Gay Marriage Watch: June 28th-July 4th

Here's our Sunday weekly recap of the latest news on gay marriage from around the world. Our favorite thing of the week? A column entitled 5 easy steps to marriage freedom, by Kel Munger. Check it out. :) Woody Award: Our woody award this week goes to Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams, authors of The Pink Swastika, whose central thesis is that homosexuality was the driving force behind the rise of the Third Reich. Thanks to Warren Throckmorton at The Christian Post for bringing this to our attention, and for his thoughtful debunking of this thesis at the link above. I have just one thing to add. Thousands of gays were tortured and killed at the Nazi death camps. amd to turn around and pin the blame on these pour souls for the facism that killed them is just plain ignorant and mean. Enhoy your woodies, Misters Lively and Abrams. Gay Marriage Watch: Now on to this week's Gay Marriage Watch. 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. 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. We now publish updates daily, and a weekly recap on Sundays. 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 ---------------------------------------------- AUSTRALIA: --news--> 6/30: The Greens have made good on a promise to introduce a private member’s bill to allow same-sex marriage in Australia. Source --upcoming events--> Sydney: 8/1: The organisers of a huge protest for gay marriage in New South Wales hope over 400 same-sex couples set a world record by sharing vows on Saturday 1 August, as Australia's LGBT community continues to fight for gay marriage. Source ---------------------------------------------- CANADA: --news--> 7/4: The Saskatchewan Party government's plan to introduce legislation allowing provincial marriage commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex marriages for religious reasons was both praised as a defence of religious freedoms and condemned as the institutionalizing of discrimination against gays and lesbians. Source ---------------------------------------------- CHINA: --articles--> Beijing youth pave way for gay acceptance, by Monique Ross & Paul Sutherland Source ---------------------------------------------- INDIA: --news--> 7/1: Christians and Muslims are opposing a government review of a 149-year-old law that treats being gay as a crime. Source 7/2: In a landmark ruling, the Delhi high court scrapped parts of Section 377, a colonial law that criminalised gay sex – and indeed anything other than heterosexual vaginal intercourse – in India. Source --articles--> Allow gay partnerships, if not gay marriages, by Niyati Rana Source ---------------------------------------------- IRELAND: --articles--> LGBT want rights in Ireland: given some, not all, by Kayla Regan Source ---------------------------------------------- NETHERLANDS: --upcoming events--> Amsterdam: 7/31-8/2: Organizers of Amsterdam Gay Pride have announced that during the celebration in August, Mayor Marius Job Cohen will marry five same-sex couples compromised of one American and one Dutch national. The action commemorates the 400 years of links between the Dutch and the American city they called New Amsterdam, with the hope it will inspire progress toward full marriage equality in the United States. More Info ---------------------------------------------- SLOVENIA: --news--> 7/2: The government intends to amend legislation to give same-sex partnership equal rights, Labour, Family and Social Affairs Minister Ivan Svetlik announced after the government session on Thursday. Source ---------------------------------------------- UNITED KINGDOM: --news--> 6/30: Peter Tatchell, a gay rights leader in the UK, said that the Prime Minister’s claims in a message of support to the gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender community ahead of Saturday’s Pride London were ‘hollow’. Source 7/4: A Church of England bishop urged homosexuals to 'repent and be changed', as he joins a coalition of conservative parishes opposed to single-sex unions. Source --upcoming events--> Cardiff: 10/4: Gay wedding show. More Info Manchester: 10/18: Gay wedding show. More Info Brighton: 11/15: Gay wedding show. More Info ---------------------------------------------- USA: --news--> 6/30: Meghan McCain responded by saying “me” when Advocate.com asked her who speaks for the Republican party on such matters during a gala for the Trevor Project in New York City. Source 7/1: Speaking to 300 LGBT activists at a White House reception on Monday, President Obama said: "I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, not by promises I've made, but by the promises that my administration keeps. Source 7/2: Jackass stuntman Steve-O joins the NoH8 campaign. Source --articles--> Church-state divide looms for Episcopalians on gay marriage, by Daniel Burke Source Olson Joins Boies at Court So Gays May Marry as Right, by Kristen Jensen Source DOMA repeal remains on Congress' back burner, by Matthew S. Bajko Source Obama deputy campaign manager abandons DOMA & DADT as priorities, by John Aravosis Source Three Laws to Protect Americans from Sexual Discrimination, by Stebe Hildebrand Source Obama's Reality On Civil Rights, Gay Rights, by Jason W. Bartlett Source ---------------------------------------------- USA, CALIFORNIA: --news--> 7/1: A federal judge in San Francisco said Tuesday that he is disinclined to suspend California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage while a lawsuit challenging it as a violation of the U.S. Constitution proceeds in his court. Source 7/2: --The first hearing on the federal case brought by The American Foundation for Equal Rights, lead by