Tuesday’s Gay News Includes: P.E.I. gets with the times; Mexico City Says “I Do”; The Next Fight in D.C.; Fear In Uganda; Gay Rights & Natural Law; And an Anti-gay Human Rights appointee. Human Rights: NZ Human rights appointee criticised as anti-gay Marriage News: - P.E.I. proclaims same-sex marriage amendments — Changes giving same-sex couples on P.E.I. all [...] ...

The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners split along party lines at their meeting Dec. 15, approving domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples 6-3. The county joins six other local North Carolina governments offering similar benefits. Several members of the public spoke on the domestic partner plan prior to the board’s vote. Those opposed cited moral reasons [...] ...

There's an interesting report out this week called "A Decade of Progress on LGBT Rights" written by one of the smartest (and least well-known) LGBT organizations, the Movement Advancement Project, (with funding from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr Fund) which puts where the LGBT community is now in a useful historical context.* Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: The number of states outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation increased 83 percent, from 12 to 22, between 2000 and 2009. The percentage of the U.S. population living in states banning discrimination based on sexual orientation soared from ...

At the beginning of 2000, marriage could not have been any less on my radar. I was out, proud, and dating. I was even open to the idea of lifetime commitment (even if I, at 20, was far too young for such a thing). But even with my self-contentment, love-searching, and general feeling that America at the end of Clinton was headed in the right direction, marriage equality didn't even seem within reasonable grip to me at the time. Now we're about to begin 2010. Same-sex couples have been marrying without incident in Massachusetts since 2004. California and Connecticut followed suit ...

CHARLOTTE — The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners split along party lines at their meeting Dec. 15, approving domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples 6-3. The county joins six other local North Carolina governments offering similar benefits. Several members of the public spoke on the domestic partner plan prior to the board’s vote. Those opposed cited [...] ...

D.C. Council approves same-sex marriage bill By Tim Craig Wednesday, December 16, 2009; A01 (washingtonpost.com) The District was on the verge Tuesday of becoming the sixth place in the country to legalize same-sex marriage after the council gave final approval to its bill allowing the unions. The legislation would allow gay couples from anywhere in the country to marry in the city. Those couples who live in the District would be entitled to all rights afforded to heterosexual married couples under District laws. Although a final signature on the bill by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) could come by the end of ...

Most cool! There are still some steps to go through, and hoping that Congress doesn’t interfere, but this is pretty happy news! D.C. City Council votes in favor of marriage equality From Family Equality Council: Today the District of Columbia (D.C.) City Council voted 11 to 2 in favor of marriage equality. Mayor Adrian Fenty has pledged to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. It is past time that our nation’s capital shows full support to the nearly 4,000 LGBT couples. Through its inclusive domestic partnership law, D.C. has been a longtime leader in ...

Backers of Proposition 8 do not have to turn over internal campaign documents as ordered by Judge Vaughn Walker in October, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday: "In a unanimous ruling Friday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit of Appeals tossed out the order that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued in October against backers of Prop. 8, which state voters approved in November 2008. Walker had said lawyers for two same-sex couples and a gay-rights group were entitled to see internal memos and e-mails between Yes on 8 strategists to look for evidence that the campaign had exploited prejudice ...

Austria's parliament approved a civil unions bill by a vote of 110 to 64 this week.The bill, slated to become law Jan. 1., will give same-sex couples a series of rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts, including access to a pension if one partner dies and alimony in the event of a split. It bans the adoption of children or artificial insemination."We are living in the 21st century and I'm very glad this step is being taken today," Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner said during parliamentary debate leading up to the vote.Christian Hoegl, co-president of the Homosexual Initiative Vienna, ...

God has yet to weigh in. But in Jersey, this is the next best thing: A BRIEF STATEMENT FROM BRUCE Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I've been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, "The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is -- a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law." I couldn't ...

As if there was any doubt, the only new Jerseyite who actually counts is supporting marriage equality in the Garden State. That's correct-- The Boss himself has placed the following statement on his website: "Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I've been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I've long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples... I urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now." Now if we can only get the ...

