Gay Marriage in Washington, DC: Coming Tuesday at 12:01 am
The D.C. Council has passed a gay marriage recognition bill. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has signed it. The Board of Elections and Ethics has rejected a referendum effort aimed at overturning it. A Superior Court judge has upheld that decision.
So, barring intervention from the D.C. Court of Appeals—and, according to a court spokesperson, no appeal was filed by close of business today—gay marriages will very soon be legal in the District of Columbia.
Brian Flowers, the general counsel for the D.C. Council and the official counter of congressional review days, tells LL today that, by his count, the review period will end at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7.
Now, if you’re expecting a big public spectacle at that hour—couples heading down to the courthouse at midnight, mass weddings at city hall, etc.—you may be disappointed: A recognition of an out-of-state marriage is something that does not require any official action on the District’s part; if you have a valid marriage license from Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, or California (issued during the 14-week period that it was legal there), you will automatically be considered married in the District.
However, newly legitimate couples are free, of course, to party however they wish.
See Gay Marriage in Washington, DC: Coming Tuesday at 12:01 am
Washington City Paper
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Why Libertarians Are Courting Gays and Lesbians KPBS
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): I’m Maureen Cavanaugh. You’re listening to These Days on KPBS. Candidate Barack Obama said several things gay and lesbian voters were very happy to hear. While he never lent his support for gay marriage, Obama said he was against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military and that he would sign legislation repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. So, many gay people were enthusiastic supporters of Barack Obama’s campaign, and when he became president they waited for him to make good on his promises. They are still waiting. And while they wait, some in the LGBT community are boycotting Democratic fundraising events and writing about re-examining their political affiliations. It is in this atmosphere that a third political party sees an opportunity. Can the Libertarian Party, with its support of same-sex marriage, become a comfortable place for disappointed gay voters?
KPBS Political Correspondent Gloria Penner is here to discuss the issue, and good morning, Gloria.
See Why Libertarians Are Courting Gays and Lesbians
KPBS
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National Guard: Gay Iraq veteran must leave service
A panel of New York National Guard officers has recommended that an Iraq war veteran who acknowledged his homosexuality must leave the service, his supporters said Tuesday.
First Lt. Dan Choi disclosed in March that he is gay, challenging the 1994 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that requires the military to discharge troops who disclose their sexual orientation. Tuesday’s ruling, made after a daylong hearing, is a step toward stripping Choi of his officer’s commission and ending his career.
“It’s disappointing, but not unexpected,” said Sue Fulton, a spokeswoman for Knights Out, a group of gay and lesbian West Point alumni Choi helped found.
See National Guard: Gay Iraq veteran must leave service CNN International
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Se3nate Power struggle impedes New York gay marriage vote
New York’s annual Gay Pride parade was a colorful celebration of 40 years of progress toward civil rights for gays, but once the dust settled, gay couples who wish to marry in New York state remain thwarted.
A bill to legalize gay marriage in the state that saw the dawn of the gay rights movement is mired in political stalemate in the state capital Albany, where Democrats and Republicans are battling over control of the state Senate.
“I had hoped today’s march would have been a bit of a wedding march. It’s not,” Christine Quinn, the gay speaker of the New York City Council, said at Sunday’s Gay Pride parade. Held annually, this year’s event marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York’s Greenwich Village, which triggered the modern U.S. gay rights movement.
“We are disappointed. … But I know there have been other times our community has been disappointed and you need to keep fighting,” Quinn said at the start of the parade, which organizers said drew more than a million people.
Gay couples can marry in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa and will be allowed marry in Vermont starting in September and in New Hampshire from January. Other states offer same-sex unions that grant many of the same rights as marriage.
See Power struggle impedes New York gay marriage vote
Reuters
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Private meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at convention will address sexuality, ministry
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, July 01, 2009
[Episcopal News Service] Eight members of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies are scheduled meet privately with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at General Convention in a session that is intended in part to address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in the church.
General Convention meets July 8-17 in Anaheim, California, and Williams will be present July 7-9.
The session is not an official convention meeting and thus there has been no announcement of the plans. However, when contacted by Episcopal News Service, the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe of the Diocese of California confirmed the details.
Barlowe said that he and the other deputies understood the meeting was to be brief and private, but that it was not a secret.
