UT: Catholic Bishop Visits Mormon BYU, Calls for Stronger Alliance Against Marriage Equality

The fight to defend moral principles is linking Mormons and Catholics like never before. "In recent years, Catholics and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have stood more frequently side by side in the public square to defend human life and dignity," Cardinal Francis George told nearly 12,000 students, faculty and community members gathered Tuesday at BYU.

"I'm personally grateful that after 180 years of living mostly apart from one another, Catholics and Latter-day Saints have begun to see each other as trustworthy partners in defense of shared moral principles."

Believed to be the highest-ranking Catholic official to ever visit BYU, Cardinal George spoke about the need for both religions to stand together to protect religious freedom - not simply as a set of private beliefs, but the ability of individuals and groups to practice their religion in the public square.

Full Story from Deseret News
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Catholic Church Threatens Pro-Gay Marriage Catholic Politicians

Public officials who openly support same-sex marriage cannot consider themselves to be Catholic, said an Italian cardinal. “It’s impossible to consider oneself a Catholic if that person in one way or another recognizes same-sex marriage as a right,” said Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reprinted a portion of a doctrinal note the cardinal released Feb. 14 concerning “Marriage and Homosexual Unions.” The note, which appeared in full on the archdiocese’s Web site, was aimed at helping enlighten Catholics in public office so that “they would not make choices that would publicly contradict their affiliation with the church,” he wrote.

Catholic politicians must not only promote the common good; they also “have a serious duty to make sure their beliefs, thoughts and proposals concerning the common good are consistent,” he wrote. “It’s impossible for the Catholic faith and support for putting homosexual unions on equal footing with marriage to coexist in one’s conscience - the two contradict each other,” said the note.

Full Story from the Catholic Review
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Mexico: Church and State at Odds Over Gay Marriage Vote

As Valentine's Day approaches, stationary stores in the old quarter of this megalopolis are awash with Cupids and hearts and the effusive iconography of romance. Ten-tiered wedding cakes spire to the chandeliers in the windows of the Ideal, the palace of such confectionary extravaganzas. Down the block, beribboned classic cars are lined up outside La Profesa, a colonial church much favored for high society weddings. Marriage is merchandise for the Roman Catholic Church - priests charge sumptuous (30,000 pesos) fees for tying the knots.

Meanwhile, Church and State, ancient rivals for the affections of the Mexican people, are nose-to-nose over who exactly can marry whom.

The Princes of the Catholic Church are aghast at the recent vote of the Mexico City Legislative Assembly to legalize same sex marriage that in their jaundiced vista has transformed this megalopolis into one monstrous Sodom & Gomorrah. This past December 21st, local legislators, led by the left-center Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) which holds a lopsided majority in the Assembly voted 39 to 20 to amend the city's civil code by modifying the definition of marriage, striking down language that restricted such coupling to a man and a woman, and upgrading civil unions ("societies of conviviality") between lovers of the same sex to matrimony.

Full Story from Counter Punch
Click here for gay marriage resources in Mexico.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Anne Hathaway & Family Left Catholic Church Over Anti-Gay Bias

Oscar nominee and bird flipper to the paparazzi, Anne Hathaway - and her family - bid a fond adieu to the Catholic church over its prehistoric views on lesbians and gays, she tells GQ - in so many words.

The Rachel Getting Married star broke from with religion of her upbringing when her big brother came out of the closet. "The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out," she said. "Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?"

Although, Hathaway who was one of a few celebrities to sport a "White Knot" for marriage equality at last year's Tony Awards and who famously costarred in Hollywood's biggest gay flick to date, Brokeback Mountain, said that the Episcopal church isn't perfect for her either. "So I'm... nothing (no denomination)," she said, "Fuck it, I'm forming. I'm a work in progress."

Full Story from SheWired
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Guam: Civil Union Bill Debate Delayed As Catholic Church Prepares Attack

The Catholic Church in Guam has submitted a petition opposing plans to legalise same-sex civil unions in the US territory. The controversial Bill 185 on civil unions was due to be discussed this week, but has been delayed again until next month, giving the church more time to garner support for their argument that legalising gay unions will promote homosexuality.

Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speakers: Benjamin Cruz, Guam Senator; Deacon Jeff Barcinas, Spokesman for Guam's Catholic Archbishop

PODGER: Bill 185 aims to give people in committed same-sex relationships the right to enter into civil unions, thereby enjoying the same responsibilities, rights benefits and protections as marriage. Guam Senator Benjamin Cruz, who tabled the proposed legislation late last year, says it's unfair to deny homosexual citizens in long-term relationships the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts.

