Clinton approves partner benefits for State Dept. workers
(Washington) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will soon announce that gay American diplomats will be given benefits similar to those that their heterosexual counterparts enjoy, according to U.S. officials.
In a notice to be sent soon to State Department employees, Clinton says regulations that denied same-sex couples and their families …
Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners
In a policy shift, the US State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, The New York Times reported.
The newspaper said the shift was spelled out in an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian foreign service officers.
Clinton said the policy change addressed an inequity in the treatment of domestic partners and would help the State Department recruit diplomats, since many international employers already offered such benefits, the report said.
“Like all families, our foreign service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad,” Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.
“At bottom,” the paper quotes Clinton as saying, “the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do.”
A senior State Department official confirmed the new policy, but did not say when it would take effect, the paper said.
Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners: report
AFP
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/gay-us-diplom…
Anti-gay marriage effort advances
Maine election officials on Tuesday approved the question that would appear on the ballot if opponents of the recently enacted same-sex marriage law collect enough signatures.
Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that the question that will appear on petitions is “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”
Groups seeking to overturn the law, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland; the Maine Family Policy Council of Maine, formerly the Christian Civic League of Maine; and Maine Marriage Initiative could begin circulating petitions seeking to put the question on the ballot as early as Friday.
“We most likely won’t have petitioners out until after Memorial Day,” the Rev. Bob Emrich of the Maine Marriage Initiative said Tuesday afternoon. “We have to get petitions printed and distributed around the state. We also want to make sure that folks are properly trained in circulating petitions.”
See
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‘People’s veto’ looms despite passage of gay marriage in Maine
Mary Breen, of South Berwick, Maine, is counting down the days until she and her partner can be married, now that Gov. John Baldacci has signed into law the state’s gay marriage bill.
“It’s a proud day to live in Maine,” she said after the signing. The moment the law goes into effect, she said, “We’ll be getting married.”
Exactly when that day will be depends on how quickly opponents can mount a petition campaign to force a citizen’s veto of the law, said Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state for the Bureau of Corporation, Elections and Commissions.
Unlike New Hampshire, Maine has a mechanism to overturn a law called the “people’s veto.” Opponents must gather signatures of registered voters equal to 10 percent of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election. If verified, the veto measure is put on the next statewide ballot, with voters either upholding or repealing the law.
The secretary of state received an application for a people’s veto on Thursday, Flynn said. The office has 10 business days to write a legal ballot question and return it to the applicant.
The coalition of opponents, including the Catholic diocese of Portland and the Maine Jeremiah Project, must collect 55,087 valid signatures, but in practice need to get more than that in case signatures are disqualified.
For all practical purposes, said Flynn, opponents need to collect those signatures by mid-August to get on the November ballot, because they must be certified by town or city clerks first, then by the secretary of state — all by Sept. 4. That leaves 60 days before the Nov. 4 election, time enough for ballots to be printed and to allow for absentee voting.
Last year, opponents of a beverage tax were successful in garnering enough signatures for November and were ultimately successful in overturning the law. However, said Flynn, there was also a statewide election in June last year when organizers could gather signatures. There isn’t one in this off-election year.
“There’s always the county fairs and that sort of thing, but for this to be done, there’s going to have to be an organized effort,” she said.
Meanwhile, the bill itself is going on its own legal track. It will become law 91 days after the Legislature recesses, which is set for June 17 but could be earlier or later. That means the law would likely take effect Sept. 16. However, if the petitions are submitted to the secretary of state any time before Sept. 16, the law would be stayed from going into effect, Flynn said.See ‘People’s veto’ looms despite passage of gay marriage in Maine York Weekly * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Gay Marriage Opponents File For People’s Veto in Maine
Just one day after Governor John Baldacci signed a bill to legalize same-sex marriages in Maine, opponents are gearing up for a possible repeal. They’ve filed an application with the Secretary of State’s Office to attempt a people’s veto.
A people’s veto would give Maine voters statewide the chance to decide for themselves whether or not they want to legalize gay marriage. Now that opponents have filed an application for a people’s veto, the Secretary of State has to come up with the wording for the question. And then opponents have to gather enough valid signatures, at least 55,087 of them, to qualify the measure for the ballot.
The Jeremiah Project and the Catholic Diocese of Portland are jointly running the campaign. “I think that the vast majority of people are not supportive of what has happened here,” says Marc Mutty, Director of Public Affairs for Maine’s Catholic Diocese. “We certainly see the churches as being our base and our largest base for gathering signatures. But we see us extending our effort beyond that. And it may be door-to-door, fairs, church fairs, county fairs, whatever it may be, whatever is available.”Organizers of the people’s veto have a deadline of 90 days after the Legislature adjourns to turn in the required signatures. Right now the Legislature’s statutory adjournment is June 17th.
