- The big news this week was unfortunately negative. A federal court in Massachusetts upheld the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on openly gay personnel. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of 12 service members, says it will likely appeal the ruling.
- About 50 senior religious leaders, including over a dozen Roman Catholic archbiships and cardinals, have signed a petition supporting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Organizers said aides to senators Bill Frist (R) of Tennessee, Rick Santorum (R) of Pennsylvania, and Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas were also involved.
- Proving that the same-sex marriage debate isn’t a matter of the religious vs. the godless, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, spoke at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and asserted “Gay Americans pose no threat to their friends, neighbors, or coworkers, and when two people make a lifelong commitment to each other, we believe it is wrong to deny them the legal guarantees that protect them and their children and benefit the broader society.” A brave effort to reach across factional lines.
- In a similar vein, in New York, nearly 200 religious organizations were among the many groups and individuals filing friend-of-the-court briefs in support of same-sex marriage in that state.
- And in a case bearing directly on lesbian moms, Lambda Legal filed a petition asking the California Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court decision upholding the right of doctors to deny infertility treatment to a lesbian patient on religious grounds.
- I’ll end on a positive note. A survey on behalf of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute found that 72% of Americans believe a politician’s sexual orientation is not as important as “getting things done for everyone in the community.”
