Vatican Defends Its Sexual Abuse Scandals

The Vatican defends its sexual abuse scandals by saying other churches are far worse, then claims their priests aren't pedophiles but homosexuals attracted to young men:

"In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would 'be more correct' to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males."

Maine Bishop Fights Marriage Equality

The Bishop of Portland recorded a special message that was played in at least one church on Sunday to help raise funds for the campaign against marriage equality.

The Roman Catholic Church in Maine continued to collect donations for the campaign against marriage equality over the weekend, aided by a recorded message from the Bishop of Portland that played during a Sunday service at at least one church.

Bishop Richard J. Malone prepared a recorded message heard by parishioners at St. Matthew’s Church in Hampden. He asked parishioners to do “four things,” according to the Bangor Daily News, including to pray for “marriage as we know it,” financially support the anti-equality campaign, volunteer for it, and vote yes on Question 1, the November ballot initiative to repeal the new marriage equality law.

“Same-sex marriage is a dangerous sociological experiment that many of us believe will have negative consequences for society as a whole,” said Malone in the message, according to the Bangor Daily News. “Children need the love of a mother and a father.”

The church has asked parishioners statewide to donate to second collections for the campaign throughout the month of September. It has not been made public how much has been raised through the Catholic fund-raising drive.

Will Obama Speak Out on Maine's Anti-Gay Marriage Measure?

David Mixner says he must:

"If the president doesn't want his own words to be used in a hate-filled campaign then he better speak up now. We all remember what happened in California. Even though Obama opposed Proposition 8, his profile on the initiative was very low. As a result, the YES on 8 folks did mass mailings using Obama's own words against marriage equality to imply that he supported the divisive measure. Many liberals and African-Americans were confused and voted 'YES ON 8' as a result of those mailings and ads. Let's not let that happen again. To avoid a reoccurrence of that disaster, the president should immediately, strongly and unequivocally oppose the proposition in Maine. He should denounce the efforts of the right-wing to put human rights on the ballot to be voted upon as if it was just another measure for the voters. The president must not mince words or be tepid in his support or once again go into his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. We got that, Mr. President. Time to come down without clever political language for full equality for the LGBT community."

GAY KISS-IN BRINGS SHOPPING CENTER TO BRIEF STANDSTILL IN PARIS

Activists staged a kiss-in to combat homophobia on Saturday in Forum des Halles, an underground shopping center in Paris. The action lasted approximately 5 minutes.

Billboard featuring gay marine vandalized

One of five billboards featuring messages in observance of National Coming Out Day which were posted in the Memphis area was torn to shreds by vandals on Friday night. The billboard, posted at Poplar and Highland streets, featured a gay soldier who was discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and read "I'm gay and I protected your freedom."

The billboards were created by the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center.

WMC-TV Memphis reports: "The campaign's purpose is to promote understanding of issues affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community in the Mid-South. Police have not said whether there are suspects in custody. Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center President Heidi Williams says she's appalled by such an act of hatred. 'I know that they intended to silence us with hate. However, we are choosing to unite and come over that with a stronger voice, and a message that we are here - and we deserve equality as well as everyone else,' she said."

Meg Whitman Voting Record: Ex-eBay CEO's Voting Record Questioned At GOP Meeting

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman sought to redirect attention from her spotty voting record Saturday as she promoted a platform of fiscal discipline to the party faithful.

Last week, The Sacramento Bee reported that according to voter registration records, the 53-year-old billionaire and former eBay CEO was not a registered voter until 2002. The newspaper reported that no voter registration records for Whitman could be found in any of of the places that they reviewed ("six states and a dozen counties, including towns and counties in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Rhode Island and California...").

Speaking to the state Republican Party convention near Palm Springs, Whitman outlined a program of severe austerity for state government if she is elected next year.

She promised to slash an additional $15 billion in spending and reduce the state government work force by 40,000, reiterating points she made earlier in the week when she formally announced her candidacy. She provided no details about how she would achieve those goals.

Whitman told GOP delegates that California simply can no longer afford the level of government service it has been providing.

"If elected, I will identify and implement at least $15 billion in permanent spending cuts from the state budget. I'll eliminate redundant and underperforming government agencies and commissions," she said.

Whitman's speech did not touch on questions that have surrounded the campaign for days, after The Sacramento Bee published the results of an investigation into her voting record.

Shortly after Whitman gave the state party $250,000 of her own money for voter-registration efforts, the Bee reported there was no evidence that she had ever registered to vote before 2002 and she had not registered as a Republican until 2007.

I Was Wrong About Gay Marriage

Bill Clinton on Friday told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he had changed his position on same-sex marriage, a move that some LGBT advocates say will push the discussion forward nationally.

Anderson asks Clinton about his recent statements about same-sex marriage, and why he changed his mind.

In Toronto in May, while on a speaking tour with George W. Bush, Clinton described his position on same-sex marriage as "evolving". More recently, speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, D.C., Clinton said, "I'm basically in support" of it.

In his most extensive remarks to date, Clinton now says he was "wrong" about same-sex marriage and was "hung up about the word."

Transcript of Anderson Cooper's interview with Clinton:

AC: You said you recently changed your mind on same-sex marriage. I’m wondering what you mean by that. Do you now believe that gay people should have full rights to civil marriage nationwide?

CLINTON: I do. I think that, well let me get back to the last point, the last word. I believe historically, for two hundred and something years, marriage has been a question left to the states and the religious institutions. I still think that’s where it belongs.

CLINTON: That is, I was against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage nationwide, and I still think that the American people should be able to play this side in debates.

CLINTON: But me, Bill Clinton personally, I changed my position. I am no longer opposed to that. I think if people want to make commitments that last a lifetime, they ought to be able to do it. I have long favored the right of gay couples to adopt children.

AC: What made you change your mind? Was there one thing?

CLINTON: I think, what made me change my mind, I looked up and said look at all of this stuff you’re for. I’ve always believed that—I’ve never supported all the moves of a few years ago to ban gay couples from adoption. Because they’re all these kids out there looking for a home. And the standard on all adoption cases is, what is the best interest of the child?

CLINTON: And there are plenty of cases where the best interest of the child is to let the gay couple take them and give them a loving home. So I said, you know, I realized that I was over 60 years old, I grew up at a different time, and I was hung up about the word.

CLINTON: I had all these gay friends, I had all these gay couple friends, and I was hung up about it. And I decided I was wrong.

CLINTON: That our society has an interest in coherence and strength and commitment and mutually reinforcing loyalties, then if gay couples want to call their union marriage and a state agrees, and several have now, or a religious body will sanction it, and I don’t think a state should be able to stop a religious body from saying it, I don’t think the rest of us should get in the way of it.

CLINTON: I think it’s a good thing not a bad thing. And I just realized that, I was, probably for, maybe just because of my age and the way I’ve grown up, I was wrong about that. I just had too many gay friends. I saw their relationships. I just decided I couldn’t, I had an untenable position.

Obama Includes Same-Sex Parents in Family Day Proclamation

President Obama today issued a proclamation recognizing September 28 as Family Day, in recognition of the nation's families, including those with same-sex parents.

