RI steps toward recognizing gay and lesbian marriages
Posted on Feb 22, 2007 at 03:04 pm
New York Times
February 22, 2007
Responding to a request for a legal opinion from the commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said the state prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage. "Rhode Island will recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in Massachusetts as marriages in Rhode Island," the seven-page opinion said. [link]
February 22, 2007
Responding to a request for a legal opinion from the commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said the state prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage. "Rhode Island will recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in Massachusetts as marriages in Rhode Island," the seven-page opinion said. [link]
OPINION: Freedom to Marry Week call to action by mayor of Eugene, OR
Posted on Feb 14, 2007 at 03:31 pm
The Register-Guard
February 14, 2007
The mayor of Eugene, OR, writes, "This week, I hope the people of Eugene will join me in honoring Freedom to Marry Week, in recognition of the desire of all committed couples, gay or straight, to have their relationships recognized — not in a symbolic way, but in all ways legal, spiritual and philosophical." [link]
OPINION: The right to marry: who is really at risk?
Posted on Feb 12, 2007 at 02:21 pm
Minnesota Daily
February 12, 2007
Today the GLBTA community celebrates National Freedom to Marry Day. Though it is not an election year where the right to have one's love legally recognized is at risk, the goal of educating people on GLBTA issues and facilitating open-ended discourse is as important as ever. Even those in the community who do not believe marriage is an institution of which they want to be a part, the ideal of social equality in the near future fuels their drive to fight for what they feel is right. [link]
February 12, 2007
Today the GLBTA community celebrates National Freedom to Marry Day. Though it is not an election year where the right to have one's love legally recognized is at risk, the goal of educating people on GLBTA issues and facilitating open-ended discourse is as important as ever. Even those in the community who do not believe marriage is an institution of which they want to be a part, the ideal of social equality in the near future fuels their drive to fight for what they feel is right. [link]
Week intended to highlight inequality faced by gays
Posted on Feb 08, 2007 at 12:46 pm
RelishNow
February 8, 2007
Freedom to Marry Week was established 10 years ago. Each February, we remind our fellow citizens of the fundamental unfairness of marriage inequality and try to win their support. We hope to reach the "reachables" — straight folks who allow themselves to be educated and can ignore religious and social prejudices — by telling our stories. This is mine:
February 8, 2007
Freedom to Marry Week was established 10 years ago. Each February, we remind our fellow citizens of the fundamental unfairness of marriage inequality and try to win their support. We hope to reach the "reachables" — straight folks who allow themselves to be educated and can ignore religious and social prejudices — by telling our stories. This is mine:
MI court: No same-sex benefits
Posted on Feb 02, 2007 at 04:30 pm
San Francisco Gate
February 2, 2007
A three-judge panel said a 2004 discriminatory measure against gay and lesbian couples also applies to same-sex domestic partner benefits. The decision reverses a 2005 ruling from an Ingham County judge who said universities and governments could provide the benefits. [Link]
February 2, 2007
A three-judge panel said a 2004 discriminatory measure against gay and lesbian couples also applies to same-sex domestic partner benefits. The decision reverses a 2005 ruling from an Ingham County judge who said universities and governments could provide the benefits. [Link]
OPINION: Left out of the dream
Posted on Jan 21, 2007 at 03:34 pm
The Register-Guard
January 21, 2007
"He passed away a few months later. The following day, I got a phone call regarding his cremation. 'We can't allow you to authorize it,' the person at the funeral home informed me. 'You're not officially family.' So on one of the worst days of my life, I drove across town to his mother, who signed the paper that nine years of love and devotion didn't entitle me to sign." [link]
January 21, 2007
"He passed away a few months later. The following day, I got a phone call regarding his cremation. 'We can't allow you to authorize it,' the person at the funeral home informed me. 'You're not officially family.' So on one of the worst days of my life, I drove across town to his mother, who signed the paper that nine years of love and devotion didn't entitle me to sign." [link]
Actress Kate Fleming’s death underscores why marriage matters
Posted on Jan 19, 2007 at 03:12 pm
Washington Blade
January 19, 2007
If she and Charlene Strong, were wed in a commitment ceremony nearly nine years ago had been legal spouses, the decisions that came next would have been made quickly, albeit painfully. But Strong was initially denied the right to visit Fleming in the hospital as she lay dying. When asked what relationship she had to Fleming, Strong told the truth, unwilling to lie and say they were sisters. [link]
January 19, 2007
If she and Charlene Strong, were wed in a commitment ceremony nearly nine years ago had been legal spouses, the decisions that came next would have been made quickly, albeit painfully. But Strong was initially denied the right to visit Fleming in the hospital as she lay dying. When asked what relationship she had to Fleming, Strong told the truth, unwilling to lie and say they were sisters. [link]
OPINION: Lesbian and gay marriages can reflect God’s covenant with creation
Posted on Oct 04, 2006 at 03:14 pm
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
October 4, 2006
"It's love that makes a family. I witnessed the power of this love firsthand as a child when my uncle and his partner would visit from California. It wasn't until the 1990s that I learned my uncle had twice been sent to a sanitarium in his youth to be 'cured' of his homosexuality. When my uncle became bedridden for nearly a decade in his 80s after a series of strokes, his partner was at his bedside caring for him every day. The bond of their commitment is what marriage embodies and honors." [link]
October 4, 2006
"It's love that makes a family. I witnessed the power of this love firsthand as a child when my uncle and his partner would visit from California. It wasn't until the 1990s that I learned my uncle had twice been sent to a sanitarium in his youth to be 'cured' of his homosexuality. When my uncle became bedridden for nearly a decade in his 80s after a series of strokes, his partner was at his bedside caring for him every day. The bond of their commitment is what marriage embodies and honors." [link]
Love and activism in WI
Posted on Sep 15, 2006 at 02:32 pm
The Advocate
September 15, 2006
Wisconsin couple Richard Taylor and Ray Vahey were coming up on 50 years together when Taylor died in July. In their last year together they decided to finally come out to family and friends and joined a very public fight against a constitutional marriage exclusion amendment. [link]
September 15, 2006
Wisconsin couple Richard Taylor and Ray Vahey were coming up on 50 years together when Taylor died in July. In their last year together they decided to finally come out to family and friends and joined a very public fight against a constitutional marriage exclusion amendment. [link]
OPINION: Remember when inter-racial marriage was all the politicians’ rage?
Posted on Jun 19, 2006 at 03:16 pm
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
June 19, 2006
"In time, I'm sure state governments will have to accept that millions of gay couples are already marrying in everything but the courts." [link]
June 19, 2006
"In time, I'm sure state governments will have to accept that millions of gay couples are already marrying in everything but the courts." [link]