To Form a More Perfect Union: Marriage Equality News

US State Department criticized for treatment of gay staff

Link: Pink News

Excerpt:

The only out lesbian in the US Congress has said she is unhappy with the response from the country's Secretary of State about unequal treatment of lesbian and gay staff in her department.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, from Wisconsin, wrote to Secretary Condoleezza Rice in February, along with Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrat colleagues Howard Berman and Gary Ackerman.

They highlighted "basic and common-sense" policy changes that the State Department needed to enact regarding Foreign Service Officers (FSOs).

These included the inclusion in travel orders for same-sex domestic partners of FSOs; access to training, including language and security classes, for same-sex domestic partners and other benefits and services available to married heterosexual Americans in the Foreign Service.

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Bergner, replied to Congresswoman Baldwin that the State Department treats "same-sex and opposite sex unmarried partners of U.S. Government employees stationed abroad in an equivalent manner."

He cited, among other things, helping the unmarried partners of employees overseas obtain residency permits and including them in the Mission phone book.

However, that partial response has been rejected by Congresswoman Baldwin and the others, who are seeking comparable benefits, protections, and services for the partners of gay and lesbian employees as those enjoyed by family members of married FSOs.

They said they are looking to Secretary Rice for her "personal leadership on this issue, in the interest of mission effectiveness, workplace equity, and fairness for those who sacrifice so much for our country."

The inequalities faced by gay and lesbian State Department staff were highlighted in December when a former US ambassador left his post after criticising Condoleezza Rice's stance on the issue.

Michael E Guest retired after more than 26 years as a form of protest against regulations that he considered as unfair to same-sex partners.

[...]

[jw]

NY: Group pushes for marriages

Link: The Observer-Dispatch

Excerpt:

UTICA — For Melissa Clark, there has been frustrations, disappointments and discrimination throughout her life. But she has refused to let anything hold her back.
Melissa Clark is a transgender woman.

At Friday's Pride along the Mohawk meeting to push for equal marriage rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Clark said she was ready for yet another uphill battle.

Current New York State law does not allow for same-sex marriages. Clark's partner is a woman, and because Clark is transgender, they are a lesbian couple who can't marry or raise children the same way as a heterosexual couple.

“I always believed we had the rights until they tell us we don't,” she said at Friday's event in front of the New York State Office Building on Genesee Street. “There are so many difficulties.”

The group — formed about six months ago by Jeff Sterling and his partner Milford Decker, along with Mohawk Valley Human Rights Campaign — asked the area's political and religious leaders to share their views on the marriage equality at Friday's meeting.

The state Assembly passed a same-sex marriage rights bill last year and is now awaiting state Senate approval. If passed, New York would be the second state after Massachusetts to uphold gay and lesbian marriages.

Two members of Soulforce Q, a national organization that works to end homophobia, spoke to the crowd about the need for the bill to be passed. The organization has worked to mobilize support in northern New York and other areas, including Poughkeepsie.

Now, they want to work in the Mohawk Valley to initiate such dialogue with the community and gather support.

Alexey Bulokhov of Soulforce Q has been in Utica before and felt the region is representative of the heart of New York.

People already struggle economically to raise families, he said, and without a marriage equality law, same-sex couples can't file joint tax returns, thus making it more difficult for them regarding their finances.

Bulokhov is hopeful events such as Friday's will help spread the word about same-sex marriages.

“The Utica community has to be on board,” he said.

[...]

[km]

NM: Photographer To Appeal Human Rights Fine For Refusing To Take Gay Couple Pictures

Link: 365Gay.com

Excerpt:

Attorneys for a photographer say they appeal "as for as it will go" a finding that she violated the New Mexico human rights law by refusing to take pictures of the commitment ceremony of a lesbian couple.

Vanessa Willock filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission alleging that when she and her partner approached  photographer Elaine Huguenin to photograph the ceremony they were told by Huguenin she would only photograph traditional marriages.

Following an investigation and hearing the commission issued a one-page ruling, finding that Huguenin had violated the state Human Rights Act and ordered her to pay  $6,637 for Willock's attorney's fees and costs.

Huguenin was represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian law practice involved in fighting LGBT rights in a number of states.

AFD maintains the commission failed to take into consideration Huguenin's religious protections which also are guaranteed under the US Constitution.

"The fact she is a commercial business does not mean she loses her constitutional protection, ADF senior counsel, Jordan Lorence told The Associated Press.

[...]

Jordan said he plans to appeal to state district court, but did not rule out appeals all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Wilcock's attorney, Julie Sakura, said she was pleased with the commission finding and believed it will stand up in appeal. 

"I feel that it is an important decision towards defining the responsibilities of business when they offer their services to the public in this state," she told The AP.

[...]

[jw]

Commentary: Same-Sex Couples--Creating a Level Playing Field

Link: The Huffington Post
by Allison Herwitt

Excerpt:

Last week, the Human Rights Campaign highlighted an Associated Press article featuring the case of a same-sex couple who lost benefits when they moved from New Jersey to Idaho:

The two-story home Robert Ryan, 42, shares with his partner, Ralph Martinelli, 53, overlooks a quaint suburb west of Boise, a rural landscape of ruddy hills that doesn't seem quite as welcoming as it once did.

A 2,400-mile move west once seemed like a chance at a fresh start, but has instead delivered some hard lessons, especially about moving from a state that recognizes same-sex unions to one of the 21 states that don't.

The couple was stunned when Ryan was dropped from the company insurance plan the two shared in New Jersey, where they were able to register as domestic partners. Idaho does not formally recognize same-sex couples.

Robert and Ralph's situation perfectly illustrates how access to our basic rights can be affected by geography. Unfortunately, this story is not unique. Across the country, millions of same-sex couples face significant financial burdens and legal hurdles in building a secure future for their families. As a result of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), these couples are denied, according to a 2004 report prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), (a pdf of the report can be found here) more than 1,138 federal benefits and protections available to married couples. Furthermore, as Robert and Ralph discovered, states have their own complex and often contradictory sets of laws in this area. This can mean that those in same-sex relationships can't take time off to care for a loved one without risking their job, they can't provide survivor benefits to their partner or children despite paying into Social Security for a lifetime, they can't get equal pay for equal contribution as a federal employee or veteran, and they can't include their spouse or children on their employer-based health plan without facing significant tax penalties. According to the Williams Institute, the average employee who receives partner benefits pays an additional $771 per year out of pocket in federal taxes based on the value of those benefits.

Without even addressing the issue of same-sex marriage, most of the hurdles faced by same-sex couples could be addressed legislatively.

