Councilmen waver on new gay marriage bill

Porterville city councilmen rehashed a contentious issue Tuesday night — gay marriage.

Former mayor Cameron Hamilton proposed that council members show adamant opposition to a bill circulating among state legislators.

Senate Bill 54 proposes same-sex couples married outside the state, and before the passage of Proposition 8, are warranted the equal recognition as married spouses in California.

The council formerly engaged with a state issue on Sept. 2, 2008 by adopting a resolution supporting Proposition 8. The ballot measure, which was passed by California voters in November, codifies that marriage in California is only between a man and a woman.

This time the vote was not unanimous.

By a sliver — two in favor, two opposed, one abstained — council members allowed Hamilton to draft a resolution to approve or disapprove at a future meeting.

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Where? Adair County supervisors demand Iowa gay marriage ban! Where?

The Adair County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution demanding that the Iowa Legislature take action to either end same-sex marriage in Iowa, or let the public vote on the matter.

Chairman Clifford Sheriff read the resolution before the board’s vote this morning.

“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Adair County Board of Supervisors demand that the Iowa (Legislature) resolve this issue by either passing legislation that will lead to a public vote to amend the Iowa Constitution or by passing legislation to confirm Iowa Code Section 595.2 to the Iowa Supreme Court (decision) in Varnum and Brien,” Chairman Sheriff read aloud.

The section of law Sheriff referenced is the 1998 “Defense of Marriage Act” which most legal scholars argue has been voided by the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision. The five-member Adair County Board of Supervisors passed their resolution, without debate.

“I’ll move we approve the resolution for review of the Defense of Marriage Act,” one of the supervisors said.

Another quickly added his “second” to move the process forward.

“We have a first and a second to approve the resolution,” Chairman Sheriff announced. “All in favor signify by saying, ‘Aye,’” Sheriff advised and all five replied in the affirmative.

The supervisors then continued with their board meeting.

A few Iowa city councils and county boards of supervisors have pondered similar resolutions against gay marriage. In February — two months before the Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalized gay marriage — the Sioux City City Council passed a resolution urging state legislators to set the date for a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment which would ban gay marriage.

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Adair County supervisors demand statewide vote on gay marriage

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Now they t ell us: Mormon church says bishop acting alone in civil union fight

(Chicago, Illinois) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says that an Illinois bishop was acting alone in sending an e-mail to members of his ward urging them to oppose a civil union bill before the state legislators.

But the Utah-based denomination has not ruled out becoming involved in the issue in the future.

The e-mail, sent to at least one LDS ward in Illinois, was authorized by Bishop Chris Church of the Nauvoo, Illinois, 3rd Ward, and was sent out by that website’s ward administrator.

It urges members of the church to call their local legislators and tell them to oppose the bill. The e-mail claims that civil unions would “empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise.” It goes on to also claim that “it will also create grounds for rewriting all social mores.”

The e-mail raised the concerns of national LGBT civil rights groups. The Mormon Church was instrumental in the passage of anti-gay measures in a number of states.

It was heavily involved in the Proposition 8 campaign in California, a voter-based initiative that prohibits same-sex marriage in that state, a similar constitutional amendment in Arizona and the defeat this year of a package of LGBT rights bills in Utah called the Common Ground Initiative.

The e-mail prompted the Human Rights Campaign to issue an alert to its members.

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Illinois Mormons against civil unions?

Gay rights advocates fear that Mormons in Nauvoo might try to undermine civil unions up for debate in Springfield today. They point to the church’s overwhelming financial support of California’s Proposition 8, the successful ballot measure that made it illegal for lesbian and gay couples to marry.

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, accused the Latter-day Saints of sending a private e-mail to Illinois members, urging them to contact state legislators and voice opposition to the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, a bill that would define “civil union” as a legal relationship between two persons, of either the same or opposite sex. It would also entitle both parties of a civil union to the same legal obligations, responsibilities, protections, and benefits afforded to spouses.

The bill has been scheduled for a hearing in the Illinois House of Representatives Youth and Family Committee today. If the bill is voted out of committee, it becomes eligible for a vote before the full Illinois House of Representatives.

But Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the national church, said the e-mail was not part of a church wide opposition campaign. The church’s engagement with political causes is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. It is unclear if the Illinois legislation would violate church doctrine as interpreted by Latter-day Saints.

“As is widely known, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of traditional marriage,” she said in a statement. “The Church has not taken a position on any legislation currently being considered by the Illinois State Legislature … An e-mail was sent from a local Illinois Church leader to his congregation – one of 129 congregations in the state — who was free to express his own views.”

The e-mail in question was sent to at least one Mormon ward in Illinois and authorized by Bishop Chris Church of Nauvoo.

The message warns recipients that the legislation would “empower the public schools to begin teaching this lifestyle to our young children regardless of parental requests otherwise.”

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Mormon church says bishop acting alone in civil union fight

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Gay Marriage Support Helps Politicians Get Re-Elected

A new study concludes that a large majority of legislators who supported gay marriage won re-election nationwide.

Freedom to Marry, the nationwide marriage equality group headed by Evan Wolfson, looked at 1100 state legislators from four states that have voted on gay marriage bills since 2005. Nearly all of these politicians were re-affirmed by their constituents, debunking the misconception that gay marriage support ends political careers.

Lawmakers from both political parties met with equal success.

See Gay Marriage Support Helps Politicians Get Re-Elected
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