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News Archive: June 2009

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06/30/09: A political reason for including substantive religious-liberty exemptions in the California Marriage Equality Act Initiative?
Excerpt: ""In California, you only needed to flip 2 percent of voters," Laycock said, referring to Proposition 8's victory last November by a 52-48 margin. "If you put in the religious exemption, I think you flip that 2 percent."" [Legal Commentary on Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry]

06/30/09: Prop 8 Goes to Federal Court on Thursday
Excerpt: "Formerly lawyers who fought against each other in the Bush vs. Gore case, Ted Olson and David Boies have joined together to fight Prop 8. They will be asking for "a preliminary motion eeking a temporary and permanent injunction against enforcement of Prop 8 on the grounds that the state constitutional amendment violates the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution." If approved, gay marriage could temporarily be legal until the a decision was made. However, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who also believes Prop 8 should be stricken, is concerned about such a move. "Staying operation of Proposition 8, without the certainty of a final judgment as to its constitutionality, would leave same-sex couples, as well as their families, friends, and the wider community, in legal limbo," he said" [LAist]

06/29/09: San Francisco federal judge to hear latest legal challenge to Proposition 8
Excerpt: "The latest legal challenge to California's voter-approved ban on equal marriage may be a long way from the U.S. Supreme Court, but the first step on a possible path to the high court unfolds this week before a San Francisco federal judge. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Thursday will consider arguments on whether to block Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution last November and barred gay and lesbian couples from being legally married in the state. The high-powered challenge to Prop 8 shifts the legal battleground over gay people in California to the federal courts, in the wake of May's ruling from the California Supreme Court upholding the initiative. The state Supreme Court found it did not have the legal authority to overturn a voter-approved constitutional amendment, although the justices refused to invalidate an estimated 18,000 marriages that were licensed before Prop 8 went into effect." [Mercury News]

06/29/09: 40 Years Later, Still Second-Class Americans
Excerpt: "In conversations with gay activists on both coasts last week, I heard several theories as to why Obama has seemed alternately clumsy and foot-dragging in honoring his campaign commitments to dismantle DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. The most charitable take had it that he was following a deliberate strategy, given his habit of pursuing his goals through long-term game plans. After all, he's only five months into his term and must first juggle two wars, the cratered economy, health care and Iran. Some speculated that the president is fearful of crossing preachers, especially black preachers, who are adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage. Still others said that the president was tone-deaf on the issue because his inner White House circle lacks any known gay people. But the most prevalent theory is that Obama, surrounded by Clinton White House alumni with painful memories, doesn't want to risk gay issues upending his presidency, as they did his predecessor's in 1993. After having promised to lift the ban on gays in the military, Clinton beat a hasty retreat into Don't Ask once Congress and the Pentagon rebelled. This early pratfall became a lasting symbol of his chaotic management style -- and a precursor to another fiasco, Hillarycare, that Obama is also working hard not to emulate." [NY Times]

06/27/09: Political Shifts on Gay Rights Lag Behind Culture
Excerpt: "Yet if the culture is moving on, national politics is not, or at least not as rapidly. Mr. Obama has yet to fulfill a campaign promise to repeal the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military. The prospects that Congress will ever send him a bill overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, appear dim. An effort to extend hate-crime legislation to include gay victims has produced a bitter backlash in some quarters: Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, sent a letter to clerics in his state arguing that it would be destructive to "faith, families and freedom." "America is changing more quickly than the government," said Linda Ketner, a gay Democrat from South Carolina who came within four percentage points of winning a Congressional seat in November. "They are lagging behind the crowd. But if I remember my poli sci from college, isn't that the way it always works?"" [NY Times]

06/27/09: Family Values by Andrew Putschoegl
Excerpt: "It may not be the family we had imagined, but it's the family we have and love." [Project Pushback]

06/27/09: House Leaders Plot Equal Rights Agenda
Excerpt: "After five months of virtual inaction on the equal rights agenda, House Democratic leaders on Wednesday met privately to chart out a strategy for advancing the constituency group's priorities in the 111th Congress. Headlining the meeting was Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who with her leadership team and the three openly gay Members of Congress -- Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) -- sought to map out a way forward on several key equal rights bills. According to sources, the Members discussed workplace discrimination, health care benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees and a repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bars gays from openly serving in the military. The lawmakers also discussed how to help the Senate pass hate crimes legislation that has already cleared the House." [Roll Call]

06/26/09: Texans Support Couple Recognition
Excerpt: "Most Texans don't oppose equal unions, but they're split in their support for marriage or civil unions. While more than a third (36%) oppose either arrangement, 32% said they would support civil unions and another 25% think equal marriage should be permitted." [Box Turtle Bulletin]

06/26/09: Yes on Equality may collect petition signatures for second version of marriage-equality initiative: Will a stronger religious-liberty clause emerge?
Excerpt: "I did not consider that Yes on Equality, the Initiative's proponent, has had opportunity since late January to remedy arguable deficiencies in the religious-liberty provision. Charles Lowe proposed the Initiative's language with the help of attorneys. In this June 11th Bay Area Reporter article, he says that he would be "very surprised if what we filed wound up being what is used." Are further changes still planned or - at least under consideration - to preempt or undercut religious opposition, by strengthening the religious-liberty provision? " [Legal Commentary on Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry]

06/26/09: Marriage supporters need 1,000 voters a day
Excerpt: "Based on results of the private poll done for a coalition of LGBT and allied organizations in May, number crunchers at Marriage Equality USA have determined that if a Prop 8 repeal measure is on the November 2010 ballot, the campaign needs 999 new supporters a day. That number drops to 453 new supporters a day should proponents wait until November 2012." [Bay Area Reporter]

06/26/09: Joe Biden reaches out to gay community
Excerpt: "Speaking at a LGBT fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, Biden acknowledged the anger many gays and lesbians have toward the White House, and he pledged to "put some pace on the ball." "I don't blame you for your impatience," Biden said. "I hope you don't doubt the president's commitment."" [Politico]

