Gay Marriage Watch: May 4th, 2009

Here's the latest news on gay marriage from around the world on Monday, May 4th. The blog is now organized almost entirely by area, with news of the week, upcoming marriage equality events, and great recent articles and columns. For a longer history of past news stories, just click on one of the older Gay Marriage Watch blogs from our archives. We now publish a daily news blog, and a weekly recap on Sundays. To subscribe to this blog, or if you have any thoughts about how we can make this feature better or easier to use or any updates on the issues covered here, let me know at info@purpleunions.com. You can also now find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc Enjoy the rest of the Watch! --Scott Hero of the Week: The Leffew Family in Northern California, a self-described "priate family" uploading daily updates about their lives to YouTube - and did we mention, they're gay? Thanks for Queerty.com for bringing them to our attention - they also have one of the videos posted there - Bryan's coming out. ---------------------------------------------- UGANDA: --news--> 5/4: Scott Lively, the founder of Abiding Truth Ministries and the author of the Holocaust revisionist anti-gay book, ‘The Pink Swastika,’ is in Uganda fighting attempts to decriminalize homosexuality. Source ---------------------------------------------- USA: --news--> 5/3: Mitt Romney on gay marriage: "My view I've laid out before, which is you really can't have different marriage provisions in different states and then expect people to be able to move around the nation and have different rights in different states. Marriage is a matter of national consequence. It's a -- it's a status. It's not an activity. And as a result, there should be a national standard. And my own view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman." Source ---------------------------------------------- USA, CALIFORNIA: --news--> 5/4: Margaret Cho on gay marriage: "Being married made it much more important for me to fight for gay marriage, because I believe marriage is vital for us as people." Source --upcoming events: northern california--> ----------------------- Santa Clara: 5/9: Santa Clara: Equality Team Second Canvassing Event with Courage Campaign, 3:15 PM. More Info --upcoming events: central california--> Bakersfield: --5/9: Walking Precincts for Gay Marriage! This is our second canvass, and we are looking forward to it! 9AM. More Info ----------------------- Fresno: --5/10: Equality Team Second Canvassing Event with Courage Campaign, 3:15 PM. More Info --upcoming events: southern california--> Garden Grove: 5/7: Equality California Town Hall Meeting to discuss Prop 8 and the future of the movement, at Pacific Pride Foundation. More Info ----------------------- Los Angeles --5/11-5/12: Divorce! The Musical will create two special reading presentations to benefit the Courage Campaign. These performances will take place at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Los Angeles and showcase a lesbian couple on Monday, May 11 and a gay couple on Tuesday, May 12. 100% of the proceeds will go toward the Courage Campaign's efforts to restore marriage equality. More Info ----------------------- West Hollywood: --5/9: The Teach-in will be a day-long event where participants will learn about our LGBTQ community's shared history, and connect with their LGBTQ predecessors through a series of break-out sessions, performances, and speakers, at Plummer Park, 9 AM-5:30 PM. More Info ---------------------------------------------- USA, IOWA: --news--> 5/4: --Gay and lesbian military service members who are legally married in Iowa can still be involuntarily discharged from the Iowa National Guard and other military branches under a federal law that prevents gays and lesbians from openly serving in the armed forces, military officials say. Source --Because of an Iowa law allowing married couples to file as individuals to avoid the "marriage tax penalty", Iowa will see little additional tax revenue from newly married gay/lesbian couples. Source --Iowa doesn't allow same sex marriage between prison inmates. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, MAINE: --upcoming events--> 5/5: The Maine House of Representatives will debate the gay marriage bill. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, MASSACHUSETTS: --news--> 5/3: Massachusetts will celebrate the fifth anniversary of equal marriage on 5/17. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, NEW YORK: --news--> 5/4: New York's Empire State Pride Agenda is taking polling data straight to Republican senators who could make the difference in passage of the state's same-sex marriage legislation. Source --upcoming events--> --5/9: New York: 7:30pm, Off Center will present "Are We Tying the Knot Too Tight?: Gains and Losses in the Rush to Normalcy." This moderated panel will address some of the issues the LGBT community faces when dealing with whether and how to support the movement for same-sex marriage. More Info ----------------------------------------------- USA, PENNSYLVANIA: --news--> 5/3: Hundreds marched on Independence Mall for what was billed as the first national demonstration for gay and lesbian rights in 9 years -- and the first outside of Washington, DC. Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, TEXAS: --upcoming events--> --Ongoing: Dallas: Queer Liberaction meetings, 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at Buli Cafe, located at 3908 Cedar Springs. Meetings start at 7 pm. More Info ----------------------------------------------- USA, WASHINGTON DC --news--> 5/4: Today, more than 300 clergy from a variety of faith and denominations will fan out over Capitol Hill to preach a unified gay-rights message to members of Congress: Pass the hate crimes bill that would give sexual orientation and gender identity the same federal protection as race, and pass the employment non-discrimination bill that would protect gays. Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, WEST VIRGINIA --news--> House Republicans want Gov. Joe Manchin to add bills addressing gay marriage, strip club zoning and bar closing times to the upcoming special legislative session. Source ----------------------------------------------- fini