News of the Day
Rush Limbaugh Says He Shares Elton John's View On Gay Marriage
By
On Top Magazine Staff
Published:
July 29, 2010Controversial radio host Rush Limbaugh
said Wednesday that he shares Elton John's view on gay marriage.
John made headlines earlier in the week
when he snubbed a boycott of Arizona and performed in Tucson. Gay
groups the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the National Gay and
Lesbian Chamber of Commerce are among the groups that called for the
boycott after state lawmakers approved an immigration law the groups
say will lead to “racial profiling, discrimination and
anti-immigrant extremism.” (A federal judge on Wednesday blocked
some of the law's most controversial provisions from taking effect.)
Click here to read the complete article.
StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com To Document State Officials' Stances On Gay Marriage
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 29, 2010 To date, StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com has used media accounts, press releases from candidates and elected officials, and the public voting record of elected officials to document the support for or opposition to equal marriage rights of all 50 governors, 100 United States senators, and 435 United States representatives. "Until StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com launched, there was no one place you could go to find this information," said Michael Zuyus, founder of StatesThatAllowGayMarriage.com. "We want to make it easy for people to get the information they need in order to support candidates who will vote for marriage rights in their state."
Click here to read the complete article.
Media covers gay marriage minimally
By Celeste Lavin, 365gay.com 07.28.2010 3:32pm EDT
Just 0.3 percent of the news in 2009 devoted to same-sex marriage according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism examining media coverage. In 2009, the California Supreme Court ruled on Proposition 8; Iowa's Supreme Court ruled Iowans had a right to gay marriage, marriage equality battles were fought in Maine and Washington state, and Washington D.C. legalized gay marriage.
The study broke down the analysis by type of media outlet and found that marriage equality was covered most by newspapers, counting for 0.5 percent of news stories. In online news sources, gay marriage was 0.3 percent of coverage. Evening network news covered gay marriage the least; just 0.1 percent of stories were about the topic.
Lord who tabled religious civil partnerships amendment now supports gay marriage
PinkNews.com, July 27, 2010
Lord Waheed Alli, the Labour peer who tabled an amendment in the last
government to allow religious civil partnerships, has called for full
marriage equality.
Lord Alli said his amendment was a "huge step" but said that all
couples must now be given the choice between civil and religious
marriage, with faiths given the option to hold gay weddings.
The last Labour government introduced civil partnerships in 2005,
allowing gay couples in the UK to have their relationships legally
recognised.
Click here to read the complete article.
Best Buy joins Target: Adds $100K donation to MN fund that supports anti-gay politician
'"In the wake of the court decision, Minnesota business groups formed MN Forward, a
political action committee headed by Brian McClung, a former spokesman
for Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Target, Best Buy, Red Wing Shoe Co., Polaris
and several other Minnesota-based companies have donated more than $1
million - Target topped the list at $150,000...
"'Best Buy's contribution to MN Forward provides support for
candidates with policies that focus on issues encouraging job creation
and economic growth... While the governor's race is receiving the most
attention at this point and MN Forward has released a TV ad in support
of Tom Emmer, the group is also going to be involved in state
legislative races and will be supporting both Democrats and
Republicans."'
Click here to read the complete article.
Awaiting a Full Embrace of Same-Sex Weddings
July 27, 2010
New York Times
By DAN LEVIN
CAPE TOWN - It was another picture-perfect wedding at the foot of Table Mountain, recalled the Rev. Daniel Brits. Inside the chapel, a female vocalist sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" before he led the nervous couple through their vows surrounded by family and friends a few weeks ago.
That the betrothed were two men gave few of the guests pause. For Mr. Brits, it was all in a day's work. After all, he says, he has married more than 500 gay couples in the four years since South Africa became the first country in the Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage. (This month, Argentina became the second.) Click here to read the complete article.
In Latin America, a Harbinger of Women's Rights July 27, 2010
New York Times
By LUISITA LOPEZ TORREGROSA
With a historic vote this month allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children, Argentina
joined a vanguard of nations - nine, to be precise - granting gays and
lesbians these rights. It's a stunning development on a continent where
not long ago such a bold measure would have been unthinkable.
Only the legalization of abortion anywhere in Latin America would be more momentous.
Incredibly, in this day and age, abortion is legal in only one nation in Latin America, Cuba.
Five countries - Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the
Dominican Republic - ban it under all circumstances, even when the
mother's life is in danger. A law making abortion legal in Mexico City
is under attack by the Roman Catholic Church.