That is why, in this week before Tax Day, HRC is working with our allies on Capitol Hill to highlight key pieces of legislation that we are calling the "Family Matters" legislative agenda. "Family Matters" is a comprehensive pro-family, pro-equality legislative package that seeks to secure equal treatment under federal law for GLBT individuals, same-sex couples, and their children. These bills are necessary to ensure that GLBT Americans have the same opportunity to secure a financial future for their families as other hardworking Americans. Three key components include:

• Elimination of the unequal taxation of employer-provided health insurance (S. 1556 / H.R. 1820);
• Expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (H.R. 2792); and
• Providing fair compensation and benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees (S. 2521 / H.R. 4838).

[...]

At its core, "Family Matters" is about fairness. None of these proposals are complicated or controversial. Together, they help create a level playing field for more American families.

On April 15th, same-sex couples across America will pay their state and federal taxes--as will millions of heterosexual married couples. Passing the provisions of "Family Matters" will be a very positive step toward ensuring equal rights, and equal compensation for equal contributions. Quite simply, "Family Matters" would offer all Americans the unfettered opportunity to spend a life doing meaningful work and accumulating assets to reach a point of financial independence--regardless of where they live.

[jw]

Commentary: Tax Time Deliberation--Married or Not?

Link: The Huffington Post
by Sara Whitman

Excerpt:

As married, heterosexual couples across America pull out their tax forms in the last minute rush to file by April 14th at seconds before midnight, same-sex couples are slapped in the face one more time with their second-class citizenship.

No one enjoys tax time in this country. We have a long, complicated and intricate tax code that requires a degree to fully understand. What form do you use? Which box do you check? What are legal deductions and can you count the gift to your mailman as a charitable contribution?

"Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes," Benjamin Franklin famously said.

For same-sex couples, however, there is an additional layer not only of confusion but also of denied rights. Are we married or aren't we? I live in Massachusetts. I'm married but only in this state. I must file separately to the federal government. On the federal form, do we divide the dependents between us? Do I get two of the kids and my wife one? Or does it make sense for her to claim all three? Who gets the mortgage interest deduction?

It was easy for Franklin to be so certain. He wasn't a gay man married in Massachusetts in the last four years.

HRC has launched a campaign, "7 Days to A Better Financial You," to highlight the "significant financial burdens and legal hurdles" for same-sex couples and their families. Our social security benefits are not transferable. Life insurance must be carefully designed. Inheritance of any kind is out of the question without a significant tax burden.

The list goes on and on. Same-sex couples are urged to get sound tax and legal advice. Julie Goodridge, of NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. a firm that balances clients' social and political concerns with their financial objectives, advises her same-sex clients to be prepared on as many levels as possible. "Gay and Lesbian couples need elaborate documentation around their relationships and children- health care proxies, powers of attorney- in order to ensure basic financial health. Even in Massachusetts."

[...]

I'm not talking about a revolution. I'm not trying to give reason for a swarm of locusts to descend. I'm married, I live in Massachusetts and I want to file my taxes.

Sometime before midnight on April 14th.

[jw]

Query re: States with Super-DOMAs

The following query comes from Ken Sherrill. Comments are open for this post. Ken would also appreciate leads sent directly to him at ken@kensherrill.com

The American Political Science Association has entered into a contract to hold its 2012 Annual Meetings in New Orleans. Several members of the Association believe that the Association should meet only in states that can guarantee the safety of all of the Association's members and that the Super-DOMA language denying "the legal incidents" of marriage to members of same-sex couples places those members at substantial risk. 

As you know, the amendment reads: 

Louisiana's Constitutional Amendment 

Marriage in the state of Louisiana shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman. No official or court of the state of Louisiana shall construe this constitution or any state law to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any member of a union other than the union of one man and one woman. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized. No official or court of the state of Louisiana shall recognize any marriage contracted in any other jurisdiction which is not the union of one man and one woman.

I am looking for examples of the actual impact of Super-DOMAs on members of LGBT families who travel to states with these amendments. Have there been problems with hospitals, the police, other government agencies, etc.? Can anyone provide newspaper articles or citations to legal cases? What legal documents should a person who is in a LGBT family carry when travelling to these states? Have any of our major national organizations provide guidance on these matters? 

Many LGBT organizations hold events in these states. No national organization hs suggested that LGBT people not visit these states. Should these facts be taken as evidence that concern about travelling to these states is irrational? 

I would be most appreciative of any serious documentation. 

Best, 

Ken Sherrill

MA: MassResistance and White Supremist Find Common Cause

Link: Box Turtle Bulletin
by Timothy Kincaid

Excerpt:

Paul Ash is the Superintendent of Schools in Lexington, Massachusetts. He has long been under attack from the virulently (but hypocritically) anti-gay group Mass Resistence. His crime? Including same-sex married couples in curriculum that talks about families.

Anti-gay activist David Parker has been the primary player in waging war on the school district.

Courts have concluded that the school system can talk about families, including gay families, whether or not it displeases the religious sensibilities of some specific parents. And Ash intends to do just that.

But Hal Turner, an internet radio show host, has posted Mr. Ash’s home address and encouraged his readers to attack him.

I would laugh if some concerned father(s) donned ski masks and gloves, took a ride over to this arrogant prick’s house and knocked the living shit out of him. I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against Superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles.

[...]

MassResistence reports about the incident (with the subtitle Threats against Parkers, as usual, are ignored).

Parker had never heard of the talk-show or the website (nor have we). However, he acknowledged on WBZ-TV that parents have no longer any legal protection for their children and many are becoming agitated.

What Parker and MassResistence (and the television station) failed to mention is the primary focus of Mr. Turner: advancement of the White Supremist cause. Here are a few samples of Mr. Turner’s choice phrases. (Warning: Offensive language; emphases in the original.)

For all his millions, this guy is nothing more than a low-class NIGGER. He needs to have a Cross lit on his property to calm his uppity-black-ass down. If that warning doesn’t work, Lynch his black ass.

and

Blacks cannot compete and cannot get-by in schools where they share studies with Whites and Asians.

In city after city, the sad story repeats itself. When will people realize that Blacks are GENETICALLY inferior? When will we reinstate segregation that is so desperately needed?

Perhaps I’ve lived in California too long. But people like this make my stomach turn. They certainly don’t inspire me to go on a television show in their defense.

But this really shouldn’t surprise me. Haters are haters.

[jw]

Commentary: IRA's Raise My Ire

Link: Mombian
by Dana Rudolph

Full text by permission.