CRUZ: It is a civil rights issue. You're denying individuals the right to unions that they should be able to get into. But more importantly you're denying them the equal protection of the law. A professor at the university who, like 100 other professors at the university, paid his bi-weekly dues for retirement; when he retires his significant other will not be able to receive the retirement survivor benefits after he dies. But one of his other fellow professors could marry some 18-year-old girl that he meets online from some foreign country and, after one year, die and she would for the rest of her life be able to receive the benefits.

Full Story from Radio Australia
Click here for gay marriage resources.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Mexico: Conservative Uproar Over Gay Marriage in Capital City

Inside Mexico City’s spectacular metropolitan cathedral, Cardinal Norberto Rivera conducted his last Sunday Mass of the year to packed benches. But rather than focusing on the goodwill of the holiday season, Rivera’s sermon centered on what he said was a new affront to the nation’s Roman Catholic values: gay marriage. Calling the unions “perverse” and an “aberration,” the prelate called on his flock to fight against a new law allowing gay marriage in Mexico City — the first of its kind in Latin America. “This perverse example cannot spread. It is necessary to constitutionally defend the family,” Rivera said in his characteristic deep booming voice. The law “is unjust, inadmissible and condemnable.” Full Story from the Global Post: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/091230/gay-marriage-catholic-church

Click here for gay marriage resources in Mexico.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Mexico: Catholic Cardinal Calls Pro Gay Legislators "Dangerous"

The Catholic Church has lashed out at Mexico City lawmakers who approved a gay marriage bill widely expected to become law. City legislators led by the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (Partido de la Revolution Democratica, PRD) overwhelmingly approved the bill on a 39 to 20 vote that included five abstentions. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill only effects Mexico's capital, one of the world's largest cities with nearly 9 million residents. After the December 21 vote, members of the conservative National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional, PAN) decried the action, saying giving gay couples the right to adopt was going too far and vowed to appeal to the country's Supreme Court. Through a spokesman, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico, called the PRD politicians who approved the bill “dangerous.” Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5048&MediaType=1&Category=24

Click here for gay marriage resources in Mexico.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

DC: Catholic Church Seeks Last-Minute Changes to Gay Marriage Bill

The D.C. Council is expected to pass a law Tuesday allowing same-sex marriages in the District of Columbia. The Catholic Church, which opposes the legislation, was still seeking change in the bill late Monday, and if the church doesn't get them, that could negatively affect the city's homeless. Local Catholic Church officials met with D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson Monday. The Washington archdiocese wants the Catholic Church exempted from having to pay spousal benefits to any gay employees -- as the church doesn't recognize gay marriage -- and hopes to avoid being forced to handle gay adoptions. The church warned that its social service arm -- Catholic Charities -- may have to withdraw from millions of dollars in public services to the poor and homeless that it provides if the legislation goes forward. Full Story from NBC Washington: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/Church-Still-Seeks-Changes-Before-Same-Sex-Marriage-Vote-78182362.html

Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington, DC.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Portugal: Likely to Pass Gay Marriage Early in 2010 - Video

The gay community in Portugal is confident that, after much pressure, same-sex marriages will be allowed within a matter of months. While neighbouring Spain permitted gay marriage almost five years ago, so far much of Portuguese society has staunchly opposed the concept. However, it is thought the Socialist government may pass gay marriage or civil partnership into law as soon as early in the New Year. Full Story from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385935.stm

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Should the Catholic Church Lose its Tax Exemption?

Just more ammunition for the movement to tax churches that engage in political activities: Bishop Richard J. Malone of Maine contributed $553,608.27 to overturn a gay marriage law in his state, money he got from some 50 dioceses and archdioceses, not to mention individual bishops, throughout the country. That law went down on November 3, 53 to 47%. According to a report in the National Catholic Reporter, Malone’s diocese donated $286,000 to Stand For Marriage Maine, the right-wing group that led the campaign to repeal gay marriage. He also raised an additional $86,000 from special collections at Masses during a weekend in September. Just how legal is passing the donation plate for a political cause at a religious service? The rest of the half million dollars came from outside the state, every penny of which Malone personally solicited. The highest diocesan and archdiocesan donors include the following: Philadelphia and Phoenix to the tune of $50,000 each; Newark, New Jersey, St. Louis, Missouri and Youngstown, Ohio, $10,000 apiece; and Arlington, Virginia, Rockford, Illinois, Crookston, Minnesota and Pittsburgh, Pennslvania $5,000 each. Full Story from Beyond Chron: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7596