“It’s not a summit or constituted in an official way,” he said. “We don’t expect to issue a communiqué or anything like that.”
Instead, Barlowe said, he hopes the meeting will be a chance for dialogue and a chance for Williams to hear about the ministries of eight Episcopalians whose “significant fundamental characteristic” is “our deep love for the Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion.” The eight deputies’ lives reflect the broad range of ministry of all Episcopalians, he said.
Barlowe set the meeting in the context of the communion-wide Listening Process, which is intended to hear all sides of the issues concerning human sexuality and the church.
Williams, Barlowe suggested, has not had a chance to hear about the broad range of ministry and leadership in which LGBT Episcopalians are involved.
There’s a larger hope attached to the meeting, according to Barlowe.
“Anytime committed Christians come together, something remarkable happens,” he said. “What comes to the fore is the commitment to be better bearers of the good news of Christ.”
The chance to have such a meeting, he said, is typical of the way leadership in the Episcopal Church seeks ways to move the mission and ministry of the church forward by trying to form partnerships with “other passionate ministers such as Archbishop Rowan.”
Barlowe, who has been a candidate in episcopal elections in the dioceses of California and Newark, said that he first raised the possibility of a meeting with the archbishop when the California deputation was discussing Anglican Communion issues. His colleagues encouraged him to pursue the idea and Barlowe says he sought the support of other LGBT deputies.
When he contacted Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori or House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson to ask for time with the archbishop, the request came with the backing of many of those deputies, he said.
Jefferts Schori and Anderson, along with their staffs, “graciously” agreed to ask Williams to meet with some deputies and Williams “graciously” agreed, Barlowe said.
Jefferts Schori’s and Anderson’s willingness to help bring about the meeting “is totally consistent with their leadership” of the church and their goal of fostering “serious and respectful conversation,” he added.
The presiding officers did not appoint the deputies, Barlowe said. Instead, he was asked to put the group together. He said he consulted with others and sought deputies who reflected the range of geographic, age, and ministerial diversity of those people who supported the request for the meeting.
In addition to Barlowe, the deputies are:
- Louie Crew, Diocese of Newark;
- the Rev. Canon Lisa Gray, Diocese of Michigan;
- the Rev. Tobias Haller BSG, Diocese of New York;
- Joanne O’Donnell, Diocese of Los Angeles;
- the Rev. Altagracia Perez, Diocese of Los Angeles;
- Rebecca Snow, Diocese of Alaska; and
- Michael Spencer, Diocese of Eastern Michigan.
The Rev. Eric H. F. Law, known for his work in multicultural leadership training, has been helping the deputies prepare for their meeting, according to Barlowe, and Law may attend the session with Williams.
Because they do not all know each other, Barlowe said, the group has been presenting to each other their “ministry biographies.” He called that experience “emotionally powerful.”
“Once again, I’ve been overwhelmed by just how committed the ministers of this church are,” he said, adding that hearing the deputies’ stories “made me incredibly thankful yet again for being part of the Episcopal Church.”
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Victory for Gay Rights in Sight
Gay rights activists are understandably up in arms over recent missteps and continuing inaction by the Obama administration on issues important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. A brief, filed by Obama’s Justice Department in a case challenging the legislation which prohibits recognition of same-sex marriage, was out of line in drawing parallels between incest and gay marriage. President Obama’s foot-dragging on reversing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prevents gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the military, is especially confounding as the U.S. continues to engage in two wars.
Still, 40 years after rioting patrons at the Stonewall Inn in New York City sparked the gay rights movement; full equality for LGBT people is finally in sight.
Disappointment with President Obama on these issues should be balanced with other actions he has taken recently such as declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month and extending some (albeit not all) benefits to federal employees who are gay. There are smaller victories as well.
See Victory for Gay Rights in Sight
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Angry Gay Democrats Pull Support For DNC
The Obama administration’s decision to file a controversial brief on behalf of the Defense Of Marriage Act appears to have been the last straw for many gay and lesbians who were once enthusiastic supporters of the administration as well as the Democratic party.
Politico reports that the National Stonewall Democrats is the latest group to pull out of a June 25 Democratic National Committee fundraiser because of the Obama administration’s defense of DOMA and lack of action on gay issues.
