Feb 11, 2005   | COMMENTS     

ALBANY, New York (AP) — A judge reinstated criminal charges last week against a small-town mayor who got in trouble for marrying a series of gay couples last year. New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West was hit with 24 misdemeanor counts shortly after marrying about two dozen gay couples last February, helping ignite a heated nationwide debate over same-sex marriage. But the charges were later dismissed by a town court judge who said there were constitutional problems in banning gay marriages. Ulster County Court Judge J. Michael Bruhn resurrected the case Feb. 2, saying public officials cannot pick and choose which laws to obey. He said the case was not about the constitutionality of gay marriage, but whether West lived up to his oath of office to uphold the law. The case will now go to trial, barring a successful appeal by West’s lawyers. Attorney Joshua Rosenkranz said no decision had been made yet on whether to appeal, but added that, “I know that Jason West is chomping at the bit to face a jury of his peers.”

Wash. judge rules in same-sex relationship property split
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A judge has awarded $6,150 to a Spokane woman to settle a dispute over property her lesbian partner bought during their 11-year relationship and sold after they separated. The amount was far less than Roseanne Day sought from Linda Kelsh, who retired Spokane County Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke said bore the majority of household costs during the couple’s “meretricious,” or marriage-like, relationship that ended in December 2002. Day sued in 2003, contending she should have half of the proceeds of undeveloped land the couple acquired in 1990 on Long Lake, also known as Lake Spokane. Kelsh sold the property after the couple separated. Clarke found that that Day’s property interest was overwhelmed by Kelsh’s contributions to the household.

Federal officials nix ‘Buster’ producer from speaker list
BALTIMORE — An invitation to Carol Greenwald, executive producer of the children’s show “Postcards from Buster,” to speak at a television conference has been rescinded by the U.S. Department of Education, according to news reports. A PBS official told the media that the withdrawn invitation for Greenwald to speak at a Feb. 11 children’s television conference came last week following criticism by Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings about an episode of “Postcards from Buster” that included two Vermont lesbian couples. According to PBS Executive Vice President Wayne Godwin, PBS President Pat Mitchell planned to send a letter to Department of Education leaders to urge them to reinstate Greenwald on the conference schedule, news outlets reported. Spellings spoke out Jan. 25 against the “Buster” episode in a letter to PBS, saying, “Congress’ and the [Education] Department’s purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children.”

Buying power of gay adults to reach $610 billion: report
WASHINGTON — A newly released study shows that the buying power of gay, lesbian and bisexual adults in the United States is projected to reach $610 billion, up by $30 billion from the 2004 estimate, according to media reports. The analysis by Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts notes that measuring the buying power of a particular group “is a reliable business tool for companies,” Witeck-Combs CEO Bob Witeck told news outlets. “We’ve long known that gay Americans come from all walks of life and are found within our entire economy,” Justin Nelson, co-founder of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, told the media. “Accurate measures of buying power reflect the dynamic contributions we make as consumers, employees, investors, executives and entrepreneurs.” Estimates of the buying power of gay Americans may be conservative, considering several factors that generally result in higher estimated household income for gays, media reports indicate.

Opponents of civil unions target Vermont Supreme Court justices
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Critics of civil unions, who lost in the legislative battle five years ago and have been rebuffed at the polls ever since, turned their ire last week on the Supreme Court justices whose 1999 ruling set the sea change in motion. “Justices take an oath to uphold the constitution the way it is written, not an ...