a crime and not knowing...

act now... do not be guilty of passivity while you brothers and sisters are being discriminated against...

Gay marriage ban wins preliminary approval, but debate to continue
The Associated Press
BC-MA--Gay Marriage-Constitution, BC-MA--Gay Marriage-Process, BC-MA--Gay Marriage-Timeline, BC-MA--Gay Marriage-Quotes With AP Photo japktlmpktbjc By JENNIFER PETER Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts lawmakers took a step closer to approving a constitutional amendment that would strip gay couples of their right to marry, but the debate that has caught the attention of the nation was far from over.
After logging more than 30 hours of intense deliberations over the course of two months, lawmakers ended their impasse Thursday by stopping just short of final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage but make Massachusetts only the second state to grant civil-union benefits to same-sex couples.

Rather than go past midnight, lawmakers recessed their constitutional convention and planned to resume the debate on March 29


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Heartbreak at City Hall
By J.K. Dineen
As suddenly as it had begun, The City's gay-marriage revolution was over. At 2:33 p.m. Thursday, as couples exchanged vows under the City Hall rotunda and others filled out their matrimonial paperwork, the county clerk took a call from the mayor, who had taken a call from the City Attorney's Office, which had taken a call from someone from the state Supreme Court.

Mayor stands firm on issue, but says city will obey court's order


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WISCONSIN SENATE PASSES AMENDMENT TO BAN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Court halts gay vows
SURPRISE RULING: Newsom says the city will make a strong case State justices take S.F. case on narrow constitutional issue, promise quick decision
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, March 12, 2004
The California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt Thursday to same-sex weddings in San Francisco and said it would decide within months whether the city had the authority to issue marriage licenses in defiance of state law.

The justices' unanimous orders at least temporarily froze ceremonies that have brought thousands of jubilant couples to City Hall in the last month, emboldened local officials in far-away cities and towns to challenge their states' marriage laws and sparked a political furor that has become an issue in the presidential race.

RD PITTS JR.: A civil war between gays and blacks
March 12, 2004
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
Call it an object lesson in the quality of equality.

I refer to last week's Senate subcommittee hearing on the proposed constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage. And specifically, to an exchange between two leaders of the black community.


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Endowment created for gay services
By Ken McLaughlin
Mercury News
The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County announced Thursday that it was creating what could become the largest endowment in the country for gay and lesbian services.
Although the group's $1 million goal sounds ambitious, about $450,000 has already been raised, said Lance Linares, executive director of the foundation.


~

and if you think it is not going to get worse, with bigotry and hate speech on the rise and spoken by goverment representatives, you are fooling yourself...now if everyone had the courage to say they are queer, take a stand, and stop this.. but hey.. we are only queers.. right.. well when the queer are gone and they come after you who will be there?

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Anti-gay hate crimes on rise in NYC
Friday March 12, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) A new report shows a sharp increase against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in the city.
The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project report said anti-gay incidents throughout the city increased 43 percent and the number of victims went up 53 percent during the second half of 2003 over same period in 2002.



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Charge over transvestite(sic) murder
A 29-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a Sydney transvestite(sic) prostitute.


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Gay-wedding march likely to be a long one
Wheels of justice: Experts see issue wending through society, courts for years.
By Steve Goldstein
Inquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Greetings from Asbury Park.
And from San Francisco; Sandoval County, N.M.; Multnomah County, Ore.; New Paltz and Nyack, N.Y.; and all the suddenly famous same-sex marriage sanctuaries popping up across the American landscape like deed offices in the Gold Rush days.
In a matter of weeks, the forces gathering since November's decision by the Massachusetts high court in favor of gay marriage have erupted in out-of-control wedlock and a constitutional gauntlet - not rice - thrown by President Bush.

Kelli O'Donnell to appear on 20/20 as R Family teams with PFLAG


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Parents seek to shut down gay-straight high school alliance

A group of parents in Mandeville, La., is asking the St. Tammany Parish school board to disband the Fontainebleau High School's recently formed Gay-Straight Alliance. The club, which, according to its Web site, fosters an exchange of ideas between gay and straight students, met school requirements when it formed earlier last month. Fearing legal repercussions because of the Equal Access Act, the school system had given the go-ahead for the club to begin meeting.


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Wisconsin preps for gay marriage debate

A proposed state constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex marriages and civil unions was buried under other bills awaiting action as the Wisconsin senate wrapped up work for the current legislative session.

Tearful, defiant crowd marches on court
Despite court ruling to halt weddings, protesters say they've just begun to fight

this is a civil rights issue.

I have watched in horror as state-after-state has voted to add constitutional amendments take rights away from queers. I have read and heard hate speech coming from the president to local officials, cloaked in religious dogma, justifying their acts of discrimination and hate. I have heard the great compromise in massachusetts of creating a two tiered system. know this; NO MATTER WHAT - SEPARATE BUT EQUAL IS NOT EQUAL...

this is a civil rights issue. and if these actions where based on the color of ones skin, country of origin, or ones spiritual practice, there would be outrage, but I have not seen outrage. what I have witness is inaction and a continuation of day-to-day commerce, life going on.

