gay rights

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Calif. Dems Urge State Court to Dump Gay Marriage Ban

Supporters call move a 'hail mary'

(Newser) - Democratic legislators in California have filed a brief calling on the state Supreme Court to reject a ballot proposition that would ban gay marriage in the state, the Los Angeles Times reports. The measure, Proposition 8, passed by some 500,000 votes. The lawmakers argue that such sweeping change would...

Schwarzenegger Says Married Gays Will Stay Wed

Calif. guv encourages protesters to continue

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger gave his strongest support yet to gays and lesbians in California yesterday, saying that currently married same-sex couples would remain legally wed and that he hoped the courts would overturn Proposition 8. The ballot initiative, which amended California's constitution to define marriage as explicitly heterosexual, has left the...

Prop 8 Splits California's Gays, Blacks

African-Americans argue gay marriage isn't a civil rights issue

(Newser) - California's narrowly passed ban on gay marriage has divided many of the state's gays and blacks on the issue, the Los Angeles Times reports. Exit polls show that black voters—who turned out in record numbers—backed the ban by around 70%, the biggest margin of any ethnic group. Some...

Gay Bishop, Obama Discuss Dangers of Being 'First'

Obama camp sought out Robinson three times

(Newser) - Barack Obama had three private conversations with the Episcopal Church’s only openly gay bishop during the campaign to discuss what it meant to be "first," the Times of London reports. “The first words out of his mouth were: ‘Well you’re certainly causing a lot...

Gay-Rights Backers Sue to Block Prop 8

They call the measure an illegal amendment to Calif. constitution

(Newser) - Supporters of gay marriage in California are going to court following the defeat of Proposition 8, filing suit today in a long-shot bid to overturn the voters’ decision, the Los Angeles Times reports. They argue that the ballot measure illegally takes away rights of a minority group and amounts to...

Despite Prop. 8, Gay Rights Will Prevail: Sullivan

All civil-rights struggles have setbacks, gay Atlantic scribe reminds

(Newser) - Though news of California banning gay marriage is “heart-breaking,” Andrew Sullivan takes solace in the progress that has been achieved for gay rights, he writes for the Atlantic. Marriages, like Sullivan’s own, performed in Massachusetts or Connecticut are still valid. The California initiative can be rolled back,...

Calif. Passes Gay-Marriage Ban

Measure narrowly passes after sides pumped $70M into campaign

(Newser) - California voters have narrowly decided to ban gay marriage, the Wall Street Journal reports. Proposition 8, which will amend the state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, currently commands a 52.1%-47.9% lead with 94.6% of precincts reporting. The decision is a...

Secretive Gay Donors Back Candidates Nationwide

Group of donors organizes to put millions of dollars behind pro-gay pols

(Newser) - A secretive group of wealthy gay activists who call themselves the Cabinet has been pouring huge sums into defeating anti-gay political candidates across the country, Time reports. The seven members of the Cabinet are estimated to have injected at least $7.8 million into races nationwide since 2004, and have...

Obama Abandons Principle by Hedging on Gay Marriage

(Newser) - Barack Obama and Democrats in general are "pretty squishy" on the issue of gay marriage, and that's a disgrace, writes Joshua Holland at AlterNet.org. The reticence to embrace full marriage rights for all is a betrayal of  the "very important progressive ideal that the law should apply...

Denis Leary Slammed for Gay Slur
Denis Leary Slammed
for Gay Slur

Denis Leary Slammed for Gay Slur

Blames parents and Catholic Church

(Newser) - After stirring up a storm with his comments on autism, actor Denis Leary in now in trouble for defending his use of the word "fag," reports the New York Post. The Rescue Me star blamed his parents and the Catholic Church for his use of the gay slur...

Calif. Gay Marriages Surge Past Mass.

But upcoming vote may change the rules

(Newser) - Gay marriage has been legal in California for just 3 months, and already some 11,000 same-sex couples have tied the knot—more than in Massachusetts in 4 years, a UCLA study found. But things may change next month when Californians vote on whether to amend the state constitution to...

Calif. Ban on Gay Marriage Losing Steam

Prop. 8 proponents fall off after change in language explicitly limits personal rights

(Newser) - More Californians are opposing a gay-marriage ban there after language in the measure was made more explicit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A Field Poll showed a sharp increase in the majority who would vote no, from 51% in July to 55% today. A clause that would place a “...

Lesbian Rights Pioneer Dies
 Lesbian Rights Pioneer Dies

Lesbian Rights Pioneer Dies

87-year-old activist Del Martin one of first to wed

(Newser) - Veteran lesbian rights pioneer Del Martin has died in San Francisco at age 87. Martin, founder of one of the first gay rights organizations, Daughters of Bilitis, had been in declining health for years, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. She and her partner were among the first same sex couples...

Gay Gallery Owner in Fla. Alleges Police Discrimination

Says 'rednecked' St. Pete wants him out

(Newser) - The owner of an erotic art gallery in St. Petersburg plans to sue the city following a police raid, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Bill Schramm was arrested last week on charges of unlawfully exposing private parts—his exhibit featured a naked man hanging from the ceiling, running afoul of...

Bigoted 'Don't Ask' Has No Support, Must Go Now
Bigoted 'Don't Ask' Has No Support, Must Go Now
opinion

Bigoted 'Don't Ask' Has No Support, Must Go Now

Policy does more harm than good

(Newser) - On the occasion of the first “don’t ask, don’t tell” congressional hearing in 15 years, John Cloud revisits the policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military in Time and deems it “a tissue of barely disguised bigotry.” He contends that the policy...

Lesbian Islanders Lose Lesbian Lawsuit

They demanded exclusive rights to call themselves Lesbians

(Newser) - Residents of the Greek island of Lesbos have lost a legal battle to block the use of the word lesbian to describe a sexual preference. An Athens court threw out a lawsuit an islander filed against a Greek gay rights group with lesbian in its name, arguing that  they have...

Americans Now Favor 'Don't Ask, Do Tell'

Acceptance of openly gay military enlistees surges to 75%

(Newser) - In the 15 years since the inception of the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay servicemen and women, public opinion on the issue has shifted dramatically. In 1993, 44% of Americans said openly gay people should be allowed to enlist; a Washington Post-ABC News poll now...

Journo 'Ecstatic' Over Demise of HIV Travel Ban
Journo 'Ecstatic' Over Demise of HIV Travel Ban
OPINION

Journo 'Ecstatic' Over Demise of HIV Travel Ban

'Massive burden lifted' for gay, HIV-positive Brit Sullivan

(Newser) - HIV-positive journalist Andrew Sullivan is “ecstatic” over yesterday's passage by the Senate of a bill that would lift a US ban on visitors and immigrants with the virus that causes AIDS, he writes in his Atlantic blog. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's one of the...

No Stopping Gay Marriage's Mass. Appeal
 No Stopping
 Gay Marriage's
 Mass. Appeal 
Opinion

No Stopping Gay Marriage's Mass. Appeal

Equality has been uphill climb for homosexuals, but history's on their side

(Newser) - With Massachusetts legislators set to repeal a law ex-Gov. Mitt Romney hoped would prevent the state from becoming “the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage,” Gail Collins, in the New York Times, looks at the march toward equality. For one thing, with the economy the way it is, “...

Calif. Court Leaves Gay Marriage Ban on the Ballot

Sides prepare for November showdown

(Newser) - A voter initiative to ban gay marriage is staying on California’s ballot this November, the state’s supreme court ruled unanimously yesterday, setting the stage for a bitter November battle. Gay rights groups had argued that the proposition was an illegal constitutional revision, and that petitions for the initiative...

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