- www.upi.com April 22, 2010

DALLAS, April 22 (UPI) — The attorney for a Texas man seeking to end his same-sex marriage argued that granting the divorce actually promotes the state’s policy against gay marriages.

Attorney Jody Scheske made his argument Wednesday before a three-judge panel in the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals in Dallas in the state’s appeal of a state district judge’s ruling to grant the divorce, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. In her decision in October, Judge Tena Callahan also ruled the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

“My client is a married man and he needs a divorce,” Scheske said, arguing that granting the divorce endorses the state’s policy against gay marriage. “But for the actions of the attorney general, there would already be one less same-sex marriage in Texas.”

The state attorney general’s office argued that recognizing the divorce would mean Texas would have to recognize the marriage. By seeking a divorce, the couple — identified in court records as JB and HB — were trying to overturn Texas’ gay marriage ban.

The voter-approved amendment prohibits same-sex marriages or civil unions, and state prosecutors argued that a Texas court can’t dissolve a marriage that isn’t recognized in the first place.

“The parties lack standing to file a divorce because they are not married,” Assistant Solicitor General Jimmy Blacklock argued before appeals panel. “If you are not party to a marriage, you cannot file for a divorce.”

The state also is appealing a Travis County judge’s decision to grant a divorce to a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts in 2004 and adopted a child.

Reported by: Larry Shields
Email: larr...@wcpo.com

OXFORD, Ohio — Police continue to investigate a fight that started at a gay and lesbian student organization event early Saturday morning.

One of the victims told 9News he believes the attack was a hate crime.

The Miami University Queer/Straight Alliance hosted a drag show to raise money for Operation Smile at StadiUm Bar and Grill in Oxford.

The co-president of the student group SPECTRUM said the group holds four shows a year to raise money for a variety of charities.

Ben Collings, a Miami University junior, attended the event with his boyfriend. He says when he was in the restroom, he overheard others using derogatory words for homosexuals.

Collings pointed out the event was in the upstairs portion of the StadiUm bar, required a secondary cover charge to enter, and the second floor restrooms were not accessible to those who were on the first floor.

He says he overheard some saying, “[Expletives] do not belong in society”.

“Tensions escalate, I go to use the restroom, I get pushed, a fight breaks out in the restroom and it kinda filters outside, more people get involved,” said Collings.

Collings said his boyfriend ran across the street to the Oxford Police Department to alert them to the attack while he followed the individuals where a fight ensued.

Collings suffered a broken cheek bone, broken nose and receive two black eyes. After the fight, he was taken to the hospital for treatment and underwent numerous tests. He says his injuries may require reconstructive surgery.

Oxford Police say it was Collings who initiated the fight, and so far, they have not labeled the crime as a “hate incident” or “hate crime,” but they continue to investigate.

“I was assaulted because of my sexual orientation, if you want to define it as that – if you want to define it as assault, that’s what it’s going to be defined as,” said Collings.

Collings also told 9News he believes if the incident involving him is not labeled a hate crime, he believes an attack on his boyfriend inside the bar is a hate crime.

The student group SPECTRUM said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in Oxford.

“Every time it has happened, it has never been labeled a hate crime, most people react with frustration or anger, so we just at this point are trying to bring more public attention to the problems on campus,” said co-president Mat Hall.

Collings said despite his injuries, he hopes his experience will help others.

“If this little bit of injury prevents someone being beaten to death later on, then of course, this was worth it,” he said.

A silent protest is scheduled Thursday night starting at 7 p.m. outside Shriver Center on the campus of Miami University as a response to Saturday’s incident. The event is open to the public.

Copyright 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ― A civil rights march that was organized in response to Maine’s rejection of gay marriage has been postponed indefinitely.

The Maine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Civil Rights March was to begin on May 28 and finish two days later with a rally at Augusta’s Capitol Park.

A notice posted on a website dedicated to the march said logistics weren’t a problem. But it said there was not “enough participation from grassroots organizers on the ground within Maine itself to give it a life of its own.”

The Maine Legislature approved gay marriage last year and the bill was signed by Gov. John Baldacci. But the law was ultimately rejected in a statewide vote last November.

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

- www.incaelo.wordpress.com April 21, 2010

… well, a small part of it does. The island council of the small Caribbean island Sint-Eustatius, currently part of the Netherlands Antilles and in the future a special municipality of the Netherlands, has unanimously accepted a motion that rejects the introduction of same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia on the island. The motion has been passed on to Parliament in the Hague.

