GAY MARRIAGE FOR ALL: Weekly Recap February 15th-21st

Hey all,

Here's the gay marriage week in review, including the good, the bad, and everything inbetween.

First, the good:

A bill that would have outlawed domestic partner registries in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah has stalled in the state Senate.  Good news for now, but it may be back, if the aptly named Senator Buttars has his way.

In Ireland, a gay couple held hands and discussed their relationship and gay marriage, a first in this heavily Catholic country.

In New Jersey, Democratic Governor Jon Corzine has indicated he would sign a bill legalizing gay marriage, but wants to wait until after the 2008 elections.

In State College, Pennsylvania, the town's Mayor, Bill Welch, is taking a stand and presiding over a civil union ceremony for six couples.

In Spain, with an election pending, the Government told the Vatican to stop meddling in the election process.  The church's bishops have been urging voters to vote out the current government because of its secular stands on gay marriage and other issues.

In Indiana, House leaders have decided not to pursue an anti-gay-marriage amendment this year, even though a majority of House members have said they support such a ban.  To become law, the amendment has to pass in two consecutive sessions of the legislature, so if it fails this year, amendment supporters will have to start all over again in the next sesson.

On CNN, basketball star Charles Barkley came out in support of gay marriage during an interview with Wolf Blitzer.

In Maryland, hundreds of people showed up in below-freezing weather in support of gay marriage at a rally outside the state house in Annapolis.

In Louisiana, the student Senate at LSU is debating a measure to University's ticket office to provide spousal privileges to domestic partners of students - allowing them to buy tickets

Now the bad:

In Monroe County, New York, where a judge recently ruled that the county had to recognize same sex marriages performed outside of the state, the county announced plans to appeal the judge's decision.

In New Jersey, as the civil unions law there reaches its one year anniversary, some couples are finding that the law is doing more harm than good.

In Washington State, Pastor Ken Hutcherson, who has led the fight to strip Microsoft's GLBT employees of benefits, is quoted as saying during a sermon "If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I'd rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end."  Love thy neighbor, and all that???

Also in New Jersey, John Tomicki of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage won Gaywired's hypocrite of the week award for trying to make gay marriage illegal while answering the question "how would gay marriage affect your marriage" with the three words "Why would it?"

In Arizona, it appears that a bill to put a constitutional ban on gay marriage on the November ballot may pass both houses in the legislature next week.

In Nigeria, 18 men accused of attending a gay wedding may be put to death for the crime of being gay.

That's it for this week!

--Scott