Microsoft donates $100 k for gay partners effort
(Olympia, Wash.) Microsoft Corp. has donated $100,000 to the campaign supporting more partnership rights for Washington state gay couples.
That’s the largest single donation in favor of Referendum 71, which asks voters to approve or reject a new law that expands domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Microsoft is based …
Tags: Domestic Partnerships, Gay And Lesbian, Gay And Lesbian Couples, Gay Couples, Gay Lesbian, Gay Partners, Microsoft, Microsoft Corp, Olympia, Partnership Rights, Referendum, Washington StateUruguay clears way for gay adoptions
(Montevideo, Uruguay) Uruguay is clearing the way for gay couples to adopt children.
The Senate’s final approval Wednesday makes Uruguay the first country in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.
The executive branch now will decide when the law takes effect. The change is supported by …
Tags: Executive Branch, Final Approval, Gay Adoptions, Gay And Lesbian, Gay And Lesbian Couples, Gay Couples, Gay Lesbian, Gay Uruguay, Latin America, Montevideo Uruguay, SenateAnti-domestic partner referendum makes ballot
(Olympia, Wash.) A referendum on an expansion of Washington’s domestic partnership law for gay couples has qualified for the November ballot, election officials said Monday.
The “everything but marriage” measure broadens recognition of domestic partnerships by granting gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided benefits presently extended only to married …
Tags: Domestic Partner, Domestic Partnership, Domestic Partnerships, Election Officials, Gay And Lesbian Couples, Gay Couples, marriage, Olympia, Partnership Law, ReferendumGay marriage now key issue for Corzine
Gov. Corzine has made “marriage equality” for gays and lesbians a prominent piece of his reelection campaign, taking another step in his conversion on the issue and encouraging gay-rights advocates who hope to see same-sex marriage approved in New Jersey this year.
In public speeches and private appearances, Corzine, who as recently as 2006 said he believed marriage should be between a man and a woman, has touted his support of same-sex marriage.
In raising the issue, he has tried to draw a bright-line divide with his Republican opponent, Christopher J. Christie, who has said he would veto a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed.
“We believe that government should allow people the freedom to marry whomever they love,” Corzine said in his general-election kickoff speech June 2.
At a gay-pride parade days later in Asbury Park, N.J., Corzine referred to his campaign and told cheering revelers: “Marriage equality is on the ballot. Are you going to help us make it come to pass in New Jersey?”
His campaign posted a video clip online showing the event.
See Gay marriage now key issue for Corzine
Philadelphia Inquirer -
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Lawyers: Gay couples’ rights justify injunction San Jose Mercury New
SAN FRANCISCO—Two high-profile lawyers are arguing that any bureaucratic inconvenience caused by suspending California’s same-sex marriage ban is outweighed by the ongoing discrimination being suffered by gay and lesbian couples.
Theodore Olson and David Boies, who represented opposing sides in the 2000 presidential election challenge, Bush v. Gore, filed papers Thursday buttressing their argument that Proposition 8 should be lifted while a federal lawsuit challenging the voter-approved measure proceeds in court.
See Lawyers: Gay couples’ rights justify injunction
San Jose Mercury New
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Census study of gay married couples finds similarities to husband-and-wife couples
Marriage — whether you are gay or straight — may be the great common denominator among American households, according to a new government study that offers a first-ever look at the nation’s same-sex couples who say they are spouses. Married men and women average about 50 years old, and about four in 10 have kids living at home. The average couple pulls down a little over $90,000 a year and four in five own their home. That demographic portrait doesn’t just fit the nation’s 56 million husband-and-wife couples. It also closely fits the roughly 340,000 households where two men call themselves husbands, or two women consider themselves wives. In the midst of the nation’s widening debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, the U.S. Census Bureau has quietly completed a statistical portrait of U.S. lesbian and gay couples who describe themselves as married. With same-sex marriage likely to be legal in as many as six states by Jan. 1, the study could add another layer to the debate. Many of those gay and lesbian couples live in states where they cannot legally marry, and may be checking the spouse box on their census form to reflect a domestic partnership, a civil union or partnership where two lives have been merged into one household.
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Male couple snookers NYC into officially marrying them
Hakim Nelson and Jason Stenson, both biologically male, married in late May in New York City, thanks to a food stamp card.
It is illegal for gay and lesbian couples to marry in New York, though the state recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. But Nelson used his food stamp card for …
Tags: Food Stamp, Gay And Lesbian Couples, Hakim, Male Couple, New York City, Same Sex MarriagesMD State AG studies recognizing out of state gay nuptials
Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is exploring whether same-sex marriages performed in other states can be recognized in Maryland, a move that could open an avenue for legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples who have been rebuffed by the courts and legislature here.
The exercise puts Gansler - a Democrat and vocal proponent of same-sex marriage - in a difficult position. Maryland law clearly defines marriage as between a man and a woman, but the state also adheres to a long-standing legal principle that generally acknowledges couples married elsewhere.
Gay-rights activists say the ability to marry would not only strengthen their relationships but confer hundreds of rights, benefits and responsibilities on them, including community property protections, control over funeral arrangements of a spouse and an obligation to pay child support.
For many married same-sex couples living in Maryland, the issue isn’t just a legal conundrum but deeply personal.
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Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom Win in Key Statehouse Vote In New Hampshire
Committee of Conference votes to advance HB73
CONCORD Today the house and senate committee of conference in the New Hampshire legislature voted in favor of a compromise bill that will advance the freedom to marry while ensuring religious liberties.
HB73 is a bill that will uphold the Constitutional right to freedom of religion, while complimenting previously passed bills that grant marriage equality to same-sex couples. Today’s committee of conference decision treats gay and lesbian people as well as people of faith with dignity and respect. The conference committee report on HB73 is expected to be voted on by the full legislature on June 3rd.
“We remain confident that marriage equality will become law this year, and HB 73 is an important final step in that effort,” said Mo Baxley the Executive Director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry. “Individual equality and religious freedom are New Hampshire values. We expect the House and Senate to now vote for HB 73 as reported out by the committee of conference. This is a very positive step and we remain optimistic that we will see legal protections for thousands of gay and lesbian couples signed into law by the Governor.”
The freedom to marry for gay couples, partnered with religious protections in HB73 is supported by Governor Lynch, the State Senate, the committee of conference, and the majority of New Hampshire residents.
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The New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition was founded in January 2001 and is New Hampshire’s Statewide LGBT education and advocacy organization. http://nhftm.org/
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Gay? Lesbian? Looking fabulous and over 50?
The Sexual Health Team at Public Health Development are currently in the process of producing a guide about relationships/sexual health and the over 50s.
The guide will contain photography of individuals and couples that will tell some story about their relationship to sensuality, sexual expression, and sexual well being.
The models will have control over the shots - they can be subtle in nature or more edgy - depending on how people want to be.
Most of the photography is taking place in people’s homes, but it could also happen outside (it’s just weather dependant). The photography is taking place at the end of June.
The Sexual Health Team are looking for gay and lesbian couples and individual lesbians and gay men, aged between 50 and 80, who are willing to volunteer to be models.
If you think that you, or you and your partner fit the bill and would like to take part in this empowering project, contact Josanne Cowell, Sexual Health Advisor at Josanne.Cowell@manchester.nhs.uk or call her on 0161 882 2309.
See Gay? Lesbian? Looking fabulous and over 50?
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