Clyde van Putten of the Progressive Labour Party, who floored the motion, said that the “anti-social” laws do not belong on the island. ”Previously, the Netherlands indicated that they would take the aversion against the laws, as it exists on the islands, into account. But later Parliament decided that those laws must also be implemented here. “

According to Van Putten, the people do not want these laws, and that they’ll cause “big cultural and emotional shocks”. If the island’s protest does not work they might take it up to the United Nations.

Leaving the political ramifications aside for now, this development is an interesting reminder to the Dutch government that these so-called progressive laws are not the social gains that western liberal society presents them as. There are people – a lot of people – that see them for what they are: disruptive, disordered and anti-life. Harsh words perhaps, but when you come down to it, it is true.

Dutch media have reported this in many places and the replies are usually of a haughty nature, looking down on these ignorant people who don’t know what’s good for them. I don’t think that that is necessarily a colonial attitude, but much more the unthinking attitude of most of western society that believes that the rights and comforts of the individual always trump the wellbeing of society and the dignity of life.

General statements, to be sure, but the codification in law of measures like abortion and euthanasia, turn something that may sometimes be a way of healing or comfort into a right to be demanded by anyone at any time. It turns life, unborn and born, into a commodity to be traded, to be carelessly pushed aside when it doesn’t suit us. Life is a lot, but it is never a commodity, never a right, never ours to do with as we please.

- by Michael A. Jones April 21, 2010 www.gayrights.change.org

You can’t keep a good woman down. Or, in the case of Marisa Demeo, you can’t keep a good woman off the federal bench. That’s the lesson Sen. Jim DeMint and the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) learned this week, as the U.S. Senate finally voted on Demeo’s nomination for a seat on the D.C. Superior Court.

Sen. DeMint and the TVC worked hard to keep Demeo off the bench. Why? Did she do something illegal in her past? Did she speak ill of America? Steal the last cookie from the cookie jar?

Nope. But Demeo is openly lesbian, and for DeMint and the TVC, that was enough to treat her nomination like the plague. A letter circulated by the TVC became public this week, where they called on U.S. Senators to delay, stall and eventually kill Demeo’s nomination to the court because of her lesbian ways.

“As an open, radical lesbian, Demeo has openly condemned the effort to amend our Constitution to protect marriage as a one-man, one-woman union,” the group wrote. “Demeo supports gay marriage, claiming it is a constitutional right. She also claims that LGBT individuals are equal to racial minorities and can claim protection as minorities under our civil rights laws.”

The horror! A judge who thinks gay marriage is a constitutional right. Who does she think she is, Ted Olson?

Sen. DeMint had been the lead U.S. senator holding up Demeo’s nomination. Indeed, Demeo was nominated by the Obama administration a year ago, becoming one of the first LGBT nominations put forward by Obama. But 525,600 minutes later, she still hadn’t been confirmed.

Until last night, when the U.S. Senate finally got its ship in order and moved to clear her nomination. The vote? ‘Twas 66-32, largely along party lines (although kudos to the half dozen or so Republicans that stood up to Sen. Jim DeMint and the TVC, and recognized that a jurist should be judged on her ability to lead from the bench, not by who she sleeps with or loves).

Meanwhile, here’s looking forward to seeing “D.C. Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo” on some business cards. We’ll be sure to send one to Sen. Jim DeMint’s office.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

By Carlos Santoscoy
Published: April 19, 2010 www.ontopmag.org

A campaign to delay repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” this year has the nation’s leading lobbying group “disturbed,” POLITICO reported.

In a letter to President Obama, Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, alleges the Obama administration is quietly campaigning against repeal this year of the law that prescribes discharge for gay troops who do not remain closeted or celibate.

“I am very disturbed by multiple reports from Capitol Hill that your Congressional liaison team is urging some Members of Congress to avoid a vote on repeal this year,” Sarvis says in the letter.

“The upcoming House and Senate votes will be close, and very frankly, Mr. President, we need your help now.”

In an interview with gay glossy The Advocate, Sarvis goes on to say that the Department of Defense is lobbying members of congress to delay taking a vote on the policy until after Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ implementation review is completed. The study – which will look at how best to implement changes in the military should Congress repeal the law – is due in December.

“The administration is saying, ‘Look, the working group has its task, their work is not concluded until the end of the year, and we would prefer that this not be voted on this year,” Sarvis said.

Proponents of repeal – including openly gay Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank – have previously suggested the study is unnecessary and a likely delay tactic.

Timing of repeal is important. Most supporters concede passage in the Senate will be difficult and had hoped to avoid a direct confrontation by tucking repeal language in next year’s defense budget.

