The gay marriage wdfall - May. 10, 2012

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE
• THE GAY MARRIAGE WDFALL
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR
• CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT
• CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR
• A QUIET STGGLE WH THE GAY MARRIAGE FIGHT
• ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?
• HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE
• COSTLY TOLL FOR REPUBLINS WHO VOTED FOR GAY MARRIAGE
• CHICK-FIL-A THST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT ON GAY RIGHTS
• ELECTN 2012 SHOWS A SOCIAL SEA CHANGE ON GAY MARRIAGE
• CHICK-FIL-A GAY FLAP A 'WAKP CALL' FOR COMPANI

GAY MARRIAGE

Supreme Court agreed to review a number of feral appeals urt cisns on same-sex marriage: one strikg down part of the feral Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which f marriage as a unn between a man and a woman, and another validatg California’s Proposn 8, a ballot measure passed 2008 that amend the state’s nstutn to ban gay marriage.

Between the pol, a fierce battle is takg place ptg those who hope all gays and lbians, regardls of where they live, will soon have the right to marry agast those who believe that same-sex marriage is helpg to unrme heterosexual marriage, which they see as the foundatn of healthy fai. While all laws legalizg same-sex marriage nta some nscience protectns allowg church and other relig groups to refe to marry gay and lbian upl, the legal ground is murkier for religly affiliated anizatns, such as hospals, schools and other social-service provirs, that may not want to grant benefs to the spoe of an employee a same-sex marriage or provi adoptn and other servic to a gay or lbian uple that are routely provid to heterosexual upl. Ined, the ordatn and marriage of gay persons has been a growg wedge between the socially liberal and nservative wgs of the Epispal, Lutheran and Prbyterian church, leadg some nservative ngregatns – and even whole dc – to break away om their natnal church as they bee more open to gay clergy and gay marriage.

Even though this cisn did not immediately lead to the legalizatn of gay marriage that state (the se was sent back to a lower urt for further nsiratn and Hawaiian voters ultimately approved a referendum leavg the issue the hands of the state’s legislature), did spark a natnwi backlash. While battl have been ragg many stat over whether to accept or ban same-sex marriage, a number of stat have enacted laws that tablish civil unns or domtic partnerships, both of which aim to give gay and lbian upl many or most of the rights and rponsibili of matrimony whout actually grantg them the right to wed.

THE GAY MARRIAGE WDFALL

Although a voter-approved referendum (such as Proposn 8) serv great ference, Walker wrote, the ban on same-sex marriage blatantly discrimat agast a certa group of cizens – gays and lbians – and vlat their fundamental right to marry and their equal protectn rights, both of which are guaranteed unr the U.

Early Years: Same-Sex Marriage Bans In 1970, jt one year after the historic Stonewall Rts that galvanized the gay rights movement, law stunt Richard Baker and librarian Jam McConnell applied for a marriage license Gerald Nelson rejected their applitn bee they were a same-sex uple, and a trial urt upheld his cisn.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

” This lg effectively blocked feral urts om lg on same-sex marriage for s, leavg the cisn solely the hands of stat, which alt blow after blow to those hopg to see gay marriage beg 1973, for stance, Maryland beme the first state to create a law that explicly f marriage as a unn between a man and woman, a belief held by many nservative relig groups.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

In 1989, the San Francis Board of Supervisors passed an ordance that allowed homosexual upl and unmarried heterosexual upl to register for domtic partnerships, which granted hospal visatn rights and other years later, the District of Columbia siarly passed a new law that allowed same-sex upl to register as domtic partners.

C., 1993, the hight urt Hawaii led that a ban on same-sex marriage may vlate that state nstutn’s Equal Protectn Clse—the first time a state urt has ever ched toward makg gay marriage Hawaii Supreme Court sent the se—brought by a gay male uple and two lbian upl who were nied marriage licens 1990—back for further review to the lower First Circu Court, which 1991 origally dismissed the the state tried to prove that there was “pellg state tert” jtifyg the ban, the se would be tied up ligatn for the next three Defense of Marriage Act Opponents of gay marriage, however, did not s on their hnch. That is, even if a state ma gay marriage legal, same-sex upl still wouldn’t be able to file e tax jotly, sponsor spo for immigratn benefs or receive spoal Social Secury payments, among many other act was a huge setback for the marriage equaly movement, but transient good news arose three months later: Hawaii Judge Kev S.