But abortion is not the only women's rights issue in Latin America.
Although many governments in the region describe themselves as
progressive, the daily lives of millions of women in Latin America
remain mired in poverty, male dominance and discrimination because of
lax enforcement of social reforms and legal measures.
Click here to read the complete article.
NJ Supreme Court rejects gay marriage case
The Associated Press
Monday, July 26, 2010; 1:49 PM
TRENTON, N.J. -- The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to hear a
case from six same-sex couples seeking the right to marry, saying the
case needs to wind its way through the lower courts first.
Gay couples unsuccessfully sued New Jersey four years ago for the right
to marry. They claim that by creating civil unions, the state has not
fulfilled a court order to treat them the same as heterosexual couples
seeking to marry.
Click here to read the complete article.
A Brief History Of International Gay Marriage
Time.com - July 22, 2010
On the evening of July 21, the president of Argentina, Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner, convened a ceremony at the Casa Rosada government
house in downtown Buenos Aires to formally sign into law a bill
legalizing gay marriage. The measure, narrowly passed by the Argentine
Congress on July 15, was no small leap for the land of the laconic
gaucho cowboy, a place whose Constitution required the head of the
Argentine state to be Catholic until a 1994 reform. "In a few years this
debate will be absolutely anachronistic," said Kirchner to a room
filled with activists chanting "igualdad" - equality. In signing the
law, Kirchner made the South American country the tenth in the world -
and the first in Latin America - to codify gay marriage.
Argentina's breakthrough has already sent shockwaves through the
Americas. Several conservative magistrates in Argentina have said they
will refuse to conduct same-sex marriages, even in the face of warnings
from officials that such a move will be grounds for dismissal. In a sign
of solidarity, the tourism board of Mexico City, where gay marriage has
been legal since last year, has offered an all expenses paid vacation
to the first wedded Argentine gay couple. (That marriage is scheduled to
take place on August 13 in the trendy Buenos Aires neighborhood of
Palermo.) For a region in the thrall of progressive leadership,
left-leaning legislators have even conceded in interviews with local
press that Argentina's legalization of gay marriage could make their
countries appear "conservative" by comparison.
Click here to read the complete article.
How Churches May Actually Help Gays Win the Marriage Fight
 By Byard Duncan, AlterNet
Posted on August 8, 2009, Printed on August 8, 2009
At the top of a hill in Berkeley, California -- above the city's stucco angles, crinkled palm fronds and coffee shops -- Rev. Mark Wilson is seated at a piano. Horizontal bands of evening sun pour through the stained glass to his right, dotting his forehead with pearls of sweat. He closes his eyes.
Today is July 5, 2009 -- the day after Independence Day. Wilson, a broad, boisterous man with a neatly etched triangle of beard, is feeling political.
Click here to read the complete article.
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The Faces of Family are everywhere. They are the common thread that runs through us all. Regardless of color, race, spiritual belief, love orientation or political persuasion, we all share a family heritage.
The Wedding Party is proud to announce The Faces of Family project! The Faces of Family project will continue The Wedding Party's promise to provide the media and the world with the honest and provocative truth about same-sex relationships and families.
How can you be a part? Send us your story! Tell us about your family and why it is important. Tell us what family means to you and how your understanding of marriage was affected by your experience of family. Send us your picture and we will tell your story.
The Faces of Family Project is raising funds
to send the message to Albany to leave no family
behind and that all families deserve protection
through marriage. Click
here to contribute to our Faces of Family
Project.
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Values Are For Everyone
Rebecca A. Kanis Captain, U.S. Army (1991-2000)
I was investigated for being a lesbian while I was at West Point in 1989, before the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I lied to the investigators and was allowed to continue at the academy. I didn't believe I had other options and the possibility of returning to my family in Kansas as a "disgraced" lesbian was unthinkable. In a crisis at 19 years old, I chose to lie to keep an opportunity open to me, instead of losing it all for the truth. I would choose differently today, but no one should be put in that situation.
Click here to read her complete story!
Elizabeth Grosse - Mother and Friend
My son Charlie was an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life. But to his family and friends, he was extraordinary. The fact that he was gay was only a part of who he was, what was really extraordinary about him was that he was funny, and had a big heart. He was a man that could make you laugh until tears rolled down your face, and when he befriended you, he loved you wholly and completely and his loyalty had no boundaries. Just when Charlie had found someone whom he really loved and wanted to spend his life with, he died rather tragically.