The first paragraph:
"Our family provides one of the strongest influences on our lives. American families from every walk of life have taught us time and again that children raised in loving, caring homes have the ability to reject negative behaviors and reach their highest potential. Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things. Today, our children are confronting issues of drug and alcohol use with astonishing regularity. On Family Day, we honor the dedication of parents, commend the achievements of their children, and celebrate the contributions our Nation's families have made to combat substance abuse among young people."

No on 1 Fights Back in Maine

Protect Maine Equality responds to a misleading ad released by marriage equality opponents earlier this week.

Protect Maine Equality released a No on 1 ad Friday in response to misleading claims made earlier this week by antigay group Stand for Marriage Maine's Yes on 1 campaign. No on 1 is the campaign to defeat Question 1, a November ballot measure that would repeal the state’s new marriage equality law.

The ad by Yes on 1 employed the same strategy used in California to pass Proposition 8 last year, arguing that marriage equality would lead to same-sex marriage promotion in school curriculum. Robb and Robin Wirthlin, a Massachusetts couple opposed to marriage equality, appear in both the Maine and California ads.

Now, No on 1 warns Maine residents to be aware of “outsiders” who make “false claims about what’s taught in Maine classrooms.”

The California Marriage Tug-of-War

While marriage activists debate 2010 vs 2012, without an amendment to California’s state constitution, marriage equality may be an issue that is not going away anytime soon.

In California the new mantra among marriage rights activists can be boiled down to a three-word question: “2010 or 2012?”

For supporters of same-sex couples’ right to marry, the debate over challenging 2008’s Proposition 8 state constitutional amendment banning legal marriage for gay and lesbian partners has become about whether you support putting an initiative seeking to repeal Prop. 8 on the ballot in November 2010 or two years later. At times the discussion has gotten spirited.

There is also a potential complication that hasn’t been widely discussed: Marriage equality supporters in California could face opposing referenda from anti–gay marriage activists indefinitely, creating an expensive and time consuming back-and-forth that would force marriage equality proponents into permanent campaign mode.
“Everyone is lost in the 2010 versus 2012 discussion,” says Chad Griffin, board president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group behind a federal lawsuit filed by prominent attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies on behalf of two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in California. “We need to dig a little deeper to see what we are arguing for. It’s an absurd position to be in.”
What’s absurd to Griffin is that while supporters of marriage equality debate 2010 versus 2012, their opponents could easily be having their own discussions about mounting a ballot initiative in 2012 or 2014 that would once again ban legal same-sex nuptials.

“Would it shock me if we prevailed in 2012 and a group tried to take it away in 2014?” asks Marc Solomon, marriage director for LGBT advocacy group Equality California. “It wouldn’t shock me at all. That’s the way the California system works.”

California is unusual even among the 17 or so states that allow for voter-driven constitutional amendments via the ballot box. The rules in California state that anyone who can get valid signatures from registered voters equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election (currently around 700,000 signatures) and follow a series of relatively easy rules can get a state constitutional amendment on the ballot -- one that needs only a simple majority to pass.

Some other states require a higher percentage of valid signatures from gubernatorial voters or require a percentage of signatures based on presidential election vote tallies, geographic distribution, or the overall number of registered voters. Although Massachusetts requires a lower percentage of signatures from gubernatorial voters than California, the Bay State constitution doesn't allow initiatives to overrule judicial decisions.

Will Maggie Gallagher Support California's Ban on Divorce?

As the Courage Campaign fights to put a Prop 8 repeal on the 2010 ballot in California, one man is working to get a different sort of marriage-related proposition in front of voters: one that would ban divorce.

Sacramento's John Marcotte, our new hero, would like everyone in the state to be forced to abide by the California Marriage Protection Act, which would truly protect the sanctity of marriage — that beautiful institution so many religious conservatives are fighting for — by forcing Californians to never be able to leave one. "It's actually what I think is a logical extension of Prop 8, which was the California Marriage Protection Act," says Marcotte. "(My initiative) would protect traditional marriages by banning divorce."

Yes, this is a stunt. Marcotte may have launched RescueMarriage.org, but the married father of two is a satirist with a history of such pranks.

But that's not really the issue, since he's indeed filed the paperwork with the California Attorney General, and supposedly has a volunteer network in the works to collect the necessary signatures.

So do we really want Californians to be banned from divorce? Of course not. Not only would it keep our straight friends and loved ones from escaping doomed marriages, but we want the same ability to exit a legal marriage once we secure our own marriage rights.

But we'd love to see the National Organization for Marriage find a reason not to get behind the California Marriage Protection Act. While banning gay marriage may protect families in their eyes, certainly a law prohibiting divorce would do even greater wonders?

Michael Jackson Medley

Why Did Equality California Just Shit on the 2010 Ballot Repeal?

We used to think Equality California's Geoff Kors and Marc Solomon — who, after listening to well-paid political strategists, decided to wait until 2012 for their own Prop 8 repeal effort — were just going to let the 2010 activists play out their repeal attempt while sitting idly by, hoping for their own shot two years later when 2010ers failed. See, when the Courage Campaign decided to listen to its members and move forward immediately for 2010, Kors was at least trying to mask his ire:

"Waiting indefinitely to return to the ballot is not an option, but we must be strategic in selecting the election that gives us the best opportunity to permanently secure the freedom to marry." His words were very different today — when Love Honor Cherish submitted its 2010 repeal ballot initiative to the attorney general.

EQCA isn't even pretending it's amused by the 2010ers. Now they're angry, and not trying to hide it. Says EQCA exec director Kors: "We helped Love Honor Cherish draft the language they have submitted, by spending hours with them on the phone for discussion and feedback. We didn't approve the final version, as we aren't involved in the effort to file this language, but we wanted the language to be as good as possible. Submitted language should always be shown to key stakeholders, and different options should be tested."

Hear that? He's pissed that after EQCA helped out LHC, they didn't even have the courtesy to run their final ballot language by him.

And if Kors statement wasn't enough, Massachusetts import and EQCA marriage director Solomon had to add: "At Equality California, we are working our hardest to move Californians to support the freedom to marry. We respect those pushing for a 2010 ballot measure and passionately share their end goal. However, for the first time in our history, our side gets to choose when we return to the ballot, rather than having the date set by our opponents. We believe we will be much more ready–and much more likely to prevail–at the ballot in 2012, and we are working tirelessly towards that outcome with our coalition partners."

Again, the message to LHC and the 2010 repeal supporters: You're fucking everything up.

(This, from an organization still accused of raising more than $1 million by telling some supporters they were pushing for a 2010 repeal.)

The office of Attorney General Jerry Brown (who's running for Cali gov, remember) must now approve LHC's ballot language, which could take up to eight weeks.

But there's still this possibility: More in-fighting, this time between LHC (led by John Henning, pictured right) and the Courage Campaign (led by Rick Jacobs, pictured left with Dan Choi) over control of the 2010 repeal effort. The Courage Campaign has spend six-figures on research and polling to get the ballot language phrased just right to deliver the most votes for a repeal. Surely, they're streaming LHC beat 'em to it, since the AG will only accept one ballot measure on the issue.

For what it's worth, Henning says there won't be any feuding with CC: "We think it's great that the Courage Campaign is doing all the research they're doing. We're really looking forward to their research helping to guide the community."

