Gay Marriage an Influential Issue 2004 | Fox News

Contents:

• BH BACKS BAN CONSTUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY WEDDGS
• GAY MARRIAGE
• ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
• GAY MARRIAGE AN INFLUENTIAL ISSUE 2004
• GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

BH BACKS BAN CONSTUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE

Realy-seri followg the liv of gay and lbian upl as they prepare for their weddgs, alg wh fay reactns, homophobia and the logistil head-ach of planng a weddg productn, box office & pany PhotosBe the first to reviewContribute to this pageSuggt an ed or add missg ntentBy what name was Gay Weddgs (2002) officially released Canada English? The urt set May 17 as the day the marriag uld beg, and told the state Legislature to take whatever actn saw f to ply wh the urt's the Legislature, wh a large number of Democrats who are agast gay marriage, some bee of their Catholic fah, was not pleased wh the urt's 4-to-3 cisn. In a bgly dismissive rponse Febary, the urt said, a seri of marathon nstutnal nventns, marked by emotnal oratory, filibterg and back-room bargag, the legislature voted late March to approve a nstutnal amendment that would ban gay marriage and tablish civil amendment nnot take effect unls is approved by another ssn of the Legislature and then by voters 2006, so uld not hold up the start of same-sex certa target of lawsus is a 1913 law that Gov.

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. ” 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.

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.

GAY WEDDGS

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.

GAY MARRIAGE

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.

However, there has been some cricism of the fact that while the film had a same-sex uple at s heart, the show do not appear to have any such uple (or even any ma characters who are homosexual), somethg that might seem a b backwards nsirg the 25-year span between when the film was released and when the televisn seri premier.

SAN FRANCISCO — The legal war over gay marriage California saw s first battle Friday, wh San Francis Mayor Gav Newsom wng a tactil victory that uld allow thoands of gay upl to wed by the end of the holiday ’s victory me when a Superr Court judge nied a requt by a nservative group for an junctn that would have stopped San Francis officials om grantg marriage licens to same-sex group had argued that the cy’s actns showed “plete and blatant disregard” for California law, which f marriage as “a personal relatn arisg out of a civil ntract between a man and a woman. The requt for a urt orr to block the marriag “requir reful and thoughtful nsiratn, ” he said as he schled another hearg for rponse, San Francis officials announced they would keep their Cy Hall offic open throughout the weekend to ntue providg marriage licens to gay upl who have begun flockg to the cy om near and far.

ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI

“For a swg jtice on the California Supreme Court, uld matter, ” he addn, he said, “If we have had a lot of gay marriag wh no ill effects, then be much harr for the opponents to say, ‘Look at all the horrible evils’ ” that same-sex marriag would Newsom directed the cy clerk’s office to start issug marriage licens to gay upl earlier this week, he said a formal letter that he was basg his actn on the state Constutn’s claratn that a “person may not be...

”Moreover, the state Supreme Court, all but one of whose members were appoted by Republin ernors, has a reputatn for beg more nservative than the Massachetts the other hand, California law already provis greater legal protectns to gay dividuals and upl than most other stat or the feral ernment, said Brad Sears, who ns a program on sexual orientatn law at UCLA Law School -- the first such program the untry. Wh that md, San Francis officials clud language on the licens warng that people enterg to same-sex marriag “should get legal advice, and that the urts will be the ultimate arber, ” she Davidson, senr unsel for Lambda Legal’s Wtern regnal office Los Angel, said Friday that the “long l outsi [San Francis] cy offic all day today show that lbian and gay upl need the protectns marriage provis. (CNN) -- Six months after gay and lbian upl won the right to marry Massachetts, opponents of same-sex marriage stck back Tuday, wh voters 11 stat approvg nstutnal amendments difyg marriage as an exclively heterosexual Arkansas, Geia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oh, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah all approved anti-same-sex marriage amendments by double-dig clost race me Oregon, where gay rights groups ncentrated much of their effort and money and thought they had the bt chance of wng.

8 ln, enough to n TV and rad ads the Beaver State and outspend pro-amendment forc, acrdg to the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task, the end, the amendment passed by a marg of 57 percent to 43 the remag stat, the amendments passed wh 60 percent of the vote or more, wh the marg at a whoppg 86 percent ph to amend state nstutns to ban same-sex marriage gaed steam May, after gay men and lbians were granted the right to marry Massachetts, thanks to the state's Supreme Judicial Court, which led that laws rtrictg marriage to heterosexuals vlated the state the wake of that lg, San Francis Mayor Gav Newsom orred his cy clerk to beg issug marriage licens to same-sex upl, sayg the California nstutn also did not allow such distctns to be ma.

GAY MARRIAGE AN INFLUENTIAL ISSUE 2004

Lol officials a number of other stat, cludg Oregon and New York, followed his ntroversial California Supreme Court later led that Newsom had overstepped his thory, although the legal fight over the larger nstutnal qutn has yet to be the backlash grew, opponents of gay and lbian marriage, cludg many relig nservativ, moved quickly to put amendments on state ballots to short-circu siar lgs om urts sympathetic to the argument that rtrictg marriage to oppose-sex upl was discrimatory. Opponents of gay and lbian marriage are also phg a feral nstutnal amendment that would ban same-sex marriage natnwi, though failed to ga the need two-thirds majory to pass when me up for vot both the Hoe and feral amendment beme an issue the printial race, wh Print Bh supportg the measure and Sen. WASHINGTON – Gay marriage (search) is emergg as a big enough issue several stat to fluence rac both for Congrs and the iativ on banng same-sex marriag are expected to propel social nservativ to the polls 11 stat, cludg four printial battlegrounds: Arkansas, Oh, Michigan and topic also is a proment issue Oklahoma, South Dakota and North and South Carola, all stat wh close Senate pennt group has n an ad South Dakota, where Senate Democratic lear Tom Daschle (search) is a tight race, sayg Daschle "ref to protect marriage; he would let liberal activist judg refe .

Democratic printial ndidate John Kerry exprsed the view of many his party after a narrow lg by the supreme urt his home state of Massachetts a year ago legalized same-sex marriage gave Republins a new issue to activate their said he supports the right of homosexuals to form civil unns. Stat should terme marriage laws, he nuanc of that stance are often lost 30-send TV ads and mpaign lerature suggtg that Democrats, by opposg a nstutnal amendment, are clearg a path for gay was the msage a Republin Natnal Commtee mailer sent to voters Arkansas and Wt Virgia, wh a picture of a man placg a rg on the hand of another man.

GAY MARRIAGE TIMELE

"The Fay Rearch Council and other nservative groups are puttg out srerds to rm voters how their reprentativ and senators voted on proposed nstutnal amendments to ban gay marriage that were rejected both the Hoe and Senate this North Dakota, Mike Lifig, an uphill race agast Democratic Sen. Patrick Guerriero, head of the gay Log Cab Republins, a group that has whheld s endorsement of Bh over the marriage issue, told the Republin Natnal Commtee that "appealg to people's anti-gay anim as a mpaign strategy betrays the (clive) legacy of Print Ronald Reagan.

"Rabbis belongg to the biggt and most liberal branch of Judaism the Uned Stat have voted to regnise the partnerships of gay and lbian Central Conference of Amerin Rabbis, which is part of the Jewish Reform movement, has agreed to sanctn relig ceremoni for same-sex Print of the Conference, Rabbi Charl Kroloff, said that gay and lbian people served the regnn and rpect due to people created the image of God. 'In view of the substance and signifince of the fundamental nstutnal right to form a fay relatnship, ' he wrote, 'the California Constutn properly mt be terpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex upl as well as to oppose-sex upl.