Gay marriage

Washington weddings begin for same-sex couples

JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:40:00 PST

It's a day of wedding bells for some gay couples in Washington as same-sex pairs began picking up marriage licenses on their first eligible day after the law changed last week.

Catholic group dodges gay marriage

Mary Elizabeth Williams — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:04:00 PST

Jubilant newlyweds lined up at courthouses today as D.C.'s new marriage law went into effect, but not everyone is breaking out the kazoos. Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C., the largest private social service in the area, has figured out a clever way to make sure the gays don't get their hands on the precious health insurance God never intended them to have. On Monday, the organization informed its employees that henceforth, new hires and yet unwed employees would not be entitled to spousal health benefits. In the memo, Catholic Charities president and CEO Edward Orzechowski explained that, "As of March 2 ... the new plan will provide the same level of coverage for employees and their dependents that you now have, with one exception: spouses not in the plan as of March 1, will not be eligible for coverage in the future ... We sincerely regret that we have to make this change, but it is necessary to allow Catholic Charities to continue to provide essential services to the clients we serve in partnership with the District of Columbia while remaining consistent with the tenets of our religious faith."

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in DC

JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:09:00 PST

Same-sex couples can start applying for marriage licenses Wednesday in Washington.

Meet Lauren Ashley, another anti-gay beauty queen

Mary Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:26:00 PST

Those California beauty queens really don't seem to have a whole lot of love for the gays, do they? Last year, it was Carrie Prejean, who notoriously spoke out in favor of "opposite marriage."

Cindy McCain says no on Prop 8

Mary Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:01:00 PST

Welcome to another episode of the popular sitcom "Raising McCain!" He's a crusty old former senator stuck between two feisty blondes – his wife and his daughter. What will happen next?

My big phat same-sex prison wedding

Dawn Davis II — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:20:00 PST

I was wearing my orange jumpsuit with black tennis shoes on my wedding day. And I was not able to kiss my wife.

The revolution must be televised

Linda Hirshman — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:12:00 PST

Much has been written about the historic nature of California's gay marriage trial. Amazingly, the case has also introduced an even bigger issue of the very stage on which our constitutional cases play out. On Monday, the decision to broadcast the whole shebang on YouTube -- a thrilling first -- was stayed by the United States Supreme Court, apparently swayed by the arguments of gay marriage opponents, who claimed cameras in the courtroom would make a circus of the trial and expose gay marriage opponents to danger and abuse. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hands down an official decision, and if it plans to speak for the people, the cameras should start rolling.

Lawsuit to follow NJ's gay-marriage defeat

GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:39:00 PST

Gays are vowing to fight back through the courts after the state Senate voted down a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

Rove: Champion of "traditional" divorce

Glenn Greenwald — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:30:00 PST

(updated below)

Malawi: 2 men arrested for engagement party

Associated Press — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:09:00 PST

Officials in Malawi say they have arrested two men for celebrating their engagement to each other in the conservative southern African country.

Civil rights: Going once ...

Tracy Clark-Flory — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:30:00 PST

Jamie Frevele wants you to take her ~~hand in~~ right to marriage. So much so, in fact, that she has put it up for auction on eBay. In the item listing, she writes: "I'm an unmarried heterosexual woman, and since I probably won't be using my right to get married, I would like to give it away." She lives in New York, the state that just rejected a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, so she well knows that the right to wed is a hot a commodity: "I will write you up a fancy, wonderful, articulate proclamation handing over my right to get married," she says. "I have no official documentation because this is something I was born with since I was born heterosexual."

The real threat to marriage?

Tracy Clark-Flory — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:22:00 PST

Just as my sadness began to sink in over the news that New York state had rejected a gay marriage bill Wednesday, it was -- dun-da-duh! -- Sen. Diane Savino to the rescue. A video clip (posted below) of the Staten Island Democrat's comments from the State Senate debate earlier in the day was all it took to lift that cloud of depression. We know her comments didn't actually make a difference, the bill didn't pass -- but that doesn't change how extremely righteous her speech was. I tell you, my response to her remarks ranged from actually pumping my fist in the air to tearing up in my cubicle.

New York Senate defeats same-sex marriage bill

Alex Koppelman — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:03:00 PST

New York's State Senate dealt a crushing blow to proponents of same-sex marriage Wednesday afternoon, defeating a bill that would have allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry 38-24.

Protect marriage, ban divorce!

Tracy Clark-Flory — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:45:00 PST

Want to defend the sanctity of marriage? Try banning divorce. That's the message of a satirical campaign in California to force wedded straight couples to stay shackled together forever -- as in forever, forever.

Palin, Prejean: Beastly treatment for beauties

Gene Lyons — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:05:00 PST

Anybody who expects this column to lampoon beauty-pageant contestants has another think coming. Last time I made a satirical thrust in that direction, two women whose friendship I treasure coolly informed me they'd been Rodeo Queens of their respective county fairs. Did I have a problem with that?

Gay marriage: Good for the kids?

Tracy Clark-Flory — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:20:00 PST

Where I grew up, the issue of whether gays and lesbians made OK parents was a non-starter. In the liberal enclave of Berkeley, Calif., the answer is considered so obvious the question almost seems rhetorical: Of course there are both "good" and "bad" homosexual parents -- just as there are both "good" and "bad" heterosexual parents. So, when I saw an article in Sunday's New York Times Magazine announcing proof that same-sex couples are capable of raising children who turn out to be perfectly healthy adults, I rolled my eyes with a huff.

What Maine means for gay marriage in California

Sandip Roy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:05:00 PST

Paul Hogarth remembers how angry he was when Proposition 8 passed in California. “I witnessed the train wreck,” he says. “I was angry with how we blew it.” When same sex marriage came under attack in Maine, Hogarth, a blogger for the Web site Beyond Chron, decided he had to do something to help.

A bittersweet night for the LGBT community

Alex Koppelman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:15:00 PST

Supporters of same-sex marriage had reason to be optimistic on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening. In Maine, they had their best chance yet to win at the ballot box, where the state's voters looked set to defeat a referendum that would reverse a bill, passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, to legalize gay marriage. Reports of heavier-than-expected turnout and early results that showed the referendum losing turned out to be no more than false hope, however.

Gay marriage = social equality?

Tracy Clark-Flory — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:23:00 PDT

Sunday's New York Times Vows section led with quite the politically charged pair: Feministing's Jessica Valenti, author of "Full Frontal Feminism," and Andrew Golis of Talking Points Memo. I say "politically charged" because the very fact of Valenti's nuptials sparked controversy. Some people argued that this was an ultimate surrender to the patriarchy that rendered her feminist credentials null and void, and called it a betrayal of the campaign for marriage equality. As Melissa Harris-Lacewell argues in the Nation, the response to this off-white, nontraditional wedding reflects the depth of the marital conflict facing progressives: It's wrong to deny same-sex couples the right to marry -- but it will take more than gay marriage rights to fix the flawed institution.

It's hip to be queer

Judy Berman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:17:00 PDT

These days, it seems like everyone's rebranding -- including, apparently, the federal government. In a piece that quotes President Obama as saying he wants to make government employment "cool again," The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe reports that the White House is planning to do so through pushing a bill to extend same-sex domestic partner benefits to federal workers. That, they believe, will make the jobs more attractive to the best and brightest recent grads -- and not just the gay ones. "Young people are looking at this as an indicator that says, Do you have this? and, If not, this is not a cool place to be," said Office of Personnel Management director John Berry. "This really has become a litmus test for this generation. I know because I've been out talking to college students at our recruitment and job fairs."