NY Lawmakers Reject Same-Sex Marriage Bill
State lawmakers for New York decided on Wednesday to reject a bill that would have made their state the sixth to allow gay marriage. The measure needed thirty-two votes in order to pass, and failed by a margin that was significantly wider than expected. The bill was eight votes short, instead failing with a twenty-four [...]
Rabbis, Heterosexuals Join Gay Marriage Debate
The debate over whether to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey has attracted some speakers that have previously been silent. Several rabbis from a community of Orthodox Jews have spoken out against the legalization of gay marriage. The sudden interest comes from state lawmakers considering whether or not to push forward a bill that would [...]
California Movement to Ban Divorce Underway
A satirical political movement is underway to ban divorce in California. The movement, spearheaded by John Marcotte, is an attempt to show the foolishness of banning gay marriage in order to “uphold the sanctity of marriage” in a state with a tremendous divorce rate. He says that if the legislation passed last year is truly [...]
DC Board Bans Anti-Gay Marriage Effort
Washington, D.C.’s Board of Ethics and Elections says that a measure attempting to ban same-sex marriages will not be allowed on the city’s ballot. The ruling, which was announced on Tuesday, denies opponents of same-sex marriage to put the issue to a popular vote. The City Council is currently considering a measure allowing same-sex couples [...]
Justice of the Peace Resigns over Interracial Wedding
Keith Bardwell has refused to marry at least four interracial couples in the last two-and-a-half years. Bardwell served as a Justice of the Peace in Louisiana until last week, when he resigned. His one-sentence statement to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said: “I do hereby resign the office of Justice of the Peace for [...]
Maine Voters Reject Same-Sex Marriage
Voters in Maine have repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry, making this yet another blow in a series of defeats for the gay rights movement. The defeat came especially hard as Maine is situated in the corner of the country that most heavily supports gay rights. Gay marriage has [...]
Expulsion of Grieving Spouses Rule Ended
President Barack Obama recently signed into law a bill that terminates a rule that made newly-married foreigners vulnerable to expulsion if their American spouses died within two years of marriage. The rule also required the expulsion to take place before their application for permanent residence was approved. Commonly known as “the widows’ penalty,” the rule [...]
NY Gay Marriage Bill Expected to Pass
David Paterson, the governor of New York, said on Thursday that he expects to be signing a same-sex marriage bill into law in the coming weeks. Paterson also said he expects the Senate to give the measure its final legislative approval, making New York the seventh state to legalize same-sex marriage. Paterson said that he [...]
Court Upholds Couple’s Split, Aired on YouTube
A New York court of appeals sided with a Broadway mogul after he was involved in an ugly divorce that played out on YouTube. The state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division upheld a ruling by a lower court granting Philip Smith a divorce from his ex-wife Tricia Walsh-Smith on Tuesday. The court declared their prenuptial agreement [...]
Louisiana Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License
A white justice of the peace from Louisiana recently said that he refused to issue an interracial couple a marriage license out of concern for any children they might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says that it has been his experience that interracial couples do not last very long. “I’m [...]