Barack Obama may not support gay marriage, but he’s certainly not backing a potential ban in California. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee this weekend penned a letter in which he voiced his opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples: …I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states. For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It’s time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating ...

We just received word that late this evening that the Arizona Senate was able to scare up the sixteen votes needed to put a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage onto the ballot. Tucson’s District 30 Senator and Senate President Tim Bee was the sixteenth vote. He will be running against incumbent Gabrielle Giffords in November for the Congressional District 8 house seat. Voters in CD8 voted against the 2006 Arizona amendment, with 52.5% voting against Prop 107 and only 47.5% voting for it. That was a wider margin than the state-wide result of 51.8% against and 48.2% in favor. ...

It's official, folks: The anti-gay ballot measure in California now has a name. The proposed constitutional amendment (or revision?) will be known as Proposition 8: Propositions get numbers from Secretary of State's office [PolitickerCA] Clearly, "Proposition -4 Equal Rights, Respect, the Economy, and Just About Every American Value A Decent Society Should Hold Dear" must have been taken. Although we don't hate the number. After all, since it "just 8," we think there's a good chance it'll be too foolhardy full and hearty to swallow up equality. ***That pesky 8! It's terrorizing all kinds: ...

Gay activists celebrated yesterday afternoon after Arizona’s Senate failed to pass an anti-gay marriage measure. With the failure, many assumed that the proposed ban wouldn’t make November’s ballot. Unfortunately, they may have spoken too soon: The thirty-member chamber voted 14-11 to place a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage onto the ballot. But since the Arizona constitution requires that a majority of the members elected must approve the measure, sixteen votes are needed for passage. When supporters of the ban realized that they didn’t have enough votes — Sen. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa) had gone on vacation — Sen. Linda Gray (R-Phoenix) ...

Yesterday’s vote by the Arizona Senate to advance an anti-marriage amendment to the voters fell short. But amendment supporters today vow to bring the measure back for another vote on Friday. The thirty-member chamber voted 14-11 to place a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage onto the ballot. But since the Arizona constitution requires that a majority of the members elected must approve the measure, sixteen votes are needed for passage. When supporters of the ban realized that they didn’t have enough votes — Sen. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa) had gone on vacation — Sen. Linda Gray (R-Phoenix) switched her ...

By Bill Boyarsky Watching the couples in line for licenses in Beverly Hills on the first day of gay marriage in California, I was struck by how the scene was so commonplace, even boring—just a bunch of men and women waiting their turn at a nondescript government office. It was another of the events of 2008 that could scarcely have been imagined a decade ago, coming after an African-American secured enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination and a woman came close to claiming it. I have seen social change take place over many years. I’ve been ...

California’s “Save Our Kids” Campaign have announced that they have given up on their efforts to overturn California’s Senate Bill 777. Signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last October, SB-777 provides an array of anti-discrimination and anti-bullying protections in California’s schools. An earlier attempt by opponents to force a referendum fell short, which led them to start a petition drive to put an initiative on the ballot. Now that this effort has failed, the Save Our Kids Campaign has announced that they will instead concentrate on passing a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. This follows similar ...