I have seen and acted, as these crooked deeds of this president turn into a list too long and heinous to even begin to imagine; acts that has cost many lifes, wiped away liberties, and steadily taking steps that will destroy the earth we live on. I have seen this imperialist patriarchal regime kidnapped world leaders, lie to the world, imprison individuals without trial, cut back on HIV treatment (big time here in san francisco - a coincidence?), put forth ideas like gender segregation, and reduced education to a joke based on testing - and still it seems as if we go about our days, buying goods and exchanging pleasantries

when I hear this unelected dictator speak words like: *we can be confident in the ways of Providence. ..., there's a dedication and purpose, set by the hand of a just and faithful God.* - *"The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.* *The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution.* and, *You're doing God's work with conviction and kindness.*

and when I see this fake president allowing religious charities a greater hand in delivering social services, all the while cutting back existing support systems

and I hear a president speak on limiting the power of activist judges that interpret the law, and legislate from the bench; judges that put bush in office, the kind of judges that stopped the ban of interracial marriage, judges that struck down the sodomy laws, and judges that acted on Roe vs. Wade

when I see overt discrimination bills being passed, hate speech bandied about and hate crimes on the rise; and when I see life go on, lost in the security of the job, abandoned humanity to the time clock, and everyone just existing in a system that puts forth dogma and promotes; greed, discrimination and hate... I can no longer stand by, as my brothers and sisters, are murdered, lose there jobs, and are placed in a separate but equal system.

it is time to stop business as normal - shut it down. every act must be a revolutionary act, every act must be an act of resistances to this regime. we must be bold in the face of a police state and fear of discrimination and loss of employment. we must be nomadic, and step forth before it's to late...

we need to stand up and chant the chant I heard last night at the state building, listening to a sweet gay couple who was denied the right to get married...

WE'RE QUEER - WE'RE HERE - WE'RE MARRIED - GET OVER IT!!

ACT NOW.. every act counts-.. support lambda legal defense fight in almost every state to defend queers that are being discriminated against.. take a stand today... live life as a revolution!!!

it's time amerika to wake-up.

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**URGENT!**
EMERGENCY RALLY AND MARCH TO DEFEND SAME-SEX MARRIAGE!
San Francisco Rally Today (Thurs. 3/11)
The California Supreme Court has just ordered an immediate halt to same-sex marriages in San Francisco.
5:30 pm at Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro & Market St.
6:30 pm march to CA Supreme Court and end rally at City Hall steps

Mass. legislators ok gay marriage amendment
At least 190 killed in Madrid blasts
The Associated Press
March 11, 2004, 5:56 PM EST
Boston -- Massachusetts lawmakers gave preliminary approval Thursday to a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions.

Blumenthal Might Issue Opinon On Gay Marriage
Group Rallies Thursday At Capitol
POSTED: 4:27 pm EST March 11, 2004
UPDATED: 4:34 pm EST March 11, 2004
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Thursday that he might issue an opinion as soon as next month on legality of gay marriage in Connecticut.

Senate Votes Not To Accept Same-Sex Marriage
Bill Allows State To Not Recognize Gay Marriages
CONCORD, N.H. -- Same-sex marriages would not be recognized in New Hampshire under a bill approved 16-7 by the Senate on Thursday.

AG may issue ruling on gay marriage
Associated Press
March 11, 2004
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Towns have begun are seeking guidance on how to answer requests for marriage licenses from gay couples, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday he may issue an opinion next month

Quotes from Legislature's debate on gay marriage


The Associated Press




Some quotes from Thursday's debate on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

"The parallels, I believe, are obvious. The ironies are haunting. Today, many of us are the grandchildren or great grandchildren of Catholic immigrants. Our forebears were the victims of a double standard. Today we are about the business of imposing a double standard on another community." - Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, opposing ban on gay marriage, citing 1917 amendment blocking funds to Catholic schools.

Court Orders Halt to SF Same-Sex Marriages
Associated Press
(AP) - The California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to gay marriages in San Francisco and said Thursday it would hear a case in May or June on the legality of such marriages.

Same-sex marriage ministers meet with prosecutor
By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press Writer
KINGSTON, N.Y. --
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and New Paltz Mayor Jason West remained divided on the legality of same sex marriage after a face-to-face meeting Thursday.

~

Man Extends Fast For Gay Marriage Support
Pisatauro To Go Without Food Until April
POSTED: 2:01 pm EST March 11, 2004
UPDATED: 2:10 pm EST March 11, 2004
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former Rep. Michael Pisaturo said that he will continue fasting in support of gay marriage.

Gay Marriage Advocates Rally At Capitol
Group Plans To Wrap Rainbow Ribbon Around Grounds

~

Mass. Lawmakers Agree To Limit Debate On Same-Sex Marriage
Debate Begins Anew In Constitutional Convention
POSTED: 10:55 am EST March 11, 2004
UPDATED: 4:15 pm EST March 11, 2004
BOSTON -- As hundreds of advocates prayed, chanted and sang outside, Massachusetts lawmakers reconvened Thursday to consider a ban on same-sex marriage in a debate that has been overtaken by a flurry of same-sex weddings around the country in recent weeks.

