Privacy Looms Over Wash. State Gay Rights Vote
Posted on Nov 02, 2009 at 11:04 am
The New York Times
November 1, 2009
The legal debate over whether the names of donors to the campaign to repeal Wash. state's expanded domestic partnership law should be disclosed (according to state campaign finance laws) is likely to continue well past Tuesday's election and raise national questions about privacy and voter petitions. [Link]
November 1, 2009
The legal debate over whether the names of donors to the campaign to repeal Wash. state's expanded domestic partnership law should be disclosed (according to state campaign finance laws) is likely to continue well past Tuesday's election and raise national questions about privacy and voter petitions. [Link]
U.S. Justice Department: Mass. Can’t Force Federal Marriage Benefits
Posted on Nov 02, 2009 at 10:52 am
The Associated Press
October 30, 2009
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday argued in court papers in a lawsuit filed by the state of Massachusetts that states honoring the marriages of same-sex couples cannot force the federal government to provide protections to those couples because the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) remains law. [Link]
October 30, 2009
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday argued in court papers in a lawsuit filed by the state of Massachusetts that states honoring the marriages of same-sex couples cannot force the federal government to provide protections to those couples because the so-called federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) remains law. [Link]
Advancing the Freedom to Marry in America
Posted on Oct 30, 2009 at 11:59 am
American Bar Association's Human Rights Magazine
Summer 2009 Edition
As the nation celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Stonewall, leading advocates, Mary L. Bonauto and Evan Wolfson, examine how the freedom to marry movement began; what work and events have shaped its progress, especially in the last year; and action steps for future progress. (Link to pdf, article on p.11)
Summer 2009 Edition
As the nation celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Stonewall, leading advocates, Mary L. Bonauto and Evan Wolfson, examine how the freedom to marry movement began; what work and events have shaped its progress, especially in the last year; and action steps for future progress. (Link to pdf, article on p.11)
NY Times Letter to the Editor by Evan Wolfson
Posted on Oct 29, 2009 at 08:51 pm
The New York Times
October 28, 2009
October 28, 2009
To the Editor:[Link]
Re “In Battle Over Gay Marriage, Timing May Be Key,” by Adam Liptak (Sidebar column, Oct. 27):
The pivotal exchange in one of the lawsuits now challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage shows that the opponents of gay people’s freedom to marry still can’t give a real answer to the key question posed in yet another court by yet another judge: “What would be the harm of permitting gay men and lesbians to marry?”
The anti-gay forces’ lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, replied, “Your Honor, my answer is: I don’t know ... I don’t know.” Mr. Cooper eventually told the judge that the government should be able to exclude gay couples from marriage in order “to channel naturally procreative sexual activity between men and women into stable, enduring unions.”
But even Justice Antonin Scalia, no friend of equality for gay people, wrote in Lawrence v. Texas: “What justification could there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples exercising ‘[t]he liberty protected by the Constitution’? Surely not the encouragement of procreation, since the sterile and the elderly are allowed to marry.”
The reason smart lawyers like Mr. Cooper don’t give a better answer to why marriage discrimination should be allowed to continue is that there isn’t one.
Evan Wolfson
Executive Director
Freedom to Marry
New York, Oct. 27, 2009
ABA Human Rights Magazine Names Mary L. Bonauto and Evan Wolfson Human Rights Heroes
Posted on Oct 29, 2009 at 02:23 pm
American Bar Association Human Rights Magazine
Summer 2009
Kristen Galles writes, "Twenty years ago, the nation did not know or think much about GLBT civil rights. Now, thanks to the work of [Evan] Wolfson and [Mary] Bonauto, the nation and its legal landscape have changed and we can all look forward to a day when all citizens have the freedom to marry." (Link)
Summer 2009
Kristen Galles writes, "Twenty years ago, the nation did not know or think much about GLBT civil rights. Now, thanks to the work of [Evan] Wolfson and [Mary] Bonauto, the nation and its legal landscape have changed and we can all look forward to a day when all citizens have the freedom to marry." (Link)
Washington State Domestic Partnership Foes Challenge Campaign Laws
Posted on Oct 28, 2009 at 12:38 pm
The Associated Press
October 27, 2009
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the anti-gay group Family PAC, which opposes Washington state's expanded domestic partnership law, must abide by Washington state's campaign finance laws while a lawsuit challenging those laws moves forward. [Link]
Support expanded domestic partnership rights in Washington here.
October 27, 2009
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the anti-gay group Family PAC, which opposes Washington state's expanded domestic partnership law, must abide by Washington state's campaign finance laws while a lawsuit challenging those laws moves forward. [Link]
Support expanded domestic partnership rights in Washington here.
In Battle For Marriage Equality, Timing May Be Key
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 at 07:32 pm
The New York Times
October 26, 2009
Adam Liptak writes that although many LGBT equality advocates have expressed concern over the timing of Ted Olson and David Boies' federal challenge to Prop. 8, some political analysts now see U.S. Judge Vaughn R. Walker's courtroom questions and refusal to dismiss the suit as possibly promising. [Link]
October 26, 2009
Adam Liptak writes that although many LGBT equality advocates have expressed concern over the timing of Ted Olson and David Boies' federal challenge to Prop. 8, some political analysts now see U.S. Judge Vaughn R. Walker's courtroom questions and refusal to dismiss the suit as possibly promising. [Link]
Judge Denies Anti-Gay Prop. 8 Backers Delay on Memos
Posted on Oct 26, 2009 at 11:13 am
San Francisco Chronicle
October 26, 2009
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Friday said supporters of Prop. 8 may not delay in handing over campaign strategy documents to plaintiffs in the legal challenge to the initiative looking for evidence of anti-gay bias as they try to overturn it. [Link]
October 26, 2009
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Friday said supporters of Prop. 8 may not delay in handing over campaign strategy documents to plaintiffs in the legal challenge to the initiative looking for evidence of anti-gay bias as they try to overturn it. [Link]
Op-Ed: National Organization for Marriage Shows Its True Colors - Sues State of Maine to Change Rep
Posted on Oct 23, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Californians Against Hate
October 22, 2009
Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate says, "These people [NOM] come into Maine from Washington, DC fully aware of the state election laws, pay $350,000 to professional signature gatherers to qualify their referendum to take away the rights of a minority, and then have the audacity to sue the state to change its years-old election laws." [Link]
October 22, 2009
Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate says, "These people [NOM] come into Maine from Washington, DC fully aware of the state election laws, pay $350,000 to professional signature gatherers to qualify their referendum to take away the rights of a minority, and then have the audacity to sue the state to change its years-old election laws." [Link]
Anti-Gay Group Wants to Hide Donors in Washington State R-71 Campaign
Posted on Oct 23, 2009 at 11:38 am
The Associated Press
October 22, 2009
An anti-gay political action committee called the Family PAC filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing that the group should be exempt from the state's campaign finance laws and not have to report the names of donors who contribute to their side of the Referendum 71 campaign. [Link]
October 22, 2009
An anti-gay political action committee called the Family PAC filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing that the group should be exempt from the state's campaign finance laws and not have to report the names of donors who contribute to their side of the Referendum 71 campaign. [Link]