As for the Courage Campaign, strategist Steve Hildebrand submits: "We believe that to wage a winning campaign, there needs to be a strong governing structure, an experienced senior campaign team, the best research to steer the strategy and a sense that the campaign will be funded. We are working on all of those fronts, but because we will not have them in place by the time LHC submits ballot language, we will not be joining them this week."

Either way, somebody better start collecting those million-plus signatures.

150th Anniversary Edition of Darwin's Theory Now Includes … Creationism

Know what's ruining American schools faster forcibly teaching kids about the homosexual lifestyle? The fact that kids just can't break out their Bibles anymore during class! Clearly, one-time actor and burgeoning zealot Kirk Cameron didn't hear about what's going on in Texas, but we sympathize with Mike Seaver's plight for America's education system: Atheist instructors are "brainwashing" America into believing in Darwinism! You know, that theory created by that racist, misogynistic 1800s natural selector whom Hitler liked so much.

You can read all about that in the 50-page introduction to Charles Darwin's Origin of Species written by Cameron cohort Ray Comfort, distributed this November to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the book's publication. They're handing out 50,000 copies of the 304-page rewrite, free, to 50 college campuses around the country, and not just Christian universities.

UPDATE: Commenter AladinSane shares this excellent rebuttal.

AIDS Vaccine Trial Offers Hope

The results of a new AIDS vaccine trial, while indeterminate, give researchers a strong reason to hope.

Researchers felt boosted by the results of an AIDS vaccine clinical trial released on Thursday, which showed for the first time that a small but significant portion of volunteers were protected against infection. Results of the AIDS vaccine trial, which involved more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, left scientists “delighted but puzzled,” according to The New York Times.

“The vaccine -- a combination of two genetically engineered vaccines, neither of which had worked before in humans -- protected too few people to be declared an unqualified success. And the researchers do not know why it worked,” reportedthe Times.

The vaccine, known as RV 144, proved 31.2% effective in the clinical trial. The trial’s backers include the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the United States Army, the Thai Ministry of Public Health, and the patent-holders for the two parts of the vaccine, Sanofi-Pasteur and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.

2010 Ballot Initiative to Repeal Prop 8 Flied

Language was filed today to repeal Proposition 8 and bring marriage equality back to the Golden State.

A coalition of grassroots organizations including Love Honor Cherish, WhiteKnot.org, and Equality Network submitted the proposal for the November 2010 election, which includes California's gubernatorial race and midterm congressional races.

The new proposition, if passed, would replace the language of Section 7.5 of the state constitution -- "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" -- with "Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion."

The amendment would also add the following:"Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church, or other religious institution."

Last month, Equality California's marriage director, Marc Solomon, announced that the statewide organization would concentrate its efforts on repealing Proposition 8 in 2012.

"It's extremely hard to win a campaign like this," Solomon said during a telephone press conference on August 12. "It's a $40 million to $60 million venture. It's moving people who just voted on this less than a year ago. It would be really irresponsible to say to a group or an organization that we're going to contribute dollars even though we don't think this is the smarter approach."

Archbishop: Communion and Funerals Should Be Withheld From GLBT Supporters

In a reference to the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Vatican Archbishop Raymond Burke emitted some controversial remarks, even for the Catholic Church.

“Neither Holy Communion nor funeral rites should be administered to [politicians supportive of marriage equality]. To deny these is not a judgment of the soul, but a recognition of the scandal and its effects,” he said in an address to roughly 200 people.

Homophobic Bishop Harry Jackson at Values Voter Summit

Bishop Harry Jackson, the leader of the crusade against Washington D.C.'s equality laws, spoke at the Values Voter Summit over the weekend, asking conference attendees to tone down their racism against Obama because it'll be harder for him to convince his followers to mobilize against gays.

He also claims the LGBT movement is a bunch of elite lawyers who are trying to prevent poor Blacks from voting to save hetero marriage:

Says Jackson: "[The so-called persecuted gay movement] is a handful of privileged people who are intolerant of anybody with another idea who want to oppress and suppress the truth in the name of freedom."

Referendum 71: Court Case Over Anti-gay Washington Donors Fast-Tracked, Vote to be Close

A lawsuit regarding disclosing names of donors to the anti-gay Referendum 71 measure in Washington state is to be fast-tracked, Slog reports:

"A three-judge panel will hear oral arguments on October 14 in Pasadena, California. Each side will have 15 minutes to present their case. By signing R-71 petitions, voters indicated that a law to extend the state-granted rights of marriage to same-sex partners should be put on the ballot, ultimately in an attempt to repeal them. But in a bizarre twist of hypocrisy, anti-gay Protect Marriage Washington now claims that the signers are a minority—because they were trying to limit rights of a minority, you see—at risk of harm if their identities are released."

Slog also reports on some new numbers which show the vote to approve R-71 (which would retain the rights given to gays and lesbians in domestic partnership laws) is only ahead by a very narrow margin. Said Josh Friedes, a spokesman for Washington Families Standing Together, which sponsored the poll: "It’s going to be a razor thin election. We need to focus on turning out our base. What we know is that in off-year election, as much as half the electorate doesn't vote, and the frequent voters in off-year elections are older and more conservative."

Misleading Ads Debut in Maine

Proponents of a Maine ballot measure to repeal marriage rights for same-sex couples in November have emphasized the need for “real Mainers” to speak out in television and radio spots for their cause. But the anti-equality playbook is straight out of California.

Proponents of a Maine ballot measure to repeal marriage rights for same-sex couples in November have emphasized the need for “real Mainers” to speak out in television and radio spots for their cause. But the anti-equality playbook is straight out of California.

A recent ad for Yes on Question 1 tapped Charla Bansley, a private school teacher in Ellsworth, Maine, who also happens to moonlight as state director of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, to use a well-worn boogeyman strategy: Shift the argument from equality and discrimination directly to gay marriage being taught in public schools.

The strategy was the linchpin behind the Proposition 8 campaign, which stripped same-sex couples of marriage rights through a constitutional amendment. Schubert-Flint Public Affairs, the Sacramento, Calif.–based political consultancy firm that ran the Prop. 8 campaign, was tapped by Stand for Marriage Maine (financially backed by the National Organization for Marriage) to be Yes on 1’s campaign manager.

“[Question 1] has everything to do with schools!” Bansley says in a recent TV ad. Standing in a classroom, she then clicks on a television that shows a Massachusetts Mormon couple whose son’s second-grade class had read the children’s book King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland. The couple, Robin and Robb Wirthlin, were also used in ads that ran throughout California during the Prop. 8 fight.

The Wirthlins sued the school, but lost. A U.S. court of appeals ruled that “public schools are not obliged to shield students from ideas which are potentially offensive to their parents” (the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined to hear the case).

Modern Family

You may have heard of the new comedy Modern Family which premieres tonight (9/8c) on ABC, and features three "modern families" one of which is a gay family. I mentioned it a couple times while it was in development.