06/24/09: NY Governor Calls Senate To Wednesday Special Session -- Equal Marriage Vote Tops Agenda
Excerpt: "Governor David Paterson has called for the New York State Senate to vote on same-sex marriage legislation at an extraordinary legislative session tomorrow, June 24, 2009. All 62 members of the New York State Senate are legally obligated to attend anextraordinary session called by the Governor. " [Outcome Buffalo]

06/24/09: New England's Equal Marriage Compromise
Excerpt: "The equal-marriage lobby is making political calculations of its own. Some advocates view exemptions as temporarily convenient and don't think they'll need to tolerate them forever. Just as increasing public support for gay people in recent years has made civil unions unsatisfactory to the movement, it's hard to imagine that if equal marriage were to gain overwhelming support in New England some equal rights activists wouldn't lobby to remove state-sanctioned religious discrimination." [National Journal]

06/22/09: Same-Sex-Marriage Follies
Excerpt: "Two years ago, national gay activists hatched a plan to turn the State Senate Democratic. Thus began the Albany ring cycle ..." [New York Magazine]

06/22/09: White House Staffers Concede 'Frustration' Over Administration's Slow Action On Gay Rights
Excerpt: "Brown conceded that the administration is "moving slowly" on gay rights. "Nobody thinks it's fast enough right now, but I know the President cares about this. ... It's going in the right direction, if not quickly enough." Klain agreed with Brown. "I understand the frustration," he said." [Think Progress]

06/21/09: Special marriage rights cost us $4,799 in higher taxes
Excerpt: "Second class citizenship is expensive." [Blue Oregon]

06/21/09: Maine: Equal-marriage law fuels 'huge' turnout
Excerpt: "A large crowd lined Congress Street and the route to Deering Oaks on Saturday for the first Southern Maine Pride Parade since Maine's lawmakers voted to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the state. Although the marriage law is still not in effect and opponents are gathering signatures to try to force a vote on the issue, Maine's decision to join a growing list of states allowing gay people to marry gave this year's parade and other events a little extra meaning. That helped draw a larger crowd than in the past. Monument Square was filled with people, including a large group that carried a long rainbow banner in the parade. The sidewalks were packed with people cheering various organizations. In some spots the crowd was four and five deep." [Portland Press Herald]

06/21/09: California equal marriage fight goes to Chinatown
Excerpt: "Asian Americans have been building grass-roots support in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Filipinotown for four years. Gays, lesbians and straight allies have talked about the often-taboo topic of homosexuality, set up booths at festivals, harangued non-English language media to change coverage and lobbied elected officials for support. "What we felt we had to do is talk to people who aren't on our side. So that's why we do these crazy things like walk through the streets of Chinatown as part of the New Year's Parade. That's why we go out to festivals from Little India to Little Tokyo and talk to complete strangers," said Marshall Wong, co-chair of Asia Pacific Islander group API Equality." [Reuters]

06/21/09: Schwarzenegger decides against defending Prop. 8 in federal court
Excerpt: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declined to defend the constitutionality of Proposition 8, telling a San Francisco judge that the legality of the anti-equal marriage measure is for the courts to decide. The governor's decision to remain neutral in a federal challenge to Proposition 8 means no statewide official will be defending the measure in federal court." [LA Times]

06/21/09: Herrera Files Amicus Brief in Support of Federal Challenge to Proposition 8
Excerpt: "City Attorney Dennis Herrera today filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco in support of a federal lawsuit brought by two California couples challenging the validity of Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment that eliminated the fundamental right of marriage for gay and lesbian citizens in California. " [Press Release]

06/21/09: Campaign to save Maine's marriage law is launched. Opponents hired Yes on Prop. 8 campaign manager to kill our rights
Excerpt: "The political action committee running the campaign will be called "Maine Freedom to Marry." Meanwhile, the Press Herald confirmed that our opponents in Maine are going to hire the firm of Frank Schubert, who ran the Yes on Prop. 8 campaign in California. Schubert knows where to find money, so Maine Freedom to Marry needs our help and our support." [Freedom to Marry]

06/21/09: Why the Gay Rights Movement Has No National Leader
Excerpt: "One explanation is that gay and lesbian activists learned early on that they could get along just fine without one. Even in the movement's earliest days following the violent uprising at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village 40 years ago this week, no singular leader emerged. Some historians believe this is in part because it was -- and still is -- difficult for the average American to empathize with the struggles of gay people." [NY Times]

06/21/09: White House: Census to better count gay couples
Excerpt: "U.S. Census Bureau officials said Friday that married same-sex couples will be counted as such in the 2010 national tally, reversing an earlier decision made under the Bush administration. Steve Jost, a spokesman for the Census Bureau, said officials already were identifying the technical changes needed to ensure the reliability of the information, but remained committed to providing an accurate tally of gay spouses." [AP]

06/21/09: Vermont: Thank Senator Shumlin for his principled stand for fairness and equality!
Excerpt: "In light of the Obama Administration's failure to take action to repeal the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," and in the wake of the Obama Administration's recent legal defense of "DOMA" in the courts -- invoking an analogy between homosexuality and incest -- Senator Shumlin has withdrawn from participation in his party's fundraiser" [Vermont Free to Marry]

06/21/09: NY Bar Association Votes To Support Equal Marriage
Excerpt: "Delegates for the association adopted a resolution Saturday asking state legislators to give full marriage rights to same-sex couples." [WCBS]

06/21/09: Maine: Petition effort questioned
Excerpt: "Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state, said her office has received calls from people concerned about the petitioning process, but not a surprising number." [Sun Journal]

06/20/09: Here's an idea: what if the Government introduced voluntary gay marriage?
Excerpt: "What is so Christian about an institution which lets in straight atheists and even Satanists, but excludes gay Christians?" [Sydney Morning Herald]

06/20/09: L.A. racially divided on equal marriage, Times Poll finds
Excerpt: "White voters were most emphatic in their support for equal marriage, with 68% supporting it and 27% opposing. African American voters were strongly against it, with 54% opposing equal marriage and 37% supporting it. Opposition to gay couples by African Americans was widely seen as a major factor contributing to the passage of Proposition 8. Latinos in the current poll were split, with 45% supporting same-sex couples and 46% opposing. Within the Latino population, there were additional divisions: women, the young and people with college educations offered more backing for gay people than men, older voters and those with fewer years of schooling. Since the passage of Proposition 8, political analysts have suggested that statewide support for same-sex couples is only a matter of time, and the poll offered support for that idea." [LA Times]