powerhouse attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, is today, July 2nd, and the two attorneys have requested an injunction which would immediately allow same-sex marriages to resume in California until the Prop 8 issue is settled. Source --For the first time ever, PFLAG, a group dedicated to supporting gays, lesbians and transgendered people will march in Temecula's Fourth of July parade. Source --upcoming events--> Aliso Viejo: 7/25: Team Courage OC Canvass for Equality, 12 PM. More Info Fullerton: 8/9: Canvassing for Marriage Equality with Team Courage OC- Fullerton, 12 PM. More Info Hayward: --7/18: Come Canvass in Hayward! Alameda County Equality Team, 1 PM. More Info Laguna Niguel: 7/25: canvassing for marriage equality, 12 PM. More Info Los Angeles: --7/9-7/19: Outfest is the oldest continuous film festival in Southern California. Since its founding in 1982, Outfest has presented more than 4,500 films and videos for audiences of over half a million people. More Info --8/1: Los Angeles Equality Awards. More Info --Every Monday: LA Equal Roots Meeting. More Info Mendocino: 6/30: Get engaged tour event, 7:30-9:30 PM. More Info Merced: 8/22: Merced County Equality Team introduction, 6 PM. More Info Mountain View/Sunnyvale: 8/22: Canvassing event, 11 AM. More Info Pacifica: 7/14: Get engaged tour event, 7-9 PM. More Info Palm Springs: --10/17: Palm Springs Equality Awards More Info --11/7-11/8: Palm Springs Pride More Info --7/8: Get engaged tour event, 7-9 PM. More Info San Diego: --7/18-7/19: San Diego Pride More Info --7/1: Get engaged tour event, 6-8 PM. More Info San Francisco: --7/3: Panel: Prop 8 is Going Down! Winning Gay Marriage in California, 7-9 PM at the Women's Building on 18th St. More Info --7/15: Torie Osborn: The Fierce Urgency of Now: Toward a New American Movement in the Obama Era (Special Presentation), at The Commenwealth Club, 5:30-7:30. More Info Sunnyvale: 8/22: Canvassing in Mountain View/Sunnyvale with the Santa Clara Equality Team (Equality Team Event), 11 AM-4 PM. More Info Tustin: 7/12: Canvassing for Marriage Equality with Team Courage OC- Tustin, 12 PM. More Info Walnut Creek: 7/12: Get engaged tour event, 2-4 PM. More Info --articles--> Voter 'animus' to be issue in Calif marriage case, from SFGate Source Federal Judge Stresses Trial Record on Calif. Gay-Marriage Ban, by Mike McKee Source ---------------------------------------------- USA, COLORADO: --news--> Focus on the Family declared today's implementation of designated beneficiary agreements in Colorado, which grant unmarried couples -- including those whose partners are the same sex -- with many of the rights associated with marriage, "a backdoor incremental step towards legalizing same-sex marriage in this state." Source --------------------------------------------- USA, INDIANA: --news--> 7/2: Couples in wedding dresses and suits filed through the Monroe County Courthouse Thursday to protest the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex partners. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, IOWA: --news--> 7/3: Two months after the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the number of applications is climbing in parts of eastern Iowa. Source --articles--> Even in Iowa, married gays are still unequal in work benefits, by Elizabeth Ahlin Source --------------------------------------------- USA, LOUISIANA: --news--> 7/1: A Louisiana couple has filed a lawsuit after being turned away by officials at the Orleans Parish marriage license office on April 2 because they were both men. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, MAINE: --news--> 7/2: Stand for Marriage Maine, a broad-based coalition formed to pass a Peoples' Veto to overturn the recent gay marriage law, announced the launch of their Web site today. Source --------------------------------------------- USA, NEW YORK: --upcoming events--> Brooklyn: 9/9: Family Law Day, In Conjunction with Lavender Law 2009, Brooklyn, NY, Co-sponsored by the National Lesbian & Gay Law Association and the National Family Law Advisory Council of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. More Info ----------------------------------------------- USA, OHIO: --news--> 7/2: In a quiet act of defiance, gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink gathered outside the church's official convention in Columbus on Thursday and criticized its leaders for trying to push them out. Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, OKLAHOMA: --news--> 7/1: A resolution introduced in the Oklahoma legislature by GOP State Rep. Sally Kern blames the nation's economic woes on gay pride celebrations, lack of public prayer, abortion and "debauchery." Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, RHODE ISLAND: --news--> 7/1: Rhode Island seems almost certain to remain the only New England state that does not recognize gay marriage after measures legalizing same-sex unions stalled just before the part-time General Assembly ended the bulk of its annual work. Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, TEXAS: --articles--> Wounded ex-Marine now fighting a two-front war, by Sig Christenson Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, WASHINGTON DC: --news--> 7/1: A D.C. Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to delay the implementation of a law recognizing same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions outside the District and rejected efforts to bring the issue before voters. Source ----------------------------------------------- USA, WISCONSIN: --news--> 7/2: There could be a legal challenge to the state's domestic partner registry. 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