Phg for Change: Civil Unns The next saw a whirlwd of activy on the gay marriage ont, begng wh the year 2000 when Vermont beme the first state to legalize civil unns, a legal stat that provis most of the state-level benefs of years later, Massachetts beme the first state to legalize gay marriage when the Massachetts Supreme Court led that same-sex upl had the right to marry Goodridge v. Kansas and Texas were next 2005, and 2006 saw seven more stat passg Constutnal amendments agast gay towards the end of the , gay marriage beme legal var stat, cludg Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (the first state to approve by legislative means) and New Hampshire. Domtic Partnerships Throughout the and the begng of the next, California equently ma headl for seawg on the gay marriage state was the first to pass a domtic partnership statute 1999, and legislators tried to pass a same-sex marriage bill 2005 and 2007.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR

For the first time the untry’s history, voters (rather than judg or legislators) Mae, Maryland, and Washgton approved Constutnal amendments permtg same-sex marriage marriage also beme a feral issue 2010, Massachetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, found Sectn 3 of DOMA—the part of the 1996 law that fed marriage as a unn between one man and one woman—to be unnstutnal.

Wdsor, nservative Jtice Anthony Kennedy sid wh Jtic Ruth Bar Gsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan favor of same-sex marriage rights, ultimately makg gay marriage legal across the natn June this time, was still outlawed only 13 stat, and more than 20 other untri had already legalized gay marriage, startg wh the Netherlands December 2000.

CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT

But only about 50, 000 same-sex upl have married, acrdg to the Williams Instute for Sexual Orientatn Law and Public Policy at more stat legalize gay marriage, all of that pent-up mand uld trigger a weddg boom, sparkg enomic activy as more upl book venu, buy weddg k, jewelry and marriage licens, and secure hotel rooms for guts. Print Obama's support of marriage equaly for same-sex upl uld spur more stat to allow gay upl to legally marry and the eventual repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 feral law that rerv marriage for a man and a same-sex marriage rights were granted natnwi, same-sex weddgs would generate a $1 billn each year for the Feral budget over the next 10 years, acrdg to a 2004 report by Congrsnal Budget Office.

Gay marriage has been a subtext of the 2012 printial mpaign for the last six months, after Print Barack Obama’s hand was forced on the issue by his vice print gettg “ahead of his skis” on a Sunday morng talk show and clarg his own support for legalizg same-sex marriage.

But Republin nomee Mt Romney is strongly agast gay marriage — and while some Republins are doubtful about whether the GOP nomee would move ahead wh a feral gay marriage ban, as he said he would durg the primary fights, Romney has laid out his posn clearly on the issue.

CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS COULD REMOVE IT NEXT YEAR

Slovenia 2022EuropeFirst untry formerly munist Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex Ai 2006Sub-Saharan AiOnly Ain untry where same-sex marriage is legal; several untri on the ntent have passed laws that ban homosexualy recent 2005EuropeBeme the third untry globally to legalize same-sex marriage after a vote s closely divid 2009EuropeGay and lbian upl Swen prevly had been allowed to register for civil unns sce 1995. 1%) st ballots favor of legalizg same-sex marriage a 2021 2019Asia-PacificA urt lg prompted a change the law that ma Taiwan the first jurisdictn Asia to perm gays and lbians to Kgdom 2014EuropeLegal same-sex marriage took effect Northern Ireland 2020, six years after the change England and Wal. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. On July 25, 2014 Miami-Da County Circu Court Judge Sarah Zabel led Florida’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal and stated that the ban “serv only to hurt, to discrimate, to prive same-sex upl and their fai of equal digny, to label and treat them as send-class cizens, and to em them unworthy of participatn one of the fundamental stutns of our society. The Amerin Psychologil Associatn, Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, and others nclud that legal gay marriage giv upl “accs to the social support that already facilat and strengthens heterosexual marriag, wh all of the psychologil and physil health benefs associated wh that support.