06/20/09: 75% of teens support equal marriage in online poll
Excerpt: "When asked whether they would feel weird being friends with someone of the same gender if they found out that he/she is gay, 62 percent said no versus 25 percent who said yes. Most (78 percent) felt that gay students should be allowed to bring a gay date to the prom. " [Examiner]

06/18/09: The DOMA brief ruined everything
Excerpt: "Both Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton filed legal briefs arguing against existing law. The president says he is a "fierce advocate" for LGBT rights. Really? I don't think comparing a marriage to my partner, to marrying my niece or sister, is being my fierce advocate. I expect the president will try to distance himself from the brief and even the press statement, but it is too late. If how I feel, as one of the president's most ardent supporters, is any indication, Obama is in for a world of trouble over the next year with the LGBT community." http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-06-18/news/politics-city-county-government/stampp-corbin-the-doma-brief-ruined-everything#ixzz0Ioq3I9Q9&D

06/18/09: Census study of gay married couples finds similarities to husband-and-wife couples
Excerpt: "Marriage -- whether you are gay or straight -- may be the great common denominator among American households, according to a new government study that offers a first-ever look at the nation's same-sex couples who say they are spouses. Married men and women average about 50 years old, and about four in 10 have kids living at home. The average couple pulls down a little over $90,000 a year and four in five own their home." [Mercury News]

06/18/09: Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama
Excerpt: " The memorandum Obama signed Wednesday is not expected to grant health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners, as that is prohibited under the Defense of Marriage Act. "It will absolutely be seen as something good -- but I think, for example, it not including full health insurance -- that is going to put a real microscope on that question. You know, why not?" Kim said, adding that the memo applies only to federal employees, so most people will not be affected by it." [CNN]

06/18/09: Gay bias killings highest since 1999
Excerpt: ""What we're also seeing, more disturbingly, is the increase in the severity of violence," said Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, which coordinates coalition. Stapel theorized that at least some of last year's violence was backlash against issues that arose during the during the presidential campaign. She cited debates about same-sex marriage, the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and federal legislation that would ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as possible flash points. "The more visibility there is the more likely we're going to see backlash, and that's exactly what we see here," Stapel said." [AP]

06/18/09: Maine equal marriage foes to use Calif. Prop 8 firm
Excerpt: "Schubert Flint Public Affairs will manage the campaign to repeal Maine's equal marriage law, just as it did in California. Organizers of the veto effort are trying to collect the signatures of more than 55,000 registered Maine voters to put the question on the November ballot." [AP]

06/18/09: Obama's gay rights gap
Excerpt: "On Sunday, the administration's top-ranking openly gay official offered a less-than-stellar prognosis for gay rights. Obama remains committed to banning employment discrimination against gays, along with repealing the marriage act and "don't ask, don't tell," said John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, and that will happen "before the sun sets on this administration." The implication was that much of this agenda might wait until a second term." [LA Times]

06/17/09: President Obama betrays the gay community
Excerpt: "Sixty-seven percent of Americans now favor granting same-sex couples the right to marry or join in civil unions. Sixty-nine percent support letting openly gay men and lesbian women serve in our military, including a majority of Republicans (58 percent), conservatives (58 percent), and even churchgoers (60 percent). And an overwhelming number of Americans have long since supported passing legislation banning job discrimination against gays. The controversy is in President Obama's mind -- at least it was until it became real and moved to the Democratic Party's pocketbook." [Salon]

06/17/09: Is Obama giving federal agencies a right they already have?
Excerpt: "The answer is "yes." I just asked OPM Director John Berry, on a White House media conference call, whether in fact federal agencies already have the right to give these benefits to gay employees. The answer, "yes." So what's new about tonight? Obama is going to "tell" the agencies to give the benefits - as if any agency in the Obama administration would dare tell a gay employee no to a request for time off to attend their partner's funeral?" [AmericaBlog]

06/17/09: Barney Frank rips prez's 'big mistake'
Excerpt: "U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, one of the nation's leading gay rights champions, blasted President Obama yesterday over a controversial anti-equal marriage court filing and is calling on the commander in chief to explain himself. "I think the administration made a big mistake. The wording they used was inappropriate," Frank (D-Newton) said of a brief filed by Obama's Department of Justice that supported the Defense of Marriage Act." [Boston Herald]

06/17/09: Obama Will (temporarily) Give Benefits to (some) Gay Federal Workers. Big Whoop
Excerpt: "Ugh, it gets worse. Turns out this is only a "memorandum," which means it expires when Obama leaves office. Also, there won't be any of those little "health benefits" tied to this, because of a little something called DOMA. You know, the policy the Obama administration defended last week? Same thing goes for Don't Ask Don't Tell: Eligible military servicemen and women won't be able to receive these benefits, whatever they may be." [Queerty]

06/17/09: U.S. to Extend (a few of) Its Job Benefits to Gay Partners (temporarily)
Excerpt: "President Obama will sign a presidential memorandum on Wednesday to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, administration officials said Tuesday evening, but he will stop short of pledging full health insurance coverage." [NY Times]

06/17/09: Gay Group Slams Policies of President
Excerpt: "As a candidate for president, Mr. Obama said he would try to repeal the law known as DOMA. It prevents same-sex couples married in states where gay unions are legal from benefiting from federal benefits of marriage, such as Social Security spousal benefits. But on Friday, the Obama administration filed a brief seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, a California couple married during the brief period when gay marriage was legal in the state, who are challenging the 1996 federal act. The letter Monday from Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese included a detailed critique of the administration's filing. "This brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you," he wrote." [Wall Street Journal]

