Four years ago, Chris Vincent and Ken Molsberry flew to San Francisco on a whim, waited all night in a drenching downpour and bawled when a city commissioner said the words they had waited years to hear: "I now pronounce you spouses for life." It was a powerful validation of their longtime love for each other, and the first time they felt equal to other Americans. "It was glorious," Molsberry said. Then it was gone. That same year -- 2004 -- California's high court voided the marriages performed in San Francisco, crushing hundreds of gay and lesbian couples who ...

1. Oh Hell No!It is often claimed that gay men and lesbians don't know what marriage is. See, if we only knew that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, we would know that only a man and a woman could get married.Thankfully, some members of our Congress who really know what marriage is all about are sponsoring a Marriage Protection Amendment that lays it all out: "Marriage in the US shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman."This language was surprising to me.See, when I saw who two of the ...

Here’s a happy story, thats kinda reminds me of the San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders’ reversal on gay rights. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) has reversed his stance on gay marriage, after his step-daughter came out to him as a lesbian. Rothman then joined the House’s GLBT Caucus. Congressman Steve Rothman says a member of his own family persuaded him to change his position on same-sex marriage. The Bergen County Democrat says he now supports gay and lesbian couples’ right to marry, and has become a member of the House Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus. Rothman said his 19-year-old stepdaughter, who ...

Rita Boyadjian wishes she were in a better mood to celebrate the weddings of fellow gay friends after California began legally marrying same-sex couples last month. But her partner of six years is a German woman whose U.S. student visa runs out soon. Even if they were to legally marry in California, Margot (not her real name) could not stay in the United States because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage for immigration purposes. This month the well-to-do couple and their nine-month-old baby will move to Germany so they can stay together. "It's a little bittersweet, I ...

The president of the Log Cabin Republicans, Patrick Sammon, urges fellow conservatives to back off using gay marriage as a wedge issue again: "Acceptance of loving, committed gay and lesbian couples is on the rise and, consequently, the marriage debate does not have the same heat it used to. Republicans who try exploiting the issue for political gain this November will fail. And they’ll further alienate the young people who are already leaving the GOP in droves." So...stop pushing this issue because it's no longer effective, not because it's wrong? ...

Log Cabin Republican president Patrick Sammon warns his party peers not to push gay marriage this year: “Acceptance of loving, committed gay and lesbian couples is on the rise and, consequently, the marriage debate does not have the same heat it used to. Republicans who try exploiting the issue for political gain this November will fail. And they’ll further alienate the young people who are already leaving the GOP in droves… So, a word to my fellow Republicans: If we choose the politics of fear and division that helped defeat our party in 2006, we will alienate the independent voters ...

County clerks issued more than 8,500 marriage licenses in the first week same-sex marriage was legal in California, more than two and half times an average June week, a Times survey found. The tally includes licenses issued to both same-sex and heterosexual couples, although county clerks in many locations indicated that the majority went to gay and lesbian couples. The state, which is not tracking the gender of applicants, has replaced "Bride" and "Groom" on marriage applications with the terms "Party A" and "Party B." In Los Angeles County, the state's most populous, 1,806 licenses were issued from ...

A GROUP of Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators is seeking to reverse a Government decision to allow gay and lesbian couples register their relationships with the State. A party motion put forward last night by Wexford-based Senator Jim Walsh demanded that nothing should be done in the upcoming Civil Partnership Bill that would in any way lessen the "special status" enjoyed by heterosexual marriage under the Constitution. The issue is to be discussed at next week's meeting of Fianna Fáil's parliamentary party, and the Government is likely to ask the parliamentary party's justice committee to consider it. FF ...

It has been over a week since California started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and the demand has remained steady throughout the state.   All 58 California counties started officially issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples on June 17, a little over a month since the state's highest court made a ground-breaking ruling that lifted California's same-sex marriage ban. Gay and lesbian couples all across the state and country have taken advantage of California becoming the second state in the U.S. to legalize gay marriage. Massachusettes is the only other state that has legalized same-sex marriage. ...

(San Francisco, CA) – Three California voters and four organizations dedicated to protecting the civil rights of gay and lesbian people filed a lawsuit in the California Supreme Court on Friday about an initiative that seeks to change the California Constitution to bar gay and lesbian couples from marriage. That initiative is currently slated to [...] ...

As gay and lesbian couples begin to wed across California, people of faith are renewing a passionate debate over whether homosexuality is sanctioned by God. Christians, Jews and Muslims on both sides of the issue cite the holy writings of their religions. Some note that the Bible depicts man-lying-with-man as an "abomination," while others say that it speaks of God's love for all people created in his image. Both sides defend their positions with the zeal of the biblical warriors who inhabit their scriptures. "Homosexual intimacy is out of bounds. It's not what God created us for," said Richard ...