The group said is “incredibly disappointed” in the party for a variety of reasons, including a perceived lack of support.
“The DNC has traditionally provided materials for the many Pride parades and festivals around the country to help educate the LGBT community about why the Democratic Party is the Party for full LGBT equality,” National Stonewall wrote in an e-mail, according to Politico. “This year, we were informed that we would not be receiving any materials or support for producing materials for the various nationwide Pride activities. These decisions were very disappointing.” See Angry Gay Democrats Pull Support For DNC
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Gay Dems complain DNC cut off funding, drop support for Biden event
Theboard of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats are dropping their support for a June 25 DNC fundraiser with Vice President Joe Biden over, they wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO, a combination of policy slights and the claim that they’ve been cut off from traditional party funding.
In the email to Tom Petrillo, who runs the party’s substantial gay fundraising operation, the board members write:
[W]e are incredibly disappointed that the DNC has made a decision to withhold any financial support to National Stonewall Democrats this year but is in turn asking us to help raise money for the DNC in a difficult financial environment. The DNC has historically supported National Stonewall through sponsorship of the annual Capitol Champions event. This year, we did not receive any support. The DNC has traditionally provided materials for the many Pride parades and festivals around the country to help educate the LGBT community about why the Democratic Party is the Party for full LGBT equality. This year we were informed that we would not be receiving any materials or support for producing materials for the various nationwide Pride activities. These decisions were very disappointing.
We’d be remiss to also not mention that the recent legal brief of the Obama Administration defending DOMA is incredibly hurtful. The members of the Board and our membership put our hopes, our dollars and our time into ensuring the election of Barack Obama because we believed that he supported us. To now have his Administration refer to our relationships in the same terms used by our long time enemies such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and James Dobson hurts on so many levels. To have our committed and loving relationships referred to as the moral equivalent of incest and pedophilia is not something that any of us ever expected from this Administration considering how hard we worked to be seen and respected. For that reason alone, advocating for attendance at a fundraiser to support the Administration and the DNC, while they have not condemned this hurtful language, is not something our membership will receive positively.
The group says it’s not “boycotting” the June 25 fundraiser with Joe Biden; it just won’t encourage its members to attend.
Gay money is, historically, of outsized importance to the Democratic Party. Howard Dean, in particular, launched his presidential campaign in part on enthusiasm from gay donors about his support for civil unions, and maintained those relationships as chairman. For update see Gay Dems complain DNC cut off funding, drop support for Biden event
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Redding officials ban gay pride group’s screening of ‘Milk’ Record-Searchlight
Redding officials won’t allow the Academy Award-winning movie “Milk” to be shown at a city-owned outdoor theater Friday as a part of a local celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The showing was banned because “Milk” is an R-rated film.
“I think it’s common sense,” said Gerry Kersten, Redding’s director of support services. “If you’re going to show a movie anyone can see, obviously it needs to be appropriate for all ages.”
Mary St. John, director of community services for Planned Parenthood: Shasta Diablo, said she was disappointed in the decision made Wednesday, but she doesn’t think it was political pressure that led to the city’s order.
“It’s our mistake, really,” St. John said. “We were unaware of the city’s policy that says movies shown outdoors must be (rated) G.”
Kersten said the city was originally told by the organizers that the movie was to be a youth- or teen-friendly flick. It was only when city officials picked up the Wednesday’s Record Searchlight that they learned that the planned movie was the R-rated “Milk.”
See
Redding officials ban gay pride group’s screening of ‘Milk’
Record-Searchlight
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Obama To Consider Gay Pentagon Appointment
President Obama is considering nominating an openly gay man to a top civilian Pentagon post, the Washington Post reported Thursday. The president, under pressure from gay activists to live up to campaign promises he made to help secure greater rights for gay men and lesbians, is considering nominating William White to a high-ranking civilian Pentagon post. The paper did not disclose the post being considered, but White, chief operating officer of Manhattan’s Intrepid Museum Foundation, was once touted by top retired military leaders and some Democrats in Congress to be the next Secretary of the Navy. While heading the Intrepid, White has accumulated extensive contacts in the armed forces, and in 1996, he was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Award for his work with the Navy.
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