06/16/09: Outraged By Obama Legal Brief, Gay Democratic Donors Boycotting DNC Bash
Excerpt: "The timing of the brief, which the president of the leading gay and lesbian rights organization said caused his community "pain," is awkward, given that next Thursday, June 25, the Democratic National Committee is hitting up the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community for cash in a fundraiser featuring Vice President Biden. As John Aravosis at AmericaBlog reports, gay donors, outraged at the legal brief, are withdrawing their support from the event." [ABC News]

06/16/09: http://obamasplanforgayrights.com/
Excerpt: "There isn't one." [The Stranger]

06/16/09: A Prop. 8 win-win
Excerpt: "The federal action was brought on behalf of two gay couples who were denied marriage licenses after the ruling that upheld Proposition 8. If such an action were instead brought in state court, California would have an opportunity to bring equity to both sides. The attorney general, in defending the state's interest, could ask for a court order enjoining the state from using the terminology of marriage altogether. Instead, the state would give everyone -- gay or straight -- a civil union license and allow churches, synagogues, temples and mosques to say who can and cannot "marry" within their individual traditions. Religious freedom, a bedrock constitutional value of like importance to equality, would also be a winner." [LA Times]

06/16/09: Surprise outcome of museum shooting: gay rights
Excerpt: "Now, Congress is under greater pressure to acknowledge that gays face the same threats as the Jews and blacks targeted by Mr. Von Brunn, and it could take action as soon as this week. " [Christian Science Monitor]

06/16/09: In DC, LGBT Activists Won by Playing the Long Game
Excerpt: "Yesterday the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics rejected Bishop Harry Jackson's efforts to put recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states to a referendum. The reason the referendum was rejected was because the proposed law would go against D.C.'s comprehensive human rights law that says proposed laws that would have the purpose or effect of discriminating against people based on sexual orientation can't be passed by referendum. The GLAA, a local gay rights group, lobbied hard to get the language regarding sexual orientation placed in the law in the 1970s, anticipating just this kind of situation. What needs to be understood here is this is the exact inverse of the situation in California--there the law was on the side of anti-marriage equality activists. Here, the letter of the law completely favors the marriage equality side. D.C. law strictly prohibits putting laws that are potentially discriminatory against certain groups to a popular vote, if the referendum had been allowed to go through, the law would have been meaningless. " [American Prospect]

06/16/09: The $9.5 Billion Gay Marriage Windfall
Excerpt: "To estimate the financial impact of gay couples were they legalized nationally, we multiplied the number of gay couples marrying by 34% of the amount straight couples would spend on such items as engagement rings, banquet halls, wedding dresses and honeymoons. Add it all up, and it comes to $9.5 billion." [Forbes]

06/16/09: Obama's Ground-Breaking Gay Rights Speech*
Excerpt: "And let me state, clearly and directly, that the statements in the brief suggesting that the LGBT community is not entitled to equality, are unacceptable. On behalf of my Administration, I apologize not only to the community, but to everyone who found such arguments distasteful, or worse." [Word in Edgewise]

06/16/09: Democrats To Gay Americans: Fuck You. Now Write Us a Check.
Excerpt: "Obama is defending DOMA in the vilest possible terms--comparing equal marriage to incest and child rape--and he refuses to use the powers at his disposal right now to suspend enforcement of DADT. Harry Reid, speaking for the Democratic majority in Congress, says there will be no legislative action on DADT. But, hey, we're all invited to the Democratic National Committee's LGBT Leadership Council's annual fundraising dinner!" [The Stranger]

06/16/09: In R.I., some wary as tide of gay marriage rises at border
Excerpt: "The slower pace in Rhode Island, where the state Senate voted last week to allow same-sex partners to make funeral arrangements, has frustrated some local activists, many of whom rallied outside the State House in Providence last weekend to call for immediate equality. But others say that legalization by 2012, a goal advocates set last year for securing same-sex marriage in all New England states, would put Rhode Island at the front of the pack nationally. In the rest of the country, only Iowa allows same-sex couples to marry." [Boston Globe]

06/16/09: Harry Reid: no sponsors, no plan for DADT repeal - says Obama should do exec order
Excerpt: "If Harry Reid and, frankly, Nancy Pelosi, are the best options that Democrats have to offer us as gays and lesbians at this point, then it's time to turn off the financial spigot. You may not have the option or desire to support an Republican alternative, but if the best Reid, et al, can offer us on LGBT issues is cowardice, then at least let us offer apathy in return." [Pam's House Blend]

06/16/09: Cleve Jones Responds: 10 Reasons Why a March Isn't a Bad Idea
Excerpt: "On June 8, 2009, Bil Browning of Bilerico Project attacked the planned march on Washington scheduled for October 11 in a post entitled: "10 reasons why a march on Washington is a bad idea." Bil, and other critics of the march are wrong on all ten counts and here's why." [Bilerico Project]

06/16/09: A Bad Call on Gay Rights
Excerpt: "Busy calendars and political expediency are no excuse for making one group of Americans wait any longer for equal rights." [NY Times]

06/15/09: Nation's mayors support gays' freedom to marry
Excerpt: "The U.S. Conference of Mayors today passed a resolution in support of ending the exclusion of gay couples from marriage. The resolution, titled "Equality and Civil Rights for Gay and Lesbian Americans," included support for the freedom to marry along with endorsement of federal bills such as Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, the Uniting American Families Act, and the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. " [365Gay]

06/15/09: Questionable new poll: More RIers oppose than support equal marriage?
Excerpt: "The results come just two weeks after a Brown University poll found that 60 percent of respondents favor equal marriage. But the fact that the latest survey was funded by a high-profile anti-gay-people group has led some to question its objectivity, just as others questioned the outcome of a poll this spring that was commissioned by Marriage Equality Rhode Island, a pro-equal-marriage group. That survey found that 49 percent favor equal unions. " [The Providence Journal]

06/15/09: Mayors criticize Justice Department support for Defense of Marriage Act
Excerpt: "With the Obama administration facing growing discontent among gay supporters, the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco joined in voicing concern today about a new U.S. Justice Department brief supporting the federal Defense of Marriage Act." [LA Times]

