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Appeals court reverses Texas same-sex divorce case

LGBTQ Nation • Wednesday, September 1, 2010 • Filed under: Texas • Comments (0)

A Texas appeals court has ruled same-sex couples legally married in other states can’t get divorced in Texas. The ruling came in the case of a gay Dallas couple who had split up after getting married in Massachusetts in 2006.

In issuing the decision, the appeals court also ruled that the Texas same-sex marriage ban is constitutional.

The ruling from the 5th District Court of Appeals on Tuesday in the case, in the Matter of the Marriage of J.B. and H.B. (as they are identified in court records).

The couple filed for a divorce in Texas in January 2009. Massachusetts, which has allowed same-sex marriage since 2004, has a residency requirement for divorce.

[Equality Texas] issued this statement:

The Fifth District Court of appeals has taken the most extreme, the most conservative view possible on each issue before it. It’s not as if they wanted to just overturn the trial court’s decision, they wanted to smash it into ground and discourage anyone from ever filing a pro-LGBT suit ever again.
The ruling harkens back to a view of the world from generations past — a world where LGBT people were content to live in closets, and were afraid to demand to be treated with dignity and respect. A dignity and respect that this court goes out of its way to completely deny.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Presbyterian minister rebuked, praised for performing same-sex unions

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, August 27, 2010 • Filed under: California, Religion • Comments (0)

A retired Presbyterian minister was found guilty Friday by a church tribunal of presiding at the marriage of same-sex couples in 2008 and will be censured, pending an appeal.

The six-member panel announced its verdict in the case of the Rev. Dr. Jane Spahr, of San Francisco, who was accused of violating church law by performing 16 gay and lesbian ceremonies.

Spahr

After a four-day church trial that was equal parts Scripture lesson and celebration of marriage, a panel of church leaders from the Presbytery of the Redwoods voted 4-2 that Spahr should be censured because she “persisted in a pattern or practice of disobedience.”
But the six-person panel voted unanimously that the 68-year-old lesbian’s actions did not disrupt the “peace, unity and purity of the church” and praised her “faithful compassion” and her 35-year ministry to gays and lesbians throughout the country.

In its ruling, the panel called upon the church to re-examine its “fear and ignorance that continues to reject the inclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Continue reading…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Target, Best Buy feel investor backlash over political donation

LGBTQ Nation • Friday, August 20, 2010 • Filed under: Business, Minnesota • Comments (0)

After weeks of public protest over its financial support of an organization that backed a GOP gubernatorial candidate opposed to gay rights, Target Corp. now faces a new form of pressure: demands from institutional shareholders that it revamp its donation process to avoid the chance of additional backfires.

From the Los Angeles Times:

“Imprudent donations can potentially have a major negative impact on company reputations and business if they don’t carefully and fully assess a candidate’s positions,” said Tim Smith, a senior vice president at Walden Asset Management, one of three asset management firms that this week filed a resolution asking the retail giant to overhaul its campaign donation policies. He cautioned that funding ballot initiatives, as many corporations have done, “can similarly backfire.”
The three management firms sponsoring the resolution — Calvert Asset Management, Trillium Asset Management and Walden — together hold $57.5 million of Target stock. Other institutional investors, including the giant New York state pension fund and union investment managers, are considering co-signing the resolution, which calls on Target’s independent directors to review the criteria and risks in making donations to organizations active in political campaigns.

Retailers Target and Best Buy were among several Minnesota firms that gave large donations to MN Forward, a new tax-exempt committee running ads backing GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, a staunch opponent of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.

Best Buy has received the same shareholder resolution as Target, which calls for a far more rigorous and specific review by independent board members and for disclosure of the company’s contributions policy.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Target rejects HRC call for ‘make it right’ donation to gay causes

LGBTQ Nation • Monday, August 16, 2010 • Filed under: Business, Minnesota • Comments (0)

Target Corp. said Monday it has no plans to donate money to gay-friendly causes to quiet the protests over a $150,000 donation that helped support a Minnesota governor candidate who opposes gay marriage.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said the Minneapolis-based retailer had effectively rejected the group’s proposals to donate to gay rights organizations to offset the earlier donation.

In a statement, Target said:

“Given the current political and emotionally charged environment, we have concluded that it is best to wait before taking further external action regarding our MN Forward contribution. We believe that it is impossible to avoid turning any further actions into a political issue and will use the benefit of time to make thoughtful, careful decisions on how best to move forward.”