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Chile: Presidential Candidates Include Gays in Ads; Catholic Church Miffed

With three presidential candidates now including images of gay couples in their nightly campaign promotional TV spots, Chile’s Catholic Church is very unhappy.  Espiscopal Conference Monsignor Alejandro Goic on Monday criticized the presence of two gay women, kissing, in Sen. Eduardo Frei's TV campaign spots. He said Frei’s ad was last minute attempt "to capture voters" and warned that all the presidential candidates should be "aware there are certain principles that all human beings have." "I think that in the interest of capturing votes, the candidates bring up a lot of lifestyles that exist and that they want to have a positive message for everyone," Goic said. "But from my perspective, there is also a limit." Frei’s campaign staff quickly responded: “We need to be inclusive, tolerant, and show respect. There are also many homosexuals in the Church and there are people who have also committed crimes of a sensitive nature, such as pedophilia. They exist everywhere and that is why we are not going to be quiet on this issue.” Full Story from the Santiago Times: http://www.santiagotimes.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17700:chiles-catholic-church-upset-with-gay-ads-run-by-presidential-candidates-&catid=49:elections&Itemid=27

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

New Website Looking to Out Gay Catholic Priests

The Catholics better gird their loins for this one. The Village Voice is reporting that a new website called Church Outing.org will start outing closeted priests "to expose the hypocrisy of Archdiocese of Washington priests who go along with the church's routine emotional assault on gays while living lives of quiet desperation that involve them having gay sex themselves." According to their website, the group's mission is not to drag priests out of the closet per se, but to get them to work with the site in battling the church's hierarchical anti--gay stance and to fight for gay marriage equality. Full Story from the Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-4107-International-LGBT-Issues-Examiner~y2009m11d19-New-website-will-out-gay-priests

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Group Calls for Investigation of Catholic Brooklyn Diocese for Campaign Violations

An Atheist state-church separation group today called for an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service into the activities of a Roman Catholic Bishop in Brooklyn, NY for possible violation of campaign and IRS regulations. On Monday, The New York Times revealed that Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio praised Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito J. Lopez in a barrage of "robocalls" to voters. Lopez was key in defeating a bill that would have permitted victims of childhood sex abuse to file suit years after alleged molestation. The Roman Catholic Church has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to settle or avoid lawsuits and protect clerical molesters. Mr. Lopez was supporting Working Families Party candidate Maritza Davila who came in second in a three way race. In The New York Times piece, a prominent legal scholar warned that Bishop DiMarzio could have violated laws pertaining to electioneering by nonprofit religious groups. Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, said that the bishop's robocalls "are another example of where Roman Catholic leaders are engaging in partisan campaigning in order to further their own social agenda and insulate themselves from the legal system. Full Story from Opposing Views: http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-did-brooklyn-bishop-violate-campaign-irs-regulations-r-1257451320

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in New York.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Pro Gay Marriage Catholic Group Protests in Portland, Maine

A group called Catholics for Marriage Equality held a vigil outside of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday to protest Bishop Richard Malone's stance on Question One. The Roman Catholic Diocese has led the effort to overturn Maine's newly enacted law legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. Among the speakers at the vigil was Pamella Starbird Beliveau, who was recently removed from her position as a lector at a Lewiston Catholic church after she wrote a newspaper column in support of gay marriage. Full Story from My Fox: http://www.myfoxmaine.com/dpp/news/20091102_pro-gay_marriage_catholics_hold_protest

Planning to marry your partner in Maine? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Roman Catholic Church Gives $152K More to Maine's Anti Gay Marriage Group

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has contributed another $152,600 to the group that's campaigning to overturn Maine's same-sex marriage law. A campaign finance report released by the diocese Friday said the money was contributed between Oct. 1 and Oct. 20 and came from its general treasury. The treasury is made up of unrestricted bequests, interests and dividends, said Sue Bernard, a spokeswoman for the diocese. The money doesn't come from parish collection plates or the bishop's appeal, she said. Full Story from the Morning Sentinel: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/7014886.html

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or 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.

Effort to Add Consitutional Ban on Gay Marriage, Adoption Fails in El Salvador

Constitutional reforms that would ban same-sex couples from marrying and adopting children in El Salvador failed to obtain the required number of votes in Congress. The proposed amendments were backed by right-wing parties in Congress, but opposed by the governing leftwing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). During the weeks running up to the vote on Thursday, Catholic and evangelical churches in El Salvador joined forces with rightwing parties to try to push through the constitutional reforms. Full Story from IPS: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48604

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com with "subscribe blog" as the subject. Or 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.