Reports Of Harassment, Violence Against Gays Rises
Mar 11, 2004 9:55 am US/Mountain
DENVER (AP) Reports of violence and harassment against Colorado homosexuals more than doubled in the second half of last year, according to activists who worry gay marriage and other issues are fueling the hatred.
Reports increased from 43 between July and December of 2002 to 100 during the same period last year, according to the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, which provides support to victims in the gay community.

Gay debate heated in Acton
By David Brusie / Staff Writer
Thursday, March 11, 2004
ACTON - The eyes of the nation have been on Massachusetts since the commonwealth's supreme court ruled in November that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional. A discussion about this decision and its implications ended tense and uneasy in Acton this week.~

Senate votes not to accept gay marriages
By Anne Saunders, Associated Press, 3/11/2004
CONCORD, N.H. -- Gay marriages would not be recognized in New Hampshire under a bill approved 16-7 by the Senate on Thursday.
~

Saugus legislators hold ground against marriage ban
By Dinah Cardin / dcardin@cnc.com
Thursday, March 11, 2004
During last month's Massachusetts Constitutional Convention on gay marriage, delegates for the town of Saugus were very much part of the action, making memorable speeches as they led the fight for same-sex marriage. All voted no on the amendment to define marriage as only between a man and a woman and voted yes on civil unions.

~

Panel votes to urge Congress to ban gay marriage
Associated Press
Mar. 11, 2004 12:45 PM
A proposal to urge Congress to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages continued to advance Thursday at the Arizona Legislature.

Gay-marriage advocates rally outside Cook County building
March 11, 2004 — Pro-gay marriage activists rallied outside the Cook County administrative building this afternoon and again demanded the county issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And again Cook County Clerk David Orr said he wont' break the law.
The Illinois Legislature in 1996 banned gay marriage. Orr has called that law unconstitutional and discriminatory but has said he won't go against it.
Orr met with about 150 protesters in front of the county building and told them he will work to change the law. He told the protesters that as long as the law is on the books, performing same-sex marriages won't achieve anything.
~

The Myth of American Polarization
After 10 Years Abroad, a Reporter finds we are more United, Culturally and Politically, than the Shouting Suggests
by Eric Weiner
Conventional wisdom tells us that the United States is more polarized than ever. In the sports jargon that passes for political analysis these days, we are supposedly witnessing a knockdown fight that pits conservatives against liberals, gay-bashers against gay- embracers, hawks against doves, Atkins aficionados against low-fat devotees. We are, the pundits proclaim, at war with ourselves. Or are we?

Bush Highlights Agenda for Christians
Thursday March 11, 2004 5:31 PM
By SCOTT LINDLAW
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush told evangelical Christians what they wanted to hear Thursday, ticking off highlights of his ``compassionate conservative'' agenda, from halting late-term abortions to banning gay marriage.

Evangelical Christians represent a core constituency for the president, who strongly backed him in the 2000 election. He opened his address via satellite to the National Association of Evangelicals Convention in Colorado by lavishing praise on the group: ``You're doing God's work with conviction and kindness,'' Bush said.

Marriage Information Resource Center
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has created this Marriage Information Resource Center as a resource for activists, policymakers, opinion leaders and Americans who are grappling with the issue of marriage equality for same-sex couples.

From a Global View, Marriage 'American Style' Is Not the Only Way to Go
Commentary, Peter S. Cahn,
Pacific News Service, Mar 11, 2004
Editor's Note: Amid all the emotional debate on the gay marriage issue, some academics are objecting to definitions of the "human institution" that appear to stray from the facts they spend a lifetime collecting. No matter where you stand on same-sex marriage, the writer says, be aware that marriage American-style is just one global variety among many.

Conn. group launches anti-gay marriage campaign
A Connecticut group opposed to gay marriage is launching a media campaign to encourage state residents to define marriage solely as a union between a man and woman. The Defend Marriage Now campaign, which organizers will begin on Thursday, includes highway billboards and radio and newspaper advertisements.

Pennsylvania town wants gay marriage
The gay-friendly borough of New Hope, Pa., a picturesque town on the Delaware River that has long attracted artists, antiquers, and tourists, wants Bucks County officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Bush Tells Evangelicals He Will Fight Gay Marriage


Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:07 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Thursday sought to solidify his standing with evangelical Christians by restating support for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage as part of his championship of conservative causes.
"I will defend the sanctity of marriage against activist courts and local officials who want to redefine marriage. The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution," Bush, himself a born-again Christian, told the National Association of Evangelicals Convention in Colorado via satellite from the White House.
~

Kerry's Catholic Conundrum
By Bill Berkowitz, AlterNet
March 11, 2004
There are some 25-30 million eligible Catholic voters and they usually turn out at the polls in large numbers. Once Catholics overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, but now some 40 percent are unaffiliated. Political operatives from both parties are targeting at least six or seven swing states – Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Missouri – where the Catholic vote could play a significant role in the outcome of the presidential race.
~

