Some state lawmakers and gay marriage advocates are hoping to repeal a 1913 law that in 2004 was used to prevent out-of-state gay and lesbian couples from traveling to Massachusetts to be legally married: "The 1913 statute prevents Massachusetts from sanctioning marriages that are not legal in the state where the couple lives. The law was enacted in part to prevent interracial couples from evading their own state's ban by traveling to Massachusetts to marry. It was a little-used and rarely enforced law until opponents used it to prevent out-of-state gay couples from getting married in Massachusetts after the ...

“In a move likely to fuel controversy within the broader denomination, one United Methodist Church legislative body in California has gone on record supporting those who enter into same-sex marriage and another has commended pastors who agree to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.” [DMN] ...

The Campaign for Children and Families (and sweet, bug-eyed kittens who will delight you with their antics) failed to get Kern County (CA) to pass a county-wide ban on same sex marriage. Apparently, in a show of activist lawyer-ing, the county lawyer pointed out that, technically, a county can not pass an ordinance in violation of the state constitution. A frustrated spokesperson suggested the CCF-ASBKWWDY will adopt their second plan, which involves walking around huffily and shaking their fist angrily towards Sacramento. ...

“Kern County supervisors refused to ban gay marriage, rebutting a conservative group that sought to make it the first California county to reject the statewide policy. The Campaign for Children and Families hoped the passage of a gay marriage ban in Kern County would embolden other counties to follow suit. But supervisors declined to act on the measure after Bernard Barmann, the county’s lawyer, said it would be illegal for the county to adopt its own same-sex marriage ban.” [AP] ...

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Kern County supervisors refused to ban gay marriage, rebutting a conservative group that sought to make it the first California county to reject the statewide policy. The Campaign for Children and Families hoped the passage of a gay marriage ban in Kern County would embolden other counties to follow suit. But supervisors declined to act on the measure after Bernard Barmann, the county's lawyer, said it would be illegal for the county to adopt its own same-sex marriage ban. The Kern County clerk's office stopped offering all marriage ceremonies on June 15, the day before gay marriage ...

Kern County supervisors refused to ban gay marriage, rebutting a conservative group that sought to make it the first California county to reject the statewide policy. The Campaign for Children and Families hoped the passage of a gay marriage ban in Kern County would embolden other counties to follow suit. But supervisors declined to act on the measure after Bernard Barmann, the county's lawyer, said it would be illegal for the county to adopt its own same-sex marriage ban. The Kern County clerk's office stopped offering all marriage ceremonies on June 15, the day before gay marriage became legal. ...

“The issue of same-sex marriage is slated to be a hot topic at the Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. A local group asked the board to create a local ordinance making same-sex marriage illegal in the county. However, county officials denied the request because state law trumps local law and gay marriage is legal in the state.” [KERO-23] ...

Janice Shaw Crouse at the Concerned Women For America has broken down Barack and John's stances on same-sex marriage, at least in the way that she perceives them through her anti-gay nuptials lens. Check it out: Helpful. But even more helpful are the bullet points that we, in an exclusive to G-A-Y, have learned were left off of Crouse's silly chart: McCain

• Once wore pink, but only on a dare
• In 2003, bought an end table from West Elm after seeing it on "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy." Yet swears he did so only so that it could get a plain

...

Some Mormons are rejecting their prophet's call to campaign for a ban on same-sex marriage in California, suggesting the church leadership's sway over the issue of homosexuality may be weakening. In a letter circulated to all the state's congregations June 29, President and Prophet Thomas Monson called on Mormons to "do all you can" to support the November ballot measure "by donating of your means and time." The church strongly supported a successful 2000 California proposition that prohibited same-sex unions. The state Supreme Court struck down the measure May 15, opening the door for same-sex marriages. The intervening years ...

Gay marriage in California could both help and hinder Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial hopes. The mayor of San Francisco, who infamously issued same-sex marriage licenses in 2004, will certainly benefit from the state’s Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling this year. While gays, youth and progressives could help him clinch the Democratic nomination, analysts suggest a different statewide playing field: Republican political analyst Dan Schnur, who is not affiliated with any gubernatorial campaign, said the gay-marriage issue should help the two-term San Francisco mayor in the primary, but the general election is another matter. Republicans have long succeeded by exploiting the “San ...

Louise Young and her partner, Vivienne Armstrong, have been together for 37 years, but the same-sex couple are still two single people in the eyes of Texas law. Like others in their 60s and approaching retirement, the Dallas women are thinking about the next stage of life and what to do if their health fails. Because they don't enjoy the rights automatically granted to married couples, they've turned to legal advisers to make sure each will have a say in the other's fate. "We've done everything possible to draft documents that reflect our commitment to each other," Young said. They've ...