Here's a new clip from the show, which shows gay dads Cameron and Mitchell returning home from Vietnam with their adopted child.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Iowa Same-Sex Marriage Poll: 92% Say It Hasn't Impacted Their Lives

One of the most common arguments against marriage equality is that the legalization of gay marriage threatens the institution of traditional marriage. But a recent poll conducted by the Des Moines Register finds that 92% of Iowans believe that "gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives." The study comes just months after the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous decision to overturn a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage.

The poll finds that Iowans are evenly split in their attitudes toward same-sex marriage.

NOM Pres. Predicts Repeal of Maine Gay Marriage

Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said on Friday that she believed gay rights opponents would succeed in their effort to overturn the marriage equality law in Maine.

Gallagher spoke with David Weigel of The Washington Independent at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., where she introduced former Miss California and summit speaker Carrie Prejean.

“I’m pretty confident that, as in California, we’re going to win,” said Gallagher, according to The Washington Independent. “We’re in much better shape in Maine than we were in California at a similar point. We were 10 points down on September 1, 2008, and we won. I saw a poll yesterday that had us up two points in Maine.”

Last week, a Research 2000/Daily Kos poll showed overall support for the measure to overturn marriage equality, known as Question 1, slightly in the lead, with potentially decisive percentages of respondents saying they were unsure how they will vote in November.

Gallagher also took the opportunity to dig at the first television advertisement in support of marriage equality, released by the group Equality Maine last month.

“I think that ad is not very effective,” she said. “I think that’s a very soft-focus, nice, pleasant ad, but I don’t think it changed any minds one way or another. If I was them, I wouldn’t be spending money there.”

Maine Pediatricians Urge Voters to Reject Question 1

Citing child welfare and their commitment to support what is best for children, physicians from the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) today announced their support for the NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign.

“Children who are raised by legally married parents benefit from the legal status granted to their parents. What is good for parents and families is good for children,” said Dr. Jonathan Fanburg, president of the Maine Chapter of the AAP. “The Maine Chapter of AAP is opposed to the referendum vote that challenges the marriage equality law.”

The Maine Chapter’s statement reads, in part:

“As physicians who care for children and their families, we are committed to supporting what is best for children. And there is no question that when their parents can marry, children are more protected legally and socially.”

“Marriage equality is the right thing for Maine’s children, and will strengthen and protect families who have lacked legal recognition for too long,” said Augusta pediatrician Dan Summers. “As pediatricians, we see how supportive parents — whether gay or straight — positively impact the development of children. That is why we oppose the referendum that would rescind the law that allows same sex couples to marry.”

A national report commissioned by the national AAP concludes that the legal status that marriage achieves “promotes healthy families by conferring a powerful set of rights, benefits, and protections that cannot be obtained by other means.”

The Father of Proposition 8

Meet Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, the apostle of the movement to deprive gay men and lesbians of the right to marry.

Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment that deprived gay men and women of the right to marry one another, was perhaps the ugliest and most divisive electoral moment since Proposition 187, which denied illegal immigrant children access to health care and public education. All across the state, gay men, lesbians, and their friends picketed hostile churches and boycotted businesses that backed the amendment. And as they contemplated their fate, they asked themselves: Who did this to us? Was it the Mormons? The National Organization for Marriage? Black voters? White evangelical megachurches?

Now, eight months after the election that broke so many hearts, the truth has come out. It was the new Catholic bishop of Oakland.
When Salvatore Cordileone was picked to run the Catholic Church's Oakland diocese in March, his opposition to gay marriage was noted, but his reputation as a Spanish-speaking friend to the country's rising Latino population took center stage. Here was a dedicated, caring man of God who spent years studying in the Vatican and sweltered as a parish priest in the poor, immigrant-heavy town of Calexico. "Bishop Sal," as he's called, would lend his considerable moral voice to the struggles of impoverished immigrants, working tirelessly for their dignity and security.

What almost no one knows is that without Bishop Sal, gay men and lesbians would almost surely still be able to get married today. As an auxiliary bishop in San Diego, Cordileone played an indispensable role in conceiving, funding, organizing, and ultimately winning the campaign to pass Proposition 8. It was Bishop Sal and a small group of Catholic leaders who decided that they had to amend the state constitution. It was Bishop Sal who found the first major donor and flushed the fledgling campaign with cash. It was Bishop Sal who personally brought in the organization that took the lead on the petition drive. And it was Bishop Sal who coordinated the Catholic effort with evangelical churches around the state. Bishop Sal even helped craft the campaign's rhetorical strategy, sitting in on focus groups to hone the message of Proposition 8.

We know all this because as homosexuals and their supporters were wondering how this all came about, Cordileone gloated about his work in an interview with an obscure Catholic radio network. He bragged about how gay men and lesbians never saw him coming and called gay marriage a Satanic plot by "the Evil One" to destroy morality in the modern world.

Now, Cordileone's work has been rewarded, and the Vatican has made him the most important religious figure in the East Bay. Alameda County is one of the most liberal and gay-friendly parts of the world; it arguably has the most lesbian residents in the United States, and voters here rejected Proposition 8 by almost 62 percent. And the man who leads some 400,000 Catholics from his new Lake Merritt cathedral, who articulates the loudest moral and religious voice in the region and has the power of the Vatican at his disposal, just got done taking the right to marry from every gay man and woman in the East Bay.

Gay Group to Ask Wisconsin Supreme Court to Reject Challenge to State's Domestic Partnership Law

Fair Wisconsin will ask the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the state's domestic partner law by Wisconsin Family Action, which wants the law declared unconstitutional, The Northwestern reports:

"Nine-hundred seventy couples have been added to the registry since the law went into effect in August, Department of Health Services spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said. Registering gives them limited legal protections such as the right to visit each other in the hospital, take medical leave to care for an ill partner and inherit assets when a partner dies. 'We are filing to intervene so that we can protect the interests of our members who have a really important need for these protections,' said Katie Belanger, executive director of Fair Wisconsin. 'We’re confident the court will make a fair and just decision, and we want to make sure we can assist in that process.' Members of Wisconsin Family Action, a social conservative group, claim in the lawsuit the registry violates the constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions approved by voters in 2006."

Madison attorney Lester Pines, who is representing the state, plans to ask the same of the court, independent of Fair Wisconsin's request. Pines was hired after Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to defend the state last month, saying he doesn't like the domestic partner law.

Lambda Legal Attorney Christopher Clark feels the facts of the case would be better served in a lower court:

"He said Fair Wisconsin wants to show how supporters of the amendment told voters in 2006 it would not prohibit governments from offering domestic partner benefits. Such fact-finding is typically done in a trial court."

Bush In 2008: "I'm Not Going To Tell Some Gay Kid In The Audience That He Can't Get Married"

Speechwriter Matt Latimer's new book trains its gaze on the lunacy of the late-era Bush White House. And there was plenty of material.

Latimer, who first wrote speeches and congressional testimony for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, was one of Bush's top speechwriters at the end of his administration. He has written a tell-all that has some former administration officials furious at his disloyalty and others chuckling at the foibles he's made public.

Some of the best moments relating to the financial crisis -- one of the many real world consequences of the shenanigans Latimer describes -- have been excerpted in GQ already. But the book is still rich with pearls for political junkies and anybody else wondering what the Bush administration looked like from the inside.