‘I do’ or ‘I don’t’
Same-sex marriages
get mixed reviews
By KELLY GILBERT - GM Today Staff
March 11, 2004
OCONOMOWOC - Regardless of a person’s race, religion or background, most people would agree marriage should be based on love.
But while that idea is accepted, the idea of homosexuals being given the right to marry and therefore be eligible for full marriage benefits is an ongoing battle.
~

No Gay Marriage No Civil Unions Declares Jeb Bush
03.10.04
By Fidel Ortega
(Miami, Florida) "Marriage is safe in Florida," Gov. Jeb Bush declared on Tuesday, telling a travel industry conference that he will not support civil unions. Gay marriage is already illegal in the state.
Bush said the he supports his brother the President in a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex couples from marrying. Of civil unions, he said that he would veto any bill coming before him that would recognize gay and lesbian relationships.
Questioned by reporters as he left the University Center Club at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Bush said if same-sex couples want protections they should turn to civil law.
"My personal opinion is, if people are in a union - if a gay couple has made a lifetime commitment or a long-term commitment - there are ways for them to create a contractual arrangement that provides the benefits that they claim they can't get. There's nothing in the law that says someone can't provide money to their survivor."

Lawmakers prepare for round two of gay marriage debate
By Associated Press
Thursday, March 11, 2004
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Legislature reconvenes for Round Two of its gay marriage debate Thursday after a month of speculation and maneuvering, but little apparent resolution on the volatile social issue.

      Hundreds of advocates on both sides started lining up at 6 a.m. at the three public entrances to the Statehouse, while others stood on the sidewalk, chanting, waving flags and singing Gospel music. Inside, hundreds more prepared to wait for hours outside the doors to the House chamber for a chance at a seat in the gallery.

Suddenly, some in L.A. are looking north with envy
Activists chart cautious route on marriage licenses
James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, March 11, 2004
Los Angeles -- To the extent that San Francisco registers at all for many Angelenos, it is often regarded as a pleasant backwater, best for those content to putter along in life's slow lane. But at least some here are suddenly nursing an unfamiliar emotion toward their neighbor to the north.


~

Gay Marriage Debate Now Embroiling Jews
CBST’s Kleinbaum calling on rabbis to perform marriages without a license.
James D. Besser - Washington Correspondent
Using the powerful symbolism of the civil rights movement, Jewish gay rights advocates are launching a campaign to enlist rabbis in the fight against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

And they don’t just want political support. These advocates are asking rabbis to take a risky stand by “solemnizing gay marriages without a marriage license.”

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, spiritual leader at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in Manhattan, the nation’s largest gay and lesbian synagogue, told The Jewish Week that such actions would be “the equivalent of sitting down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter,” referring to the protests that sparked the civil rights movement in the 1950s.



~

Photo: Supporting same-sex marriage


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Waiting for Hatch
Senator Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, has been toying with the idea of introducing an alternative to the Federal Marriage Amendment. Instead of banning same-sex marriage altogether, his amendment would leave that question, and questions about quasi-marital benefits for same-sex couples, to state legislatures.

Streisand Attacks Bush on Marriage Amendment
By Charles Mahaleris
Talon News
March 11, 2004
HOLLYWOOD (Talon News) -- Entertainer Barbara Streisand this week joined those attacking President George W. Bush for his support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect marriage as only being between a man and a woman.
Bush, responding to court actions in Massachusetts and same sex marriage ceremonies performed in San Francisco despite a state law prohibiting these unions, in February declared his support for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage.



~

Dems hit road on eve of big vote: Wed ban compromise remains `volatile'
By Elisabeth J. Beardsley and Noelle Straub
Thursday, March 11, 2004
With a slim majority for a gay marriage ban on the ropes today amid heavy lobbying, House Republicans are annoyed that Democratic legislative leaders left the state on the eve of the crucial vote. House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini attended a Democratic Party fund-raiser yesterday with the state's congressmen in Washington.  ``They're not on the front lines today, making sure the votes are there,'' groused House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading). ``Heck of a way to run a railroad.' '  Travaglini insisted their absence did not mean they're confident of a victory for a leadership-backed compromise constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and creates full civil unions.


~

Civic League head apologizes Political leaders denounce attempt to 'out' legislators
By PAUL CARRIER
Blethen Maine Newspapers
AUGUSTA --The head of the Christian Civic League of Maine apologized Wednesday for using the group's Internet Web site to solicit information about the sexual orientation of lawmakers and other state officials.


~

State marriage bill passes its first hurdle
Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
 

March 10, 2004
Clergy members testified adamantly for it and spoke passionately against it. Lawyers argued persuasively on both sides. Parents stood to talk about its value and others about its destructiveness.
Personal testimonials emotionally detailed private anguish, while others decried the injustice of inequality.