06/14/09: Former Clinton aide Socarides: Obama's Department of Justice had a choice
Excerpt: "There is no earthly reason for the Obama administration's silence (and now with the DOMA brief contempt) on our issues, to have its tail between its legs. It only cements the belief, after the Donnie McClurkin and Rick Warren debacles, that all you wanted out of the LGBT community were votes, dollars and bodies to volunteer to usher him into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; a lame proclamation about gay rights doesn't erase the embarrassing behavior of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at the daily pressers, dodging, evading and delivering nonsensical contradictory answers to serious questions posed by reporters about LGBT issues such as Don't Ask, Don't Tell. " [Pam's House Blend]

06/14/09: Why I Now Support Equal Marriage
Excerpt: "Under current New York State law, same-sex couples are deprived of access to the employment benefits, life and health insurance and inheritance laws that heterosexual couples have. If the state were to institute civil unions for same-sex couples, that discrimination would end, but we'd still be creating a separate and unequal system." [NY Times]

06/14/09: American Gays and Lesbians Feel Betrayed by Obama
Excerpt: "More and more Americans support equal rights for gays and lesbians and oppose the ban on openly homosexual soldiers serving in the military. But Barack Obama seems to be behind the curve on gay rights -- and the calls for him to act are getting louder." [Spiegel]

06/14/09: Has Obama Administration Gone Over to the Dark Side in LGBT Issues?
Excerpt: "I think now that we are half a year into the new administration, it is past time for Obama and Holder to start showing some leadership on the issues where the campaign made specific pledges. It is time for the administration to move on DADT and DOMA, and not to sit back and wait for events to develop. And it certainly is not time to mount an aggressive, and in some respects homphobic-sounding, defense of these statutes in the courts." [Leonard Link]

06/14/09: CA Attorney General Brief: Prop 8 Violates 14th Amendment
Excerpt: "On the same day in which the Obama administration filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court defending the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a very different brief in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the Prop 8 challenge brought by Ted Olson and David Boies." [Box Turtle Bulletin]

06/14/09: Prop. 8 leader to run for Sacramento-area Assembly seat
Excerpt: "A leader in this year's successful ballot fight to ban equal marriage in California is planning to run for a Sacramento-area Assembly seat." [Sacramento Bee]

06/14/09: Who Filed The DOMA Brief?
Excerpt: "So who signed off on this brief? Who is responsible for this mess? Or are gays that low a priority for DOJ?" [Andrew Sullivan]

06/14/09: No One Could Have Predicted
Excerpt: "Do you think the Obama administration is letting Bush holdovers work on healthcare reform? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on Iraq policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers work on economic policy? Do you think they're letting Bush holdovers manage Sotomayor's confirmation process? Of course not. Because all of those things matter to the Obama administration. They give a shit about healthcare and Iraq and the economy and the Supreme Court nominee. They don't give a shit about gay rights." [The Stranger]

06/14/09: DOJ Moves To Dismiss DOMA Challenge
Excerpt: "UNfuckingbelievable." [Joe My God]

06/14/09: HRC, NGLTF, ACLU, Others Call on Obama To Repeal DOMA Now
Excerpt: "When President Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he believed that DOMA should be repealed. We ask him to live up to his emphatic campaign promises, to stop making false and damaging legal arguments, and immediately to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA and ensure that every married couple in America has the same access to federal protections. " [Towleroad]

06/14/09: Insult To Injury
Excerpt: "They could have argued for a narrow ruling or kept the "reasonable" arguments to a minimum. What they did - without any heads up to any of their gay supporters and allies - is unconscionable. Citing incest precedents? Calling gay couples free-loaders? Arguing that our civil rights are not impinged because we can marry someone of the opposite sex? Who on earth decided that that was a great idea? Marc is right that this will be simply incomprehensible to most gay people. To have unloaded it after refusing to do anything on DADT, after failing to lift the HIV travel ban, after punting on even pure symbolism like hate crimes - well, it's no way to treat those who worked their butts off to elect you, as all the major groups have now said." [Andrew Sullivan]

06/14/09: Clueless
Excerpt: "The ball is now in the President's court. He owes us an apology - and not one of words, but one of action. Signing a hate crimes bill won't do it. Nor will an additional imprecation to Congress to do something about DOMA. It is he who was elected President with the explicit promise that gay equality would be on his agenda. What Presidents do is lead, and after this anything less than the kind of leadership he shows on other issues will be confirmation of a betrayal of those like me who voted for him in good faith." [Independent Gay Forum]

06/14/09: Fierce advocacy
Excerpt: "My point is only to note how much continuity there is in this instance, as in others, between the Bush and Obama administrations. In short, there's little in this brief that could not have been endorsed by the Bush DOJ. A couple of rhetorical flourishes here and there might have been different. Perhaps a turn of phrase. But, minus some references to procreation and slippery slopes, the substance is there. Obama says he opposes DOMA as a policy matter and wants to repeal it. Nothing in the DOJ brief prevents him from acting on that belief. He is, he says, a "fierce advocate" for gay and lesbian Americans. When does that part start? " [Volokh]

06/14/09: Barack Obama Demonstrates His Committment to Gay Rights
Excerpt: "It is gratuitously insulting to lesbians and gay men, referring (unnecessarily) to same-sex marriage as a "form" of marriage, approving of congressional comparisons between same-sex marriages and loving relationships between siblings, or grandparents and grandchildren, and arguing (with a straight face, I can only assume) that discrimination against same-sex couples is rational because it saves the federal government money. " [Independent Gay Forum]

06/13/09: Jerry Brown supports federal case against Prop 8
Excerpt: "In stark contrast to President Obama's Justice Department filing a brief defending the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, California's Attorney General Jerry Brown today filed a brief in support of a federal challenge to Proposition 8." [California Ripple Effect]

06/12/09: Will a ballot to repeal Prop. 8 have a (substantive) religious-liberty exemption?
Excerpt: "But do initiative proponents understand or even anticipate concern over the alleged inadequacy of language like that of the initiative's religious-liberty exemption? Are they taking into account stronger religious-liberty exemptions that allowed for successful passage of New Hampshire's equal marriage law? Apparently not." [Legal Commentary on Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry]

