Maine court upholds IBM heir’s adoption of lover
(Portland, Maine) Maine’s highest court has given a legal victory to a woman who stands to stake a claim to a share of one of America’s premier business fortunes thanks to her adoption by her lesbian partner.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday overturned a 2008 lower court decision that …
Tags: Adoption, Court Decision, Fortunes, Heir, Ibm, Legal Victory, Lesbian Partner, Maine Court, Maine Maine, Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Portland Maine, Supreme Court, Supreme Judicial CourtSotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts
Sen. Charles Grassley had a testy exchange Wednesday with Judge Sonia Sotomayor about the federal government’s authority over marriage law.
During the Iowa Republican’s second turn at questioning the Supreme Court nominee, Grassley referred to a 1972 Supreme Court decision, Baker v. Nelson, in which the justices declined to consider a gay-marriage case. He asked whether she thought federal courts lacked authority to hear civil-rights cases involving marriage.
Sotomayor said the issue is pending in several courts, before Grassley cut her off.
“I thought I was asking a very simple question,” he said.
He ticked off a list of cases Sotomayor had referenced as precedent during her testimony on Tuesday. “You said these are precedents,” Grassley continued, raising his voice. “Now, are you saying to me that Baker v. Nelson is not a precedent?”
“It’s not that I’m attempting not to answer your question, Senator Grassley,” she said.
Grassley interrupted again, “Why are you hedging on this?”
Finally, Sotomayor said it had been since law school that she had reviewed the case, prompting Grassley to move on to another topic.
See Sotomayor avoids saying whether marriage should be issue for federal courts
The Des Moines Register
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‘I am a gay American, and I am a second-class citizen’
Members of the Bloomington Gay Recruiters group conduct a marriage equality sit-in on Thursday morning outside the Monroe County Justice Building. Along with signs, the group also chanted “1,138 federal rights denied. I am a gay American and I am a second-class citizen.”
Honoring the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City on June 28, 1969, Bloomington residents Lillie Aydt and her group Gay Recruiters led Bloomington’s first-ever sit-in for marriage equality Thursday at the Monroe County Justice Building downtown. The Stonewall riots occurred when members of the LGBT community in Greenwich Village at the Stonewall Inn fought back against the
oppression they faced from various government-sponsored systems.
Gay Recruiters was formed in response to the Proposition 8 Supreme Court decision, which upheld the illegality of same-sex marriage in California and thus established what Aydt called “an Orwellian precedent, allowing certain gay citizens more rights than others.” See ‘I am a gay American, and I am a second-class citizen’
Indiana Daily Student
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California appellate court rules La Crescenta property belongs to Los Angeles diocese
A California appellate court’s June 9 ruling was the latest in a series of recent developments that return disputed church properties to three California Episcopal dioceses.
On June 9, the San Diego-based Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the Diocese of Los Angeles is legal owner of property currently occupied by St. Luke’s Anglican Church. The congregation had cited theological differences when severing ties to the Episcopal Church (TEC) in 2006 and realigning with an Anglican diocese in Uganda.
In unrelated agreements, displaced Episcopalians will return July 1 to two other disputed properties, St. John’s Church in Petaluma, in the Diocese of Northern California and St. Paul’s Church in Modesto in the Diocese of San Joaquin.
“The long history of the Episcopal Church in La Crescenta will continue with new leadership and the potential for sustained growth, and as an open source of full inclusion for all humanity,” Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles said June 9 after learning of the court’s decision.
“It is important that we preserve the essence of St. Luke the healer and the ongoing maintenance of the historic church building. It is a jewel in the crown of La Crescenta, and a blessing to the people of the Diocese of Los Angeles.”
Los Angeles: ‘property held in trust’ for wider church
The appellate court ruling affirmed a 2007 trial court decision that the church, located about 15 miles north of Los Angeles, was held in trust for the mission of both the local diocese and the wider church. In issuing the ruling, the ten-member panel cited a January 5, 2009 California Supreme Court decision, which returned St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach to the diocese. Attorneys in that case, New v. Kroeger, have appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
John Shiner, chancellor for the Diocese of Los Angeles, said a timeline for transition will advance in accordance with court procedures.
The Rev. Rob Holmann, rector of St. Luke’s Anglican Church, declined to comment June 10. “I know the general direction of the ruling, but I am withholding all comment until I see it” and until he could speak with attorneys, he told the Episcopal News Service.
A few days earlier, Holmann had told the Glendale News Press that he and the 200-member congregation “would very much like to stay” in the 83-year-old river-rock building, considered a cultural, architectural and historic local landmark.
Bruno said the future mission of St. Luke’s, now under his direct pastoral control, will be to focus on “deepening our understanding of what it means to be reconciled, welcoming and healthy people of God.”
Petaluma and Modesto: Episcopal congregations set to return July 1
After a bitter split and three years of “homelessness,” members of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petaluma are returning July 1 to the 118-year-old church, the Rev. Norman Cram said in a telephone interview June 10.