Excerpt:

HRC is celebrating tax season with their “7 Days to a Better Financial You” campaign, and kicks it off with the video of two lesbian moms talking about the financial difficulties of raising children under the unfair burdens faced by same-sex couples. HRC hits the high points here, but doesn’t discuss the fact that it can be harder for a same-sex couple to have one partner stay at home to take care of their children. 

When one partner leaves paid employment, the working partner must pay income tax on any medical benefits her employer provides to her partner, if she is even lucky enough to work for a company that offers such benefits. A few companies “gross up” salaries to compensate for the extra tax burden, but they are rare. This problem isn’t exclusive to parents, but has to factor in when a couple analyzes the impact of one parent staying home, especially if that person has had her own employer coverage. 

The non-employed partner’s IRA can also no longer take in new contributions. A married couple filing jointly, however, can have the working spouse contribute as much as $4,000 to his/her own IRA, plus $4,000 to the non-working spouse’s IRA. (It’s a little more complicated than that, really; the IRS has details.) Same-sex couples need to consider this when evaluating the long-term impact of a non-employed partner on their financial plans. 

Federal law rules both of the above, so even we same-sex couples lucky enough to be married in Massachusetts have the same problems. 

Whether to have one parent leave paid employment is a decision couples must make for themselves. Those who feel that doing so is the best way to raise their children, however, should not be disadvantaged because both partners happen to be the same gender. 

Here’s the HRC couple (whose IKEA Effektiv bookcase indicates they are money-conscious in other ways, too): 

 

(Yes, we own the same bookcase. Three of them, in fact.)

[jw]

Another Union Supports Marriage Equality

Link: Gay City News
by Andy Humm

Excerpt:
UNITE HERE, a major union that represents workers in the textile, clothing, hotel, and restaurant industries, has passed a resolution to "support the civil rights of LGBT individuals and couples against discrimination in all areas including employment, housing, and civil marriage." It also said, "Civil union and domestic partnership laws, however well-intentioned, create an unequal legal status for same-sex couples and their families."

[...]

Among those also supporting equality for gay couples are the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Communication Workers, the Office and Professional Employees International Union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the United Farm Workers.

[jw]

Treat Same-Sex Partner Of Congress Member Like Spouse Pelosi Tells Gates

Link: 365Gay.com

Excerpt:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) reportedly had to step in when the military refused to allow the same-sex partner of Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc) (pictured) on a military flight taking members of Congress and their spouses on a fact-finding trip to Europe.

The Politico reports that Pelosi called Defense Secretary Robert Gates directly. Under House rules members may take their spouses with them on military flights if there is room and when it is "necessary for protocol purposes."

Baldwin has been in a domestic partnership with Lauren Azar for years, and exchanged vows in 1998, although the relationship is not recognized legally in the state of Wisconsin.

Baldwin is one of only two openly gay members of Congress.  The other is Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass).

The Politico reports that in her phone call to Gates, Pelosi told Gates he should follow the precedent established by her predecessor, Dennis Hastert (R) who did not prevent Baldwin from taking Azar on an earlier trip.

Gates reportedly told Pelosi that he would OK Azar for the trip once he received a letter from the Speaker authorizing it, but warned that it was a one-time agreement.

Pelosi sent the letter and Azar was allowed to travel.

[...]

Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell said it is not a case of the military attempting to impose "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on members of Congress. Rep. Barney Frank told the Politico he thinks the issue is much deeper.

"I think the military was following orders,” Frank said. “I think the administration disapproves of same-sex marriage."

[...]

[jw]

D.C.: Wedding announcements in The Washington Post?

Link: washingtonpost.com

Excerpt:

[...]

Dear Wise Guys:

I don't think I am crazy, but I remember when The Washington Post would print pictures and announcements of weddings when the couples were same-sex. Now I look and everyone is heterosexual! What gives with that? Has The Post changed its mind, or is no one gay getting married in the D.C. area?

Justin: You are correct: No one gay is getting married in the D.C. area. While the District allows gay couples to formalize their relationships through domestic partnerships, it doesn't allow them to marry. And Maryland and Virginia are at least as restrictive, if not more so. 

Same-sex union announcements can be found on the Celebrations page in Sunday's Style & Arts section, but they are listed as "Commitment Ceremonies." Of course, some gay couples, as well as straight people such as myself, may feel that doesn't carry the same weight. The Post is always open to feedback from readers, so feel free to express any concerns about this policy to the ombudsman at ombudsman@washpost.com. 

[...]

[km]

Taxes: We're Here, We're Queer, We File Every Year

Link: Mombian
By Dana Rudolph

Full text by permission.

Dana compares tax software to find an app that recognizes her married-but-unmarried status under state and federal tax laws. Better yet: repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 

H&R Block’s TaxCut Online software doesn’t support tax filings for civil union couples, as two Connecticut men have found out. The ACLU has sent a demand letter to the company asking it to change its system. The ACLU also states “Although the tax requirements for couples with civil unions in Connecticut are very similar to the requirements for married gay couples in Massachusetts, H&R Block’s online tax preparation service seems to accommodate married gay couples there.”

Hmm. Maybe . . . but if so, they have a few improvements to make. Here’s what I get after I start my TaxCut Online return:

What’s a married Massachusetts lesbian to do? I suppose I should click “Single,” since this is the federal part of my return. It’s unclear whether this information will carry over to my state return, though.

When I click the “Guide Me” button, I get this:

Not much help. Neither is their Help button, which leads to nothing about same-sex relationships.

Let’s compare with TurboTax Online:

Ah ha. A same-sex option. Easy enough for us Mass. residents. What if I were in Connecticut? Let’s click “Explain This.”

If I now choose to “Read about same-sex relationships,” I get a whole bunch of helpful information that tells me exactly what a married/CU’d/DP’d couple needs to do, creating a dummy married Federal form and such.

Even better, when I select “I was in a same-sex marriage,” I get a screen that informs me it will be easier and cheaper if I install the TurboTax software rather than using the Web version:

This software isn’t perfect, as I detailed in a previous post, but it’s a darn sight better than TaxCut, at least in handling same-sex relationships. Rather than telling me to go to an office and shell out an additional $150, as H&R Block does, they’re telling me how to save money.

Which software will Helen and I use? That’s a simple deduction.

(Full disclosure: I am not a tax professional and have not evaluated either software’s ability to manage detailed aspects of one’s taxes.)

PA: Same-sex couples seek acceptance

Link: Centredaily.com

Excerpt:

UNIVERSITY PARK — They spoke of processions, music, catering — details couples usually plan for their big day. 