06/12/09: S.D. County apologizes to married gay couple
Excerpt: "The incident illustrates why same-sex couples who want to get married should be allowed to wed. "If you've got two groups of people who have two different sets of rights, that is just unworkable," she said." [SignOnSanDiego]

06/12/09: Obama DOJ lies to Politico in defending hate brief against gays
Excerpt: "It is an outright lie to suggest that the DOJ had no choice. But it's worse than that. Let's just assume for a moment that the Justice spokesman didn't lie to Politico, even though they did. Let's just assume that Obama had no choice but to oppose the gay couple filing this DOMA lawsuit. Where in the law does it say that Obama was required to compare equal marriage to incest?" [AmericaBlog]

06/12/09: Obama defends DOMA in federal court. Says banning gay marriage is good for the federal budget. Invokes incest and marrying children.
Excerpt: "I cannot state strongly enough how damaging this brief is to us. Obama didn't just argue a technicality about the case, he argued that DOMA is reasonable. That DOMA is constitutional. That DOMA wasn't motivated by any anti-gay animus. He argued why our Supreme Court victories in Roemer and Lawrence shouldn't be interpreted to give us rights in any other area (which hurts us in countless other cases and battles). He argued that DOMA doesn't discriminate against us because it also discriminates about straight unmarried couples (ignoring the fact that they can get married and we can't)." [AmericaBlog]

06/12/09: Groups begin talk of ballot wording
Excerpt: "In addition to the issue of kids and schools, the ballot language likely would contain wording making it clear that religious groups would not have to perform equal marriages if such unions go against their faith. When this question was asked in the Binder-Simon survey, support for equal marriage stood at 52 percent." [Bay Area Reporter]

06/11/09: MUST READ: The Folly of 2010
Excerpt: "The $60 million or more that will be spent in 2010 could go to other things, like state and congressional elections or fighting a possible SSM repeal (Maine? Iowa?) or amendment ban in another state. Those volunteers and organizers could be doing other productive things with their time. And losing in 2010, especially if the margin is greater than in 2008, will be deflating. It will harm morale. It will scare off legislators elsewhere. And it will be taken (incorrectly) as a sign that the tide is beginning to turn against SSM, with numerous political consequences in the short term. Losing doesn't mean you start from scratch the next time you try. It means you start from scratch with a bigger political, psychological, and financial burden. Waiting until 2012 would be better, in this sense, than losing in 2010 and trying again in 2012." [Independent Gay Forum]

06/11/09: How To Get 63% of Americans to Support Equal Marriage. (Maybe.)
Excerpt: "Would changing these few little words have made a difference last November? Probably not. But advocates for same-sex marriage can do a better job of framing their argument. Generally speaking, appeals to government noninterference are fairly popular; people don't like government telling them what they do and they don't have the right to do. Posit equal treatment under the law as the default -- how dare the government make a law that abridges this right on the basis of something as trivial as sexual orientation." [FiveThirtyEight]

06/11/09: Gay couples forced to flee US over immigration law
Excerpt: "Bills have been introduced in Congress to treat same-sex partners like heterosexual spouses for the purposes of immigration but are likely to face a strong fight, both from equality opponents and anti-immigration groups. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act prevents immigration officials from recognizing gay marriages, even from states where they are now legal. Proponents see the issue as a basic rights question, and Steve Ralls, a spokesman for Immigration Equality, said he believes the best chance for the legislation is as part of a larger immigration bill. But other immigration advocates want to keep the issues separate, fearful of bogging down an already tough fight. Kevin Appleby, migration policy director for U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the push for same-sex partners in immigration is about getting recognition in federal law for equal marriage -- which he opposes." [AP]

06/11/09: Why Prop 8's Going To Stick
Excerpt: "So too much autonomy will fracture the campaign -- but too much power-sharing will paralyze it. We're doomed! There's only one thing that'll guarantee a successful overturn of the marriage ban; and that's all of us reaching out, one person at a time, to family and friends and coworkers and everyone, until eventually enough voters understand why equality matters. And then even the worst campaign won't matter. So how far away are we from that point? To be honest, if this is really going to happen in 2010, we're finding it hard to be optimistic. (And so is noted civil liberties professor Dale Carpenter.) That's a lot of hearts and minds to change. Right now a win in 2010 all rests on how many people you can talk to today. So, get to work." [San Francisco Appeal]

06/10/09: Dueling gay identity events highlight change in Grand Rapids
Excerpt: "The Grand Rapids area is currently in the middle of an "ongoing conversation" about gay identity and gay rights, according to Colette Seguin Beighley, assistant director of the LGBT Resource Center at GVSU. "We learned that the Love Won Out conference was coming to town and wanted to offer another part of the conversation," she told Michigan Messenger in an interview." [Michigan Messenger]

06/10/09: Commentary: Obama absent on equal rights for gays
Excerpt: " During the campaign, Barack Obama assured gays and lesbians that he supported repealing "don't ask, don't tell" as well as adoption and anti-discrimination rights for the gay community. Those kinds of promises carry a particular weight when made by a man whose very capacity to run for elected office is the yield of another civil rights struggle. That lineage and the high expectations that come with it gave Obama an amazing degree of latitude, allowing him, for instance, to remain relatively unscathed even when he placed the Rev. Rick Warren on the Inauguration Day program. But to date he has taken no significant action on this front and, more critically, his administration is actually being outpaced by state legislatures around the country." [CNN]

06/09/09: March on Washington seen as 'bare-bones' affair; Some activists skeptical about need for D.C. demonstration
Excerpt: "A number of activists are skeptical about whether the LGBT community should pursue a march this fall. Stampp Corbin, a gay activist in San Diego, Calif., called Jones "one of our most beloved activists," but said "it would be unconscionable" to think that activists would be able to plan for and draw LGBT Americans to an October march. "He couldn't possibly be talking about a march on Washington in the sense that we've had marches in Washington because that would be impossible to plan in 16 weeks," he said. Corbin noted a number of states are facing battles over LGBT rights, such as Maine, which is likely to face a referendum that could repeal the recently enacted equal marriage law. He questioned whether resources would be better put toward those fights, or encouraging President Obama to take action on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," as opposed to a national march." [Washington Blade]