A QUIET STGGLE WH THE GAY MARRIAGE FIGHT

2016 printial ndidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fra stated that civil unns are aquate as an equivalent to marriage: “Benefs are beg btowed to gay upl [ civil unns]… I believe we need to rpect those who believe that the word marriage has a spirual foundatn… Why n’t we rpect and tolerate that while at the same time sayg ernment nnot btow benefs unequally. Court papers filed July 2014 by attorneys fendg Arizona’s gay marriage ban stated that “the State regulat marriage for the primary purpose of channelg potentially procreative sexual relatnships to endurg unns for the sake of jog children to both their mother and their father… Same-sex upl n never provi a child wh both her blogil mother and her blogil father. Lee Badgett, PhD, Director of the Center for Public Policy and Admistratn at the Universy of Massachetts at Amherst, stated that for many gay activists “marriage means adoptg heterosexual forms of fay and givg up distctively gay fay forms and perhaps even gay and lbian culture.

Queer activist Anrs Zanichkowsky stated June 2013 that the then mpaign for gay marriage “tentnally and malicly eras and exclus so many queer people and cultur, particularly trans and genr non-nformg people, poor queer people, and queer people non-tradnal fai… marriage thks non-married people are viant and not tly servg of civil rights. Matt Barber, Associate Dean for Onle Programs at Liberty Universy School of Law, stated, “Every dividual engaged the homosexual liftyle, who has adopted a homosexual inty, they know, tuively, that what they’re dog is immoral, unnatural, and self-stctive, yet they thirst for that affirmatn.

ROMNEY'S VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE: ALSO EVOLVG?

A 2003 set of guil signed by Pope John Pl II stated: “There are absolutely no grounds for nsirg homosexual unns to be any way siar or even remotely analogo to God’s plan for marriage and fay… Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go agast the natural moral law. In 2008, on the printial mpaign trail, he took an official posn agast a change marriage rights, though he let be known among his nfidants that his views were 2011 — while the Whe Hoe — he had e around: He privately told his advisers he approved of gay marriage.

Obama also end the Jtice Department’s legal fense of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which fed marriage as a unn of a man and a woman and allowed stat to refe to regnize same-sex marriag attaed other stat; the Supreme Court would le the law unnstutnal chafed at his own lack of thenticy on gay marriage. Although there is no current threat to the legaly of gay marriage, and Print Bin signed a bill safeguardg last year, the Democratic-domant state Legislature is seekg to remove language om California’s Constutn that still f marriage as between a man and outdated state fn has been emed unenforceable and unnstutnal thanks to feral law, but LGBTQ advocy groups are askg voters to repeal and amend the California Constutn to stead explicly state that marriage is “a fundamental right. ” At s 2010 natnal nventn, the LCMS rpond to the Evangelil Lutheran Church Ameri’s 2009 cisn (which gave ELCA ngregatns the optn to support lifelong, monogamo, same-sex relatnships) by rtatg the LCMS posn that homosexualy is a s “ any and all suatns” and by enuragg the ELCA to rensir s cisn.

HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE

A., Evangelil Lutheran Church Ameri and the Uned Church of Christ at one time all barred same-sex weddg ceremoni and ordatn of gay clergy members, but they have changed those l over last holdout among major male Prottant groups has been the Uned Methodist Church, which had 7. Randall Miller, assistant profsor of ethics at the Pacific School of Relign Berkeley, is chairman of the missn that aniz the Uned Methodists’ quadrennial General Conference April, when bishops and other legat om around the world will gather Florida to nsir proposed chang to church doctre, cludg elimatg the nmnatns of homosexualy.

The se ma s way to the US Supreme Court, which dismissed an appeal 2013 over same-sex marriage on jurisdictnal grounds, lg private parti did not have standg to fend California’s voter-approved ballot measure barrg gay and lbian upl om state-sanctned wedlock. On May 9, 2012, Print Obama beme the first stg US print to clare his support for gay marriage, statg: “At a certa pot, I’ve jt nclud that for me personally is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I thk same-sex upl should be able to get married.

Six other stat which gay marriage bans had been overturned, Colorado, Kansas, North Carola, South Carola, Wt Virgia, and Wyomg, were also affected by the Supreme Court lg bee they were the jurisdictns of the lower urts that had overturned the gay marriage bans. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTChick-fil-A Thst Back Into Spotlight on Gay RightsJuly 25, 2012ATLANTA — A Southern-ied chicken sandwich on a soft whe bun wh a uple of pickle slic is fast beg the culary symbol of one of the untry’s major social Baptist fay that owns Chick-fil-A, a fast-food cha based Atlanta, has for years given lns of dollars to anizatns fightg same-sex marriage and supportg heterosexual protts agast s posn have swelled and reced over the past uple of years, but recently the battle has spilled to the halls of cy ernments and the printial mpaign.

