gay rights

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Anti-Gay Sermon Costs Pastor Role at Inauguration

Louie Giglio will no longer give benediction

(Newser) - The pastor who was supposed to deliver the benediction at President Obama's inauguration will no longer do so because of an anti-gay sermon he gave in the mid 1990s, reports NBC News . It was a long time ago, but it was also a doozy of a sermon by the...

Barney Frank Gives Hagel a Pass on Gay Comments

But Republican group is less forgiving

(Newser) - With Afghanistan and defense spending at stake, Barney Frank is willing to overlook an anti-gay remark. "I was hoping the president wouldn’t nominate" Chuck Hagel for defense secretary, the gay-rights activist and former Democratic lawmaker tells the Boston Globe . But "as much as I regret what Hagel...

Same-Sex Marriages Begin in Maryland

NYE brings wedding bells to first Southern state to legalize gay marriage

(Newser) - New Year's Eve parties overlapped with Maryland's first same-sex marriage parties as 2013 began in the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to legalize gay marriage. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake married 68-year-old mayor's office employee James Scales to his male partner of 35 years shortly after...

Maine Sees First Gay Marriages

Couples wed as new law takes effect

(Newser) - Arriving in a limo, Donna Galluzzo and Lisa Gorney had all the trappings of a traditional wedding: Rings, flowers, wedding vows, an entourage, and a friend to officiate. They were among the first gay couples to exchange wedding vows early this morning after Maine's same-sex marriage law went into...

Court Lets 'Gay Conversion' Therapy Continue, for Now

California law prohibiting it for minors won't take effect next month

(Newser) - Advocates of a practice to "cure" gay teens of their homosexuality through therapy won a court fight in California yesterday. A federal appeals court ruled that such "gay conversion" therapies can continue until the constitutionality of a state law blocking the practice is decided, reports the San Francisco ...

Scalia Spars With Student on Gay Rights

Duncan Hosie asks justice how he can equate sodomy and murder

(Newser) - A Princeton freshman took Antonin Scalia to task yesterday, asking the Supreme Court justice how he can compare sodomy to bestiality and murder in his writings. "I don't think it's necessary, but I think it's effective," Scalia told the student during a question and answer...

Wash. Begins Gay Marriages at Midnight

Couples line up for 1st chance to marry legally

(Newser) - Same-sex couples in Washington state started saying wedding vows early today, just minutes into the first day they could marry after the state's gay marriage law took effect. Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples picked up their marriage licenses as early as 12:01am Thursday, but because of the...

Judges Disagree on Calif. 'Gay Cure' Ban

Higher court will likely have to get involved: expert

(Newser) - Less than 24 hours after a federal judge blocked California's new ban on "gay cures," a second federal judge in a separate case declined to interfere with the law. Both cases involve therapists who want the law banning gay-to-straight "conversion therapy" overturned. The second judge's...

Judge to CA: You Can't Ban 'Gay Cures'

Temporary injunction blocks new law from being applied to 3 people

(Newser) - Sorry, California, but you can't ban gay-to-straight "conversion" therapy for minors just yet, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in September prohibiting so-called "gay cures," the first law of its kind in the US. But the judge found that the law,...

Bible Forbids Gay Marriage? Get Real
Bible Forbids Gay Marriage?
Get Real
OPINION

Bible Forbids Gay Marriage? Get Real

Its spirit of compassion does no such thing: CS Pearce

(Newser) - Conservative Christians make the case that the Bible forbids gay marriage, so why have so many middle-of-the-road churchgoers changed their minds to support the idea? Because a familiar pattern on church matters is repeating itself, writes CS Pearce in the Los Angeles Times . It starts when more conservative members cite...

Sorry, Sarko: Carla Bruni Backs Gay Marriage

Says it's personal, not political, for her

(Newser) - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy opposes gay marriage—but his wife feels otherwise. With the country considering a bill to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption, Bruni tells France's Vogue that she's "rather in favor because I have a lot of friends—men and women—who are in...

Anti-Gay Marriage Parisians Clash With Topless Activists

Catholic marchers attack counter-protesters

(Newser) - Clashes erupted in Paris yesterday when topless protesters from the Ukrainian group Femen challenged a Catholic-led march to oppose gay marriage. The activists were punched and pushed to the ground after chanting "In Gay We Trust" and spraying white powder from bottles, the AP reports. A law proposed by...

Overlooked Key to Obama Victory: Gay Voters

They favored the president 3 to 1, says NYT

(Newser) - The role of gay voters in President Obama's re-election hasn't gotten much attention, but a New York Times story makes the case that it was a "decisive" factor. Exit polls showed that 5% of voters identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and Obama had their overwhelming support...

Uganda Gov't Announces 'Christmas Gift': Anti-Gay Law

It would punish anyone who promotes gay rights

(Newser) - The speaker of Uganda's parliament has promised a "Christmas gift" to the country's conservative Christian clerics: one of the world's harshest anti-gay laws. Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda, but the bill the speaker has vowed to pass before the end of the year bans...

Gay Marriage: What Would Lincoln Do?
 Gay Marriage: 
 What Would 
 Lincoln Do? 

OPINION

Gay Marriage: What Would Lincoln Do?

Former president put practicality first: Cass Sunstein

(Newser) - Abraham Lincoln was deeply opposed to slavery—but when it came to the politics of ending the travesty, he took a highly practical approach, writes Cass Sunstein at Bloomberg . As a Senate candidate, Lincoln refused to call for immediate abolition, arguing that it wouldn't have public support. "A...

Washington State Backs Gay Marriage

Joins four-state Election Day sweep

(Newser) - Voters have approved same-sex marriage in Washington state after a tight vote, meaning marriage-equality advocates won all four of their Election Day battles: Maine and Maryland backed gay marriage, while Minnesota nixed a constitutional ban on such unions. Opponents conceded yesterday in Washington: "With additional results showing that we...

Malawi Stops Arresting Gays ... for Now

Parliament considers dumping anti-gay laws entirely

(Newser) - As Malawi's parliament considers whether to dump the African nation's anti-gay laws, the Justice Minister has had the laws banning same-sex relationships temporarily suspended, Reuters reports. Police have been ordered not to arrest gay people, who currently face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Two factors...

Preacher Blames Sandy on Gays and Obama

Romney also at fault, blogs John McTernan

(Newser) - The real cause of Hurricane Sandy has nothing to do with weather patterns: It's the fault of gay people and President Obama, who supports marriage equality, writes an extreme-right Christian preacher on his blog . "God is systematically destroying America," writes John McTernan, according to the Huffington Post...

Romney Forced Gay Parents to Alter Birth Certificates by Hand

He took a stand against gay parents in Massachusetts

(Newser) - As Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney refused to let the state alter its birth certificates for gay parents—forcing couples to cross out "father" and write "second parent" in ink, the Boston Globe reports. A Department of Public Health lawyer warned that such hand-written alterations hurt "the integrity...

Log Cabin Republicans Endorse Romney, With Qualifications

Group disagrees with Mitt on gay marriage

(Newser) - Log Cabin Republicans, the largest GOP group representing LGBT interests, has endorsed Mitt Romney for president despite his opposition to gay marriage. "It is clear that in today’s economic climate, concern for the future of our country must be the highest priority," says the group's executive...

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