Gay Marriage in New York

Tonight, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a gay marriage bill that will bring Gay Marriage to the state of New York in 30 days. A crush of gay weddings are expected, reports MSNBC.

New York will be the sixth state where Gay Marriage will be legal. The other states are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Washington, D.C. also allows Gay Marriages.

USA Today reports that a key vote, to pass the bill in the New York Senate, came from Catholic State Senator Mark Grisanti. The story quotes Grisanti as saying that although "he was raised to believe marriage is between a man and woman, he could not 'legally come up with an argument against same-sex marriage . . . .'"

To read the USA Today story, click here.

To read the MSNBC story, click here.

For additional coverage, click on the links below.

To read CNN's coverage, click here.
To read the Washington Post's coverage, click here.

Gay Dad's on Father's Day

On a day honoring fathers, CBS News had as a major item a story entitled "Two Dads' Top 10 Things learned from their child." The story lists 10 items a gay couple mentions they have learned by having an adopted daughter.

To read the full CBS News story, click here.

Bullying of Against Gay-Rights Opponents

Are individuals opposed to gay-rights being subjected to discrimination or bullying? This is the question addressed by a recent Fox News article. The article quotes Jim Campbell, attorney for the Alliance Defense fund as saying that gay-rights groups advocate "for a lot of changes in the name of tolerance . . . yet ironically the tolerance is not returned, for people of faith who don't agree with their agenda."

Conversely, Evan Wolfson, president of pro-same-sex marriage group Freedom to Marry says that arguments such as Campbell's are "diversions, scare tactics and . . . playing the victim."

Fox news reports several instances where individuals or firms have been targeted because of their disagreement with same-sex marriage: Peter Vidmar stepped down as chief of mission of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, state Sen. Ruben Dias (D) has received death threats, and law firm King & Spalding terminated its service to U.S. House of Representatives Republicans seeking to defend the federal ban on same-sex marriage.

Read the complete Fox News story here.

Ad Campaign “Raise a Child” puts a Positive Spin on Gay Parenting

In January, the Pop Luck Club launched an ad campaign with the intent of reducing the stigma around gay parenting.

The ads ran in the San Fernando valley, San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles, Central Los Angeles, Long Beach, West Los Angeles, and Orange County.

Read the story here.

Visit the Pop Luck Club website here.

For the First Time, Most Americans Support Same-Sex Marriages

A new Gallup survey reports that 53% of respondents felt that same-sex marriages should be legally valid. This is a major shift from previous surveys.

...............Should be valid ...............Should not be valid

2011 ..................53%....................................45%
2010 .................44%....................................53%
2009..................40%....................................57%

The shift in opinion appears to be driven by a shift in opinion among those who identify themselves politically as Democrats or Independents.

Read the Gallup report by clicking here.

Presidential Memo Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Partners

Today, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum extending limited benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers.

President Obama acknowledged that under current law (referring to the Defense of Marriage Act) full benefits could not be given to same-sex partners of federal workers. The President then announced his support of a bill entitled the Domestic Partner's Benefits and Obligations Act which would "guarantee these rights for all federal employees".

The President pledged to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, saying that he believed it to be discriminatory and that it interfered with state's rights.

In stating that the memorandum he signed today would pave the way for, "long overdue progress in our nation's pursuit of equality," the President was in a sense echoing the sentiment of the California Supreme Court in its same-sex marriage decision of 2008 (In Re Marriage) in which the Court essentially noted that because all other benefits had been granted to same-sex couples, the state demonstrated that it had no vested interest in not allowing same-sex couples to exist as families, and hence should be granted the right of marriage.

TwoMinuteBriefing believes that the President is correct in saying that the signing of this memorandum today begins the paving of the road that will move us in the direction of granting full rights, including marriage, to same-sex couples at the federal level.

To read the CNN coverage of this story, click here.
To read the ABC News coverage of this story, click here.

The (Mormon) Church and Gay Marriage

Time Magazine has published an article online entitled "The Church and Gay Marriage: Are Mormons Misunderstood?" Although already available online, the article is dated Monday, June 22, 2009.

The article describes the involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the California Proposition 8 campaign in some detail, including the theological underpinnings for its opposition to same-sex marriage.

In commenting on this article, a posting on Examiner.com's Salt Lake City page agrees that religions should be allowed to "fight for what they view as right". However, the article immediately goes on to quote a talk by Mark E. Peterson given at BYU in 1954 in which he warns against the "Negro" desiring not only equal rights but "absorption with the white race" through intermarriage.

The Examiner article concludes by stating that just as the "morality", as defined by the Church in 1954, opposed civil rights, the Church's "morality" opposes civil rights today. "The arguments haven't changed, only the target of discrimination."

To access the Time Magazine article, click here.
To access the Examiner.com article, click here.

New Hampshire Legalizes Same-sex Marriage

Last week, Governor John Lynch signed into law a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in New Hampshire.

