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Americans split evenly on gay marriage Thursday, 08/12/10
CNN

Nearly half of all Americans think the Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll.

Forty-nine percent of respondents think gay and lesbian couples have the constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law, while 51 percent say those rights do not exist.

Full results [pdf]

The gap widens dramatically when age is taken into account. Nearly six in ten Americans under the age of 50 say gay rights are protected under the Constitution. Only 38 percent of Americans over the age of 50 say the same thing.

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Will Prop 8 ruling have an impact on other states? Tuesday, 08/03/10
CNN

An appeal to the Supreme Court on the case is all but guaranteed by the losing side, but it would go first to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, considered the most liberal federal appeals court.

An issue the defendants could use if the law is overturned is what legal standard was applied in the case.

Maria Blanco, the executive director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity & Diversity at the University of California, Berkeley, said the court right now is looking at this as a rational basis test.

Judges utilize this legal method to examine whether a law is arbitrary or had a reasonable and rational basis for being created. It is most often seen in cases where the plaintiffs claim their equal protection rights under the Constitution were taken away.

"Let's say the plaintiffs survive and win [in this case] and they win on a rational basis, I'm sure the defendants would appeal and say they didn't meet the rational basis test ... or could appeal by saying the court used the wrong standard," she said.

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Schwarzenegger same-sex marriage bill called 'unconstitutional' Thursday, 10/15/09
CNN

Former Rep. Tom Campbell supports same-sex marriage and disagreed with the successful ballot initiative, Proposition 8, that put in place a constitutional ban on such marriages in the state.

But he opposes elements of the bill Schwarzenegger signed on Sunday, SB 54, which recognizes same-sex marriages performed in states other than California before November 5, 2008, when voters approved Proposition 8.

In an e-mail to CNN, Campbell wrote that the ban on same-sex marriage can only be modified by amending the constitution, as Californians voted to do last year. Schwarzenegger's action, he argued, "constitutes an unconstitutional attempt to do this by legislation."

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Gay Latino Americans are 'coming of age' Wednesday, 09/16/09
CNN

The Latino community has long had a reputation for being notoriously homophobic. But some surprising developments within the Latino world -- in the United States and abroad -- suggest that may be changing, gay scholars and activists say.

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Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama Thursday, 06/18/09
CNN

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.

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Commentary: Obama absent on equal rights for gays Wednesday, 06/10/09
CNN

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.

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What's next for same-sex couples? Wednesday, 05/27/09
CNN

While California's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on same-sex marriages that voters voters passed in November, the fight will undoubtedly go forward.

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Obama's choice of evangelical leader sparks outrage Wednesday, 12/17/08
CNN

Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for Obama, defended the choice of Warren, saying, "This is going to be the most inclusive, open, accessible inauguration in American history." ... "The president-elect certainly disagrees with him on [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] issues. But it has always been his goal to find common ground with people with whom you may disagree on some issues."

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D.L. Hughley talks to Dan Savage about Prop 8 Monday, 11/17/08
CNN

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Same-sex marriage rallies stretch across nation Saturday, 11/15/08
CNN

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CNN's Jane Velez-Mitchell Hyperventilates at Mark Leno and Liberty Council Apologist Thursday, 11/13/08
CNN

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Gay marriage supporters take to California streets Friday, 11/07/08
CNN

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