Sarvis warned that the window for such action is closing quickly.

“The train is leaving,” he said. “We could have key votes before the Memorial Day recess.”

Last month, Representative Frank sounded a similar alarm when he called on the president to make it clear that he supports repeal of the law this year.

“The administration has been ambiguous about it, and that ambiguity has allowed some to interpret Secretary Gates’ argument for a delay in implementation as a delay in adopting the legislation.”

By Noel Brown
www.www.gpb.org April 19, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The President’s executive order is being heralded as a victory by gay rights activists who have used discriminatory hospital visitation policies as an argument for gay marriage.

But hospital officials in Georgia say that the order doesn’t really change anything.

That’s because many of the state’s hospitals already practice what’s called “family centered care”. That means it’s up to the patient to decide who can visit them.

Denise Parrish is a spokesperson for MCG Health in Augusta. She says it’s hard to believe that any hospitals still have discriminatory visitation policies.

“All hospital care in today’s world should be focused on the patient and one of the things we do is treat patients with dignity and respect regardless of their circumstances,” said Parrish.

Critics of the President say the order is a political move pandering to advocates of same sex marriage.

- by Leslie Dobbins April 19th, 2010 www.shewired.com

Arkansas judge Christopher C. Piazza ruled on Friday that the state’s ban on gay adoption is unconstitutional.

The law was approved in 2008 by 57% of the voters and was initially proposed to protect children from abuse and neglect because children do better when raised in a traditional family setting with married parents.

Gay marriage has been illegal in the state since 2004.

Piazza wrote in his ruling, “The Act significantly burdens non-marital relationships and acts of sexual intimacy between adults because it forces them to choose between becoming a parent and having any meaningful type of intimate relationship outside of marriage. It is especially troubling that one politically unpopular group has been specifically targeted for exclusion by the Act.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed its legal challenge on behalf of a lesbian couple barred from adopting a special needs child.

The Family Council Action Committee (FCAC), the primary backer responsible for getting the anti-gay measure on the ballot, has freely acknowledged that its main objective is to bar members of the LGTB community from adopting children.

According to the Times Record, Jerry Cox, Executive Director at FCAC said, “Act 1 protects the welfare of children, today’s ruling by Judge Piazza hurts children and puts their welfare in jeopardy.”

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, April 15th, 2010 www.rawstory.com

The White House issued a memo Thursday directing all hospitals that accept Medicare and Medicaid to end discrimination against same-sex couples, thereby granting full visitation and medical power of attorney rights to gay and lesbian partners at the vast majority of hospitals nation-wide.

The President’s order directed the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a framework which guarantees the rights almost universally; likewise, the story has been welcomed almost universally in the press.

“It seems like common sense to allow those closest to a person the right to offer love and support in those times of need,” opined Chicago Now’s gay blog. “It’s a right that I feel many people take for granted. How many of us have had loved ones fall ill only to find that once they were admitted to the hospital we were nothing more than a ‘friend’ in the hospitals eyes. If you recall, a lesbian was refused visitation of her dying partner in Florida just last year.”

“Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay,” President Obama wrote.

“Gay and lesbian Americans are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love.”

The issue has been a centerpiece of many a gay rights petition and rally over the years, though conservatives in government had been capable of keeping the barricade in place until President Obama’s election.

“The new rules do not apply only to gays,” wrote Michael Shear, in The Washington Post. “They also affect widows and widowers who have found themselves unable to receive visits from a friend or companion. And it would allow members of some religious orders to designate someone other than a family member to make medical decisions.”

While the move will likely earn President Obama some of the political credit he lost by dragging his feet on repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” The Human Rights Campaign said it had been working with the administration for some time to ensure this order would be issued, according to CNN.

“In the absence of gay people being able to legally marry in most jurisdictions, this is a step to rectify a gross inequity,” said David Smith, an executive at the Human Rights Campaign, told the network. “Because without gay marriage, much more inequities exist. It should be applauded.”

- By John Tomasic 4/16/10 The Colorado Independent

Last month, the Colorado Independent sister site in Iowa reported on an anti-gay marriage Christian group that called homosexual activity “more dangerous than smoking.”

Today, the Iowa Independent reports that the same group, the Iowa Family Policy Center, has received more than $3 million in federal aid to run its marriage counseling programs.

Between 2004 and 2009 the politically influential Christian organization Iowa Family Policy Center (IFPC) received more than $3 million in federal grants through two subsidiaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The money IFPC receives apparently goes to a marriage-counseling program called Marriage Matters, which offers couples weekends along with marriage and pre-marital mentoring.