(Washington Post photo)

The above photo of Jeremy Ames, left, and Taka Ariga was taken last week when the District of Columbia began accepting applications for same-sex marriages, and ran on the newspaper’s front page and online March 4.

But according to Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander, the photo has drawn an unusual amount of criticism from readers.

Several readers wrote to suggest that a snapshot of two men kissing doesn’t belong in a family newspaper. One reader went so far as to say, “That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up.”

At last count, the photo has caused 27 Post readers to cancel their subscriptions. But earlier this week, Alexander offered this unequivocal defense of the photo and its placement:

Did the Post go too far? Of course not. The photo deserved to be in newspaper and on its Web site, and it warranted front-page display.

News photos capture reality. And the prominent display reflects the historic significance of what was occurring. The recent D.C. Council decision to approve same-sex marriage was the culmination of a decades-long gay rights fight for equality. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the District. The photo of Ames and Ariga kissing simply showed joy that would be exhibited by any couple planning to wed – especially a couple who previously had been denied the legal right to marry.

There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change.

In other words… get over it!

McMillen

At the center of the lawsuit is a memorandum from the school that was circulated to students on February 5, which stated that prom dates must be of the opposite sex.

School officials told Constance McMillen, 18, last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo, according to court documents.

When the ACLU got involved (PDF), pointing out the discrimination issue, the school district cited “distractions to the educational process” and canceled the prom for all students.

“All I wanted was the same chance to enjoy my prom night like any other student. But my school would rather hurt all the students than treat everyone fairly,” said the student, 18-year-old Constance McMillen, in an ACLU news release.

“This isn’t just about me and my rights anymore — now I’m fighting for the right of all the students at my school to have our prom.”

Superintendent Teresa McNeece also told McMillen that she and her girlfriend could be ejected from the prom if any of the other students complained about their presence there, according to court documents.

The ACLU claims that Constance McMillen’s First Amendment right to freely express herself was taken away, and is asking that the U.S. District Court have the school’s prom reinstated.

The group also charged the school district with violating Constance McMillen’s first amendment rights.

From CNN:

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was on hand to witness four of the five couples signing their marriage certificates at the end of a 20-minute ceremony, Mexico’s official news agency reported. A fifth couple, flying in from another state to take advantage of the new measure, arrived late and was married after the others.

“Today is a historic day,” Civil Registry Judge Hegel Cortes said at Thursday’s ceremony, according to the Notimex news agency. “It solidifies the evolution of one of the most important rights.”

Mexico City’s legislature gave same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children last December. Although same-sex ceremonies are only legally performed in Mexico City, the marriages themselves are recognized anywhere in the country.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the law, but didn’t delay today’s marriages.

McMillen
(Family photo via ACLU Mississippi)

A Mississippi high school has called off the annual senior prom after a lesbian student demanded she be allowed to bring her girlfriend.

The Itawamba County school board announced Wednesday it would cancel the Itawamba County Agricultural High School prom, after the ACLU demanded the district change its policy requiring only opposite-sex prom dates.

“Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year,” school board members said in a statement released through the district’s attorney. “It is our hope that private citizens will organize an event for the juniors and seniors.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes anyone,” the message concluded.

School officials told Constance McMillen, 18, last month that she could not bring her sophomore girlfriend to the prom and also told her she could not wear a tuxedo.

McMillen contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, which earlier this month issued a letter (PDF) demanding the school change its policy.

The letter gave the district until today to decide on a course of action.

The ACLU said it receives up to 10 complaints a year from gay and lesbian students who feel they’ve been discriminated against.

The issue is now a topic on Capitol Hill. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., has introduced federal legislation making discrimination in schools based on sexual orientation illegal.

More at the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

Massa

Former U.S. congressman, Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) Tuesday night refused to answer a blunt question by CNN’s Larry King: “are you gay?”

Massa is accused of groping male staffers and the House ethics committee is currently investigating the claims.

He has denied touching any member of his staff sexually but did admit to “tickling” several staffers at his 50th birthday party.

After King asked the question, Massa responded:

“Here’s my answer, I’m not going to answer that. In the year 2010? Why don’t you ask my wife, ask my friends. Ask the 10,000 sailors I served with in the Navy.”

Watch here:

The 50-year-old Democrat has been slapped with multiple allegations of inappropriately groping his male staffers.

From an interview with Glen Beck earlier this week, responding to the groping charges:

“Yeah, I did. Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th birthday. It was kill the old guy…. This was at a townhouse. We all lived together. All the bachelors and me, because nobody could afford, in Washington, DC, to pay the outrageous rents,” said Massa.