MARINE DIES OF GUNSHOT WOUND 3/8/2004

West, in speech to Rotarians, stands firm on gay weddings
By Jesse J. Smith , Freeman staff 03/11/2004
KINGSTON - New Paltz Mayor Jason West on Wednesday defended his decision to marry 25 same-sex couples last month, promised to preside over more gay weddings if a temporary restraining order against him is lifted and took a few jabs at Ulster County District Attorney Donald A. Williams.

The 26-year-old Green Party mayor spoke at a Kingston Rotary Club luncheon at the Hillside Manor, where he faced an audience of about two dozen people decades older than him and clearly less enthusiastic than him about same-sex marriages

The new Pentagon papers
A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war.

New Paltz ministers to meet with prosecutor
Two Unitarian Universalist ministers, who possibly face charges for marrying same-sex couples in New Paltz, N.Y., planned to meet with prosecutors Thursday. Kay Greenleaf and Dawn Sangrey conducted a round of wedding ceremonies Saturday for about two dozen gay and lesbian couples, filling in for New Paltz mayor Jason West. West performed the first set of gay marriages February 27 but is under a temporary court order barring him from conducting more ceremonies.
~

Gay couple know "it's a long battle" to have their marriage recognized
Fresh from their wedding in San Francisco, Jason McDowell and Bill Watson requested new driver's licenses in their home state with their last names hyphenated. They were turned down. "What difference does it make to the state of Tennessee if we want to be called McDowell-Watson?" Watson said. "What skin is it off their nose?"

~

E.U. seeks to expand residency rights for gay and lesbian couples
Gay and lesbian couples in the European Union will have an easier time moving around--but only in E.U. countries that also legally recognize same-sex couples--under a directive adopted Wednesday by the European Parliament.

~

County official fired over prejudicial comment
03/11/2004
Associated Press
A land-use official in Wallowa County has been fired for comparing American Indians to gays — and saying both groups have been throwing their weight around lately.

~

Enough Votes To Pass Anti-Gay Amendment Mass. Senate Leader Says
03.09.04
By Michael J. Meade
(Boston, Massachusetts) The President of the Massachusetts Senate said Monday that he has enough votes to pass an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Robert Travaglini (D-Boston) has been working for weeks to muster enough votes to pass what he calls a compromise amendment which would ban gay marriage but provide for civil unions. A joint session of the Massachusetts Senate and House failed last month to pass any of three proposed amendments, including Travaglini's. Legislators will meet again on Thursday in a renewed effort. "There are conversations that happened over the weekend and continue to happen today that give me confidence that we can reach consensus by Thursday," Travaglini told the Boston Globe.

~

Lawmakers seek special session
David Arkin
Republican lawmakers are pushing for a special legislative session. They want to discuss a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.
But area legislators are doubtful the session is going to happen.
And the area’s lone Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Jose Campos of Santa Rosa, called the plan “ridiculous.” Gov. Bill Richardson has said he does not support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The governor is against same-sex marriages though.
Last month in Sandoval County, the county clerk there allowed same-sex couples to get marriage licenses for one day, until the state attorney general declared her actions were illegal. Last weekend, the state Republican Party met in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico for its pre-primary convention. There, they began a petition drive asking Richardson to call a special session where lawmakers could make constitutional changes to same-sex marriages.

The real fights rage in statehouses
QUICK IMPACT: Legislatures act faster than possible amendment
Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Washington -- Washington may be getting the attention in the political battle over a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but the real fight is in the states, where events are moving very rapidly with enormous consequences for both sides.
The outcomes of these state battles -- 35 of them at last count -- will be much more immediate than any federal amendment, which faces formidable barriers to enactment. Proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage are pouring energy and money into ferocious state lobbying campaigns. Both sides believe these fights, primarily over proposed state constitutional amendments or laws to ban same-sex marriage, will lay the groundwork for an eventual U.S. Supreme Court ruling

Southern California cautious when it comes to gay marriage
GO SLOW: Los Angeles takes cautious approach to issuing licenses
James Sterngold, Chronicle Staff Writer
Los Angeles -- To the extent that the Bay Area registers at all for many Angelenos, it is often regarded as a pleasant backwater, best for those content to putter along in life's slow lane. But at least some here are suddenly nursing an unfamiliar emotion toward their San Francisco neighbor.
"We're having serious marriage license envy," said John Duran, a councilman in the hip, heavily gay city of West Hollywood. While San Francisco has taken the lead nationally in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in defiance of state and federal laws, Los Angeles is taking a slow, deliberate, non-confrontational approach, in spite of its cutting edge self-image. No same-sex marriage licenses have been issued here, and nobody, including positive-minded activists, expects that to change soon.
"We like to consider

New movement for the civil rights of gays and lesbians
Spreading the fight for gay marriage
By Elizabeth Schulte | March 12, 2004 | Page 2
THE BATTLE for equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians is sweeping through the streets and city halls of cities coast to coast. This new civil rights movement began with thousands of couples lining up after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the city would issue same-sex marriage licenses, despite state laws prohibiting them. When George W. Bush made his outrageous announcement February 24 that he would push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, it only added fuel to the fire.
~