 

caption: Paul Datti, left, and Frank Vasquez look over at Kat Sinclair and Delia Guzman at a news conference Friday about the March 29 same-sex commitment ceremony. CDT photo/Craig Houtz

But they also talked about changing prejudice and acting as role models. 

Four local couples gathered on Friday to discuss their March 29 same-sex commitment ceremony in the Penn State HUB-Robeson Center. State College Mayor Bill Welch will preside over the ceremony, which has drawn opposition from some local churches and support from others. 

The event was organized by the university Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students and the LGBTA Student Resource Center to kick off Pride Week, an annual time of re-affirmation for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. 

Pennsylvania doesn’t allow same-sex marriages or civil unions, but the couples — whose relationships range from two to 10 years — said they hope to help build acceptance by standing before Welch. Five participants are at Penn State: three as graduate students, one as a part-time undergraduate and one as a faculty research associate. 

“I think this is really about education, and it’s a day of love,” Kat Sinclair said. 

Her partner, Delia Guzman, said she wanted to make a statement about committed same-sex unions as much as celebrate her relationship — especially once opposition grew. 

[...]

Datti said he hopes the ceremony will inspire other gay people, showing “they can be as happy as us.” 

Tom Koerber, co-director of the Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students, initially did not identify the couples to avoid retribution. But no threats have come. Instead, from the community support voiced, Koerber expects all of the ceremony’s 500 chairs will be filled. 

Local businesses also have donated more than $5,000 for the ceremony and reception, Koerber said. 

At any rate, the couples decided to step forward to show their resolve. “Straight couples announce their engagements in the paper,” said Amanda Applegate, who will walk hand in hand with Donna Coffman. 

Though members of a Harrisburg group, Silent Witnesses, will act as “non-confrontational buffers” for the ceremony, the couples seemed unconcerned about any protesters. Sinclair joked that she would be more worried about her friends getting arrested for aggressively protecting her. 

And so, in one week, eight people in love will march into Alumni Hall and commit to a life together before family, friends and anyone else from the invited public. 

“Once it’s legal, we’re going to do it again,” Datti said. “It’ll be fantastic.”

[km]

RI: Event--"The Culture of Same Sex Marriage in New England"

Link: Providence Daily Dose

While other states in the country are passing Constitutional Amendments to ban same sex marriages, civil unions and even as far as contracts between same sex couples - New England has turned into a bastion of equality and rights. From Massachusetts’s landmark decision in Goodridge to Connecticut currently taking up the case if there is a legal difference between civil unions and marriage - why has New England (with the notable exception of Rhode Island) been such a unique place for LGBT equality?

Come learn more at Roger Williams School of Law, in what is bound to be a provocative discussion involving a fantastic panel and keynote:

What: The Culture of Same Sex Marriage Symposium

Where: Roger Williams School of Law (Bristol, RI)

When: Friday, March 28 from Noon - 4:45PM.

Panel 1: The Same-Sex Marriage Debate in the State of Rhode Island

Panel 2: Civil Unions v. Marriage in New England

Cost: Free! Includes lunch and wine and cheese reception following the panels. However - if you are an attorney and would like to receive the 5 CLE credits available, the cost for that is $25. Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association and the RWU Law Alliance for LGBT Students.

Click HERE to register and to read more about the Keynote Address [ David Wilson - original plaintiff in Goodridge and Board Member of both HRC and Mass Equality] and each of the panelists!

[jw]

AIDS educator's trip to Africa hindered by DOMA

Link: EDGE Boston

Excerpt:

Jason Hair-Wynn arrived at his Attleboro home on March 13 to find an envelope from the U.S. Department of State’s National Passport Center in New Hampshire that he thought contained his new passport, a necessity for the month-long trip he’ll be taking this summer to do HIV/AIDS and health education with youngsters in Ghana, Africa. Instead, Hair-Wynn’s old passport fell out of the envelope, along with a letter denying his request for a new passport that would reflect the legal name change he made when he and his husband married in Massachusetts.

The passport was denied because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) only recognizes heterosexual marriages for federal purposes. "Therefore, the marriage certificate issued by Sudbury, Massachusetts, which you have submitted in support of your name change, is not acceptable as evidence for recognizing an immediate name change on the basis of marriage," the U.S. Department of State informed Hair-Wynn in its letter, a copy of which Hair-Wynn provided to Bay Windows. Ironically, the letter addressed Hair-Wynn by his married name.

Hair-Wynn was shocked. "I just sat there and I was like, I can’t even process this," said Hair-Wynn, 26. "It’s so different when you see it in writing and a professional form and I just kept thinking, ’Wow, this is legal discrimination. This is absurd.’"

Hair-Wynn declined to identify his spouse, because he said his husband is a member of the U.S. military.

Michele Granda, an attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said her organization has fielded about 50 calls describing situations similar to Hair-Wynn’s since civil marriage rights for same-sex couples became available on May 17, 2004.

[...]

[jw]

Tax Equality Now in Five States--but watch out for federally-imposed workload

Link: EDGE Boston

Excerpt:

If the only two certainties in life truly are death and taxes, GLBT people in five states and the District of Columbia have taken a step that brings them the rest of the way to true equality.

As reported by Business Wire in a Mar. 18 story, the states of CT, MA, and VT have allowed same-sex couples to file their state taxes jointly for a few years now.

Starting this year with the 2007 tax returns, CA and NJ join that trend, along with the District of Columbia.

Business Wire warns that equality, in this case, may bring with it a bit of a headache: as married same-sex couples in MA and partners in civil unions in VA and CT have learned, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) makes it legal for the federal government to ignore state-granted domestic privileges. State and federal tax returns for couples taking advantage of joint filing in the states that permit it may have to work out their tax bill twice: once to determine what they owe the state as a couple, and again to figure out what Uncle Sam wants from each individual partner.

That cold mean preparing a total of four returns in all, says Business Wire: two federal returns (one for each partner), a mock federal return filled out as if the couple were allowed to file jointly with Uncle Sam, and finally a real state return base don the results of the mock federal return.

[...]