In order to make the required deadline for this November’s ballot, which is the goal, the campaign will have to work more quickly, and turn in their signatures by the first week of August. That would allow time for Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap to certify them. “And then the governor would have to do a proclamation, which he cannot do less than 60 days before the election; and then from there we would have to produce ballots and get them out at least 45 days before the election so people can vote absentee,” Dunlap says.Dunlap says opponents can start circulating their petitions as soon as he determines the proper wording of the question. “Ultimately, it is my discretion to write the question. We do solicit suggestions from the proponents. We have access to a volunteer group called the “Ballot Clarity Group” that can
See Gay Marriage Opponents File For People’s Veto
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“People’s veto effort” likely if gay-marriage becomes law in Maine
UGUSTA — Michael Heath of the Maine Family Policy Council announced this week he will work to gather the signatures necessary for a people’s veto of the gay-marriage bill.
A few things need to happen first, but during Senate debate Thursday, many senators said they felt it was inevitable that the question would end up before voters.
The Senate voted Thursday 22-14 in favor of the bill. It will be taken up in the House Tuesday, then come back to the Senate for a final vote.
From there, it goes to Gov. John Baldacci, who has not taken a position on the bill.
Assuming he doesn’t veto it, it would be set to take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns. Adjournment is set for June 17, give or take a day or two.
This is where the people’s veto comes in.
Heath and others would have 90 days from the date of adjournment to gather 55,087 signatures.
Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state, said any group wanting to turn in signatures for a people’s veto would have until Sept. 15 to submit signatures. Her office would then have 30 days to determine whether there are enough valid signatures to call for a public vote.
However, in order to make the November ballot, groups would have to turn in signatures by Sept. 3 or 4, because it must be at least 60 days before the election, she said.
If not, the question wouldn’t go to voters until June.
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Group discloses adoption ban petition signers online in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK — A Massachusetts gay rights group Tuesday posted on the Internet the names and addresses of more than 83,000 Arkansans who signed petitions last year to put a gay adoption ban on the state ballot, action the leader of the ballot initiative condemned as “pure intimidation.”
KnowThyNeighbor.org said it intended to make petition signers accountable for their support of the measure that prohibits unmarried couples who live together from adopting children or serving as foster parents in the state.
Though the new law affects all unmarried cohabiting couples, the sponsoring organization made no secret the measure targeted gays. It received 57 percent of the vote in the November general election.
“(They) need to stand behind their signatures and be responsible for this dehumanizing attack on the gay community,” KnowThyNeighbor.org’s director, Tom Lang, said in a release. “It’s disgraceful that they have chosen to exercise their prejudice at the expense of children who are now being denied access to loving adoptive and foster parents. Such activity must be challenged and cannot be allowed to pass under the cover of darkness.”
The group accessed the information from the Arkansas secretary of state’s office. Petition lists are public information under state law, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniels said.
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The cost of gay marriage in Vermont
(Montpelier, Vermont) Papers filed with the Vermont Secretary of State’s office show that same-sex marriage advocates spent more than $228,000 in the three months before the legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a marriage bill.
Lobby groups are required to submit financial disclosure forms to the state. The forms cover …
Poll: Gay marriage gains support, but not NY gov. Newsday
New York Gov. David Paterson‘s popularity in the state continues to tank, but his effort to legalize same-sex marriage has the support of a majority of voters, according to a poll released Monday.
The Siena College Research Institute poll found the Democrat is now viewed unfavorably by 63 percent of New Yorkers, down from 58 percent last month.
His job performance rating stood at 81 percent negative after a series of missteps eroded the strong public support he enjoyed when he was thrust into office 13 months ago as the state’s first black and legally blind governor.
Earlier polls have shown several issues hurt Paterson, including his secretive budget process that raised taxes but cut spending less than he promised, and how he handled filling Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s vacated Senate seat, a botched process that ended in unfounded leaks of accusations against one-time candidate Caroline Kennedy. See Poll: Gay marriage gains support, but not NY gov. Newsday
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Clinton urged to include gays in int’l health programs
(New York City) Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have been denied access to HIV services funded with U.S. foreign assistance, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said Wednesday in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton.
The IGLHRC letter called for a more inclusive approach to sexual and …