The bill signed by the Governor had been revised at his request to specify that religious organization would not be forced to participate in same-sex unions or be required to allow same-sex marriages to occur on their properties.

Still, some felt that the bill did not go far enough to protect those who object to same-sex marriages. For example, whereas religious organizations and their employees are protected from being forced to participate in same-sex marriages, florists, caterers, or photographers are not.

With regard to the signing of the bill, Neil G. Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is quoted in a New York Times articles as saying, "our culture is moving to equality."

To read the New York Times story, click here.

Summit County, Utah, Will Study Giving Health Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Summit County in Utah is examining the possibility of giving health benefits to unmarried domestic partners of county employees, including same-sex partners.

Some may feel that the granting of health benefits to same-sex partners is relatively innocuous.

However, the Supreme Court of California in its 2008 decision in the In Re Marriage cases specifically sited the existence of same-sex domestic partnerships, and the privileges granted to those partnerships, as the rational for determining that same-sex couples should have the right to marry.

To view the Salt Lake Tribune story, click here.

Gay Marriage Supporters Sound the Warning - The Mormons are Coming!

Acting upon their sentiment that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) played a significant role in the passage of Prop. 8 in California, the Group Californians Against Hate have sought to place ads on newspaper web sites in the states of New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island and Maine warning readers that "The Mormons are coming!"

The ads were rejected by sites in three of the states, including Maine's Kennebec Journal which the Washington Post reported as feeling that the ad "borders on insulting and denigrating a whole set of people based on their religion."

Fred Karger, formerly a Republican campaign consultant and founder of Californians Against Hate, feels that Mormons are the "nicest people" and that "they do wonderful things." However, his goal "is to get them out of the same-sex marriage business and back to helping hurricane victims."

As a political strategist, he knows his numbers, and will seek to take advantage of the fact that almost 80% of Americans know or work with a gay person, while slightly less than 50% know a Mormon.

Whereas this could be viewed as a challenge to the LDS Church, it may actually be an opportunity for them to spur their members on to become overall more visible, more openly "Mormon" with their colleagues, their neighbors and their friends.

To read the Washington Post article, click here.
To read Fred Krager's comments on The Huffington Post, click here.

Cheney Favors State-by-State Decisions on Gay Marriage

The Washington Post reported this week that former vice president Richard Cheney has come out in favor of Gay Marriage as decided on a state-by-state basis.

Cheney is quoted as saying, "people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kid of arrangement they wish."

Cheney has a personal interest in the matter, given that his youngest daughter is a lesbian and has a longtime partner.

That someone as prominent in the Republican party would make such a clear statement favoring Gay Marriage brings to mind the issues discussed by TwoMinuteBriefing in its analysis, Moral Right or Political Might which noted that some Republican party insiders were encouraging the party to acquiesce on Gay Marriage in order to stay politically viable.

To read the Washington Post article, click here.
To access the TwoMinuteBriefing analysis Moral Right or Political Might, click here, or visit: www.TwoMinuteBriefing.com.

Catholic Charities Must Allow Gay Adoption in England and Wales

On June 1st, a English Charity Tribunal (administrative court) ruled that Catholic Care must consider same-sex couples as potential foster or adoptive parents, or otherwise they could not continue to operate as an adoption agency.

Catholic Care is the social services agency of the Diocese of Leeds.

The ruling was based on an application of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.

Most of the 11 other Catholic adoption agencies in England and Wales have chosen to become independent "secular" agencies in order to continue operations while not violating the Catholic Church's stand regarding same-sex unions.

In January of 2007, the Church of England had expressed its opinion that the Catholic Church should be exempt from the application of this Act. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, in a joint letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that the, "rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation."

Links:

British court: Church adoption agency must include same-sex couples
Catholic charities breaking law on homosexual adotion
Church of England supports Catholic position on homosexual adoption

The Selling of Homosexuality

The din subsequent to the California Supreme Court decision on Proposition 8 to be issued May 26^th at 10:00 a.m. may cause attention to focus on the protests, the protesters, their cause etc. and by doing so, two critical points may become lost: first, the legal decision itself, and second, and perhaps more important, how the protest or celebrations themselves fit into the broader plan of selling homosexuality to America.

Read about how a plan written in 1990 for selling Homosexuality to America is being implemented today in a new TwoMinuteBriefing entitled “The Selling of Homosexuality”.

To access this TwoMinuteBriefing, visit www.TwoMinuteBriefing.com or simply click here.

Official - California Supreme Court WILL Issue an Opinion on Proposition 8 on Tuesday

The California Supreme Court website has posted the following information:

The California Supreme Court has announced that it will issue an opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.) Tuesday at 10 a.m., the opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site at this link: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/.

Gay-marriage momentum stalls in R.I.

Rhode Island is bucking the trend sweeping New England of accepting same-sex marriage. An AP story posted on MSNBC states that religion is likely the biggest hurdle. Results from a Trinity College survey showed that 46% of Rhode Islanders identify themselves as being Roman Catholic making their state the most Catholic state in the Union.