[jw]

Press Release: Psychoanalysts Support Legal Recognition of Marriages for Same-Sex Couples

Link: Earth Times

NEW YORK, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) has issued a position statement supporting the legal recognition of same-sex civil marriage while opposing discrimination against same-sex couples. In recognition that gay and lesbian couples are raising children and possess the same potential and desire for life-long relationships as their heterosexual counterparts, the APsaA seeks to assist in ending the government-sanctioned discrimination against homosexual couples that denies them over 1,000 federal rights and benefits. For full text of the APsaA Marriage Resolution, please visit:

http://www.apsa.org/ABOUTAPSAA/POSITIONSTATEMENTS/MARRIAGERESOLUTION/tabid /470/Default.aspx

"We want people to think about the broad impact the denial of same-sex marriage has on Americans today," says Ethan Grumbach, Ph.D., chair of APsaA's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues. "Families exist in many different ways and it is important for same-sex couples to have legal and societal recognition of their unions for themselves, their children, and their extended families."

APsaA's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues reviewed extensive research on homosexual relationships and gay and lesbian parents and their children prior to issuing this statement in January 2008. Some relevant statistics and research results are:

-- The Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of 2001 found that 68 percent of lesbians and gays considered lesbian and gay marriage to be very important and 25 percent considered it to be somewhat important.

-- According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 34 percent of cohabitating female couples and 22 percent of male couples were raising children under the age of 18.

-- In a 2006 paper, Charlotte Patterson concluded, "Results of the research (of various population samples of lesbian and gay families) suggest that qualities of family relationships are more tightly linked with child (development) outcomes than is parental sexual orientation."

"Gay and lesbian couples are being denied the right to marry in this country on the basis of false scientific testimony," says Gary Grossman, Ph.D., member and former chair of APsaA's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues. "As experts on emotional experience, the membership of the American Psychoanalytic Association has an obligation to clarify its position that same-sex marriage offers substantial mental health benefits for the nation's gays and lesbians and their loved ones, and the denial of marriage has psychologically detrimental consequences."

In addition, APsaA's Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues is currently developing a proposed position statement on the United States' military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

The American Psychoanalytic Association is a professional organization of psychoanalysts throughout the United States and is comprised of approximately 3,500 members. Visit http://www.apsa.org/ for more information.

American Psychoanalytic Association

[jw]

Books: 'How They Met' by David Levithan

Link: Los Angeles Times
by Susan Carpenter

Excerpt:

Alfred A. Knopf: 244 pp., $16.99

Anyone who's lived beyond puberty knows that romantic love covers a spectrum of emotions, not all of them good.

It's this spectrum that author David Levithan demonstrates so well in "How They Met," a collection of short stories for young adults that offer varying angles on the heart's entanglements -- most from a gay or lesbian perspective, and many with less than ideal outcomes. That's why the 18 pieces that make up the collection aren't called love stories but stories about love, which allows the author to show the emotion's multitudinous and messy permutations.

The book doesn't immediately clobber readers over the head with the negative. It begins with a lighthearted boy-on-boy crush story that has a happy ending. It's only in the second piece -- "Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat" -- that Levithan begins to go deeper, chronicling the painful if exhilarating trajectory of falling for someone who doesn't love you back, and doing it with dark humor.

Like many of the stories in "How They Met," "Miss Lucy" is written in the first person and the action takes place in high school, where emotions are already at a fever pitch. Add a mom who refuses to acknowledge your sexual orientation, a girlfriend who won't be seen with you in public and a caustic, honest-to-the-bone wit, and you've got all the elements of a teen tragicomedy.

Although Levithan's stories are a mix of gay and straight, he's at his best when writing about same-sex couples. They may be fictional, but they evoke very plausible scenarios. In "The Alumni Interview," for example, a gay teen forces his closeted boyfriend to come out in front of his father. In "The Good Witch," a boy realizes he's gay only when his pretty-in-pink prom date forces it out of him.

[...]

[km]

PA: Petition drive targets same-sex ceremony at Penn State

Link: OneNewsNow.com

Full text:

The American Family Association of Pennsylvania, along with concerned Christians, is taking part in a petition drive challenging a "same-sex commitment ceremony" planned at Penn State University.

The ceremony -- organized by the Penn State Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students -- will be held March 29. State College Mayor Bill Welch plans to officiate at the ceremony, which will include six homosexual couples.

Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, says the mayor's participation will bolster the homosexual agenda. "The chairman of the Garden State Equality says that every single time a public official performs a ceremony, it strengthens the case for marriage equality," Gramley informs. "So they view that as anytime a public official puts their stamp of approval upon a same-sex commitment ceremony, that's telling the public that it's okay."

Gramley says the mayor's plans are further proof that Pennsylvania needs a marriage protection amendment. Pennsylvania's Judiciary Committee will vote on such an amendment on March 18.

[km]

GA: Housing ordinances bring "unintended consequences" - Gay couples impacted by boarding restrictions

Link: sovo.com

Excerpt:

A Cobb County ordinance designed to stop college students flowing into residential neighborhoods unintentionally limits gay couples renting out rooms or taking in roommates. Counties throughout the metro area cite similar policies.

“The devil can be in the details about these things,” said Greg Nevins, an attorney for Lambda Legal in Atlanta. “And that can really highlight the fact that these bills are fraught with unintended consequences.”

As Kennesaw State University grew into the third largest college in Georgia, so did the number of students looking to escape quiet hours, co-habitation policies and no keg rules. Investors bought up homes to rent to a half dozen or more college students at a time in two subdivisions north of the college.

Worried about students living in de facto dorms in their neighborhoods, homeowners worked with the Cobb County Commission to craft an ordinance to prohibit boarding houses in residential neighborhoods. The ordinance, passed last year, decrees only two unrelated adults can live in a home. Gay and lesbian couples are not recognized as related under Georgia law, so Cobb’s ordinance means they can not take in friends or let out rooms.

[...]

[km]

Opinion: Educating The Already-Tolerant

Link: The Daily Dish
by Andrew Sullivan

Full text by permission:

We gays have work to do. A reader writes:

You wrote:

So many sympathetic straights just don't know the kind of inequality gays live with all the time. What does that say about the effectiveness of the leading gay rights groups?

Just this week, I attended a forum of candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination to run for one of the seats to the California Assembly.  The candidates were asked whether they would vote for the Marriage Equality bill when it is introduced yet again. (It has been approved twice, and twice been vetoed by Schwarzenegger.)  Four of five said they will support the bill.  Almost as troubling as the one candidate who said he will not support marriage, was the reasoning of one of the supporters.

The supporter said that if gays and lesbians feel more equal because they can get "that piece of paper," then that should be the law.  The other comments he made demonstrated that he has no understanding of the very real legal and financial problems that have are created by the soup of varying partnership laws around the country and by DOMA's ban on federal recognition of state civil union, domestic partnership and same gender marriage laws. 