The HRC issued this statement:

“After two weeks of good-faith discussions -– and two tentative agreements –- with Target Corporation, the company has informed the HRC that it will take no corrective actions to repair the harm that it caused by contributing $150,000 to an organization supporting a vehemently anti-gay candidate closely associated with a Christian rock band that advocates death and violence to gay people. In response, HRC announced that it will devote $150,000 of its own resources to help elect a pro-equality governor and legislature in Minnesota. The next governor will likely have the opportunity to either sign or veto marriage equality legislation in the North Star State.
“All fair-minded Americans will now rightly question Target’s commitment to equality. If their initial contribution was a slap in the face, their refusal to make it right is a punch in the gut and that’s not something that we will soon forget,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Judge lifts stay in Prop 8 ruling; gay marriage could resume August 18

LGBTQ Nation • Thursday, August 12, 2010 • Filed under: California, Proposition 8 Trial • Comments (0)

Gay marriage in California could resume next week as a federal judge today denied defendant’s motion for a permanent stay to his decision to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that reinstated the ban on same-sex marriage, but extended the temporary stay another week.

Unless another stay is ordered by a higher court, today’s ruling creates a new window of opportunity for same-sex couples to marry, similar to May 2008, when the State Supreme Court overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriages. About 18,000 couples were married before Proposition 8 was passed by 52 percent of the vote that November.

Gay and lesbian couples lined up at San Francisco City Hall all morning in anticipation of today’s ruling, and officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other jurisdictions indicated that if Walker lifted the stay, they would be performing marriages today on a first come, first serve basis.

But the Judge’s ruling extended the temporary stay until 5 p.m. next Wednesday, August 18, effectively allowing Proposition 8 supporters time to appeal his decision to 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and dashing the hopes of hundreds of gay couples hoping to marry today.
Continue reading…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

LGBT groups turn up heat on Target; but is Best Buy getting off too easy?

LGBTQ Nation • Wednesday, August 11, 2010 • Filed under: Minnesota, Politics • Comments (0)

While the standoff between LGBT groups and Target stores heats up over a $150,000 political donation that helped fund an anti-gay candidate for Minnesota governor, Best Buy, who donated $100,000 to the same fund, has quietly escaped much of the protests and headlines.

Two weeks ago, Target Corporation came under fire from gay rights advocates for contributing to Minnesota Forward, a political action group that has come out in support of anti-gay gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage, who in 2007, authored a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage and civil unions, and on numerous occasions has tried to change language in bills that would prevent same-sex couples from receiving benefits.

Within hours, LGBT activists sprung into action, and launched a Boycott Target page on Facebook, and a blog TargetingGLBT, all in effort to pressure the company to rethink its political contributions.

Not more than a day later, it was also revealed that Richfield, MN-based Best Buy contributed to the same group. And while a Boycott Best Buy effort was launched on Facebook as well, it was buried among the Target headlines and to date, barely attracted one tenth of the supporters of the Boycott Target effort.
Continue reading…

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Florida GOP candidate trifecta: no gay marriage, adoption, or foster parenting

LGBTQ Nation • Tuesday, August 10, 2010 • Filed under: Family and Parenting, Florida • Comments (0)

Bill McCollum, Florida’s Attorney General and a Republican candidate for Governor, has made it clear he supports his state’s ban on gay adoption, and he doesn’t think gay people should be allowed to be foster parents, either.

McCollum

In an interview published in the Florida Baptist Witness, McCollum, who was embarrassed earlier this year when his key witness fighting Florida’s ban on gay adoption, Dr. George Rekers, was caught taking a European vacation with a male escort, said that he disagreed with Florida law that allows gays to serve as foster parents.

From the Florida Baptist Witness:

Do you support civil rights protections on the basis of sexual preference?

McCollum: I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. I believe that a family should consist of one man and one woman. I don’t believe in gay adoption. I don’t believe in involving the government in enforcing or encouraging the lifestyle of gays and homosexuals. I just don’t believe that.
Florida permits homosexuals to serve as foster parents. That has been used as an argument to undermine the ban on adoptions. Should homosexuals be permitted to serve as foster parents in Florida?
Well, I personally don’t think so, but that is the law.
Should the law be changed?
I think that it would be advisable. I really do not think that we should have homosexuals guiding our children. I think that it’s a lifestyle that I don’t agree with. I realize a lot of people do. It’s my personal faith, religious faith, that I don’t believe that the people who do this should be raising our children. It’s not a natural thing. You need a mother and a father. You need a man and a woman. That’s what God intended.

Early voting began Monday for the Florida Primary Election on August 24.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Police suspect ‘hate crime’ in stabbing attack after anti-gay rant on ‘Craigslist’

LGBTQ Nation • Sunday, August 8, 2010 • Filed under: Michigan • Comments (0)

A recent assault and carjacking in Battle Creek, Michigan, has now led to a possible hate crimes investigation after police discovered two anti-gay rants that appeared online in Craigslist postings.

On July 25th, police say a 45-year-old man was brutally stabbed multiple times in the head and neck after another man forced him at knife point to drive from a gas station to wooded area of the Leila Arboretum. The suspect fled, taking the victim’s car after a witness heard screaming and interrupted the attack.

