7 openly gay lears have served as heads of state. Latvian print Edgars Rkēvičs is the latt

Contents:

• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
• RPT GAY MARRIAGE BILL HS SNAG U.S. SENATE, NO VOTE UNTIL AFTER ELECTNS
• HOW SAFE IS GAY MARRIAGE? ADVOT FEAR CREASGLY NSERVATIVE URT
• CALIFORNIA VOTERS WILL BE ASKED TO REAFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE PROTECTNS ON 2024 BALLOT
• ABORTN LG IMPERILS GAY MARRIAGE, OTHER EEDOMS, LIBERAL JTIC SAY
• HERE'S HOW 9 PREDICTNS ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE TURNED OUT
• HOW GAY MARRIAGE BEME A CONSTUTNAL RIGHT
• SENATE FEATS FILIBTER ON GAY MARRIAGE BILL, PAVG PATH FOR PROTECTG SAME SEX UNNS

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

Latvia swore the first openly gay print of a Baltic natn Rkēvičs, who sce 2011 was the untry’s foreign mister, was elected by Parliament May after Print Egils Levs did not seek re-electn. She is thought to be the first openly gay prime mister the was an active unnist her nearly 10 years workg as a flight attendant, acrdg to the Council of Women World Lears, a work of female heads of state.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

”Xavier Bettel Prime Mister of Luxembourg (2013-prent)Luxembourg Prime Mister Xavier Bettel at a news nference Belgra, Serbia, on July Vojovic / APBettel was first elected prime mister of Luxembourg 2013, and 2018 he beme the first openly gay prime mister the world to be re-elected for a send marriage beme legal Luxembourg 2015, and the same year Bettel beme the first servg European Unn lear to marry a same-sex partner, the BBC recently cricized a Hungarian law that bans school tnal materials and TV shows for people unr 18 that are emed to promote LGBTQ ntent, Rters reported. “Hopefully this will blow over three or four days, and then I won’t be known as the gay mister, ” she told The Associated Prs at the Varadkar Prime Mister of Ireland (2017-20, 2022-prent)Irish Prime Mister Leo Varadkar Bssels on June 30. They clud Judh Kasen-Wdsor, widow of gay rights activist Edie Wdsor; Matthew Hayn, -owner of Club Q, the LGBTQ club Colorado Sprgs where a gunman last month killed five people a mass shootg; Club Q shootg survivors Jam Slgh and Michael Anrson; and a number of platiffs om s that culmated the landmark civil rights se Obergefell vs.

Philanthropist and Democratic donor David Boht, who has been an outspoken gay- and transgenr-rights activist and longtime supporter of Bin, told CNN that Tuday’s bill signg uld not e at a more ccial moment. “[Bin] has monstrated his support for s for lbian and gay civil rights, and Tuday’s signg to law is a reaffirmatn of that durg this time when rights are unr asslt, ” Boht said.

| Getty ImagThe four ndidat for bishop of an Epispal Church dce that recently garnered headl for refg to bls same-sex marriag have dited that they will allow the Epispal Dce of Albany has been whout a bishop sce the rignatn 2021 of William Love, who had issued an open letter 2020 refg to enforce a nomatnal le requirg all dc to allow for the blsg of gay marriag. ”Ward wrote that he believ the issue of gay marriage is “tly plited” and that he rpects all sis on the issue, addg that if elected bishop, “honorg theologil diversy would be a prry.

RPT GAY MARRIAGE BILL HS SNAG U.S. SENATE, NO VOTE UNTIL AFTER ELECTNS

”“Seekg rolutn and a mutual path forward would volve a basic mment to rpectg the digny of every person, affordg genero pastoral attentn to every voice, and seekg Holy mon ground on nonilly sound footg, ” Ward July 2018, the Epispal Church General Conventn passed Rolutn B012, which required all dc to bls same-sex unns, removg earlier provisns that allowed several dc to prohib such measur, due to them beg nflict wh the biblil standard of B012 allowed clergy to refe to perform gay weddgs, required bishops who oppose them to let another bishop provi pastoral support for the same-sex uple and to provi a prit to perform the November 2018, Albany Bishop Love released an open letter statg that he refed to enforce the rolutn his dce. A group of mps led by Ben Bradshaw, a gay Anglin, is lookg at ways to amend the legislatn to allow willg prits and parish to take part, which they argue uld also help boost dwdlg numbers the aisl.

Cens Bure 2019 timated that there were 543, 000 same-sex married uple hoeholds and 469, 000 hoeholds wh same-sex unmarried partners livg Majory Lear Chuck Schumer is "extremely disappoted" that there were not at least 10 out of 50 Republins willg to e forward to support the gay rights legislatn, spokman Jt Goodman said a statement. ”John Arthur, an ALS patient, and Jim Obergefell, partners for more than 20 years, are married on a medil plane Maryland Hartong / Ccnati Enquirer via AP fileAdvocy groups were quick to h back at the two nservative jtic, wh the Human Rights Campaign, the untry’s largt gay rights group, sayg a statement that Thomas and Alo had “renewed their war on LGBTQ rights and marriage equaly, as the urt hangs the balance.

”“She says she will not impose her personal beliefs on the law, and she will le for the law as is wrten, and I believe her bee she has a track rerd of dog that, as do many of the nservative jtic, ” he safe is gay marriage? When Gallup first polled Amerins on the topic of gay marriage, 1996, only 27 percent said they were favor of also noted there was an crease support for workplace protectns for LGBTQ people, which the urt recently led favor of June’s Bostock cisn, termg that Tle VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects agast workplace discrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr were surprised when Gorsuch, a Tmp appotee, voted favor of those protectns, and fact wrote the argued that many “misread Gorsuch, ” whom he lled “not your tradnal social nservative” but rather a “libertarian nservative, ” hence his cisn on that se g through a “pla readg of a statute rather than a large nstutnal exercise.

