civil rights

Gay Marriage Repealed in Maine

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:13:40 -0500

by Kevin Miller and Judy Harrison

PORTLAND, Maine - Voters on Tuesday repealed the state's same sex marriage law after an emotionally charged campaign that drew large numbers to the polls and focused national attention on Maine.

With 87 percent of precincts reporting, the campaign to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law won with 53 percent of the vote vs. 47 percent opposed to Question 1, according to unofficial results compiled by the Bangor Daily News.

Gay-marriage opponents claimed victory shortly after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Focus of Gay-Marriage Fight Is Maine

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:40:27 -0400

by Abby Goodnough

Less than a week before Maine voters decide whether to repeal the state's new same-sex marriage law, donations and volunteers are pouring in to sway what both sides call a nationally significant fight.

Gay Rights Advocates March on DC, Divided on Obama

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:53:26 -0400

WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of gay rights supporters marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays.

Gay Activists Head To DC To Demand Federal Action

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:13:15 -0400

by On Top Staff Writers

Thirty years after gay rights activists staged their first national march in Washington - and coinciding with National Coming Out Day - activists return this weekend to demand federal action.

The October 11 event is a call for congress to act on gay and lesbian legislation, much of which were debated during the first 1979 march.

"We need congressional action," Cleve Jones, long-time gay activist and creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, said in a recent interview.

Obama's Stonewall

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:07:23 -0400

by Richard Kim

In 1996, when Barack Obama was running for the Illinois Senate, he was asked in a survey by Outlines, a gay community newspaper in Chicago, if he supported same-sex marriage. Unlike most candidates, who merely indicated yes or no, Obama took the unusual step of typing in his response, to which he affixed his signature. Back then not a single state permitted same-sex marriage, and sodomy was a crime.

Celebrating Stonewall When the State of the Gay Union Stinks

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:35:21 -0400

by Kelly Jean Cogswell

It’s that time of year when queers hold barbecues and parades, and lift their Cosmopolitans to the dykes and drag queens that helped start the modern LGBT movement. Our institutions honor an activist or two, usually a jovial sort that won’t offend any of their funders, and point to Barney Frank, Ellen, Rachel Maddow, queers marrying in Massachusetts, and then declare, “Yes, we’ve come a long way.”

The Big Gay Shrug

Thu, 28 May 2009 08:27:00 -0400

by Mark Morford

Here's a fun thing to do to calm your frazzled, saddened nerves in the wake of the CA Supreme Court's very unfortunate, but also merely annoying and karmically fleeting Proposition 8 decision:

Head on down to your local high school -- hell, make it a junior high or even an elementary -- and take yourself an informal survey. Ask the various wary, bepimpled youth of Generation Tweet what they think about those scary gay people getting married.

Proposition 8 Ruling: Separate and Unequal

Wed, 27 May 2009 08:57:28 -0400

SF Chronicle Editorial

The marriage rights of Californians now fall into three categories. Heterosexual couples have access to all rights, responsibilities - and the name - of marriage. Gays and lesbians who were married between May 15 and Nov. 4 can remain so - but cannot remarry in the event of death or divorce. And all other gays and lesbians are prohibited by law from marrying the partner of their choice.

There is a word for this type of unequal treatment:

Discrimination.

La Cage aux Democrats

Sun, 24 May 2009 10:51:36 -0400

by Frank Rich

THE most potent word in our new president’s lexicon — change — has been heard much less since his inspiring campaign gave way to the hard realities of governing.

Obama Puts Out Rainbow-Colored Welcome Mat

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:16:59 -0400

by Deb Price

At a recent White House cocktail party, gay leaders Joe Solmonese and Rea Carey sipped drinks in the Blue Room and guessed which way President Obama would enter.

Suddenly, the president walked in -- right behind Carey. "I said, 'Rea, turn around,'" recalls Solmonese, head of the Human Rights Campaign. "I physically turned her around to see the president."

To their happy astonishment, the president didn't just quickly shake their hands on his way to greet the 30 or so other guests that night.