Republicans and Democrats preach "family values" hypocrisy
Behind the attack on gay marriage
March 12, 2004 | Page 8
DAVID THURSTON and SHARON SMITH explain the roots of the right wing’s offensive against the right of gays and lesbians to marry.
"AMONG THE likeliest effects of gay marriage is to take us down the slope to legalized polygamy," wrote Stanley Kurtz in the conservative Weekly Standard. Antigay demonstrations have featured prominent Christian fundamentalists who quote the Old Testament like it was written yesterday.
Using demonstrations, e-mail campaigns and more, Christian Right forces have mobilized pressure on Republicans who were hesitant to take a stand for an antigay marriage amendment. But this "family values" crusade--which hides behind slogans like "Let the People Decide" in Massachusetts--has a clear ideological agenda: stoking homophobia and other forms of bigotry.

~

Conservatives, GLBTs both say 'wildfire' helps their side

Virginia Senate OKs Ban on Civil Unions Wednesday March 10, 2004 8:45pm
Richmond, Va. (AP) - The Senate approved a bill Wednesday prohibiting same-sex civil unions performed in other states from being recognized in Virginia, a move one senator said tells gays and lesbians to "essentially stay out of Virginia"

The Wockner Wire
by Rex Wockner

War
The war has begun.
Bush wants to amend the Constitution.

The problem with “activist judges”
So the man who sits in the Oval Office because of a court decision has declared war on courts that issue decisions he disagrees with. Does he understand nothing about the Constitution and the judicial system that he swore to God he would uphold?
By Sean Cahill, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute
An Advocate.com exclusive posted March 10, 2004

In his State of the Union address, President Bush portrayed the Massachusetts supreme judicial court as an anti-democratic rogue elephant run amok: “Activist judges…have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives.… The people’s voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process.”

~

Idaho Supreme Court To Hear Case Of Gay Dad Ordered Not To See Partner
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 10, 2004 8:04 pm. ET
(Boise, Idaho) The Idaho Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to to hear an appeal from a man who lost custody of his two children because he is gay and who was told the children could not visit him as long as he lived with his same-sex partner. The court will hear the case May 3

~

Domestic Partners Want Benefits Of Marriage
Wayne Havrelly KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator
UPDATED: 4:03 PM PST March 10, 2004
The controversy over gay marriage could eventually have an impact on the thousands of people that work for the state of Washington.
KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Wayne Havrelly has been looking into how employee benefits could be affected.

Singapore: Media watchdog warns men’s magazine over gay content
AFP
Singapore, Mar 9:
DESPITE growing acceptance of gays in Singapore, a local men’s lifestyle magazine has been warned by the Government to tone down “homosexual elements” in recent issues.

'Why we need Dennis Kuncinich to stay in the race'

By Randolph T. Holhut

OpEdNews.Com
DUMMERSTON, Vt. - An AOL Web site called presidentialmatch.com offers voters an interesting compatibility test.

The test asks a series of questions regarding your opinions on various issues ranging from Iraq to gay marriage. At the end, your responses are tallied and are compared with the candidates' views so you can find the one that most closely shares your views.

~

Virginia's Senate OKs ban on civil unions
By JUSTIN BERGMAN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 10, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia's Senate approved a bill Wednesday prohibiting the recognition of same-sex civil unions from other states, a move one senator said tells gays and lesbians to "essentially stay out of Virginia."

~


Amendment debate could hinge on normally powerless ideological minorities
By Jennifer Peter, Associated Press, 3/10/2004 18:07
BOSTON (AP) The fate of Massachusetts' gay marriage debate Thursday could hinge on two of Beacon Hill's normally powerless ideological minorities, who suddenly find themselves with an unexpectedly strong voice in a deeply splintered Legislature.

2nd gay marriage bill stalled
Some want to add adultery to ban

By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/09/04
Some Democrats could try to add a ban on adultery to a proposed same-sex marriage ban in the next round of the battle to amend the state constitution.
The state House of Representatives on Tuesday initially rejected an alternative gay-marriage ban proposed by state Rep. Jeanette Jamieson (D-Toccoa), but her proposal is far from dead and a new battle appears to be brewing.


~

N.J. Town Stops Gay Marriage Applications
JEFFREY GOLD
Associated Press
ASBURY PARK, N.J. - City officials voted Wednesday to stop accepting marriage license applications from gay couples, but also voted to file a lawsuit seeking court approval to continue issuing such licenses.
The City Council acted after state Attorney General Peter C. Harvey threatened criminal prosecution if city officials did not stop granting the licenses.
"I've had friends who were beaten for no other reason than they were gay," Councilman John M. Loffredo said. "For us to deny anyone the right to marry is wrong."