LGBT political groups have worked hard to convince politicians that they can safely vote for LGBT legislation, but appear not to have worked to educate them about why they should support these laws.  It's disturbing.

[km]

Washington Times "Scare Quotes" Are History

Link: Washington City Paper

Excerpt:

John Solomon took over the Washington Times on Jan. 28. 

But he arrived today, via a message from the paper’s copy operation. 

The news, in short: No more scare quotes. 

Longtime Washington Times readers know well what this is all about: Under the regime of Wesley Pruden, the Times, unwilling to acknowledge anything so radical and immoral as gay marriage, treated the term in its pages as gay “marriage.” 

Likewise other terms. In the old Washington Times, there were no illegal immigrants, just “illegal aliens”; no gays, just “homosexuals.” 

Now comes the following memo from the Solomon regime, wiping out this legacy in one flick of the wrist: 

All:

Here are some recent updates to TWT style.

1) Clinton will be the headline word for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

2) Gay is approved for copy and preferred over homosexual, except in clinical references or references to sexual activity.

3) The quotation marks will come off gay marriage (preferred over homosexual marriage).

4) Moderate is approved, but centrist is still allowed.

5) We will use illegal immigrants, not illegal aliens.

[jw]

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, others protest "inequitable treatment" of same-sex partners in the Foreign Service

Link: Gay South Florida www.miamiherald.com/gay

Excerpt:

caption: U.S. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen

On Thursday, U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Tammy Baldwin, Howard Berman and Gary Ackerman sent this letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

"We have followed with great interest and concern the media coverage of the workplace inequities facing gays and lesbians in the U.S. Department of State.

[...]

"By not including same-sex partners in the definition of an “Eligible Family Member” (EFM), the Department excludes them from many of the benefits, protections, and services that are enjoyed by family members of married FSOs [Foreign Service Officers], and that are important to the safety, effectiveness, and morale of our communities abroad."

Download the entire letter: Download ros-lehtinen.pdf

[km]

FL: Dying Lesbian's Partner Denied Access To Her

Link: 365Gay.com

Excerpt:

Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond had planned to take their three children on a family cruise. The Olympia, Washington couple had been together 18 years and with their children were looking forward to the holiday.

But just as they were about to depart on the cruise from Miami, Florida. Pond, a healthy 39-year-old, suddenly collapsed. She was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami with Langbehn and the children following close behind.

But once Langbehn and the children arrived at the hospital the hospital refused to accept information from her about Ponds’s medical history. 

Langbehn says she was informed that she was in an antigay city and state, and she could expect to receive no information or acknowledgment as family. 

A doctor finally spoke with Janice telling her that there was no chance of recovery.

Other than one five minute visit, which was orchestrated by a Catholic priest at Langbehn’s request to perform last rites, and despite the doctor’s acknowledgement that no medical reason existed to prevent visitation, neither she nor her children were allowed to see Pond until nearly eight hours after their arrival. 

Soon after Pond'’s death, Langbehn tried to get her death certificate in order to get life insurance and Social Security benefits for their children. She was denied both by the State of Florida and the Dade County Medical Examiner.

With the help of Lambda Legal Langbehn has notified Jackson Memorial Hospital that she intends to file a lawsuit.

"There is nothing that can make up for what my children and I endured that day,” Langbehn says of the day Pond died. “We only want the hospital to take responsibility for how they treated us and ensure that it doesn’t happen to another family.”

[…]

[jw]

Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman on the freedom to marry

Link: W Magazine

Excerpt:

[…]

Without question, both actresses are passionate about their beliefs. When they really get going on an issue, it can be a little like watching a Hot Topics segment of The View. “I’m into monogamy,” says Portman. “But I’m not really into marriage right now. I sort of hate the legal aspect of it. What does the state have to do with it? Why are they making rules that say my lover can stay in the United States if they’re foreign or share my health care benefits because I’m straight”—here her eyes flash with horror—“but if you’re gay, you can’t have that?”

“It’s so archaic,” Johansson agrees. “It’s just, like, bizarre to me. I feel like in 10 or 15 years’ time our children are going to look back and say, ‘What? You were around when gay people weren’t allowed to get married?’”

[…]

(Hat tip Towleroad.)

[jw]

TypePad Featured Blog: To Form A More Perfect Union--Marriage Equality News

Link: TypePad Featured Blogs: To Form A More Perfect Union

TypePad, the blog platform used by Marriage Equality News, has highlighted us as the featured blog during Freedom to Marry Week. They write, "This is a site helping "to form a more perfect union", and does so with reason, information, and analysis."

To Form A More Perfect Union

As Valentine’s Day nears and couples around the country celebrate love and romance, we’d like to salute Marriage Equality News, a blog designed to deliver “information, news, and discussion about the legal recognition of same-sex couples and their families.” This is both a topical subject, as it has been the centerpiece of many a political campaign, and a broad one since it covers the areas of marriage, domestic partnerships, civil unions, adoptions, foster children, and similar issues. The site collects opinions, editorials, and news briefs on the political, legal, religious, and community aspects of the story, forming a rich resource for those interested in following the story and for those wishing to get involved. Readers can get updates on what’s happening on the local, state, and federal level, and also news on Freedom To Marry Week which started Sunday. This is a site helping “to form a more perfect union” and does so with reason, information, and analysis.

[jw]

IN: Soldier's uniform proving problematic

Link: IndyStar.com

Excerpt:

State Sen. Mike Delph, in arguing for passage of his illegal-immigration bill, has repeatedly said he hoped fellow lawmakers would follow the "rule of law."

That rule-of-law line of reasoning now might backfire on Delph, who is under investigation by the U.S. Army Reserve for calling a Statehouse news conference this week in which a Hispanic supporter of the legislation wore his Reserve uniform -- against Army regulations.

Delph, a Carmel Republican, is also a Reserve captain and serves in the Army Reserve's 310th Expeditionary Support Command. The supporter who joined him at the news conference, Lt. Col. Ray Mejia, is part of the same unit.

[...]

"Military policy prohibits military personnel from performing political activities while wearing their military uniform or while on military duty," public affairs officer Capt. Adam Jackson said in an e-mail.

[...]

Last year, another uniform snafu resulted in punishment for an Indiana National Guardsman who spoke out against the same-sex marriage amendment while wearing his full camouflage uniform at the Statehouse.

Michael Isenhower, South Bend, was demoted from specialist to private first class.

He complained that his punishment was unfair, saying he had worn his uniform to speak out on other matters in the past but was never disciplined.

[...]