06/08/09: LGBT Activists Call for March On Washington
Excerpt: "October 11 is Columbus Day. Congress won't be in session and the President will be out of town. This raises the question: exactly who do we expect to hear us when we march? Who will receive our petitions or issue statements of support? Who will be held accountable before the press? With everyone gone for the holiday weekend, it will be all to easy for our representatives and President to duck responding to this since they will be on break and "unavailable." And guess what else will be unavailable? The National Mall. It was already booked for Columbus Day by three groups already expecting 135,000 people altogether. March organizers seemed to have forgotten to check this whopping detail." [Box Turtle Bulletin]

06/08/09: Does a March on Washington make sense now?
Excerpt: "A march will cost and arm and a leg, and require foot soldiers to negotiate space, hotels, all sorts of logistical nightmares in such a short time frame. Wouldn't you rather see resources to put people on the ground in Maine, or New York, or Washington state, or any other place where there are opportunities to stop anti-gay efforts and promote equality gains? " [Pam's House Blend]

06/08/09: Politics to play bigger role in Pride Parade
Excerpt: "Organizers of one of the nation's foremost gay-pride celebrations don't plan to tone down the festivities even as marriage supporters begin political outreach to California's Central Valley. The Dykes on Bikes motorcycle contingent will again lead the parade, while conservative and religious groups outraged by the city's gay community are expected to film it. But with issues from marriage to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military to proposed state budget cuts for HIV and AIDS programs, organizers of the June 28 event sense a renewed political vigor in the first post-Bush administration Pride celebration." [SF Gate]

06/07/09: Carrying the torch for equal marriage
Excerpt: " A handful of "marriage equality torches" were carried on foot, in cars and even on a unicycle to city halls around the county yesterday by people protesting Proposition 8, the November state ballot initiative that stripped gays and lesbians of the right to marry. In a twist on protesting, organizers mobilized about 140 residents in far-flung corners of the county to walk their own streets carrying a "torch" as a symbol of the cause. The torch's flames were actually pieces of shaped metal. An attack on the event organizer in Lemon Grove, which resulted in the arrest of an Oceanside man, was the only interruption of what was a relatively peaceful event. " [SignOnSanDiego]

06/07/09: Michigan voters shifting views on gay couples
Excerpt: "In what Glengariff Group pollster Richard Czuba describes as a seismic shift in public opinion, even support for equal marriage has nearly doubled since a similar poll in 2004. That poll was conducted before voters approved an amendment to the Michigan Constitution restricting marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman." [Detroit Free Press]

06/06/09: Study: Bans on equal marriage lead to rise in HIV infections
Excerpt: "According to the findings by Mialon and Francis, "a rise in tolerance from the 1970s to the 1990s reduced HIV cases by one per 100,000 people, and that laws against same-sex marriage boosted cases by 4 per 100,000." "Intolerance is deadly," Mialon said. "Bans on gay marriage codify intolerance, causing more gay people to shift to underground sexual behaviors that carry more risk." " [Southern Voice]

06/05/09: Unions joining equal rights fight: Labor groups advocate for Senate equal marriage bill
Excerpt: "Community organizers from the powerful health care union 1199 SEIU and its sister union, building service union SEIU 32BJ, have worked for the past few weeks with the Empire State Pride Agenda, which has led lobbying efforts to promote the bill. The New York State United Teachers union and the New York City Central Labor Council have provided phone banks to assist the effort." [Times Union]

06/05/09: Out of the closet: Politics and other mistakes
Excerpt: "The marriage-equality bill sailed through the legislative process not because it wasn't controversial, but because Equality Maine had carefully laid the groundwork. At every step, the process was managed by the group not only for maximum political impact, but also to address broader concerns. EM has obviously been thinking outside the State House and preparing from the beginning for a public vote on the issue if opponents gather enough signatures to force a people's veto referendum. That's something MLGPA and its offspring Maine Won't Discriminate lacked the foresight and the savvy to accomplish. EM and its allies in the Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition started their campaign with a couple of smoothly coordinated moves. In November 2008, they sent volunteers to dozens of polling places to collect signatures supporting same-sex couples. In one day, they gathered 33,000 names. A week later, liberal clergy members held news conferences in several locations to endorse the marriage plan." [Boston Phoenix]

06/04/09: Black, Reiner Back Fed. Prop. 8 Suit
Excerpt: "Director Rob Reiner and Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black are among the board members of a newly formed legal and policy group behind the federal challenge to Proposition 8. " [Advocate]

06/04/09: Beyond 'gay marriage'
Excerpt: "The cultural battle over same-sex relationships has been relegated to court cases, chanting crowds and heated confrontations. At its heart, though, it's often just about two people trying to get the world -- indeed, even their families -- to recognize and understand their love. " [USA Today]

06/04/09: California lesbian couple allege discrimination at Fresno hospital
Excerpt: "The couple said they have never experienced such blatant discrimination. They are both so upset over the incident that they have contacted the ACLU for legal advice. Orbin said it was particularly upsetting that the hospital staff continually refused to acknowledge Rowe as her spouse, and failed to treat either of them with kindness or respect." [Examiner]

06/04/09: Seesawing Same-Sex Marriage
Excerpt: "Maine and New Hampshire are now the states to watch. Both states have Democratic governors who campaigned on a platform saying that marriage is between a man and a woman; both signed equal marriage bills passed by their state legislatures. But Maine, unlike the other equal marriage states in New England, has an easy process for a "people's veto" that could put the issue on the ballot in November. And in New Hampshire, the governor only agreed to sign the bill after religious liberty protections were added for people with faith-based objections to gay people. If that sounds like a compromise floated by equal marriage supporter Jonathan Rauch and marital traditionalist David Blankenhorn, that's because in essence it is. Rauch and Blankenhorn have said that since a national consensus on this issue is a long way off, the best way forward is maximum benefits for same-sex couples paired with maximum religious-liberty protections for people of faith. " http://spectator.org/archives/2009/06/04/seesawing-same-sex-marriage