Some of the best stuff:
• Donald Rumsfeld had to be talked out of editing his own entry on Wikipedia, which he referred to as "Wika-wakka." He was a Drudge Report reader and used to watch YouTube clips that made fun of his press conference performances.

• Bush, when told that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig had been the latest GOPer to be caught in a sex scandal involving boys or men: "What is up with all these Republicans?"

• Several years after Colin Powell left as Secretary of State, he was to appear with administration officials at an event. "In the next draft can you change 'Secretary Powell' to 'General Powell'? He prefers to go by 'General' instead of 'Secretary'," read a note from his people to Latimer, who thought it looked like the general was trying to distance himself from the White House. "I'm happy to report that the president didn't accommodate him. 'Secretary Powell' stayed in," Latimer writes.

• While Karl Rove was appearing on Fox News and writing op-eds as an independent political analyst, he was privately smearing Democrats. "Karl spread rumors through the White House that one of Obama's potential vice presidential running mates -- and a United States senator -- had beaten his first wife. 'Karl says it's true,' the president assured a small group of staffers. Then knowing Karl, he quickly added, 'Karl hopes it's true,'" reports Latimer.

• For a commencement address at Furman University in spring 2008, Ed Gillespie wanted to insert a few lines condemning gay marriage. Bush called the speech too "condemnatory" and said, "I'm not going to tell some gay kid in the audience that he can't get married." (Of course, Bush ran his 2004 campaign telling that kid just that.)

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "adamantly opposed" any reference to jailed Egyptian dissident Ayman Nour when Bush traveled to Egypt to promote freedom. She won.

• Bush, it turns out, is like millions of Americans: "I haven't watched the nightly news one night since I've been president," he said.

• Laura Bush, says Latimer, "was secretly a Democrat for all intents and purposes, though it really wasn't much of a secret."

• Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins is fond of sending angry, middle-of-the-night e-mails to staffers because she's frustrated that her colleague and rival Olympia Snowe gets more and better press. As a result, reports Latimer, she rips through press secretaries like 30-packs at a beer-pong tournament. (A Collins press secretary didn't respond to a request for comment.)

• Interviewing for the job, Latimer was told by Chief of Staff Josh Bolten that Bush's White House was "the most ethical administration in history." He added: "Looks like even Scooter Libby might get off."

• Latimer was asked to help with a speech for Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who General Tommy Franks famously called "the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth." Feith had rejected a draft from another writer. "His own writer had failed miserably at drafting some upcoming testimony to Congress. Feith was so incensed by the speech's first line that he read it aloud to me. 'Mr. Chairman, thank you for inviting me to testify today.' 'Thank you?' Feith snapped, as if he couldn't believe it. 'For inviting me'?'"

• Bush on Jimmy Carter: "If I'm ever eighty-two years old and acting like that have someone put me away."

150,000 gay couples report being married

Nearly 150,000 same-sex couples reported being in marriage relationships last year, many more than the number of actual weddings and civil unions, according to the first U.S. census figures released on same-sex marriages.

About 27 percent of the estimated 564,743 total gay couples in the United States said they were in a relationship akin to “husband” and “wife,” according to the Census Bureau tally provided to The Associated Press. That’s compared with 91 percent of the 61.3 million total opposite-sex couples who reported being married.

A consultant to the Census Bureau estimated there were roughly 100,000 official same-sex weddings, civil unions and domestic partnerships in 2008.

Analysts said the disparities are probably a reflection of same-sex couples in committed relationships who would get married if they could in their states. The numbers are also an indicator of the count to come in the 2010 census, a tally that could stir a state-by-state fight over same-sex marriage, gay adoption and other legal rights.

Campaign to undo Prop 8 kicks off in San Diego.

"The campaign's first main task is to collect 694,354 valid voter signatures to put an initiative on the 2010 ballot to remove Prop 8 from the California Constitution. It is generally believed that about 1 million total signatures need to be collected to get the required number of valid ones."

N.Y. Gay Marriage in '09: Zero Chance

Even Michael Bloomberg, one of the world's richest people, cannot see a way to make the New York state senate vote on a marriage equality bill this year.

New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg rated the chances for a marriage equality bill in New York this fall at “zero, zero” despite acknowledging his own influence over some intractable Republicans in the state senate.

Bloomberg, who is running for reelection to a third four-year term in November, made the bleak prognosis in an interview with Gay City News on September 17.

“'I don’t know how to get it to come up,' he said," according to Gay City News, "explaining his view that having the issue move to the senate floor may prove more difficult than rounding up the votes. 'If you want my honest opinion,' Bloomberg continued, the senate leadership is unlikely to move a gay marriage bill 'when I don’t see these guys willing to stand up for less controversial issues.’”

Bloomberg, a billionaire who made his fortune as the founder of a financial software services company, also predicted that gubernatorial candidates would shy from marriage equality in 2010.
“Whether anybody who runs for governor next year will stand up for gay marriage, I’ll bet you 25 cents no,” he told Gay City News.

The interview was conducted before news broke that President Obama had asked Gov. David Paterson, a staunch marriage equality ally, not to seek election because of his low approval rating.
Despite his assessment, Bloomberg touted his influence over Republicans such as Frank Padavan of Queens, who, with conservative Democrats such as Ruben Diaz Sr., have stood in the way of the marriage equality bill in the senate.

“‘I’m the main funder,’ Bloomberg said of his ability to sway the views of Republican senators. ‘You know, you can’t dictate every piece of legislation, and I don’t want to say that they’re bribable. But they know where I stand, and they want me to be a supporter.’”

Prejean: God Made Me Say It

Former Miss California Carrie Prejean told an audience of conservatives in Washington, D.C., on Friday that her comments against marriage equality at the 2009 Miss USA pageant in April were the result of divine intervention.

Gay Marriage Trailing in Maine

Much work remains ahead to preserve same-sex marriage in Maine on the November ballot, according to a new poll.

A new Research 2000/Daily Kos poll in Maine suggests that the state’s marriage equality law would be repealed if the issue went to voters today.

The survey of 600 likely voters between September 14 and 16 posed two questions pertaining to marriage equality, according to Daily Kos. In each instance, a greater percentage of respondents with a firm opinion chose an anti-equality position, although a pivotal percentage remained undecided.

The first question asked whether respondents would vote yes or no on Question 1, the “people’s veto” on the November ballot that would repeal the marriage equality bill passed by legislators and signed into law by Gov. John Baldacci this spring.

According to Daily Kos, 48% of respondents said they would vote yes on the repeal, 46% would vote no, and 6% were undecided.

The second question asked, “Regardless of how you might vote, do you favor or oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally?”

Among respondents, 47% said they were in favor of marriage equality, 49% opposed same-sex marriage, and 4% said they were unsure.

On a brighter note, voters age 44 and under, women, Democrats, and independents were more likely to support equality. Voters age 45 and over, men, and Republicans still need to be reached.

The poll has a margin of error of 4%.