COSTLY TOLL FOR REPUBLINS WHO VOTED FOR GAY MARRIAGE

Equaly Matters, an onle vtigative anizatn dited to gay and lbian issu, last year obtaed tax rerds that showed that the pany’s operators, s WShape Foundatn and the Cathy fay had given lns of dollars to groups whose work clus featg same-sex marriage iativ and providg therapy tend to change people’s sexual Mr. Others, like Jeff Graham, the executive director of the gay rights group Geia Equaly, say they are not sure this prott will be any more succsful than prev efforts, which Graham said he was more terted enuragg the pany to wre a rporate anti-discrimatn policy that clus gays and he do not know, he said, if he will show up for the kiss-. Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage, the first ever om a stg print, me amid growg prsure for the print to clarify his prevly muddled opn, as two senr members of his admistratn announced personal support for gay marriage and a day after voters North Carola approved a state nstutnal amendment fg marriage as a unn between a man and a woman.

CHICK-FIL-A THST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT ON GAY RIGHTS

Obama’s claratn of support for gay marriage was hotly anticipated — and actively sought — among many LGBT and progrsive voters who were trated that the print would not speak out favor of gay marriage spe a rerd on other gay rights issu that clus repealg “don’t ask, don’t tell” and endg the Jtice Department’s fense of the Defense of Marriage Act. Obama’s pivot me close on the heels of Vice Print Joe Bin’s acknowledgement Sunday on “Meet the Prs” that he is “absolutely fortable” wh men marryg men and women marryg women, and Edutn Secretary Arne Dunn’s affirmatn an terview Monday on MSNBC that he also supports gay marriage.

Though supportg gay marriage uld put them at odds wh other Christians, Obama said that when he and his wife thk about their fah, “the thg at root that we thk about is, not only Christ sacrificg himself on our behalf, but ’s also the Goln Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.

ELECTN 2012 SHOWS A SOCIAL SEA CHANGE ON GAY MARRIAGE

Obama said late 2010 that his views on gay marriage were “evolvg, ” and sce then admistratn officials have poted to those ments, strsg that Obama is a supporter of gay rights who has overseen the end of “don’t ask” and whose Jtice Department has stopped fendg the Defense of Marriage Act. (RNS) Three tim over, voters ma history on Electn Day, endorsg mov to allow gay marriage Mae, Maryland and Washgton the same time, Mnota voters rejected a ballot measure that would have enshred an anti-gay marriage law their nstutn, and neighborg Wisns elected Tammy Baldw as the untry's first openly gay U.

CHICK-FIL-A GAY FLAP A 'WAKP CALL' FOR COMPANI

"Ralph Reed, the one-time head of the Christian Coaln who now heads the evangelil Fah & Freedom Coaln, remd reporters the day after the electn that the anti-gay marriage rerd is still very lopsid, and that the prev night's ws were all liberal-leang blue stat.

And all four stat, proponents of gay marriage outspent opponents many tim four years ago, when the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats worked mightily for California's Proposn 8 to ban gay marriage, the Mormon church this year mostly sat out the battle as refully pulled back s polil Mae, where voters rejected gay marriage 2009 after passed the statehoe, the spread was wist: 54 to 46 percent favor.

"Engagg untls fah lears and people of all polil affiliatns who support the eedom to marry is part of this mpaign's legacy this historic electn, " said Jill Barkley, marriage project ordator for the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn of Maryland, where a signifint ntgent of socially nservative black voters ma proponents of the ballot measure nervo, voters approved the gay marriage law 51 to 49 percent, wh the support of Catholic Gov. Mart O' Washgton state, where some prits had been reluctant to follow a ll by the Catholic hierarchy to fight the ballot measure, passed 52 to 48 Mnota, gay and lbian upl still n't get married, but voters narrowly beat back a ballot measure that would have amend the state nstutn to clare marriage as between a man and a woman; the measure fell short, wh only 48 percent the vot, gay marriage opponents enjoyed a 14-year, 32-state wng streak wh state polls, begng 2010, began to show for the first time that more Amerins than not supported gay marriage.