06/04/09: New England economy could see gay-couple boost
Excerpt: " Five out of the region's six states now endorse gay couples after New Hampshire legalized equal marriage on Wednesday, leaving Rhode Island as the sole holdout. The spread of equal marriage could serve as a recruiting tool for universities, health care companies and financial services firms that dominate the region's economy, experts said. "It will be a selling point when it comes to trying to lure people with same-sex partners who are being wooed for a job," said M.V. Lee Badgett, a University of Massachusetts economist who studies gay and lesbian issues." [Reuters]

06/04/09: Setting the (Gay) Wedding Table
Excerpt: "The gym bunnies, bears, drag queens, power gays and lipstick lesbians in West Hollywood and California want a winning campaign to restore their legal right to marry. Some of them may not closely follow the inside moves of their own civil rights movement, but what unfolds now is critical. The decisions made in the coming weeks, and the leaders who emerge, will lay the foundation for the defeat or victory of an equal marriage ballot measure." [LA Weekly]

06/03/09: Knowing Someone Gay/Lesbian Affects Views of Gay Issues
Excerpt: "While 57% of Americans oppose legalizing equal marriage, Americans who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian are almost evenly divided on the matter, with 49% in favor and 47% opposed. Among those who do not personally know anyone who is gay, 72% oppose legalized equal marriage while just 27% favor it." [Gallup]

06/03/09: New Hampshire governor signs equal marriage law
Excerpt: "Gov. John Lynch was Surrounded by cheering supporters of the move as he signed the three bills about an hour after the key vote on the legislation in the House. The law will take effect in January, exactly two years after the state legalized civil unions." [AP]

06/03/09: Christian Clergy Rally on Opposite Sides of Gay Marriage Debate
Excerpt: ""Our religious traditions and scriptures teach us that wherever love is present, God is also present," the coalition, called D.C. Clergy United for Marriage and Equality, states. "We therefore affirm the right of loving same-gender couples to enter into such relationships on an equal basis with loving heterosexual couples."" http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090603/christian-clergy-rally-on-opposite-sides-of-gay-marriage-debate/index.html

06/03/09: Rhode Island Senate Votes for a Single Domestic Partnership Right
Excerpt: "Domestic Partners may be recognized in Rhode Island. But only once they are dead." [Box Turtle Bulletin]

06/03/09: New Hampshire Legislature approves equal marriage
Excerpt: "New Hampshire legislators approved a measure Wednesday that would make the state the sixth to allow gay couples, and Gov. John Lynch said he would sign it later in the afternoon. He had promised a veto if the law didn't clearly spell out that churches and religious groups would not be forced to officiate at gay peoples' marriages or provide other services. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday, and the House -- where the outcome was more in doubt -- followed later in the day. The House gallery erupted in cheers after the 198-176 vote." [AP]

06/03/09: Prop 8 Debate Underway in Porterville
Excerpt: "Porterville was the only city in California to officially endorse Prop 8. The city council approved a resolution in September of last year, in a vote that attracted little attention. But now, with the effort to overturn Prop 8 underway local activists want the council to know they do not represent everyone in Porterville. The Porterville City Council got an earful from residents who said the council's public support of Prop 8, hurt them. " [KFSN]

06/03/09: NH Senate passes equal marriage revision; House next
Excerpt: "As expected, the New Hampshire Senate has passed revised equal marriage legislation and sent it to the House. If if passes there, Gov. John Lynch is expected to sign it into law later Wednesday, making New Hampshire the sixth state to allow gays to marry." [Boston Herald]

06/03/09: Marriage: Protection or Discrimination?
Excerpt: "To protect marriage, we should spend time and energy on problems that affect marriage, and stop using the word "protection" to disguise discrimination." [KNTV]

06/03/09: NY: Capital Tonight Poll: Senate split over gay marriage
Excerpt: "Another four no votes and New York becomes another state that tries and fails to legalize equal marriage. That's the findings from the public survey of 62 senators Capital Tonight conducted Tuesday - three weeks before their legislative session ends." [Capital News 9]

06/03/09: 100+ D.C. Faith Leaders Show Support for Gay Couples
Excerpt: "More than 100 pastors and faith leaders voiced their support for same-sex couples in D.C., standing in stark contrast to protests a month earlier by other pastors. The pastors, mostly from African American churches, wanted a referendum reversing the D.C. council vote recognizing same-sex couples from other states. The latest protest, pastors from a range of denomination, support same sex couples and say civil rights should not be put to a vote." [WJLA]

06/02/09: Gay couples call on NY Senate to OK equal marriage
Excerpt: "Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) and his partner, Louis Webre, cited similar difficulties. Duane is the primary sponsor of the equal marriage bill and Monday predicted passage before the legislative session ends on June 22. "Already there are enough votes for it to pass and a cushion," said Duane, the only openly gay senator." [Newsday]

06/01/09: Cheney on gay couples: 'Freedom for everyone'
Excerpt: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he supports gays being able to marry but believes states, not the federal government, should make the decision. " [Washington Post]

06/01/09: Take Action in New Hampshire June 3rd
Excerpt: "One Vote! That was the margin of victory for the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage's attack on Equality. One Vote! And, only one week left to make history in New Hampshire. The opposition is more energized than ever, June 3rd will be the final vote on marriage equality and it will be close - WE NEED YOUR HELP TO WIN!" [Straight Talk on Marriage]

06/01/09: We're Winning: Nevada & New Hampshire
Excerpt: "If the plight of anti-gay florists is the best objection opponents of marriage equality have got... we're really winning." [The Stranger]

06/01/09: Gay Activists, Black Ministers Seek Common Ground
Excerpt: "Both Payne and Hardies say that they don't measure progress by just the minds they might change, but by how successful they are in changing the tenor of the dialogue. "We're trying to get the message across about gay marriage being about love, and the benefits that come from that," she says. Assuring ministers that supporting or being agnostic on the issue of same-sex marriage doesn't mean they have to perform such ceremonies in their churches has also helped, they say. "One thing that really troubles us is that Marion Barry said this would be a civil war," Hardies said. "War is not the right way to talk about an issue that involves love."" [WBUR]

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