Is the National Organization for Marriage violating state law?
The National Organization for Marriage, which formed two years ago to take the lead to oppose equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, is coming under increased scrutiny.
Two civil rights groups in Iowa filed a letter with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board Mon., Aug. 31, requesting an investigation into …
Tags: Campaign Disclosure Board, Civil Rights Groups, Equal Marriage, Iowa Ethics, marriage, Marriage Law, Marriage Rights, Marriage Sex, National Organization, Same Sex Couples, Scrutiny, Take The LeadHuman Rights Campaign PAC, Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund Endorse Anthony Woods For U.S. Congress
The Human Rights Campaign PAC, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to grow the number of openly LGBT elected officials across the U.S., announced today the endorsement of Anthony Woods for U.S. Congress. Woods, who is running in the September 1 Special Election for California’s 10th Congressional District, earned the Bronze Star after serving two tours in Iraq in the U.S. Army. He was honorably discharged after challenging the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.
“The Human Rights Campaign is proud to endorse Anthony Woods, a veteran of the Iraq war and steadfast advocate for our community, to become the next U.S. Congressman from California’s 10th district,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Anthony hasn’t just shown his support on issues of LGBT equality, he’s lived them — especially the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Anthony’s support of marriage equality will also be important as we work to repeal Proposition 8, which stripped marriage rights away for California’s same-sex couples. There is no doubt that Anthony will be a role model for LGBT youth, and we applaud his continuing service to our country.”
“Anthony Woods is an exciting candidate with a tremendous record of accomplishment. He’s also running an impressive campaign. Anthony has assembled a solid campaign team that understands what it will take to win this extremely competitive race. We need more leaders like Anthony Woods in the U.S. Congress, so we are proud to endorse him,” said Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. “His will be an authentic voice not only for the people of California’s 10th Congressional District, but for the millions of Americans for whom the promise of equality remains unfulfilled.”
“I am honored and proud to earn the support of Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund,” said Anthony Woods, candidate for California’s 10th Congressional District. “They’re working to make sure America lives up to its promise of equality under the law, which is something I’ll fight for in Congress.”
Anthony Woods was born and raised in Fairfield, California. He is a graduate of West Point and earned his masters degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In addition to his years of service in the Army, Woods has worked on economic policy issues in both the public and private sectors. To learn more visit: www.AnthonyWoodsForCongress.com.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT elected officials at all levels of government in the U.S.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/human-rights-…
Marriage fight looms IN mAINE
Opponents and supporters of gay marriage are laying the groundwork for a tough summer political campaign that experts say will put Maine in the national spotlight.
Organizers of an effort to overturn a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine have hired the California public relations firm that ran the successful Proposition 8 campaign that overturned same-sex marriage there.
And supporters of same-sex marriage, who oppose the people’s veto effort, have hired a seasoned Maine political strategist who ran the successful Maine Won’t Discriminate campaign in 2005. That campaign fought a people’s veto of Maine’s gay rights law.
Maine became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage in May, when the Legislature passed a bill and Gov. John Baldacci signed it into law. Opponents, led by the Catholic church and other clergy, immediately began the campaign for a people’s veto, which would ask voters to overturn the law.
Organizers of the people’s veto are attempting to collect 55,087 signatures of registered Maine voters to put the question on the ballot. The same-sex marriage law would take effect 90 days after the Legislature’s June 13 adjournment. But if the veto effort collects enough signatures before then, the law’s implementation would be stayed.
At least five political action committees have been formed to help raise funds to support the people’s veto effort. Two have been formed to oppose a people’s veto.
According to the latest filings with the state Ethics Commission, most haven’t raised money. But one, StandForMarriageMaine.com, has raised $60,000 from the National Organization for Marriage. The next filing deadline is July 15.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/marriage-figh…
Maine Gay-marriage foes hire California firm that ran Prop 8
Opponents and supporters of gay marriage are laying the groundwork for a tough summer political campaign that experts say will put Maine in the national spotlight.
Organizers of an effort to overturn a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine have hired the California public relations firm that ran the successful Proposition 8 campaign to overturn same-sex marriage there.
Supporters of the law have hired a seasoned Maine political strategist who ran the successful Maine Won’t Discriminate campaign in 2005. That campaign fought a people’s veto of Maine’s gay-rights law.
