GAY MARRIAGE FOR ALL: THE WEEK IN REVIEW February 8th-14th

In the good column this week:

In Maryland, the state's Attorney General, Douglas F. Gansler, came out in favor of a gay marriage law, saying that the current ban in the state amounts to discrimination.  Debate on the law begins today on the state legislature.

In Colorado, a lesbian couple from Englewood is suing to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage, established by a 2006 ballot initiative.

In California, Let California Ring is airing a new ad showing a bride being prevented from getting to the altar by a series of mishaps, with the tagline "What if you couldn't marry the one you love?" in advance of the California Supreme Court hearing on gay marriage on March 4th.

In Rhode Island, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox plans to introduce a bill that would let gay and lesbian couples who married elsewhere file for divorce in Rhode Island, addressing a problem brought to light by a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts and now seeks to get divorced.

In Detroit, Michigan, Julian Bond, the National Chair of the NAACP, says "I believe gay rights are civil rights."

In Ireland, Lesbian Gay Transgender Bisexual Noise, a new activist group, submitted 1,000 signatures to Ireland's Prime Minister in support of gay marriage.

In the current issue of W Magazine, Sacrlett Johansson and Natalie Portman came out strongly in favor of gay marriage: "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, but if you're gay, you can't have that?" Portman said.

Now for the bad.

In Arizona, where voters narrowly turned back an anti gay marriage measure last year, the republican legislature is at their election year tricks again, planning to put a new initiative before voters in the fall to add a gay marriage ban to the state constitution.

In Utah, State Senator Chris Buttars, offended by a Salt Lake City domestic partner registry, is pushing a bill that would prohibit city and county officials from starting such a registry.

In Romania, the Parliament is considering an amendment to the Family Code to define marriage as between a man and a woman only.

Scorecard:

States & Territories with gay marriage bans being considered in the fall election or later: AZ, CA, FL, IA, IN, PA, PR, WV

States considering marriage or civil unions: CA, MD, VT, WA

States where the Democratic Party is fighting for us: zero