HOW SAFE IS GAY MARRIAGE? ADVOT FEAR CREASGLY NSERVATIVE URT

The nservative legal group, which has a long track rerd of opposg gay and transgenr rights, has been emed an anti-LGBTQ “hate group” by the Southern Policy Law Center, though the anizatn ntts that characterizatn.

Californians will vote on a proposal to amend the state Constutn on the 2024 ballot to reaffirm gay marriage rights — a ut move that amid natnal anxiety after recent lgs by the nservative-leang U. 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. Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love.

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

'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.

The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". “I have suggted to others that not only would I like to see Roe, Casey, and Griswold on ntraceptn dified but I’ve also ma clear my support for, for gay marriage years ago, ” she said.

"The precents safeguard an array of personal eedoms cludg ntraceptn a 1965 cisn, terracial marriage 1967, same-sex timacy 2003 and gay marriage "nnot unrstand how anyone n be nfint that today's opn will be the last of s kd, " the liberal jtic advised the public to be skeptil of the urt majory's assertn that the lg should not be read to st doubt on other precents "that do not ncern abortn. ""Thk of someone tellg you that the Jenga tower simply will not llapse, " the dissentg jtic wrote, referrg to a game volvg prerly stacked woon, Thomas lled on the urt to toss those substantive due procs precents for future s, Thomas said, "we should rensir all of this Court's substantive due procs precents, " specifilly mentng the lgs protectg the rights to ntraceptn, same-sex timacy and gay marriage. " Kev and Stty's weddg was a landmark moment for gay marriage on work ble, as "Prr Commtments" was the first same-sex marriage held between seri regulars on a work TV show, acrdg to Rollg 's AnatomyAfter seasons of pullg for the "" uple of Grey's Anatomy, Derek and Meredh, Grey's dienc were given a new uple to root for: Callie and Arizona.

ABORTN LG IMPERILS GAY MARRIAGE, OTHER EEDOMS, LIBERAL JTIC SAY

For a homosexual man of my generatn, born 1960 and eply etched wh wounds of self-loathg, discrimatn, and bigotry, events Ameri now feel like the end of a Hollywood movie. ) Aga, we’ll see, but I’m willg to stand by what I’ve long said: the se for gay marriage is the se agast polygamy, and the public will be smart enough to unrstand the difference.

HERE'S HOW 9 PREDICTNS ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE TURNED OUT

Gay marriage is about extendg the opportuny to marry to people who lack ; polygamy, practice, is about exactly the oppose: whdrawg marriage opportuny om people who now have . Gay marriage succeed bee no one uld intify any plsible channels through which might damage heterosexual marriage; wh polygamy, the worri are many, the history clear, and the channels well unrstood.

” I’ve always believed that cultural nservativ misunrstood the gay-marriage movement: far om beg an attack on the culture of marriage, reprented a shift back toward fay valu by a group that had learned the hard way, through evictn by their own parents and sufferg the AIDS crisis, how important marriage and mment and fay really are. More than 100 proment Amerins, of varied polil and partisan stripe, have already signed a statement llg for a new Marriage Opportuny movement buildg on the cultural momentum of gay marriage.

” I supported same-sex marriage for many reasons: s msage of legal and civic equaly; s promise of support and stabily for gay upl and their kids; s potential to broan and universalize the culture of marriage; and more. In 1996, when I published a big article on gay marriage The New Republic, I end this way: “The biggt worry about gay marriage, I thk, is that homosexuals might get but then mostly not e . I was astonished when Massachetts’ supreme urt legalized gay marriage there 2004, only eight years after the notor Defense of Marriage Act swept through Congrs: and I’ve been astonished ever sce.

HOW GAY MARRIAGE BEME A CONSTUTNAL RIGHT

Ameri’s change of heart toward s gay cizens is the greatt awakeng of mass nscience the Uned Stat sce the civil rights movement of the 1960s, but was achieved wh far ls bloodshed and bterns. ” Marriage, always seemed to me, was the big kahuna for gay equaly: so powerful s symbolism and social reach as to e about only when there was ltle or nothg else left to be done. I assumed that tradnal civil rights protectns forbiddg anti-gay discrimatn by employers, landlords, and mercial bs would be much ls ntroversial than marriage and would be settled much earlier.

In 1971, she noted, sodomy was a crime nearly every state, gays were routely persecuted and barred om public and private employment, and homosexualy was classified as a mental illns. By now, has bee a polil cliché to wonr at how quickly public opn has changed on gay marriage recent years—support for “marriag between homosexuals, ” measured at 60 percent this year, was jt 27 percent when Gallup first asked the qutn 1996. They appealed va to Natnal Gay Rights Advot (now funct), the Lbian Rights Project (now the Natnal Center for Lbian Rights), the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn, and Lambda Legal, where a young lawyer named Evan Wolfson wanted to take the se—but his boss, who were opposed to pursug gay marriage, wouldn’t let him.

SENATE FEATS FILIBTER ON GAY MARRIAGE BILL, PAVG PATH FOR PROTECTG SAME SEX UNNS

Wolfson always believed that only the urt uld legalize gay marriage: Regardls of public opn, he firmly believed the Constutn required , and jurists would eventually have to regnize that fact.