Blue Spot

Gays get right to marry in US state Connecticut - International Herald Tribune

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut: Same-sex couples exchanged vows Wednesday for the first time in Connecticut amid cheers and tears of joy, while gay activists planned protests across the country over the vote that took away their right to marry in California.

Surrounded by red roses and smiles, Jody Mock and Elizabeth Kerrigan, who led the lawsuit that that overturned the state law, emerged from West Hartford's town hall to the cheers of about 150 people and waved their marriage license high.

"We feel very fortunate to live in the state of Connecticut, where marriage equality is valued, and hopefully other states will also do what is fair," Kerrigan said.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a 2005 civil union law designed to give them the same rights as married couples. A lower-court judge entered a final order permitting same-sex marriage Wednesday morning. Massachusetts is the only other state that allows gay marriages.

Gay marriage advocates said they were planning nationwide demonstrations this weekend in more than 175 cities and outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington. A Seattle blogger was trying to organize simultaneous protests outside statehouses and city halls in every state Saturday.

In New York City, several hundred protesters planned to march later Wednesday on the Mormon Temple in Manhattan. The church had encouraged its members to support the California ban.

Outside City Hall in New Haven, bubbles and white balloons bounced in the chilly autumn air as well-wishers cheered the marriage of Peg Oliveira and Jennifer Vickery.

Labels: Gay marriage, Gay rights

Florida, Arizona & California ban gay marriage, as vote count on Ca.'s Proposition 8 finalized

West Coast voters reversed a May court decision allowing gay marriage by passing a constitutional amendment that limits weddings to heterosexual couples. The stunning turnaround was one of several votes against gay rights in ballot propositions, with Arizona and Florida blocking same-sex unions.

In Arkansas, voters banned unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents - a move aimed at keeping gays and lesbians from taking in children.

In California, the vote capped the most expensive social issues campaign in U.S. history - with the two sides raising more than $70 million.

"It's a blow to civil rights. I'm very sad that people can't recognize that," said Stephanie Anne Davies, 47, a writer from Brooklyn. She married her partner of 13 years, Bea Anne Hanson, in San Francisco last month.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has said the measure should not affect the estimated 16,000 gay couples who married after the California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage earlier this year.

In another intriguing California initiative, handcuffs for hookers in San Francisco will remain both a boon and a bother. Voters rejected a proposal to bar police from arresting prostitutes, which would have offered tacit legitimacy for the world's oldest profession.

In other states:

Connecticut: Voters protected last month's court ruling approving gay marriage.
Washington: Voters said yes to medically assisted suicide.
Colorado: Voters rejected a first-of-its-kind proposal that defined life as beginning at conception.
Massachusetts: Suspects arrested with an ounce or less of marijuana won't face criminal charges - just surrender of their stash and payment of a $100 fine.
Michigan: Medical patients can register to legally grow, buy and use marijuana.

Labels: Civil Rights, Gay marriage, Gay rights

Gov. Spitzer Unveils Gay Marriage Bill - News - MSNBC.com

NEW YORK - Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, following through on a campaign pledge, unveiled a bill Friday to legalize gay marriage in New York.

But the powerful Republican leader of the state Senate immediately declared himself still opposed to the notion of having New York join neighboring Massachusetts as the only states permitting same-sex marriage.

Labels: Civil Rights, Gay marriage, Local