Maine became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage in May. Opponents, led by the Catholic Church and other clergy, immediately began campaigning for a people’s veto, which would ask voters to overturn the law.
Organizers of the veto effort are attempting to collect 55,087 signatures of registered Maine voters to put the question on the ballot. The same-sex marriage law will take effect 90 days after the Legislature’s June 13 adjournment unless the veto effort collects enough signatures before then, which would put the law on hold.
At least five political action committees have been formed to help raise funds to support the people’s veto effort. Two have been formed to oppose the veto.
According to the latest filings with the state Ethics Commission, most haven’t raised money. But StandForMarriageMaine.com has raised $60,000 from the National Organization for Marriage. The next filing deadline is July 15.
See Gay-marriage foes hire California firm that ran Prop 8
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/maine-gay-mar…
NY Gay Marriage Bill Faces New Challenges
With what some are describing as a “circus” in Albany, many gay marriage supporters fear that proposed legislation recognizing same sex marriage in New York will not come up for a vote in a state Senate in flux.
And now, one group is also trying harder to keep that from happening. The National Organization for Marriage announced Tuesday that they have set up a Political Action Committee for New York to fight the measure.
With the announcement, Executive Director Brian Brown also said that the first $500,000 raised will be used to back a primary challenger to GOP Senators who vote for gay marriage.
“The first half million dollars will be used in GOP primaries,” Brown said. “But we are also looking to aid Democratic candidates who want to buck the establishment on the marriage issue, and to help in general election contests.”
Brown said politicians were ignoring “the wishes of their own constituents.” See NY Gay Marriage Bill Faces New Challenges
CBS News
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/ny-gay-marria…
Same-Sex Couples, Faith leaders Celebrate First Anniversary of Marriage
Community members to hold anniversary events across the state, honoring historic milestone
Faith leaders, same-sex couples, friends and family will gather across the state to celebrate in honor of the one-year-anniversary of couples who married last year when same-sex couples were able to legally marry. Faith leaders will offer brief remarks, and couples will gather for a group photo at each event.
San Francisco: 6:30 p.m. First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco 1187 Franklin St, Starr King Room
June 17 Fresno: 6 PM Historic Water Tower in Downtown Fresno 2444 Fresno St.
San Diego: 5:30 p.m. Mission Hills United Church of Christ 4070 Jackdaw St.
Event sponsors include, Equality California, California Faith for Equality, Marriage Equality USA, Jordan Rustin Coalition, API Equality – LA, Equality Inland Empire, Redlands United Church of Christ’s Christians for Marriage Equality, Orange County Equality Coalition, Equality Action NOW, PFLAG, Courage Campaign- Fresno Equality Team, Yes! on Equality, and Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, Spousesforlifeproject.com.
Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org
California Faith for Equality is a statewide network of clergy and lay leaders from a diversity of faith traditions who are committed to equality. www.cafaithforequality.org
Marriage Equality USA is a national organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation. www.marriageequality.org
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/same-sex-coup…
In RI, some wary as tide of gay marriage rises
PROVIDENCE - From a cramped office in the middle of the smallest state in the nation, Christopher Plante is determined to prove that Rhode Island has not been cornered by the advance of same-sex marriage across the rest of New England.
“When I look at a real map of the United States, we’re actually not alone here,” said Plante, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-sex unions. “This is not the United States of New England.”
But supporters and even some opponents expect that Rhode Island will legalize same-sex marriage, although they say that legalization is two or three years away.
Massachusetts and Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage as a result of judicial decisions in 2003 and 2008, while Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire followed this spring by legislative action.
The slower pace in Rhode Island, where the state Senate voted last week to allow same-sex partners to make funeral arrangements, has frustrated some local activists, many of whom rallied outside the State House in Providence last weekend to call for immediate equality.
But others say that legalization by 2012, a goal advocates set last year for securing same-sex marriage in all New England states, would put Rhode Island at the front of the pack nationally. In the rest of the country, only Iowa allows same-sex couples to marry.
“They still have a chance to be part of the vanguard,” said attorney Karen L. Loewy, the Rhode Island point person for GLAD, which won the lawsuits in Massachusetts and Connecticut that legalized same-sex marriage in those states. “Rhode Island is well on its way.”