On March 5, Massa announced that he would resign his seat on March 8, 2010, citing as reasons a recurrence of cancer, the pending investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, and pressure from the Democratic leadership to step down after opposing the health care reform bill.

Cuccinelli

Students across Virginia put spring break on hold this week to mobilize against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has riled student groups with a letter advising public universities to retreat from their policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

More than 5,000 people have joined the Facebook page “We Don’t Want Discrimination In Our State Universities And Colleges!” and nearly 1,000 joined another, started by activists at the College of William and Mary.

The University of Virginia group Queer & Allied Activism urged students to protest on Cuccinelli’s Facebook page and on Twitter.

Last week, in a letter to Virginia’s public universities, Cuccinelli said they could not adopt policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation “absent specific authorization from the General Assembly.”

All of Virginia’s largest state schools have adopted anti-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) indicated Monday that he might sign legislation extending legal protections on the basis of sexual orientation if it were to pass the General Assembly.

“I’d consider it,” he said. “I’d have to look at the legal arguments for it.”

But the GOP-led House of Delegates has declined twice this year to act on similar proposals.

Plum

On Tuesday, a Northern Virginia delegate unsuccessfully tried a parliamentary maneuver to force a floor vote on a measure that would ban discrimination in public employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

Del. Ken Plum (D), moved to revive the gay-rights bill that had languished in a House subcommittee, saying the legislature must respond to Cuccinelli’s recent missive.

The House voted against floor consideration of the bill 55 to 42.

Read Cuccinelli’s letter here (pdf).

Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend wed Tuesday in D.C. (Image: CNN)

Same-sex couples began marrying in Washington D.C, on Tuesday, with some lining up as early as 3:30 a.m. to pick up their licenses from D.C. Superior Court.

More than 300 same-sex couples have applied for a license since the application process began last Wednesday.

Angelisa Young, 47, and Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, were the first couple in line Wednesday to apply for a license, and were the first couple to officially wed in D.C. on Tuesday morning in a ceremony at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters in downtown Washington.

Watch their ceremony here, courtesy CNN:

The 13-member D.C. Council voted in December in favor of the Marriage Equality Act, making D.C. the sixth jurisdiction in the country to legalize gay marriage — joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Opponents of the legislation tried unsuccessfully to stop it from passing, including asking the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a temporary injunction.

Florida lawmakers are hoping to pass a $75 million incentive package to attract movie studios to film in the sunshine state, but a little noticed provision could deny tax credits to movies that feature gay characters or other “non-traditional” families.

Current state law gives tax credits on productions that are “family friendly,” i.e. no smoking, sex, nudity, or profane language.

But the new bill, proposed by Republican Stephen Precourt, would not only increase the tax credit, but expand the field of disqualified productions to include any which “exhibit or imply any act” of “non-traditional family values” and films with “gratuitous violence.”

Florida Family Policy Council President John Stemberger said non-traditional family values could include anything from “drug abuse to excessive drunkenness to homosexual families.”

(That’s what he said — users, boozers and queers.)

“Let me define it in the positive,” said Gov. Charlie Crist. “A traditional family is a marriage between a man and a woman. That’s traditional.”

Precourt claimed he’s not targeting the gay community, but said he doesn’t want to invest public dollars in shows with gay characters.

And while Hayes finally opens up, he never quite gives a “Yes, I’m gay” soundbite.

“I am who I am,” Hayes told the Advocate. “I was never in, as they say. Never.”

But offering a few choice words for the gay press, including The Advocate — which long criticized his silence — Hayes dismisses any notion that he should have come out sooner.

“Nobody owes anything to anybody,” he says. “You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?”

To this day, Hayes feels burned by a story that ran in the Advocate in anticipation of the series finale of Will & Grace.

Titled ‘Sean Hayes: The Interview He Never Gave,’ the one-page ‘Q&A’ was a clip job of quotes he’d given to other publications through the years that made him look rather silly for pretending no one knew he was gay.

And Hayes gets right to the point:

“I feel like I’ve contributed monumentally to the success of the gay movement in America, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to it. You’re welcome, Advocate.”

That sarcasm and anger cover up years of genuinely hurt feelings.

“Why would you go down that path with somebody who’s done so much to contribute to the gay community?” he asks. “That was my beef about it. What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It’s never enough.

In the interview, Hayes explains that he really believed that if he didn’t share his personal life, he wouldn’t be typecast. However, studio execs, he feels, couldn’t get past the “Jack” persona, despite the ambiguity of his personal life.