Click here to read her complete story!
Community Bulletin Board
Marriage Equality Event Schedule
Check here for MENY events!
Click here for event information!
Lambda Legal's Upcoming Events
Every year Lambda Legal hosts award galas, garden parties, intimate dinners and other events. We also hold educational forums, seminars and rallies, sometimes with partner organizations - and our attorneys and public education staff participate in a wide range of conferences and workshops open to the public. Click through below to find out what's happening in a town near you!
Click here for more information!
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| Prop 8 Trial Gets Online Reenactment |
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 | In its January 13, 2010 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the public broadcast of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California Proposition 8
Working from court transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers who are present at the trial, marriagetrial.com is re-enacting the trial and posting it here for public viewing.
Click here to watch the trial reenactment! |
| Wedding Party Forums |
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BE OUTSPOKEN -
JOIN OUR FORUM
The right to marry is a fight for civil rights. What can you do? Stay in action by transforming the conversation. You possess the power of words, help enlighten others - share your thoughts - voice your opinions. Be out spoken, go to the new forums area of the website.
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| From the Heart - A CD tribute to marriage equality |
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Looking for a compilation of todays best new artists? How about a collection of songs devoted to equality? Check out FROM THE HEART, a CD celebration of love benefitting The Wedding Party!
Click here to buy the CD! |
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Police: Conn. priest stole $1M for male escorts Associated Press - July 6, 2010 NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A Roman Catholic priest in Connecticut was charged Tuesday with stealing $1.3 million in church money over seven years to use for male escorts, expensive clothing and luxury hotels and restaurants. The Rev. Kevin J. Gray, former pastor at Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Parish in Waterbury, was arrested and charged with first-degree larceny, Waterbury police said. Arraignment was expected Tuesday in Waterbury Superior Court.
Click here to read more. |
| Faces of Family Postcard Project |
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 | Send us a self-addressed stamped envelope, and we will send you 2 photo postcards at no cost!
These simple but effective tools allow you to affix your picture to the postcard and tell your story to whomever you wish. Just mail your request to:
"TWP Postcard Project"
332 Bleecker St., #d24
New York NY 10014
A picture of your family will tell a thousand words, if you let it. So let us help you tell your story. Send us a SASE today! |
| How To Contact Your Elected Officials |
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 | Now more than ever, contacting your elected officials to tell them what is important to you is CRITICAL! Writing letters, sending emails and making phone calls are powerful tools in the fight for equality. Take action today!
Click this link to find your elected official. |
| 15 Questions Couples Should Ask Before They Marry |
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 | (December 17, 2006 New York Times)
Relationship experts report that too many couples fail to ask each other critical questions before marrying. Here are a few key ones that couples should consider asking:
1) Have we discussed whether or not to have children, and if the answer is yes, who is going to be the primary care giver?
2) Do we have a clear idea of each other's financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh?
3) Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?
Click here for more information. |
| Human Rights Alert |
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U.S. Complicit in Iraq's Anti-Gay Program?
by Kilian Melloy - Edge.com
Wednesday Jun 23, 2010
Media accounts suggest that the United States' invasion of Iraq not only precipitated a "crisis" level of anti-gay violence, but that through inaction and a reliance on local strong-arms, the U.S. is complicit in the ongoing pursuit, torture, and murder of gay Iraqis.
A group called Iraqi LGBT runs a number of safe houses designed to offer refuge to gays, lesbians, and other sexual minorities in the country, which, under U.S. occupation, and with the end of Saddam Hussein's secular government, has become increasingly violent toward gays. Religiously motivated death squads roam the streets, according to media reports, and the police are complicit in rounding up and torturing gays, according to a June 23 op-ed article by Paul Canning in U.K. newspaper The Guardian.
Click here to read the complete article. |
| Attention Disorders Can Take a Toll on Marriage |
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July 19, 2010, 5:28 pm
New York Times
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Does your husband or wife constantly forget chores and lose track of the calendar? Do you sometimes feel that instead of living with a spouse, you’re raising another child?
Your marriage may be suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
An A.D.H.D. marriage? It may sound like a punch line, but the idea that attention problems can take a toll on adult relationships is getting more attention from mental health experts. In a marriage, the common symptoms of the disorder - distraction, disorganization, forgetfulness - can easily be misinterpreted as laziness, selfishness, and a lack of love and concern.
Click here to read the entire article |
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