Arizona Governor Takes Away State Domestic Partner Benefits Says 'God Has Placed Me in This Powerful Position'

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has eliminated state domestic partner benefits a year after they were implemented, the Arizona Daily Star reports:

"A bill signed by Gov. Jan Brewer redefined a 'dependent,' canceling the rule change made by Gov. Janet Napolitano that allowed domestic partners to receive benefits. Also eliminated are children of domestic partners, full-time students ages 23-24 and disabled adult dependents. The legislation is in legal review. About 800 state employees are affected, according to the state's administration department...Liz Sawyer, a UA staff member, said the exclusion is 'deplorable and it's tragic.' Sawyer is a spokeswoman for OUTReach, a staff group that lobbies for domestic-partner benefits at UA. Last year 170 UA employees signed up for domestic-partner benefits, she said. Forty were same-sex couples and the remainder were unmarried, opposite-sex couples, she said."

Did God tell Brewer to do it?

"Gov. Jan Brewer said Wednesday that she believes 'God has placed me in this powerful position as Arizona's governor' to help the state weather its troubles. In a wide-ranging speech on the role of religion in politics and in her life, Brewer detailed to a group of pastors of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church how she relies on her faith and in prayer to deal with many of the issues she faces as the state's chief executive. Brewer also said there are times when, during a meeting with staffers, one will suggest praying about an issue. ... But Brewer also said she recognizes the difference between bringing her faith to the office and having an 'agenda.' ... 'The problem with having a political agenda is that we give the impression that we have God's truth,' the governor said. 'We think we can convert God's truth into a political platform, a set of political issues, and that there is 'God's way' in our politics,' Brewer continued. 'I don't believe that for a moment, any more than you believe that God's way is exclusively the Lutheran way.' The governor said, though, she believes it is right — if not inevitable — that elected officials bring their faith to their offices."

Anti-Gay Senate Hopeful Has Posed Nude

An anti-gay Massachusetts politician is angling to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy in the United States Senate. Gossip site Gawker reports that he posed nude for a magazine more than a quarter of a century ago.

Massachusetts State Sen. Scott Brown--who won his current seat in a special election 2004--is hoping to replicate his earlier success with the coming special election to replace Edward "Ted" Kennedy, whose death leaves one of the state’s Senate seats vacant on Capitol Hill.

Gawker noted that Brown is the father of former American Idol contestant Ayla Brown.

Newweek’s online blog The Gaggle noted in a Sept. 15 posting that Brown’s campaign has dismissed concerns about his nude modeling gig based on the fact that he’s a man--whereas a woman candidate in a similar situation, the Newsweek blog noted, would face a double standard.

"Although a nude centerfold might not kill a female politician’s career," the blog’s text read, "it would most certainly prompt questions about her character.

"Was she unacceptably promiscuous? Did she have a wild, compromising youth?

"While we scoff at the exploits of young men─they’re allowed to be ’footloose and carefree’─women are rarely afforded that luxury," the blog went on.

"For Brown, who just turned 50, it’s a case of ’boys will be boys.’ We can giggle at Brown’s treasure trail and not think twice about how the sight of it affects his political career."

Gawker and Newseek noted that the photo, which ran in Cosmpolitan in 1982, was dug up two years ago by Web site Wonkette.

Brown announced that he would run for the seat on Sept. 12, which also happened to be his 50th birthday, reported The Boston Globe.

Though the state skews heavily Democratic, Brown expressed optimism in a statement he released that day. "I have always thought that being in government service is a privilege, not a right," the Globe quoted from Brown’s statement.

"This Senate seat doesn’t belong to any one person or political party. It belongs to you, the people, and the people deserve a US senator who will always put your interests first."

Brown created controversy in 2007 when he appeared at a school and read aloud comments, some including profanity, that had been posted about himself and his daughter at Facebook.

Court Rules Against Halliburton: Gang Rape Wasn't A 'Workplace Injury'

Remember Jamie Leigh Jones, the Halliburton/KBR contractor who alleged she was gang raped by her co-workers in Iraq and then imprisoned in a shipping container after she reported the attack to the company? Well, it looks like she's finally get to sue the company, in a real courthouse, over her ordeal.

Her legal saga started after Halliburton failed to take any action against her alleged attackers, and the Justice Department and military also failed to prosecute. Jones then tried to sue the company for failing to protect her. But thanks to an employment contract created during the tenure of former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney, Jones was forced into mandatory binding arbitration, a private forum where Halliburton would hire the arbitrator, all the proceedings would be secret, and she'd have no right to appeal if she lost.

Data from the American Arbitration Association showed that Halliburton won more than 80 percent of its cases in arbitration, and when I looked at the data two years ago, it showed that out of 119 cases Halliburton arbitrated over a four-year period, only three resulted in the employee actually winning any money. The deck was clearly stacked against Jones from day one.

Insurance Company Must Pay $10 Million For Revoking Policy Of Teen With HIV

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay $10 million for wrongly revoking the insurance policy of a 17-year-old college student after he tested positive for HIV. The court called the 2002 decision by the insurance company "reprehensible."

That appears to be the most an insurance company has ever been ordered to pay in a case involving the practice known as rescission, in which insurance companies retroactively cancel coverage for policyholders based on alleged misstatements - sometimes right after diagnoses of life-threatening diseases.

The ruling emerges from a conservative Southern state with one of the most pro-business climates in the country. And it comes as progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing for health care reforms, such as a public insurance option, that reflect wariness about the private insurance industry's motives.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court's verdict against Fortis Insurance, now known as Assurant. The trial jury had awarded the former college student, Jerome Mitchell, $15 million in punitive damages; the Supreme Court reduced that amount by $5 million.

Mitchell learned that he had HIV when, while heading to college, he donated blood. Fortis then rescinded his coverage, citing what turned out to be an erroneous note from a nurse in his medical records that indicated that he might have been diagnosed prior to his obtaining his insurance policy.

Before the cancellation of the policy, an underwriter working for Fortis wrote to a committee considering whether or not to rescind his policy: "Technically, we do not have the results of the HIV tests. This is the only entry in the medical records regarding HIV status. Is it sufficient?" The underwriter's concerns were ignored and the rescission went forward.In the ruling, Chief Justice Jean Hoefer wrote: "We find ample support in the record that Fortis' conduct was reprehensible ... Fortis demonstrated an indifference to Mitchell's life and a reckless disregard to his health and safety."

An investigation this summer by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and earlier ones by state regulators in California, New York and Connecticut, found that thousands of vulnerable and seriously ill policyholders have had their coverage canceled by many of the nation's largest insurance companies without any legal basis. The congressional committee found that three insurance companies alone made at least $300 million over five years from rescission. One of those three companies was Assurant.

In Febuary 2008, a private arbitration judge in Los Angeles ordered Health Net Inc. to pay more than $9 million to a breast cancer patient whose health insurance it revoked shortly after her diagnosis and while she was undergoing chemotherapy. The plaintiff in that case, Patsy Bates, a then-52-year-old grandmother and hair-salon owner, was unable to continue her chemotherapy for several months.

Nashville Passes Nondiscrimination Ordinance

Despite considerable controversy, an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against LGBT municipal employees in Nashville passed the city council on Tuesday.

Maine's Catholic Churches Ask for Cash

Maine's Catholic churchgoers were asked to make an additional donation on Sunday toward repealing the marriage equality law in the state. Church officials said the donations would pay for television ads and campaign efforts to overturn the law in this November's upcoming vote.