Now Battle Creek police say the attack was likely a hate crime, reports the Battle Creek Enquirer:

Detective Sgt. Austin Simons, supervisor of the detective bureau, said Thursday that police are investigating an online posting which appeared the day after the attack on Craigslist, a classified advertisement website.
In the anonymous message, which has since been removed, the writer, using derogatory references to gays, alluded to the attack under the headline “I warned you, you dumb queer.” The message continued about the meeting at the park and “I e-mailed and said I have something … but you did not think it was a knife did you. Now you are in the hospital and your car is in the river. I warned you.”

According to the Michigan Messenger, a second anonymous post appeared on Craigslist, this time the poster denied responsibility in the assault.

The post was filled with anti-gay slurs and references to AIDS. The writer claims that the previous post was “to keep the fags out of the parks, and I am the one that did it. It is not safe to take children to parks or for a walk in the woods without running into a dick sucking party.”

Police said the first Craigslist posting included a photograph, which does seem to match the description of the attacker the victim gave police, of a stocky white man with a bald, shaved head.

Both posts have since been removed from the website.

Simons said police still are looking for the victim’s car, a copper-colored Toyota Matrix and the suspect, described as a stocky white man with bald or shaved head and wearing a black shirt the day of the attack.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was hospitalized for ten days.

With the suspicion that the stabbing may be a hate crime, Battle Creek Police have contacted the FBI to assist in the investigation.

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

NJ library bans gay teen book over complaint from Glenn Beck follower

LGBTQ Nation • Saturday, August 7, 2010 • Filed under: Books and Authors, New Jersey • Comments (7)

A controversial book aimed at gay teens has been banned in the Burlington County, NJ, public library, the decision of a lone librarian acting on a single complaint by a Glenn Beck follower.

The book, Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology — a collection of first-person essays by LGBT teen sharing their stories of coming out of the closet — was pulled from the county library after objections from Beverly Marinelli, a Lumberton, NJ woman and a member of the 9.12 Project, a conservative group founded by Beck, a Fox News Channel pundit.

Marinelli described the book as “pervasively vulgar and obscene.”

According to series of emails obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey through a Freedom of Information Act, the Library Commission supported the decision by Gail Sweet, the library’s director, to remove “Revolutionary Voices” from circulation, though “no official challenge” was made, and “no actual vote by the commissioners” was taken.

The emails reveal that Sweet not only wanted the book pulled off the library shelf, she wanted to get rid of any trace of it.

“How can we grab the books so they never, ever get back into circulation?” Sweet wrote to a fellow staffer. “Copies need to totally disappear, as it is not a good idea to send copies to the book sale.”

In April, Marinelli, along with others in the local chapter of the 9/12 Project, successfully lobbied in to have the book removed from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, NJ.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) describes “Revolutionary Voices,” edited by Amy Sonnie, as “the first creative resource by and for queer and questioning youth of every color, class, religion, gender and ability.”

The book features first-hand coming-out accounts from gay students, and “reflections on identity,” according to the School Library Journal, the largest and most authoritative reviewer of children’s and young adult content. It was named as one of the best adult books for high school students by the Journal in 2001.

Sweet cited her decision to remove the book was that it constituted “child pornography.”

The emails can be read here (PDF).

Previously from LGBTQ Nation:

Niece of Martin Luther King calls gay marriage ‘genocide’ at NOM rally

LGBTQ Nation • Saturday, August 7, 2010 • Filed under: Georgia • Comments (18)

Allowing gay couples to marry amounts to “genocide” and will lead to the “extinction” of the human race, said the niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a National Organization for Marriage rally in Atlanta on Saturday.

Alveda King (Photo: Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Speaking from the steps of the Georgia state capitol building, “Dr.” (as she refers to herself) Alveda King, emphasized the procreation aspect of the gay marriage debate and voiced her concerns that legalizing gay marriage would mean genocide.

“It is statistically proven that the strongest institution that guarantees procreation and continuity of the generations is marriage between one man and one woman. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to be extinct and none of us wants to be. We don’t want genocide, we don’t want to destroy the sacred institution of marriage.”

King, daughter of the late slain civil rights activist Rev. A. D. King, also spoke of her family’s commitment to strong marriages, including her uncle and “his lovely wife.”

She made no mention that Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, has spoken out in favor of gay marriage on numerous occasions and was a speaker at Atlanta’s Gay Pride festival in 1996.

(Note: King’s doctorate is an honorary degree, presented to her in 2001 by Saint Anselm College, an undergraduate institution.)

The Atlanta rally is latest stop in the NOM’s 23-city anti-gay “Summer of Marriage” roadshow, and attracted a crowd of — wait for it — about 20 supporters (although some reports say it was as high as 35, but we’re not counting the NOM speakers or the media).

The rally was outnumbered, as an estimated 300 gay marriage advocates rights lined the sidewalk across the street from the state capitol building, in a silent counter-protest to the NOM event.

Next stop for the NOM is a rally in Orlando on Sunday. In counter protest, hundreds – maybe thousands – of LGBT citizens and gay rights supporters plan a rally to celebrate and, as they promise in their press release, “spread a message of equality for all Americans.”