Bishop of Providence Rhode Island Thomas J. Tobin has been unwaveringly firm in his denunciation of same-sex marriage. He has blamed the progress of same-sex marriage in part on "abysmal" Catholic apathy, has reemphasized Catholic teachings on sexual morality, and has stated that same-sex "marriage" is a threat to religious freedom.

In a Catholic News Agency story, Bishop Tobin is quoted as saying, “The gay culture continues to seep into our popular culture, cleverly claiming credibility."

Whereas some see this as an issue of civil rights, Bishop Tobin is quoted in the AP story as saying, "We don't see it as a civil rights issue because there's never a right to do something that's morally wrong."

As would be expected, some in favor of same-sex marriage see this as just another example of religion teaching bigotry. In a comment posted to the Catholic News Service story, one individual wrote:

The Catholic Church and the Mormon Church need to get together. Oh...they did in California. Never mind that the Mormon leaders call the Catholic Church the "Whore of All the Earth". Believe me I know they do, I was a missionary for the Church...No longer am a member of it, nor of any church. Almost all churches teach hate and I really don't want to be a part of any of them.

To read the AP/MSNBC story, click here.
To read the Catholic News Service story, click here.

Domestic Partnerships - Gay Marriage

Susan Estrich, in her commentary entitled The Real World of Gay Marriage states:

But calling it a "domestic partnership" rather than a "marriage" is a slap in the face, either a distinction without a real difference (and thus unjustified) or a sign of inferior status, of lesser rights and second-class citizenship that cannot be justified by any interest of the states. Religions are free to marry whomever they want; what the Bible does or doesn't say, however, is not the province of the State. No one is telling the Mormon Church what it can do with respect to gay marriage. The Mormon Church should not be telling us.

This commentary was headlined in Rasmussen Reports daily public opinion update of March 6, 2009, which of course was the day that arguments were presented before the Supreme Court of California regarding the legality of Proposition 8, passed last November by California voters.

As other states look to pass “domestic partnership” arrangements, Susan Estrich’s statement above and California’s example should be carefully examined. It was California’s then existing “domestic partnership” arrangements that the Supreme Court of California used in part to justify its pro gay marriage decision in the In Re Marriage Cases (2008) 43 Cal.4th 757 [76 Cal.Rptr.3d 683, 183 P.3d 384], and which ultimately has led to the Prop 8 battle before the court today.

READ Susn Estrich’s commentary in Rasmussen Report here.

Gay Marriage in Connecticut

On October 10th, the Supreme Court of Connecticut issued a ruling in the case of Elizabeth Kerrigan et al. v. Commissioner of Public Health et al. (SC17716) in which it effectively legalized Gay Marriage in Connecticut.

On October 28th, the ruling became official when it was published in the Connecticut Law Journal. What follows is a mandatory 10-day period when motions for reconsideration can be filed.

It is assumed that on the week of November 10th (the specific date will be determined by a judge in the New Haven Superior Court), Connecticut will begin marrying Gay and Lesbian couples.

That this court decision has received relatively little attention in the press, or apparently among supporters of traditional marriage, is to some degree an indication of how the battle over Proposition 8 in California may have made supporters of traditional marriage a bit myopic. While the battle in California merits significant attention, it is just a single battle. The war over the definition of marriage rages on along many fronts.

Hallmark Introduces Gay Marriage Cards

AP reported today that Hallmark Cards, the nation's largest greeting card company is now producing same-sex wedding cards.

The AP story indicated that Hallmark was doing this in response to consumer demand. American Greeting, Hallmark's biggest competitor, apparently has no plans to market same-sex wedding cards.

One wonders what Hallmark would do if consumers "demanded" that Hallmark not produce same-sex wedding cards.

Click below to read the full AP story.

Gay Marriage Cards

You can email Hallmark by clicking on the link below

Hallmark

A War We Have Already Won

From time to time the question is raised as to whether there is a "Gay Agenda". Whether or not it would be considered a Gay agenda, or merely a declaration of a goal achieved, the following quote is interesting.

“A solid majority of young people under the age of 24 believe that same gender partners should have the right to marry. So the Supreme Court is just one more battle in a war we have already won, be it for the next generation.” (emphasis added) (Robin Byler, Lesbian News, March 2008, Vol. 33 Issue 8, p. 9)

With the outcome of same-sex marriage in California still to be determined this November by Proposition 8, it would seem clear that the claim of victory is not in reference to legal victory, but rather to having won over the opinions of the coming generation.

PG&E Supports Gay Marriage

On July 30th, 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that the California utility PG&E had donated $250,000 to the No on Proposition 8 campaign. The proposition would define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The Times reported that PG&E was working to form a business advisory council to encourage other California businesses to work toward defeating the initiative.

That businesses are entering this initiative battle is a change from the initiative battle in 2000 in which businesses generally did not participate.

The full story can be found at - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs30-2008jul30,0,5258899.story