“We are jubilant, overwhelmingly jubilant,” said Cram, priest-in-charge. “We celebrated our homelessness and we overlooked the inconveniences of living and worshipping out of a laundry basket but now that these things are almost behind us, it’s almost overwhelming.”
Citing disagreement over the ordination of a gay bishop, a majority of the 250-member congregation in December 2006 had voted to sever ties with the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Northern California but declined to vacate church property. They formed St. John’s Anglican Church, displacing about 55 continuing Episcopalians who initially met in homes.
The Rev. David Miller, rector of the Anglican congregation, had sought a transfer of his canonical residence to the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and was eventually deposed by the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb, then bishop of the Diocese of Northern California.
Miller did not return ENS telephone calls June 10. Mike McIntosh, parish administrator for the disaffiliated group, said a news release would be issued eventually, but declined further comment. The congregation’s last service in the church will be Sunday, June 28.
The continuing Episcopal congregation eventually began meeting on Sunday evenings at the Elim Lutheran Church in Petaluma who “magnificently sheltered us,” said Cram. He added that he hopes: “to present a healthy Christian perspective of love, compassion and kindness to our community, to be the yeast for the values of unity and inclusiveness in Petaluma.”
Meanwhile, Bishop Jerry Lamb of San Joaquin told ENS that discussions are underway with St. Paul’s Church in Modesto for return of that property by July 1, which several years ago affiliated with the Anglican Mission in America.
The Rev. Michael McClenaghan, rector, did not return ENS calls.
Lamb was already planning an organizational meeting, seeking lay leaders to begin the work of transition. “I have been making calls this week to laity who are or have been members of St. Paul’s and have signaled their desire to remain in the Episcopal Church,” he said in a statement posted on the diocesan website.
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Poll: CA split on same sex marriage/Ballot measure for 2010
Just as another New England state greenlit same sex marriage Wednesday, a new California poll released Wednesday found that Californians are roughly split on same sex marriage. (”When asked, ‘Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose allowing same — sex couples to be legally married,” 47 percent say favor and 48 percent say oppose. The poll was taken before last week’s CA Supreme Court decision affirming Proposition 8.
So dead even, in margin of error terms, said co-pollster David Binder.
“I’m not suprised,” said Charles Sheehan, co-director of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. “It’s better than we were last fall.”
The poll was comissioned by a group of same sex marriage supporter groups as a way to help them figure out their next steps — like when to ask voters to vote again on the issue. Here’s what Binder and co-pollster Amy Simon found:
The 2012 Option:
“Higher turnout because of presidential election. But the pollsters “the additional voters that will come to the polls in a Presidential election are divided in their view of marriage for same-sex couples. Voters that will only turn out in a 2012 scenario are divided between younger voters who strongly support same-sex marriage and older Anglo, Latino and African American religious voters who are opposed to marriage for sameâ€sex couples.”
“While our modeling does indicate that 2012 will provide an extra 1-2 points of support for a marriage equality ballot measure, this difference may be impacted by many other factors in the larger political landscape at that time,” say the pollsters.
The 2010 Option: “It is likely that the Democratic nominee for Governor in 2010 will be an advocate of marriage equality, which would provide a high level spokesperson for the issue. In 2012, there is more uncertainty about the stance that President Obama may have on a marriage equality ballot measure during his expected re-election campaign.”
Nonetheless, reps from some of the groups anticipated to lead the next same sex marriage ballot initiative sound like they’re leaning toward 2010. Polls conducted by both Equality California and Courage Campaign have overwhelmingly said their supporters want to go to the ballot in 2010. Over the next month — in an effort called the “Get Engaged Tour” — organizations supporting same sex marriage will ask their members their preference.
| June 03 2009 at 04:54 PM
See Poll: CA split on same sex marriage/Ballot measure for 2010 …
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Gay community bitterly disappointed by Obama’s lack of action
WASHINGTON — Gays and lesbians voted for President Barack Obama almost en masse after he pledged to be a relentless advocate for their civil rights while making his run for the White House.
But now the disappointment felt among the gay community about Obama’s inaction on issues that include same-sex marriage and the military’s so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is turning into outright anger.
“It’s disgraceful … shame on him,” Kate Waldeck, a 26-year-old medical student in New York City who voted for Obama believing he represented change on issues affecting the community.
The outrage is growing in the aftermath of last week’s California Supreme Court decision to uphold the state’s same-sex marriage ban.
Obama has had nothing to say about the ruling, something that has stung many in the community who had assumed the president might speak out against it and reiterate his commitment to their cause.
“I had sincerely hoped that Obama, both as a liberal and as a minority, might view this issue for what it is: an attempt at decency, and an opportunity to bestow long-deserved freedoms to people who have suffered through abuse and discrimination since the beginning of time,” Waldeck said in a recent interview.
Instead, Waldeck alleges, Obama is “sacrificing our lives to appease people, voters, interest groups, by allowing hate and bias to propagate.”