The Approval of Referendum 71 was made official Thursday December 3rd. From the official blog of the Washington State Secretary of State:Referendum 71, placed on the ballot by foes of same-sex marriage, was approved by a margin of more than 110,000 votes, or more than 6 percentage points. National media describe it as the country’s first voter-approved domestic partnership or “everything-but-marriage” law. The new law had been on hold pending the public vote, and will now go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, 30 days after the Nov. 3 General Election. The law is Senate ...

Following on the devastating defeat of a marriage equality bill by a vote of 24-38 in neighboring New York thanks to the defection of feckless Democrats and duplicitous Republicans, New Jersey State Senators will get their chance to weigh in on the rights of same-sex couples to have equal access to civil marriage on Tuesday December 7th during a Judiciary Committee hearing and floor vote on Thursday December 10th."On Thursday (Dec. 10) the full Senate is going to vote on marriage equality," said [State Senator Raymond J. ] Lesniak [D-Union], a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. ...

In Saturday's Los Angeles Times, the op-ed page published an article condemning the recently released (and widely condemned) Manhattan Declaration, a statement signed by more than a hundred evangelicals which explicitly, almost violently, anti-gay.Last week, a group of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders released a “declaration” reminding fellow believers that "Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required." Then, after a specious invocation of King, the 152 signers hurl this anathema at those who would enact laws protecting abortion or extending the rights of civil (not religious) marriage to same-sex couples:"Because we honor justice ...

Demographer Gary Gates explains to NPR’s Jennifer Ludden the changes that will be made for the 2010 census which will, for the first time, count same-sex couples who identify themselves as spouses. Gates is a senior research fellow at the UCLA School of Law and has authored several reports by the school’s Williams Institute that have parsed through census data to extract information about LGBT couples. He calls the changes in the 2010 census forms “a first and very preliminary step to responding to the legal complexities of same-sex couples.” [Hear audio clip after the break] ...

In a strange twist of circumstances, a heterosexual couple interested in obtaining a civil union in the UK has been barred from doing so. The reason? Civil unions are only for gay people. Heteros can only be “married” and only by a member of a church.The couple is supported by Peter Thatchell, one of the UK’s most prominent gay rights activists. No civil union for straight pair Image courtesy of BCCnews A heterosexual couple have been refused permission to register for a civil partnership. Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle said they want to challenge “discriminatory” UK laws which restrict civil partnerships to ...

Unless Congress acts before the end of the year to renew the law the federal estate tax will disappear for one year in 2010 before returning with a much higher tax rate in 2011. Congress is currently rushing to modify the donut-hole in the current law, by passing a temporary extension of the current law. But, unless additional changes are made to it, the law will continue to place a much higher burden on the surviving spouse of a gay or lesbian couple, a new report from Williams Institute finds. “As Congress turns to legislation in December ...

New York’s highest court on Thursday rejected two challenges filed by a Christian legal advocacy group that sought to deny legal recognition of marriages granted to same-sex couples by other other states or countries. But LGBT and marriage equality advocates said it was a small victory, because the decision was narrowly written and applied to a relatively small number of people, New York Times reports. The court stopped short of declaring same-sex marriage in New York legal, saying that such a decision should be left to the state legislature, Ithica Journal reports. “We end … expressing our hope ...

Speaking about the high possibility that the District of Columbias will soon approve marriage equality, professional "pro-family" personality Allan Carlson says the following: "[Marriage is] where the future comes from. It's where future citizens come from," he said. "Same-sex marriage, by definition, can't do that. It is, by definition, sterile." D.C. Election Board Refuses to Allow Marriage Vote [CitizenLink] Okay, let's think about this for a second. Of all of the components that make up a same-sex marriage, it is inability to reproduce that Mr. Carlson says is the "definition." Not love. Not commitment. Not the civil rights ...

It is utterly amazing what the US right believes:Katie Couric was persecuting Sarah Palin during the famous interview when Ms. Couric was desperately trying to help Palin answer the questions but Palin still screwed it up.Japan's Emperor Akihito, who has no governing powers, is a "despot."Anyone who stands up to a rightist bully is just plain mean.Abortion is "murder," but letting people starve without food stamps is just fine.Global Warming is a "myth" but supply side economics is not.Governments ration healthcare, but insurance companies do not.Rudy Giuliani is the "hero of 911" despite the fact that he put NYC's terrorism ...