CA: Anti-Prop 8 Lawyer Wants Obama to "Catch Up to My Conservative Republican Co-Counsel"

It has been quite a journey for Ted Olson. He’s gone from being the conservative lawyer who helped crown W. by winning the Bush v. Gore case before the Supreme Court, to being a lesbian. “Maureen,” he told me in his gravelly voice, “one of the biggest lesbian groups in this country told me I’m already an honorary lesbian.” Did it make you feel different, I wondered. “I still like women very much,” he wryly replied, as his biking pal, liberal adversary and now co-counsel David Boies laughed, snacking on a crust of sourdough bread in their temporary office on Mission Street. In 2000, Olson and Boies sparred with each other in Washington over which candidate would marry the country. Now they have joined forces here to spar with Prop 8 defenders over who can marry. Full Story from the NY Times

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

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.

Congress Sends Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill to President Obama

Congress gave final approval and sent to President Barack Obama legislation to add gays to the list of groups covered by U.S. hate-crime laws. The Senate voted 68 to 29 yesterday in favor of the plan as part of a defense policy measure. The House approved the bill earlier this month. Democrats, who had been pushing the expansion for a decade, hailed the legislation. “Hate crimes affect not just the victim -- they victimize the entire community,” said Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat. “We cannot allow our communities to be terrorized by hatred and violence.” Full Story from Bloomberg.com: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=afzjvkQsZU0o

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.

Are Blacks Being left Out of the National Conversation on Gay Issues?

When Obama delivered his "gay agenda" speech to the well-fed, well-scrubbed mostly white crowd of gays and lesbians at the Human Rights Campaign's Annual Dinner on Saturday night, anyone outside of the LGBT community would have assumed by the applause that the entire "gay community" is in agreement that access to serve in the military, gay marriage, and hate crimes legislation are our primary issues. But in reality, HRC's political agenda is not what I want. It does not speak for me, nor for the lives of many other black, poor and working class LGBT people. Given the fact that we're in a long recession where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in almost every month of 2009, and national unemployment numbers are at nearly 10 percent, why are we not talking about the issues that most people are concerned about - health care and the economy - and their impact on the LGBT community? The truth is, for many people at that dinner who could afford the cheapest ticket at $250 a plate, jobs and wages are of little concern. It's not as though there is a lack of evidence that supports the idea that LGBT folks are impacted by poverty. A report on lesbian and gay poverty in the US by the Williams Institute this spring showed that lesbian and gay couples were as likely to be poor as straight couples, mostly due to the impact of race and gender. Full Story from The Grio: http://www.thegrio.com/2009/10/when-obama-delivered-his-gay.php

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.