March 8, 2004 Contact:
For Immediate Release Julie Dorf
Director of Philanthropic Services
415.398.2333 x103

Murder of Gwen Araujo Spurs Philanthropic Fund

SAN FRANCISCO - With the Gwen Araujo murder trial set to begin on March 15, Gwens family, community activists, and Horizons Foundation have joined forces to create the Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund for Transgender Education. This fund will make small grants to school programs that promote understanding of transgender people and issues among youth. Gwens mother, Sylvia Guerrero, said, *I am so committed to ensuring that what happened to my daughter does not happen to anyone else. The hatred of others because they are different must stop, and this fund will help break the cycle of ignorance and violence ? with kids in
their schools and with their parents.*

Horizons Foundation is a philanthropic social justice organization that has been serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community throughout the Bay Area for more than 20 years. ?As a community foundation, Horizons has a special responsibility to pull together all LGBT people in the Bay Area, through a vehicle such as this fund, to help end the kind of violence and hatred that led to Gwens death, said Roger Doughty, Executive Director of Horizons Foundation. We are proud to be the home of the fund and to work closely with Gwens family and other members of our community to have a real impact on youth.

For more information and press photos, see Horizons Foundation


Horizons Foundation; 870 Market, Suite 728; San Francisco, CA 94102; Telephone 415.398.2333; Fax 415.398.4783; info@horizonsfoundation.org; Horizons Foundation


Horizons Foundation is a social justice philanthropic organization
serving the entire spectrum of LGBT communities. To fulfill this
mission, Horizons creates strong organizations meeting the needs,
advancing the rights, and celebrating the lives of LGBT people and
communities; generates a diverse group of informed, generous supporters giving time, energy, and resources to the LGBT community; and educates the public about the nature and impacts of homophobia.

Of legal hurdles and ‘licentious acts’... (from indian press)


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Sarah Lawrence College accomodates transgender students
by Stacy Waite, College Editor
March 10, 2004

Students who cannot make a decision between the traditional male or female bathrooms will not be forced to choose at Sarah Lawrence College next year.


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TV crew attacked by man over gay marriage debate
11:47 AM PST on Wednesday, March 10, 2004
By ELISA HAHN, KING Staff
The debate about gay marriage has escalated into violence in Portland as a TV crew was attacked.
The attacker had left violent death threats on the voicemail of two Multnomah County commissioners.

Brandon Rogers said he meant every hateful word he said when asked about the phone messages he left for the two county commissioners.



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Politicians hit a hot button
Gay marriage debate has drawn elected officials into roles that may affect their futures - and shape opinion on the issue.
By Noel c. Paul and Sara B. Miller | Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor
BOSTON
– Massachusetts lawmakers will reconvene Thursday to continue work they left unfinished a month ago: deciding how to handle the sensitive question of gay marriage.

Senate Holds Hearings on Judicial ‘Activism’
by Bob Roehr
2004-03-10
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on gay marriage was the subject of a hearing by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3. Its title, “Judicial Activism vs. Democracy,” was an indication of how subcommittee chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas, viewed the subject.


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A call for action in IL... spread the word.. let everyone you know in IL...


Marriage Protest on Cook County Clerk’s Office, Ald. Mell’s Daughter Arrested
by Cathy Seabaugh
2004-03-10
All activists are invited to join Illinois state Rep. Larry McKeon and 44th ward Ald. Tom Tunney, both openly gay elected officials, at the Dirksen Federal Building. 219 S. Dearborn, on Thursday, March 11, where the two have planned a 1 p.m. appearance at the local office of Dennis Hastert, this nation’s Speaker of the House, who grew up less than 50 miles from Chicago


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Views: No Middle Ground
by Michelangelo Signorile
2004-03-10
The irony couldn’t have been more chilling when George W. Bush was questioned about his support for the hate amendment—aka the federal marriage amendment—during a meeting with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Here is Bush, standing next to a leader from a country that has certainly seen its share of hate in the 20th century, but which now has among the most enlightened policies in Europe regarding gays, who have partnership rights in Germany.

“I believe it is important to affirm that marriage of a man and woman is ideal,” Bush said, “and the job of the president is to drive policy toward the ideal.”

The ideal? Sounds frighteningly like a certain previous German leader who had his own ideals—physical ideals, racial ideals, ethnic ideals, among many others—that he too made government policy. Can you imagine what was going through Schroeder’s mind? y


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Local Lesbian Couple Defends Their Marriage
Lauren Kalb
The Minnesota House of Representatives Tuesday heard testimony on a plan to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage. The issue hits home for one local Northland couple, who've had to fight to get the same rights as other spouses.


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Views: Throwing Rice
by Mubarak Dahir
2004-03-10
I have been amazed at the rash of gay marriage outbreaks that have been spreading throughout the country the past month.


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Jersey, Washington Marriage Maneuvers
2004-03-10
“Asbury Park began issuing marriage licenses [Monday] to lesbian and gay couples. At least one couple has received a marriage license already,” reports Lambda Legal Defense. “It is remarkable when government officials stand up for equality.
We support and congratulate all the jurisdictions across the country that have taken this courageous action, including Asbury Park.”


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Court Approves Resolution Against Gay Marriage
Pulaski County Quorum Court Member Writes Resolution
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A panel of the Pulaski County Quorum Court approved a resolution Tuesday reaffirming the

Cheney Stars in Gay Republicans' Anti-Bush Ad
Log Cabin Republicans, a gay group that supported President Bush's election, plans to run a TV commercial opposing the president's call for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The unwitting star of the ad: Vice President Dick Cheney.


