Oct 15, 2004   | COMMENTS     

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court last week refused to strike an anti-gay marriage amendment from the state general election ballot, ruling in a split decision that the proposal, as presented to voters, is sufficiently clear. Backed by more than 200,000 signatures, the Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee proposes changing the Arkansas Constitution to read “Marriage consists only of the union of one man and one woman.” The proposed amendment would bar the state from recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere. Common-law marriages from out-of-state would be recognized only if they involve two people of different genders. The court voted 5-2 to present the issue to voters. State Sen. Jim Holt (R-Springdale) who is running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), welcomed the court’s decision. “When you have 200,346 people sign a petition, their voices need to be heard,” Holt said. “We have a right to vote on that and I’m glad the Supreme Court of Arkansas did the right thing.”

Gay Republican group challenges ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gay Republican group plans to file a lawsuit asking a federal court to overturn the U.S. government’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy covering gays in the military. Log Cabin Republican leaders said they have filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Los Angeles. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, put into place in 1993 during the Clinton administration, allows gays to serve so long as they do not disclose their sexual orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts. Log Cabin members serving in the military asked the group’s leaders over the past four months to take legal action, the group’s attorney, Marty Meekins, said Tuesday. They did not come forward because of a specific incident, but simply because “of fear of the military finding out their sexual orientation,” Meekins said. “This case is fundamentally about correcting a misguided governmental policy based on prejudice toward gay and lesbian Americans,” he added. While it’s not the first challenge of the policy, Log Cabin officials say they are encouraged by a historic Supreme Court decision in 2003 that struck down a Texas law that made homosexual sodomy a crime.

UNC students stage kiss-in to draw attention to gay rights
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Gay students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gathered on campus last week for a kiss-in to draw attention to what they say is a double standard in society. For 15 minutes, couples, and sometimes threesomes, kissed in a public display of affection. The Flaunt Your Sexuality Kiss-in, organized by the UNC Committee for a Queerer Carolina, drew about 30 students. “A lot of the time, there is blatant homophobia on this campus. I don’t think these kinds of barriers should stand,” organizer Win Chesson said.

Calif. A.G. says state constitution OKs laws against same-sex marriage
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman do not run afoul of the California Constitution, Attorney General Bill Lockyer has declared in a long-awaited legal opinion that sought to avoid offending either side in the gay marriage debate. Meeting a judge’s deadline to answer a pair of lawsuits seeking to put California on par with Massachusetts, Lockyer said last week it was up to voters or the Legislature to decide whether to change “the common and traditional understanding” of matrimony that “pre-dates the founding of this state or nation. Rights are considered fundamental only if they are deeply rooted and firmly entrenched in our state’s history and tradition,” he said. “There is simply no deeply rooted tradition of same-sex marriage in California or in any other state.” The lawsuits claim California’s marriage laws violate the constitution’s anti-discrimination provisions, an argument Lockyer rejected while noting state lawmakers have taken significant steps toward granting spousal benefits to gay couples.

Pa. judge has ‘serious doubts’ about suit against gay couple
NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — A judge has indicated that he likely will rule against a dozen state lawmakers who tried to strengthen the state’s ban on same-sex marriages by suing two gay men who want to marry. Bucks County Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg said at a hearing ...