Sep 05, 2008   | COMMENTS     

DES MOINES (AP) — Looking back on their first year of marriage, Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan speak of their new puppy, visits with friends and divisions of labor. Fritz does the dishes and McQuillan handles the laundry. They also speak a bit more reluctantly about their status as Iowa’s only legally married same-sex couple. Since their marriage on Aug. 31, 2007, during the single day when gay marriage was legal in Iowa’s most populous county, the two have become spokespeople for the issue in the Midwest. McQuillan said that public role is difficult, but he knows it’s important. “We’re doing this because we have a responsibility. There’s people we know who would like to get married and I feel like it’s more of our civic duty,” he said. “And if we’re the people to actually do it, that’s fine, but I wouldn’t want to wish it on anybody else.” Although they’ve passed their first anniversary, the legal standing of the men’s marriage isn’t secure. Their marriage was prompted by Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling that a state law allowing marriage only between a man and a woman violates the constitutional rights of due process and equal protection. McQuillan and Fritz were the only couple to get married before Hanson stayed his decision. Now the case is in front of the Iowa Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is expected to hold oral arguments in the fall and could issue a decision next year. Just what would happen to Fritz and McQuillan’s union is unclear, and will depend on the wording of the court’s ruling.

Calif. prisons prepare to accommodate gay weddings

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Now that same-sex couples can get married in California, state prison officials are trying to figure out what that means for gay inmates. No prisoners so far have sought to arrange weddings with same-sex partners since the state Supreme Court granted same-sex couples the right to wed as of mid-June, according to Michele Kane, spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. Nonetheless, department lawyers are drafting guidelines to bring the state’s 33 adult prisons into compliance with the court’s ruling that same-sex couples must be treated the same as opposite-sex couples under the California Constitution, Kane said. What they have determined so far is that would mean allowing gay inmates to marry someone on the outside, but not a fellow prisoner — the same rules that apply to straight inmates, according to Kane. Prison officials were concerned that allowing two men or two women in the same prison to get married would pose safety and security concerns, according to Kane.

Boston police make arrest in suspected hate attack

BOSTON (AP) — Boston police have arrested a 28-year-old Framingham man accused of beating three gay men and their female friend in a suspected hate attack. Fabio Brandao was apprehended Aug. 29 and charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon. A police spokesperson said detectives are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime and additional charges are possible. The attack happened early Aug. 24 in Boston’s South End as the victims were leaving a club. The victims told police they were walking home when four men shouted anti-gay slurs and attacked them. Police said one man was beaten to the ground. A second suffered a gash above his right eye.

Hawaii college settles gay housing lawsuit

HONOLULU (AP) — The University of Hawaii has settled a discrimination lawsuit by a gay couple that claimed the school wouldn’t allow them to return to the housing area they had previously lived in because it was reserved for married couples. The university revised its policy on family housing to include same-sex couples as a result of the settlement. The policy took effect for the 2008-2009 school year. A $5,000 settlement was also reached for Joseph O’Leary and Phi Ngo, who have since moved to Virginia. “What the university is doing is fair, and both the university and clients are happy with the outcome,” said attorney Brian Chase of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, a national civil rights organization. Chase said he believes the suit is the first against a public university involving housing for same-sex couples.