Maine Catholics Raise Money at Mass to Ban Same Sex Marriage

People of Faith Stand Up for Marriage in Maine

Even as anti-gay religious organizations ramp up efforts to rescind legal rights for gay and lesbian families in Maine, the fight has been joined by people of who do not believe that same-sex couples should face different treatment under the law.

A Sept. 7 Associated Press story carried at EDGE reported that a Portland, Maine Catholic church was set to make an additional collection from parishoners in order to help pay for a campaign to convince voters to take away the rights of gay and lesbian families, Proposition 8-style, in the next election.

The funds from the additional collection were to be funneled to anti-gay group Stand for Marriage Maine, a leading organization in the drive to eradicate marriage equality in the state.

Marriage equality for gay and lesbian families was approved by state lawmakers last May.

The effort to convince voters to rescind the rights of their fellow citizens is playing out in a manner similar to last year’s bitter and deeply divisive campaign to promote Proposition 8, the California voter initiative that consumed scores of millions of dollars, much of which was poured into the battle by two major marriage equality opponents: the Roman Catholic church and the Mormon church.
The Mormon church in particular drew scrutiny after the church’s leadership instructed the faithful to support the anti-gay amendment with funds and by volunteering.

Mormon volunteers from across the country poured into California along with the millions raised from coast to coast by adherents of the faith. In the end, Proposition 8 was narrowly approved, marking the first time existing rights had been taken from a minority group through a ballot initiative.

Even as the Catholic church dedicated itself in Maine to a repeat of last year’s blow to gay and lesbian families, money was pouring into Maine from the Mormon church and its membership.

An Aug. 18 article at EDGE recounted that much of the money being funneled into Stand for Marriage Maine has come from a handful of religious sources, including The Knights of Columbus and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), two major players in the California struggle last year.

The EDGE article said, "Most of the money raised came from the National Organization for Marriage ($160,000,) the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland ($100,000,) the Knights of Columbus, a national Catholic fraternal organization ($50,000,) and Focus on the Family’s Maine Marriage Committee ($31,000.)

"Stand for Marriage Maine has hired the California political consulting firm Schubert Flint, which managed Prop. 8, to run the campaign," the EDGE article continued.

"Advocates working to repeal Prop. 8 have raised red flags about Stand for Marriage Maine’s funding sources," the article went on.

"Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger sent a letter to Maine election officials on Aug. 13 that warned of possible money laundering by the two religious denominations. He contends the Mormon Church is NOM’s largest funding source."

The article quoted Karger as saying in a press release that NOM "sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality."

The article noted that, "NOM’s funding is a closely guarded secret, because it creates separate PACs in each state where it has launched campaigns against same-sex marriage laws.

"Karger has accused NOM of being a ’front’ for the Mormon Church. He accused the church of creating NOM in 2007 just to qualify Prop. 8 for the California ballot."

Pro-marriage group No on 1 Protect Maine Equality has thrown itself into the fight, but does not have the financial wherewithal to match spending from the anti-marriage side, which in California blanketed the airwaves with ads claiming that small children would be forced to learn about same-sex marriage in school unless gays and lesbians lost equal family rights at the ballot box.

Even so, the marriage equality group expressed optimism about the fight ahead.

Jesse Connolly, the group’s campaign manager, said that staff and volunteers had been "working hard night and day to try to defeat the campaign to repeal same-sex marriage."

Added Connolly, "We’re really excited about the level of enthusiasm."

Connolly admitted, "We’re expecting to be heavily outspent in this effort," but added that, "we’re planning on spending the money we need to win this election."

Meantime, people of faith also stood up in defense of the right of gay and lesbian families to marry.A Friday, Sept. 11 release from Protect Maine Equality reported that the group Catholics for Marriage Equality had spoken out on the issue of the extra collection at Catholic masses in Portland.

The group stated, "Catholics for Marriage Equality calls on its members and all Catholics who share our support for marriage equality to take two peaceful but effective actions in our parishes this Sunday so that the diocese will know it is not speaking for all faithful Catholics."

The group called on Catholics who reject discriminatory legal treatment for gay and lesbian families to contribute not money, but letters of support for gay families when the basket was passed for the additional collection.

"First, instead of money, we urge parishioners who support marriage equality to place a note in the special collection envelope stating that they do not support the bishop’s stance to deprive same-sex couples of the right to civil marriage and will instead donate funds to NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality, which opposes Question 1, or to a charity that is inclusive of all families," the group said.

"Second, we ask supportive Catholics to sign our petition affirming that the Church can define marriage as it wishes for its members but that marriage as a civil right is the prerogative of the state to define," the group added.

The statement traced the origin and rationale for the group. "C4ME exists to give hope to those who are hurt and angry because of our bishop’s determination to overturn the legislature’s passage of marriage equality," the statement said.

"We will disseminate information that is truthful and respectful stating why marriage equality is a matter of civil rights and social justice that Catholics are free to support-indeed, may feel compelled to support as a matter of social conscience and responsible citizenship," the group continued.

A second release on the same day from Protect Maine Equality announced that another denomination, the Unitarian Univeralist church, had also stood up to the attempt to revoke fair and equal treatment before the law for gay and lesbian families.

The group released a statement jointly with the Unitarian Universalist Association’s leader, the Rev. Peter Morales.

"The May 2009 passage of marriage equality legislation in Maine was a historic step towards justice for same-sex couples and their families," the statement declared.

"We owe tremendous thanks to the citizens of Maine, including many Unitarian Universalists, and to their elected officials who supported this legislation.

"But now marriage equality is in danger in Maine," the statement went on.

"I call upon supportive Mainers to reaffirm their commitment to fairness for all families by voting against repeal of the legislation recognizing same-sex marriage."

The Rev. Morales continued in the statement, "I know that Unitarian Universalists in Maine will continue to be at the forefront of the struggle for equality.

"Commitment to the inherent worth and dignity of every person is at the core of Unitarian Universalism, and Unitarian Universalists in Maine have a strong history of support for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender (BGLT) rights.

"In 1996, the Unitarian Universalist Association called for full legal recognition for same-sex couples nationwide, and our faith community has advocated in support of marriage equality ever since," the Rev. Morales noted.

"We will continue this witness in Maine in the coming months."

Added the Rev. Morales, "Unitarian Universalists will stand on the side of love.
"I invite you to stand with us."

Changing Their Tune On DOMA

President Clinton, Bob Barr and seven sitting members of Congress who supported DOMA, now oppose it.

Legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally restricts marriage to heterosexual couples, was introduced Tuesday in House of Representatives amid a growing chorus of people who have had a change of heart on the matter.

The man who singed the bill into law, President Bill Clinton, and the man who authored the legislation, Bob Barr, along with seven representatives who voted to pass it in 1996, now support the law’s repeal.

“When the Defense of Marriage Act was passed, gay couples could not marry anywhere in the United States or the world for that matter,” Clinton said in a statement. “Thirteen years later, the fabric of our country has changed, and so should this policy.”

Barr, who was a member of the House at the time, joined Clinton, saying, “This legislation would strengthen the principle that each state is free to set the definition of marriage the citizens of that state have adopted.”

Congressman Earl Blumenauer posted a candid editorial on Huffington Post that began, “On July 12, 1996, I cast the worst vote of my political career.”