See Gay community bitterly disappointed by Obama’s lack of action The Canadian Press * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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LGBT Organizations Point Out that Lawsuits Could Set Back Progress on Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
NEW YORK – In response to the California Supreme Court decision allowing Prop 8 to stand, four LGBT legal organizations and five other leading national LGBT groups are reminding the LGBT community that ill-timed lawsuits could set the fight for marriage back. The groups released a new publication, “Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California.” This publication discourages people from bringing premature lawsuits based on the federal Constitution because, without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage. The groups also revised “Make Change, Not Lawsuits,” which was released after the California Supreme Court decision ending the ban on marriage for same-sex couples in California. This publication encourages couples who have legally married to ask friends, neighbors and institutions to honor their marriages, but discourages people from bringing lawsuits.
“Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California” is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/39672res20090527.html “Make Change, Not Lawsuits” is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/relationships/35584res20090527.html.
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Mass. couples cheer gay marriage, 5 years later
BOSTON - Every year, the couples who led the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts get together privately to celebrate both their own weddings and the marriages of thousands more couples who followed them.
But this year, the celebration feels a little bit sweeter for the six couples who will gather Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of Massachusetts becoming the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. This year, they will also be celebrating the legalization of gay marriage in four other states.
“We’ve been very happy that it’s started to be accepted in other places,” said Maureen Brodoff, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to a Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing gay marriage.
“It’s important to us that same-sex relationships get recognition outside of our home state, and I think that that is happening slowly as people look to the Massachusetts example and see that, you know, the sky didn’t fall, that it’s strengthened families, that it’s brought joy to a lot of families,” Brodoff said. See Mass. couples cheer gay marriage, 5 years later Chicago Tribune * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Same-sex marriages gradually gain legal ground
“There’s a sense people have — a sense of inevitability — and a tremendous sense of frustration because of the history of the gay rights fight in Maine,” said Michael Heath, executive director of the Maine Family Policy Council.
Those rights are expanding as legally married gay couples relocate to states that don’t allow same-sex marriage, forcing courts, legislatures and employers to deal with the resulting issues of custody, divorce, inheritance and end-of-life decisions.
The adoption ruling in Maine had the effect of granting parental rights to same-sex couples. By the time the Legislature adjourns for the summer, experts expect Maine to become the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage — 11 years after voters banned it.
In California, federal judges have twice overruled decisions by the federal government to deny healthcare coverage to gay employees’ legal spouses, teeing up a constitutional challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which forbids federal benefits for same-sex couples.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts, which began the trend five years ago. (Iowa issued its first marriage licenses April 27, a few weeks after its Supreme Court gave approval; weddings in Vermont will begin in September.) Within a year, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York will probably follow suit, say sexual orientation scholars at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute; New Hampshire’s Senate approved a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday.
And as more same-sex couples wed in places where it is legal, the administrative fallout in other states is expected to keep expanding.
“The courts are going to have to wrestle with these issues as more and more states make it possible for people to marry,” said Toni Broaddus, executive director of the San Francisco-based Equality Federation. “People don’t stay in the same state for their whole lives anymore, so the courts in states without marriage equality are going to have to address these issues.”
The recent moves in New England and the heartland to legalize gay marriage appeared to reinvigorate campaigns for passage of same-sex marriage bills in Maine, Maryland and Hawaii. Rights advocates predict the tide will eventually sweep even into some of the 30-plus states that have passed laws or constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
“A body of law is emerging because it has no choice. Cases have been filed and they have to be decided one way or another,” said Joseph Milizio, a Long Island lawyer specializing in gay and lesbian representation.
The legal developments allow people to become comfortable with “the fact that gay marriage is going to be recognized in many different aspects, even in states that don’t allow it,” said Milizio, whose firm recently secured the first dissolution of a same-sex marriage in New York.
In the workplace, proponents of extending spousal rights such as healthcare benefits and life insurance to same-sex couples have succeeded by challenging employment practices that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Seven states, including California, now guarantee full equality to same-sex couples — another incremental advance that is lamented by opponents.
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17 gay couples bus to Iowa, marry, go back to Missouri
Iowa City, Ia. — Friday was a long, busy day for 17 gay and lesbian couples from Missouri.
They were awake by 4 a.m., hopped on a bus to Iowa City around 6 a.m., said “I do” in the afternoon and were unmarried by the time they returned home Friday evening.
The couples took advantage of the Iowa Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the Hawkeye State. But, back home in Missouri, where a constitutional amendment defines marriage as only between a man and a woman, their Iowa certificates documenting a legal bond carries little weight. “We knew when we get back there our legal status will be the same as it was,” said Julie Brueggemann, 35, of St. Louis. “Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future, Missouri will be as open as Iowa is.”
The Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City hosted the 17 weddings. Each couple, one by one, stood before a minister, said vows, were pronounced wed and kissed.
“It’s a unique experience. How many other people can say they got married with 16 other couples?” said Kim Coleman, 32, of Florissant, Mo. She and Kimberly Banks-Brown, 38, have been together for five years. “But, it’s a logistical nightmare.”
See 17 gay couples bus to Iowa, marry, go back to Missouri
DesMoinesRegister.com -
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