- PlanetOut speculates that the LGBT community and their supporters were a determining factor in the recent Democratic recapture of the Senate, as they rallied to defeat Virginia’s proposed constitutional same-sex marriage ban. Opponents of the ban also tended to support Democrat James Webb, who won his seat by a slim margin.
- LGBT-rights advocates in California filed an appeal asking the state Supreme Court to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, claiming it violates the state constitution.
- Citing both the need for a “curriculum of peace” and the military’s anti-LGBT bias, the San Francisco school board voted to eliminate the Junior ROTC (JROTC) program from the city’s high schools. The debate did not split cleanly along pro-LGBT/anti-LGBT lines. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who (illegally) allowed same-sex weddings at City Hall in 2004, said “The move sends the wrong message. It’s important for the city not to be identified with disrespecting the sacrifice of men and women in uniform.”
- Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who did not stand for reelection, will rally with conservative groups at the State House to try and pressure legislators into putting a question about same-sex marriage on the 2008 ballot. Last week, delegates at the state Constitutional Convention voted to recess until the last day of the legislative session, making a vote on the ballot measure doubtful.
- A judge in Oklahoma granted a divorce to a couple who had married in Canada, not realizing they were lesbians until after the fact. He may now reverse his ruling. The New York Times (registration required) presciently reported earlier in the week on the morass of legal issues surrounding same-sex divorce.
The Times also noted that despite seven states voting to include same-sex marriage bans in their state consitutions, the election did not change the total number of states (44) that ban same-sex marriage by statute and/or constitution. (What several of the new laws did accomplish, however, was the banning of domestic partnerships/civil unions even for opposite-sex couples.)
And some cheery news from around the world:
- In Canada, a measure to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage looks set to fail.
- Mexico City has legalized same-sex civil unions.
- South Africa’s legislature has passed the “Civil Union Act,” which (happily if somewhat confusingly) allows both opposite- and same-sex couples to register either a marriage or a civil partnership. The measure must now go through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and then be signed by President Thabo Mbeki.