[km]

California: EQCA gala Saturday; Evan Wolfson to be honored

Link: The Bay Area Reporter

Excerpt:

Equality California will kick off its 10th anniversary year with a gala dinner and benefit at San Francisco City Hall Saturday, February 9. The event, with the theme "Building a State of Equality" comes just days before the fourth anniversary of the "Winter of Love" in 2004 when Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

[…]

Honors will be presented to longtime same-sex marriage advocate Evan Wolfson, who will receive the Marriage Equality Award. Wolfson is founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, a national organization that works with LGBT and non-LGBT groups to win the freedom to marry for all people. He is also helping with the Let California Ring campaign, launched by the EQCA Institute and several other civil rights organizations last fall.

[…]

[jw]

Reminder: Six Days until Freedom to Marry Week 2008

Link: Freedom To Marry via Common Dreams

Six Days until Freedom to Marry Week 2008  [click for full release]
Events Planned Across the Country to Invite People to Speak Out Against Exclusion From Marriage

ATLANTA, GA - February 4 - With the 11th annual Freedom to Marry Week, February 10-16, 2008 just 6 days away, the number of events scheduled across the country to speak out, and seek support, for marriage equality continues to grow!

“Every year, right around President Lincoln's Birthday and Valentine's Day, gay and non-gay people around the country gather to talk about our lives, our loves and our families, celebrate the victories from the year before and continue the fight for the freedom to marry." said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry.  “As Al Gore and a unanimous appellate court in New York have both just shown, the more people are asked to think through how the denial of marriage harms couples and their kids, the more they rise to fairness.”

Wolfson is referring to Al Gore’s endorsement of the freedom to marry in January and last Friday’s New York appellate court ruling that valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples must be legally recognized in New York.

Freedom to Marry Week activities around the country include:

Love Makes a Family (Connecticut): Youth Celebration and Film Premieres of Marriage Makes a Word of Difference in honor of Freedom to Marry Week

University of Idaho: 11th Annual Observance of "Freedom to Marry" Week with events throughout the week on campus

Lambda Legal Illinois: 7th Annual Freedom to Marry Reception, February 7, 2008

Equality Maryland: 2008 Lobby Day in Annapolis. February 11, 2008

Affirmations (Michigan): Celebrate Freedom to Marry Week this year with a series of 3 events: Marriage Equality Forum, Valentine’s Day Domestic Partnership Registry, & Rally on the Nine

Frameline (California): February 14th showing of the marriage equality documentary The Year of Paper

For more event listings and to learn more about Freedom to Marry Week, visit: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/get_involved/freedom_to_marry_week_2008.php

[jw]

California domestic partners two-timed on taxes

Link: San Jose Mercury News

Excerpt:

California's registered domestic partners are sailing in uncharted territory this tax season. For the first time, a landmark state law requires them to file their taxes as married couples - even though federal tax laws don't recognize such unions. 

On a practical level, the new law will double the filing workload because partners essentially must do their taxes twice - once as a married couple under California rules, then as separate taxpayers on their federal returns. 

But the collision between state and federal rules also has created a snarl of tax issues that are confounding taxpayers, professional preparers, academics and even the tax agencies. 

"There are so many issues that come up . . . where there really is no answer," said Kathleen Wright, director of the graduate tax program at California State University-Fullerton. "There is so much gray area and complexity." 

The problem has been building for years. In 1999, California became the first state to create a registry for domestic partners, which comprises both same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples with at least one partner older than age 62. Later laws gave registered partners many of the rights and responsibilities of married couples. But until now they've been treated as single on their state and federal tax returns.

[...]

Then comes a practical question: Are they better off filing jointly or separately? 

That answer is likely to start with the rules mapped out in Publication 737, a 17-page booklet that wasn't finalized until mid-December. Then comes a 38-line worksheet to calculate what a couple's federal income would be if Uncle Sam treated them as a married couple. 

But Waterman thinks it will be easier if couples start out doing what they've done in previous years: Fill out their federal 1040s as single taxpayers. Next, concoct a hypothetical 1040 as if they were married and were allowed to file joint or separate returns. This fake return will provide the jumping-off spot to calculate their California taxes as a married couple. 

In the end, the state estimates that 59 percent of domestic partners will owe less state income tax, while 12 percent will owe more. The rest will see little change.

[km]

Connecticut: Putting Faith In Marriage Equality

Link: Hartford Courant
by Susan Campbell

Excerpt:

Love Makes a Family, the state's marriage equality organization, has a new job opening for a religious-organizing project coordinator.

The position, funded by a grant from the Gill Foundation, a Colorado-based human rights organization, may come as a surprise to some. An organization some religious types deem satanic — pushing, as it is, for gay marriage — is actually reaching out to religious types itself.

In fact, the marriage equality movement has long had the support of members of a variety of faith groups. The group's list of supporting clergy gets longer every day, and about a year and a half ago, the list evolved into Connecticut Clergy for Marriage Equality.

Marriage equality is not an us-vs.-them situation, at least it shouldn't be among people of faith.

Whoever is hired for the job will be charged with, among other things, reaching out to the movement's quiet supporters and encouraging them to be more active. Maybe they've sat and applauded in the pew. Maybe they're related to someone who is gay or lesbian, and they want to see that family member happy.

The time for quiet support is past. 

[…]

[jw]

GLBT community sounds off on gay divorce

Link: EDGE Boston

Excerpt:

Breaking up is hard to do.

Of course, while it’s never a pleasant experience when a marriage deteriorates, there are certain considerations that ease the pain for most couples.

For example, it’s usually possible to grieve for a lost relationship in privacy, far away from the prying eyes and gossiping lips of others. Unless you’re a former teen pop star on her third husband and eighth frappuccino, it’s doubtful anyone will be publicly commenting on your break-up or rubbing salt in the wounds of a broken heart by turning your failed marriage into a forum of speculation and debate.

But if you’re divorcing and gay, plan to fire up the printing press and put your dirty laundry under the microscope; the pundit paparazzo will be having a field day.

"There’s a sense of pressure and visibility," says Rich Domenico, LICSW [Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker], a Boston therapist specializing in issues of love, sex and intimacy. He has extensive experience working with gay couples, including those only a hair’s breadth from divorce and says that same-sex relationships face an unusual amount of scrutiny when they’re in the midst of falling apart.

"A lot of gay and lesbian couples feel a bigger sense of shame and failure [than heterosexuals]," says Domenico. Besides his own experience in working with couples, he points to the backlash that occurred when Julie and Hillary Goodridge--the gay couple whose fight for marriage equality set Massachusetts’ progressive wheels in motion--ended their relationship only two years after making it legal.