DOMA originally passed the House by a vote of 342-67, and 26 of the people who gave it the nod are still sitting Congressional members today. Seven of those members switched gears and signed on to the DOMA repeal bill -- the Respect for Marriage Act [H.R. 3567] -- making a total of 92 original cosponsors by day’s end: Reps. Rob Andrews (NJ); Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rosa DeLauro (CT); Mike Doyle (PA); Bob Filner (CA); Nita Lowey (NY); Ed Pastor (AZ).

For Blumenauer, the vote was a strategic move, or so he thought at the time.

“I made the political calculation that we might be able to defuse (antigay sentiment) by throwing a bone to the right on DOMA and heading off a constitutional marriage amendment, because people were talking about that,” said Blumenauer, who has supported a number of LGBT equality initiatives throughout the years. “I was wrong on several levels -- it didn't stop the right wing, it only encouraged them.”

Blumenauer has been in public office since 1993 and estimates he has cast tens of thousands of votes during that time.

“But this is one vote that stands out in my mind,” he said. “I would put this at the top of the list of things that if I had to do over again, I would have done it differently.”

He regretted the vote within months as he began talking to more and more LGBT people who told him the vote, far from being a political calculation, was a fundamental statement of self worth.

Blumenauer now plans to reach out to those members who helped pass the measure in 1996 but still aren’t on board. “This week, I plan on sitting down with a number of them,” he said.

'Star Trek' actor George Takei and husband Brad Altman to appear on 'Newlywed Game'

Actor George Takei and husband Brad Altman are going where no gay couple has gone before: "The Newlywed Game."

Takei and Altman will appear in a special celebrity episode of the show, which starts its second season in a revamped format on Oct. 12, the Game Show Network said.

"George and I are thrilled. It's pretty historic for us," Altman told the Daily News. "It's going to be a great experience for both of us to see how well we really know each other after 22 years together."

Takei, who played Sulu on "Star Trek," married Altman last September, two months before voters overruled a decision by the California Supreme Court that briefly legalized gay marriage in the state. Their marriage remains legal.

California to Get 33% of its Power from Renewables by 2020

Nearly a week ago, the California Senate passed an ambitious energy bill that would require the state to get 33% of its power from renewable sources by 2020. Greens cheered.

Then Gov. Schwarzenegger declared he would veto it. Greens booed.

Now, the governor has signed an executive mandate that once again commits California to a renewable energy standard of getting a full third of its power from renewable sources by 2030.

NYT Visits First Gay Couple Featured in Wedding Section in 2002

The New York Times pays a visit to Daniel Gross and Steven Goldstein, the first gay couple to be featured in the paper's "Vows" section in August 2002.

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles to Salute Baz Luhrmann

Award-winning film and theater director Baz Luhrmann in a program entitled L'Amour, to be presented on June 19-20 at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood. The show will feature music from Lurhmann's films Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge.

The Chorus will also participate in The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at 7:30pm on October 12 at the Broad Theatre in Santa Monica, and they will present a holiday show, Nutcracker, December 19-20 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

N.J. Gay Marriage "This Year"

New Jersey governor Jon Corzine said that he expected to sign marriage equality legislation “this year” when asked about the issue during an appearance before a Teamsters local in Atlantic City on Monday.

Corporate Giants Support Wash. DP Law

On the question of domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in Washington, large employers such as Nike say, "Just do it."

Some of the largest employers in the Pacific Northwest, including Nike, Microsoft, and Boeing, announced their support for the Approve Referendum 71 campaign in Washington on Monday. The campaign urges voters to uphold expanded domestic partnerships for same-sex couples in a November referendum.

The new expanded domestic-partnerships law passed the legislature last spring, but opponents collected enough signatures over the summer to place the measure on the ballot.

The large corporations want the new law to be retained, according to The Seattle Times.

“In a joint statement, the Boeing Co., Nike, Microsoft Corp., Puget Sound Energy, RealNetworks, and Vulcan Inc. said the law does not ‘sanction or encourage same-sex marriage ... but recognizes that, regardless of their sexual orientation, people may enter into partnerships and create family units that deserve respect and equal treatment.

"We embrace everyone's fundamental right to be judged on their merits and contributions rather than factors such as their sexual orientation," the statement said.

'Yes on 1' Maine Unveils First Anti-Equality Ad

The anti-equality group Stand for Marriage Maine has unveiled its first dud of an ad featuring a legal expert who donated heavily to Marilyn Musgrave and Sam Brownback, and submitted testimony in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.




[This ad looks like the same ones they ran in California for Prop 8.]

Most Fuel Efficient Diesel-Hybrid in the World

VW Shows New Version of 1-Liter Concept Car (170 MPG)

Production Version to be Available in 2013, this diesel-hybrid can be considered the world's most fuel efficient hybrid (though not a production car) with a fuel consumption of 1.38 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres (170 MPG)!

Census Count of Same-Sex Couples to Stir Policy Fights

When the U.S. Census Bureau counts same-sex married couples next year, demographers expect hundreds of thousands to report they are spouses -- even though legal same-sex weddings in the United States number in the tens of thousands.

Gay advocates say they plan to use "A Census that Reflects America's Population," as the Census Bureau calls its plan to report same-sex marriage statistics, to push for legislative and policy initiatives, while groups opposed to same-sex marriage weigh a counteroffensive.

Particularly at the state and local levels, gay advocacy groups say census data on income for same-sex couples will show the need for more protections against job discrimination. Statistics on households with children will help them challenge laws limiting gay adoptions and legal guardianship. With raw numbers to illustrate the need, it will be easier to demand services, they say.

"Why does the census ask if people are young or old, black or white, married or single?" said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which promotes civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. "It's because we want to understand if the country is meeting the public-policy needs of those Americans. That's particularly so for LGBT Americans."

But conservatives say the tally could just as easily support their position that most gay people aren't looking to get married. They say they will oppose attempts to make policies more gay-friendly.

"It seems homosexual activists use these various markers as ways push their agenda, to force people to go along with whatever they demand," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, which promotes "biblical values." "Regardless of what the numbers are, they're going to exaggerate the importance of it and claim all of society must change in order to comport with their demands."

The 2010 Census will not be the first in which same-sex couples have identified themselves as married. But it will be the first in which the raw numbers are publicly reported, reflecting an evolution in the way the Census Bureau keeps track of American lifestyles.

The issue of counting same-sex unions first arose in 1990, when the Census Bureau added the category of "unmarried partner," primarily to count heterosexual couples living together. Since no state permitted same-sex marriage, the Census Bureau "edited" the sex of one person in each same-sex couple. For instance, if two women said they were spouses, the Census Bureau changed the sex of one to male.

In 2000, in what was considered a more enlightened approach, the Census Bureau re-categorized those same-sex couples who said they were married, counting them as unmarried partners. But it didn't release the numbers.

That was prohibited by the Bush administration, which cited the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act's ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

This summer, the Obama administration reversed that interpretation and ordered the Census Bureau to release the raw data when it becomes available in 2011. It also is planning to accurately count same-sex couples in programs such as the American Community Survey, a smaller, in-depth study run by the Census Bureau.