2,020 marriages of same-sex couples recorded in Iowa since last April
Posted on May 20, 2010 at 07:00 am
Out-of-staters made up 60 percent of same-sex couples married in Iowa since the freedom to marry became legal in April 2009, state officials reported Tuesday.
Aging issues can be tougher for same-sex couples
Posted on Mar 18, 2010 at 02:51 pm
Though aging is tough for everyone, it tends to be tougher for people who are gay, according to a report presented Wednesday at the annual conference of the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging in Chicago, Illinois.
One Day We Will Always Have Had The Freedom To Marry
Posted on Feb 16, 2010 at 11:38 am
Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell discusses the progress made in the securing the freedom to marry and the support that comes from many religious groups: "...my church, and churches of other denominations embrace those [gay] relationships. Supporting the spiritual and religious growth of families is one of the reasons our church exists. And we Unitarian Universalists take the long view. We take the long view because most of us believe as Dr. King did, that 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'”
Late highway patrol trooper’s partner laments lack of legal protection
Posted on Feb 01, 2010 at 12:54 pm
The Associated Press (Missouri) February 1, 2010
Kelly Glossip is being denied the pension of his partner, Dennis Engelhard, a Missouri state trooper who was killed on Christmas Day. PROMO's A.J. Bockelman: "It really highlights the need for better protection for gay and lesbian couples. Same-sex couples (in Missouri) are not afforded any benefits or breaks in the law." [Link]
Catholic Bishops Help Defeat Marriage Equality in Maine
Posted on Nov 13, 2009 at 12:47 pm
November 13, 2009
A total of 45 Catholic bishops, including many with St. Louis ties, contributed funds to the campaign supporting Maine's anti-gay Question 1, donating more than $180,000 to the effort. [Link]
‘Kansas City Star’ Publishes Its First Marriage Announcement for a Same-Sex Couple
Posted on Jul 06, 2009 at 08:31 pm
July 6, 2009
The 'Kansas City Star' ended almost two months of controversy by publishing the marriage announcement of a same-sex couple this past weekend. In Sunday's "Celebrations" section, the Star ran the wedding announcement of Michael and Charles Hewitt, a gay couple from Missouri who were married in Iowa on May 17. The Star's reader representative, Derek Donovan, said, "Newspapers reflect the world around them, and there’s no reason for them to refuse an ad that simply states an objective fact. My experience tells me most readers agree." [Link]
Same-Sex Couple’s Wedding Announcement Forces Change at Kansas City Star
Posted on Jun 05, 2009 at 11:41 am
June 4, 2009
A metro couple didn't know or anticipate that they were making history, but their nuptial announcement led to a review and change of policy at the area's largest newspaper. (Link)
Openly Gay Missouri Senator Marries Partner in Iowa
Posted on May 10, 2009 at 02:29 pm
Univ. of Missouri Student Newspaper
May 7, 2009
Just days after Missouri's first openly gay state senator married her partner in Iowa, she found out her marriage could be honored in the nation's capital. Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, and her partner Shonda Garrison wed May 1, along with 16 other couples that took a bus trip to Iowa. [link]
Gay couples having trouble obtaining divorces
Posted on Apr 15, 2008 at 02:49 pm
April 15, 2008
Gay couples had to struggle mightily to win the right to marry or form civil unions in certain states. Now, some are finding that breaking up is hard to do, too. [link]
Same-sex breakup perplexes courts
Posted on Mar 17, 2008 at 12:37 pm
March 17, 2008
A lesbian married in Massachusetts has filed for an annulment from her partner in a Missouri court, creating a legal challenge in a state that has an anti-gay constitutional amendment. Increasingly, such cases are popping up in courts across the country, and as they do, will turn public sentiment against the “gay exception” in both marriage and divorce. “I think people in Missouri are fair, and the more they learn and hear about real couples like this and ask themselves, do they really hate gay relationships so much that they won’t let gay people out of them?” Evan Wolfson said. [link]