California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he will veto the same-sex marriage legislation recently approved by the California legislature. Based on a California referendum in 2000, which passed a proposition defining marriage as between a man and a woman, Schwarzenegger says the issue should be decided by the courts or the voters, not by legislation. […]
Following the California Senate, which voted last week, the California Assembly approved a measure to allow same-sex couples to marry in California. This is the first time a legislature has voted to endorse same-sex marriage. (It was a judicial decision in Massachusetts.) The measure passed after a heated debate, and now goes to Governor Arnold
The California Senate today approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California. Don’t head to the Golden Gates quite yet, however; the legislation still needs to be approved by the state Assembly, a move that is by no means certain. Still, this is the first time any state legislative house has approved such a
While I don’t often just post news links, there’s enough exciting news this week about same-sex marriage that I thought it was worth an update: In Massachusetts, the Attorney General is deciding whether to certify a proposed ballot initiative for 2008 that would ban gay marriage in the future, but leave existing gay marriages intact.
The California Supreme Court issued three rulings yesterday stating that lesbian partners who have children while they are a couple are both entitled, and required, to be treated as the children’s parents, regardless of whether they are formally registered as domestic partners. This puts lesbian parents on an equal footing with unmarried heterosexual parents, and
The National Sex Offender Public Registry went online today. The site contains names, pictures, and addresses of offenders in 22 states, and will include the remaining public registries within six months. One of those “I wish we didn’t have to have this” items, but useful under the circumstances.
Canada joined the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain today in recognizing gay marriage nationwide. Expect some interesting legal cases as Canadians marry same-sex U. S. citizens, U. S. gay couples want to marry in Canada, and Canadian gay couples want to immigrate to the U. S. Someone should calculate what all of this will cost the
The Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia has stated that a Spanish man cannot marry his Indian partner because the Spanish civil code says foreign residents seeking to wed Spanish citizens are bound by the laws of their country of citizenship. The Court did not formally rule on this, however, but merely stated it in
The United Church of Christ voted today to endorse same-sex marriage.Here’s the official announcement. Worth reading the italicized section at the bottom that summarizes the key points of the resolution, including that the UCC should urge legislators to support equal marriage rights. Individual UCC churches may decide whether to observe the endorsement.
For those of us in the United States, this weekend marks the celebration of our nation’s independence from Britain. It’s often seen as an observance of the things that make our nation great: freedom, democracy, and really good barbecue sauce. Let’s not forget, however, that democracy only works the way it should when citizens get
