Bruce Kluger of USA Today asks “In Election ’08, is there a place for gay rights?” He calls gay marriage “a non-issue” in the 2008 elections (which I think is overstating things a little), but makes a hopeful call for gay issues to be part of a national conversation. He is heartened by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” storyline on The L Word, noting that the show is “exercising its conscience” even as other shows “conscientiously work to bring the gay experience into the mainstream in a non-political way, [but] also run the risk of neglecting the real-life struggles gays continue to face.”- Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out takes an optimistic look towards the future and asks “Where is the Gay Jesse Jackson?” Who will be the first gay person to run as a serious presidential candidate, lose badly, and yet lay the groundwork for the future?
- The California Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments on March 4 in the cases challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. The Court typically issues decisions within 90 days of oral arguments.
- Advocates for same-sex marriage in Maryland plan to introduce legislation in the General Assembly to abolish civil marriage ceremonies for all couples, same- and opposite-sex, and replace them with domestic partnerships. Senator Jamie B. Raskin, the bill’s Senate sponsor, explains “If people want to maintain a religious test for marriage, let’s turn it into a religious institution.”
- At the same time, an opponent of same-sex marriage, Maryland Delegate Donald H. Dwyer Jr., is circulating a petition to take a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, as well as a bill legalizing it, directly to the House floor, without a committee vote. He says people deserve to know where their legislators stand.
- New Mexico’s domestic partnership bill may not have enough votes to make it out of committee and onto the Senate floor. HRC reports the committee will hear final testamony today.
- Utah’s Salt Lake City Council unanimously approved a domestic-partnership registry. State Senator Chris Buttars has introduced a bill in the Senate that would prohibit Utah cities and counties from passing such measures.
Around the world:
- The Australian Capitol Territory (ACT) Government will introduce legislation to allow both same-sex partners to take parental leave. Currently, only one partner can take parental leave to care for the couple’s children, unlike opposite-sex spouses.
- Meanwhile, Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland says it is unacceptable for the ACT’s civil partnerships bill to allow same-sex couples to hold public partnership ceremonies, although “a civil unions register along the lines of Tasmania is appropriate.” ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell supports allowing ceremonies for same-sex couples. (Thanks, To Form a More Perfect Union.)
- The Pictou County Council in Nova Scotia voted to allow only the national, provincial, county, and First Nations flags to be raised by the municipal council. LGBT activists say the move discriminates against LGBT people because it means the rainbow flag will not be raised during Pride Week, as in the past. Supporters of the ban say it would protect LGBT groups by also prohibiting the Council from flying flags of hate groups, if such groups request it.
- Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, a member of the country’s Council of State, made a public statement that he supports same-sex marriage. A proposal to permit same-sex marriages is in the legislature, though it’s status is unclear.
- Amnesty International has warned that two men in Iran may soon be executed by being thrown off a cliff, after being convicted of abducting two young men, stealing their property, and raping them. According to Amnesty International, the men would still face the death sentence even for consensual sexual relations with other men.
- Romanian Senators amended the national Family Code to specify that a family is based upon the marriage of a man and a woman, as per Biblical requirements. After Senate approval, the measure will go to the Chamber of Deputies.
- Spain’s Catholic bishops are calling for their congregations to defeat Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s effort because of his decisions to legalize same-sex marriage and speed divorce procedures. The Spanish government is protesting the bishops’ statements.
- In the U.K. the Christian People’s Alliance has organized a petition to the Sheffield City Council in protest against government plans to allow a child to be placed with a same-sex couple regardless of the wishes of birth parents. The group has collected over 2000 signatures.
- A former U.K. magistrate who claimed unfair dismissal after asserting his beliefs should permit him to be excused from approving adoptions by same-sex couples, has had a second appeal rejected. He now says he will not pursue the claim further.