See In RI, some wary as tide of gay marriage rises
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Urgent Petition: Save Roodabeh and Ali, Iranian Homosexual Refugees
Roodabeh is a 30-year-old lesbian woman who left Iran in February 2008 to flee from the persecution that the regime of President Ahmadinejad reserves for homosexuals; persecution that foresees in many cases – according to a ruthless interpretation of Islamic law – prison sentences, torture and even death. Ali is a 29-year-old gay. He too was forced to leave Iran to escape the repression in January 2008. Once in Turkey, Roodabeh and Ali applied for asylum to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Ankara section) on the grounds of their sexual orientation.
EveryOne Group, Human Rights international organization, would point out that the right of asylum, as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 14) and finalized by the Geneva Convention, is one of the fundamental rights of human beings, and is recognised by civil countries to those fleeing from violence and persecution. Turkey signed the Geneva Convention and has saved many human lives by acknowledging their status as refugees and offering them humanitarian protection. However, Turkey’s present policies where the rights of refugees and asylum seekers are concerned, have recently become more restrictive. So much so that Amnesty International has recently brought to international attention the repeated violations of the Geneva Convention in the Republic of Turkey, as well as the episodes of abuse carried out by the police against refugees. Roodabeh and Ali live in fear of being repatriated as the Iranian authorities are aware of their flight and the reason they were forced to seek asylum. If they were to be deported, they would have little chance of being spared this persecution.
They live in a state of anguish (as well as discrimination, seeing they are both foreigners and homosexuals) knowing their lives are in danger. They survive only thanks to the commitment of individuals and human rights organizations, but their condition will deteriorate rapidly if their right to international protection is not urgently recognised.
This is why EveryOne Group, working alongside Iranian Queer Railroad (IRQR) and a network of human rights organizations, is promoting a campaign and appealing to the UN High Commission for Refugees to recognise their legitimate right to international protection and asylum.
EveryOne Group activists must point out that Roodabeh and Ali have been awaiting the decision of the High Commission for many months, without financial support, social assistance or programmes of insertion into the work force.
A petition has been submitted to ask international and Turkish authorities and institutions to grant immediate asylum status to the two Iranian homosexuals. You can sign it at http://www.gopetition.com/online/28514/sign.html
For further information:
EveryOne Group
http://www.everyonegroup.com :: info [at] everyonegroup.com
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Bush v. Gore Lawyers Joining Forces To Fight Proposition 8
A coalition of gay rights groups said Wednesday that a federal same-sex marriage lawsuit brought by two high-profile lawyers is premature and they’d rather work through state legislatures and voters to win wedding rights.
A day after the California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on gay marriage, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and other national organizations issued a statement saying they think the U.S. Supreme Court is not ready to rule in their favor on the issue. See Bush v. Gore Lawyers Joining Forces To Fight Proposition 8 * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/bush-v-gore-l…
Group Begins Ad Blitz Against Same-Sex Marriage
The National Organization for Marriage, a conservative Christian group that has fought efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in California and in the Northeast, has set its sights on New York with its latest media campaign.
Beginning Thursday in the New York City and Albany markets, the organization will run a 30-second television commercial that warns of unanticipated social consequences if the state allows gay couples to marry.
Echoing a theme that was used in turning public opinion against same-sex marriage in California in a vote last fall, the commercial suggests that children will be taught about homosexuality in schools.
“And it’s not just kids who face consequences,” the narrator says over foreboding music. “The rights of people who believe marriage means a man and a woman will no longer matter. We’ll have to accept gay marriage whether we like it or not.”
The commercial closes with a shot of the Capitol as the number for the State Senate switchboard flashes on the screen. The Senate must act in the next four weeks if it is to pass a same-sex marriage bill before the Legislature adjourns. The Assembly passed the bill this month, and Gov. David A. Paterson has pledged to sign it.
The National Organization for Marriage said its initial ad spending, which includes the television commercial and a radio spot, was just over $100,000. That campaign will run through Sunday.
The group said it hopes the commercial, which is intended to raise doubts about an argument made by advocates for same-sex marriage — that allowing gay couples to marry is simply a matter of fairness and equality — will give opponents a louder voice in a debate that has been dominated by the other side. See
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/group-begins-…
