CA: Proposed Law Would Take Away One of Prop 8's Main Arguments

San Francisco state Sen. Mark Leno supports gay marriage - but he doesn’t think clergy should have to perform the ceremonies. Leno, who is gay, is introducing legislation that says no religious leader would be forced to perform a marriage that goes against their own beliefs or that of their faith. The bill would also re-emphasize the tax-exempt status of churches, and states that they would not lose this status by refusing to perform same-sex marriages.

Leno, a Democrat, contends the bill would not actually change the law because the First Amendment already offers these protections.

Instead, Leno said, it is a clarification aimed right at the ongoing debate over Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that ended California’s brief experiment with same sex marriage. The measure won by six points after a campaign in which proponents sought to mislead voters, Leno contends.

Full Story from Capitol Weekly
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Uganda: Role of US Evangelicals in Gay Marriage Death Penalty Law

Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda’s capital to give a series of talks. The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was “the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda” — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family. For three days, according to participants and audio recordings, thousands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians, listened raptly to the Americans, who were presented as experts on homosexuality. The visitors discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” whose goal is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.” Now the three Americans are finding themselves on the defensive, saying they had no intention of helping stoke the kind of anger that could lead to what came next: a bill to impose a death sentence for homosexual behavior. Full Story from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html?hp

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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 "Gay Marriage" Bill Changed to "Civil Partnership"

Guam's Alternative Lifestyle Association has introduced an amended version of Bill 185 that they believe not only address the rights of same-sex couples but also takes various concerns into consideration. Guam Youth Congress Speaker Derick Hills worked with others to develop the changes that are based on Nevada's Domestic Partnership Act. Such modifications would changing the term "domestic partnership" to "civil partnership", defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and stressing that no religious entity is required to solemnize a civil partnership are among the proposed amendments. "The amendments were mirrored after Nevada's domestic partnership bill," said Hills. Full Story from KUAM: http://www.kuam.com/Global/story.asp?S=11455131

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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.