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Minorities Weigh In On Gay Marriage
BY JEFFREY KOSSEFF
c.2004 Newhouse News Service
WASHINGTON --
As Congress debates whether a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage would be discriminatory, both sides are seeking support from other minority groups who are all too familiar with discrimination


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FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE SHOCK JOCKS


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Jamieson votes no
By Ross Willis
Georgia-Rep. Jeanette Jamieson did not change her mind on the same sex marriage amendment, but rather she had to vote against the legislation because it is flawed.


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City hears feedback on marriages, municipal relations
By: Jill Raygor March 10, 2004
Last Monday's announcement by Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson offering city legal backing to any same-sex couple denied the right to marry by the state resulted in her receiving more than 40 e-mails within two days time, she said at last Wednesday's Common Council meeting.

However, only one member of the gay community addressed council during its March session.
Richard Livingston, a Town of Ithaca resident, was well received by the council. After congratulating the city for taking a stance on gay marriage he said that not enough was being done.

"I am being denied by the city and the town my constitutional right," said Livingston, who filed for a marriage license on March 1 with the town. "I am making the public aware that I will not shut up and I will not step back from my right that everybody else in Ithaca has."

New Jersey Closes Door to More Applications For Gay Marriage Licenses
March 10, 2004
Michael Christopher Bryan
ASBURY PARK, N.J.—
Members of the Asbury Park City Council on Wednesday morning closed the doors of the clerk's office to gay couples, refusing to accept any more applications for same-sex marriage licenses.


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California state senator marries S.F. couples
California state senator Sheila Kuehl married six couples on Monday, including Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg and her partner of 28 years, poet and activist Sharon Stricker, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Adebate over what constitutes art -- and what is too offensive to put on public display -- boiled over at Salt Lake Community College on Tuesday when an angry student took down photographs depicting Mormon missionaries in sexually intimate situations.


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Rudy opposes gay nups ban
By JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Rudy Giuliani doesn't support constitutional ban on gay marriages, he said yesterday.

WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani came out yesterday against President Bush's call for a ban on gay marriage.


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Gay marriage, anti-gay marriage bills frozen in committee


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Gay, lesbian teachers reluctantly live a lie
Want to come out but worry about safety, job


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NY Cardinal Lectures Assembly On 'Evils' Of Gay Marriage


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Dutch mayor backs US mayor on gay marriage

in many states constitutional amendments being pushed to the fall elections.

do not let this happen . . . amendment 2 was passed by the majority, imposing its will in the minority.. call if you live in MASSACHUSETTS . . . the constitution committee convenes on thursday.. call your representative today..

MA rep- contacts: (click here)

Supporters rally for gay marriage


Anti-gay violence on rise
Colorado program getting more reports
By Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News
March 10, 2004

Reports of violence and harassment against Colorado's gay community more than doubled in the second half of last year, and activists worry the trend is likely to continue as controversial issues remain in the national spotlight.

Protestors sing their opposition
3/10/2004 9:58 AM
By: Capital News 9 web staff
Demonstrators voiced their opposition against same-sex marriage today.


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City Backs Away From Taking a Stand Gay Marriage
Mar. 10, 2004
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP) --
City officials have backed away from taking a stand against gay marriage


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Marriage resolution falls short in House
03/10/2004
March 10, 2004

Gays and Democratic legislators are hailing the failure of a Michigan House proposal that would have asked voters whether they wanted to change the state constitution to limit marriage to between a man and woman


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Asbury Park votes to stop taking marriage license applications from gay couples
By JEFFREY GOLD
Associated Press Writer
March 10, 2004, 10:11 AM EST
ASBURY PARK, N.J. --
The Asbury Park City Council voted Wednesday to stop taking applications from gay couples seeking marriage licenses, but to file a lawsuit seeking a court ruling allowing them to resume. The vote was 5-0.


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County joins S.F. in same-sex marriage fight
By BRIAN SEALS
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
SANTA CRUZ — "Euphoria."
That was Bob Correa’s feeling moments after the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved a trio of pro-same-sex marriage measures Tuesday morning to a standing ovation.

"This is really exciting," said Correa, executive director of the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz. "It gives us what we need, a grassroots response. Having our love questioned as being less than someone else’s by our government is inexcusable.


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Support growing for same-sex civil unions, allowing states to regulate gay marriage
Richard Morin, Claudia Deane, Washington Post
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Washington -- Public support appears to be growing for legalizing civil unions for gay couples, as well as for allowing states to make their own laws regulating same-sex marriage, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.


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Same-Sex Civil Unions Gain Backing in USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Fifty-four percent of Americans favor making civil unions legal for gay couples, giving them some rights, according to a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll.

Civil unions are opposed by 42 percent of respondents, a reversal from July for those favoring the unions, the newspaper said. The earlier poll found 57 percent opposed to civil unions, with 40 percent favoring them, the paper said.