"The right wing had a field day with that," says Domenico. Indeed, the high-profile separation gave ammo to equal marriage critics, providing media fodder for Why Them Gays Can’t Handle Gettin’ Hitched. Domenico says that unfair pressure results when individual couples are asked to represent their entire community.

[...]

[km]

Symposium: "Is gay marriage conservative?"

Link: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Dale Carpenter

That's the question being addressed by speakers at a symposium I'm organizing. It's a first-of-its-kind event, devoted entirely to what has become an intramural debate among conservatives about the issue. The symposium will be held at the South Texas College of Law in Houston on February 15. Besides me, the speakers include: 

Professor Gerard Bradley (Notre Dame)

Professor Jesse Choper (Berkeley)

Professor Teresa Collett (St. Thomas)

David Frum (AEI)

Charles Murray (AEI)

Professor Robert Nagel (Colorado)

Jonathan Rauch (Brookings)

Professor John Yoo (Berkeley) 

Needless to say, it's an impressive group of academics and non-academics, many with strong ties to the conservative intellectual movement and/or expertise on the issue of gay marriage. Abstracts of the presentations can be found here. 

If you'd like to attend, you can register for the symposium here. Registration is free and lunch is included.

[jw]

Marriage Options: The Center to hold public forum on marriage equality in DC

Link: Metro Weekly magazine

In conjunction with The Center, ''Home for GLBT in Metro DC,'' DC for Marriage, a nascent local organization, will present a public forum to discuss marriage equality on Thursday, Dec. 6. It's the group's first event following the initial conversations that founded the group about eight months ago.

''Lane Hudson [and I] met at a community forum earlier this year,'' explains Michael Crawford, president of the new group, while Hudson serves as a board member. The forum was ''State of the Movement,'' a Feb. 20 event presented by the D.C. chapter of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. ''We both asked questions around marriage and that's how we connected. For the last few months, we've been talking to community leaders, asking if there is interest in a marriage campaign here in the District, getting advice on who else we should talk to.''

The aim of the Dec. 6 meeting is to help attendees understand the District's current domestic-partnership law, to discuss current legal options for legalizing same-sex marriage in D.C., and to poll the community regarding political strategies.

''The general consensus is gay people in the District are definitely interested in marriage. Now we want to take the question to a broad cross-section of the community,'' says Crawford, who moved to D.C. from Houston to help organize the 2000 Millennium March on Washington. In the years since, Crawford worked for a time as an associated field organizer for the Human Rights Campaign, which he says has helped him grasp the community's collective priorities. It's the insight that has made him passionate about marriage equality, he says, considering he's single -- unless Jake Gyllenhaal happens to come calling, he adds with a laugh.

''I'm doing this not so much because there is an immediate interest for me, but because of my work in the LGBT community. I've seen what people need. In a sense, it is a personal issue in that some day I hope to get married. But right now, it's about my love of the LGBT community and being treated equally.''

The marriage-equality forum is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Room 412 of the District's Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

For more information about DC for Marriage, visit the group online at www.dcformarriage.org.

[jk]

PA: Mayor Presides Over Gay Ceremony

Link: 6abc.com

Editor's note: The news video that accompanies this story (via the link) is recommended viewing.

Excerpt:

Philadelphia Mayor John Street performed a wedding today. What's newsworthy about it is that the people exchanging vows were two men. But since same sex marriage is illegal in Pennsylvania, the wedding was strictly ceremonial.

Micah Mahjoubian and Ryan Bunch walked out of City Hall a married couple... not in a legal sense, but in their hearts.

[...]

Mayor Street says he officiated the ceremony not as the mayor of Philadelphia but as a friend to Mahjoubian, who is the mayor's deputy secretary of external affairs. "I believe people have a right to their relationships and Micah and Ryan decided they wanted me to be a part of that relationship and I was delighted to do so," said Street.

Micah Mahjoubian tells Action News, "I've dreamed about it for my whole life. And I'm very happy we're able to do it here. And not only in the city I love but in front of all these friends and family who are so supportive and wonderful.

[km]

MA: Counselor lauded for work

Link: MassLive.com

Excerpt:

WESTHAMPTON - When Hampshire Regional High School guidance counselor Sally M. Masters looks at her life to try to understand how she became so committed to working for human rights, she thinks of four formative experiences.

The daughter of a military family that moved frequently when she was a child, Masters cites living in Japan for two years when she was in fourth and fifth grade and experiencing what it was like to be a minority, but also what it is like to fall in love with a culture.

"I was forever changed by that experience," said Masters, an Easthampton resident who recently won the first Human Rights Award from the Massachusetts School Counselor Association.

Then, there was her own experience coming out as a gay person.

"If I had someone in my high school who said it really is OK you are gay, I think my life would have been different," said Masters, who co-advises the Gay Straight Alliance at Hampshire Regional High.

And then there is her experience becoming a justice of the peace in April 2004 and having the opportunity to marry hundreds of gay as well as straight couples.

"I've watched the faces of the same-sex couples as their marriages were recognized legally, and I've seen what it means to them," Masters said.

[...]

[km]

PA: Mayor's gay about-face

Link: Philadelphia Inquirer

Excerpt:

Eight years ago, it would have been unimaginable.

But over brunch on a warm Sunday morning last fall, Micah Mahjoubian leaned over and asked his boss a question.

"I told him Ryan and I got engaged to be married, and I'd like him to consider whether he would officiate our ceremony."

John Street, once regarded as Public Enemy No. 1 of the gay community, did not flinch. Yes, he said.

So on Saturday, as the clock winds down on his time as mayor, Street will preside over his first same-sex commitment ceremony, in City Hall.

With 125 guests expected, it will resemble in every way a traditional wedding but will have no legal standing, since Pennsylvania prohibits gay marriage.

[…]

Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's gay civil-rights organization, said he was unaware of another mayor who performed a commitment ceremony in a state where civil unions and gay marriage are illegal.

"Every single time a public official like Mayor Street performs a ceremony," he said, "it strengthens the case for marriage equality."

For Mahjoubian and Bunch, it's as much a political statement as a show of their love before family and friends.

For Street, who has performed fewer than 10 weddings as mayor, it's anything but.

"Micah is my friend. He has been in my campaign and has been in my administration for eight years," Street said. Currently, Mahjoubian is his deputy secretary of external affairs. "I've come to respect him as a person, and if this is something he would like for me to do, then I'd like to do it for him."

But the 64-year-old mayor, a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, was also clear - four times in a 30-minute interview last week - abo