Afternoon update: Prop 8 witness says gay rights 2nd to het marriage
(San Francisco) The founder of a family values think-tank testified Wednesday that the rights of same-sex couples should come second to preserving the cherished social institution of marriage.
David Blankenhorn, president of the New York-based Institute for American Values, said under cross-examination there are many valid reasons for allowing gays to …
Prop 8 trial: Defense witness says gay marriage would help children
(San Francisco) Allowing same-sex couples to get married would improve the well-being of children raised by gay parents but should not be pursued as social policy because it would further weaken marriage as an institution, the head of a private think tank testified during a federal trial challenging California’s gay …
Prop 8 afternoon update: Witness says gays face job bias
(San Francisco) A political scientist testified Tuesday in a trial challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriage that gays and lesbians face significant discrimination in the workplace.
Claremont McKenna College Professor Kenneth Miller said under cross-examination that he did not know how frequently gay Americans are fired or harassed at work but …
Prop 8 trial resumes; Defense is up
(San Francisco)Today begins Day 10, Week 3 of the federal trial challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriages, Proposition 8.
The day will begin with the final presentations from the Ted Olson-David Boies legal team. They plan to present some documents and videotape. So far, they have used the …
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 …
Federal worker sues for same-sex spouse benefits
(San Francisco) A federal employee in California is suing the Obama administration to force it to provide health benefits to her same-sex spouse.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management told Karen Golinski that it was refusing to extend benefits to her wife because federal law prohibits the government from recognizing gay …
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 …
Prop 8 trial: S Diego mayor says gay marriage views ‘evolved’
(San Francisco) The mayor of San Diego testified Tuesday that his views on same-sex marriage evolved after he learned one of his daughters was a lesbian.
Mayor Jerry Sanders took the witness stand on behalf of two same-sex couples suing to overturn Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved gay marriage ban.
“I had been …
Prop 8 trial judge has history with gay rights activists
(San Francisco) The appointment of Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Richard Walker to the bench was held up for two years during the late 1980s in part because he had angered gay rights activists.
Now, he is presiding over the most important gay civil rights case in a generation.
Like a lot …
High court: No cameras at gay marriage trial
(San Francisco) The Supreme Court on Wednesday indefinitely blocked cameras from covering the high-profile federal court trial on the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Now in its third day, the trial in federal court in San Francisco concerns Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on gay marriage in the state.
The …
