Mayor, Prop. 8 lawyers in Time 100

Houston’s Annise Parker, Prop. 8 lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson, and Elton John are listed.

Exclusive video: Olson and Boies Q&A on Prop 8

Last Wednesday, the New York Times hosted an intimate question and answer session with the lawyers currently working to overturn Proposition 8 in California, Ted Olson and David Boies. (Our earlier recap of the discussion).

Even if you’ve read stories about the evening, Boies and Olson speak with such passion and …

Prop 8 trial witness: Being gay not a choice

(San Francisco) A social psychologist testifying in a trial challenging California’s gay marriage ban says leading mental health associations stopped thinking of homosexuality as a mental illness decades ago.

Lawyers for two same-sex couples suing to overturn the voter-enacted ban called University of California, Davis researcher Gregory Herek as an expert …

Prop 8 backer stands by views on pedophilia

Lawyers for two same-sex couples challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage plan to wrap up their case Friday following the incendiary testimony of a proponent who said he thinks gays are more likely to be pedophiles and that allowing them to wed would lead to the legalization of polygamy and …

Gay marriage ban backer to be hostile witness

(San Francisco) A proponent of California’s same-sex marriage ban who warned that gay rights activists would try to legalize sex with children if Proposition 8 did not pass is expected to be called as a hostile witness Thursday for two same-sex couples suing to overturn the measure.

Lawyers for the couples …

Charges dropped in Perez Hilton case

(Toronto) Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio Molina apologized to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton as part of an agreement allowing assault charges against him to be dropped, lawyers said Wednesday.

Molina allegedly punched Hilton from behind outside a Toronto nightclub after the openly gay blogger called Black Eyed Peas’ leader will.i.am a …

Prop 8 campaign seeks to shield internal memos

(San Francisco) A federal judge is considering whether to order the sponsors of California’s voter-approved gay marriage ban to produce their internal campaign records to lawyers now suing to overturn the law.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco heard arguments Friday from lawyers seeking the information, including strategy …

Lawyers boycott homophobe hotel

LGBTA lawyers won’t go to CA’s Bar Association’s annual meeting in a hotel owned by a Prop 8 donor.

Gay activists and union leaders commit to year two of Hyatt Boycott

At a press conference last Friday, GLBT activists and union leaders marked the one-year anniversary of the Manchester Hyatt Boycott, launched last year in response to hotel owner Doug Manchester’s $125,000 contribution to qualify Proposition 8 for the ballot.

“For over a year we have urged San Diegans, Californians and Americans to boycott the Manchester Hyatt because of Manchester’s contribution to Proposition 8 and onerous workloads for the hotel’s housekeepers,” said Cleve Jones, a national gay leader and former aid to slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. “The hotel’s own people have admitted to losing over $7 million in business due to the boycott. This boycott has truly shown the power of our reenergized community and the alliance between the gay community and labor.”

Proposition 8 eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Boycott organizers also committed to continue the boycott and expand its scope.

“One of our goals for the next year will be to take the boycott to the next level – global,” said Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate. “We will ask travel planners and tour operators throughout the world not to book meetings and room nights at the Manchester properties. We will put up a virtual bright yellow caution tape around Manchester’s hotels, and ask people not to cross it.”

The boycott has drawn increasing media attention and picked up steam since it began. Early on, several groups announced that they would move or cancel events at the hotel. Recently, the American Association of Justice, a trial lawyers group moved its entire convention out of the Manchester Hyatt to San Francisco to honor the boycott. At a recent gay and lesbian travel exposition, a hotel spokesperson confirmed that the boycott has cost the hotel more than $7 million.

At the July 17 press conference, organizers unveiled more than just a new approach. They came with a new logo and visual aid – bright yellow caution tape reading “Do not cross. Do not support bigotry and discrimination.” Organizers say the caution tape is intended as a reminder for individuals throughout the country not to patronize the hotel.

“We want to send a very simple message to all those planning to travel to San Diego that the Manchester Hyatt Boycott is on and stronger than ever,” said Human Relations Commissioner, Nicole Murray-Ramirez. “The unions, hotel workers and gay community started this fight together and we intend to finish it together.”

See Gay activists and union leaders commit to year two of Hyatt Boycott

Gay and Lesbian Times

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Gay Rights Groups Seek to Intervene in Federal Challenge to Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Gay rights groups’ attempt to intervene in a federal challenge of California’s Proposition 8 has created a rift with the high-powered attorneys heading the case, turning erstwhile allies into head-butting competitors.

Both sides have diverging visions of legal strategy. The gay groups are pushing a cautious, narrow approach based on the circumstances of Prop 8, while Theodore Olson, David Boies and their backers are seeking a decisive victory for all gay couples under the U.S. Constitution.

The civil rights groups — the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union — are also worried that the Olson/Boies team is underestimating the importance of U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s insistence on a fully developed factual record. They moved this month to intervene (pdf) so they can present evidence of historic discrimination against gays and lesbians and answer Walker’s questions, such as whether sexual orientation can be changed and whether same-sex marriages destabilize opposite-sex marriages.

See Gay Rights Groups Seek to Intervene in Federal Challenge to Calif …

Above the Law

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