Read the full interview at Advocate.com.

“I am gay,” said state Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield, breaking his silence on a conservative AM talk-radio show. “Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.”

Ashburn

The admission follows days of intense scrutiny and ended mounting speculation that began last week when Ashburn was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on March 3.

A Sacramento television station reported that Ashburn was at a popular gay dance club that night and several people have said they have seen the senator at gay bars in the city.

Ashburn’s sexual orientation is at issue because he has one of the staunchest records of voting against bills that would expand rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Californians.

He defended his voting record, saying he cast votes that his constituents wanted.

“I felt my duty — and I still feel this way — is to represent my constituents, not my own point of view, not my own internal conflict,” Ashburn told KERN Radio host Inga Barks.

Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California, said Monday that he hopes the senator’s revelation will lead him to change his voting patterns.

“Equality California looks forward to working with the Senator to use his experience to educate the people in his district on why he deserves the same rights and privileges as a gay man as any other Californian,” Kors said in a statement.

Ashburn said he does not plan to run for any public office after his term ends this year.

Barr

In a post on her blog Thursday, outspoken comedian Roseanne Barr has pulled no punches in her comments on the recent suicide of Marie Osmond’s son, Michael Bryan (a.k.a. Blosil), saying it had nothing to do with depression, and everything to do with the Mormon church’s position on homosexuality.

Writes Barr:

Marie Osmond’s poor gay son killed himself … because he had been told how wrong and how sick he was every day of his life by his church and the people in it. Calling that “depression” is a lie!

Yet the Osmonds still talk lovingly about their church, saying nothing about its extremely anti-gay Crusade. Marie also has a gay daughter! Hey, I want her and all the gay kids in the world to know that they are just fine being gay and that they deserve love and respect instead of insults and rebuke! I have gay people in my family and my circle of friends and I am kicking bigot ass and taking names!

Barr adds that she knows so many Mormon kids who were gay and committed suicide, and that she “just cannot and will not stay quiet in order to not offend bigots anymore. It is all so terribly depressing.”

In a second post on Friday, Barr added:

Dear Michael,

if I had been your mom, I would have told you that some of the greatest and smartest and most artisitic people who ever lived were gay. I would have shielded you from bigots who tore at your soul, like the ones that unfortunately were closest to you.
to all the gay mormon children out there in the world, I will be your mom!
I love you!

Bryran (who legally changed his last name from Blosil to Bryan) jumped to his death from the eighth floor of his apartment building in Los Angeles on February 26.

While the Osmond family has not publically spoken of Bryan’s sexual orientation, it has been widely speculated that he was conflicted over his sexuality. At least one tabloid has quoted “family insiders” as saying Bryan didn’t believe he could ever come out as a gay man to his religious Mormon family.

Bryan, who was 18 at the time of his death, had entered rehab for substance abuse when he was 16 and had battled depression for much of his life.

Read the full blog entry here >

Cuccinelli

In the latest move by Virginia’s new, anti-gay Republican leadership, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has urged the state’s colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a letter Thursday to the presidents, rectors and boards of visitors of Virginia public colleges, Cuccinelli said that the law and public policy of Virginia “prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation’, ‘gender identity’, ‘gender expression’ or like classification, as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy, absent specific authorization from the General Assembly.“

Most of the state’s public universities have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Today they were exploring how to react to Cuccinelli’s letter.

Cuccinelli (R), who took office in January, said the General Assembly has defined protected classes on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, age, marital status or disability, but “on numerous occasions considered and rejected creating a protected class on the basis of sexual orientation.”

Last month, just two weeks after taking office, Republican governor Bob McDonnell quietly signed an executive order to prohibit discrimination “on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities.”

McDonnell’s order effectively rescinded an earlier order by his predecessor, Democrat Tim Kaine, signed Jan. 14, 2006, that included sexual orientation in the state’s non-discrimination policy.

The current law, dubbed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” calls for service members to be discharged if they disclose that they are homosexual.

(Photo credit: Jeff Sheng, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" series, www.jeffsheng.com)

Lieberman introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, legislation that would lift the ban and prohibit discrimination against gay service members.

The law “is inconsistent with our most important national values and diminishes our military readiness,” Lieberman told reporters.

Leading Senate Democrats pledged to move quickly to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces rather than wait, as the Pentagon has requested, for the military to complete a lengthy review.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said he expects his panel to take up the measure in May as part of the annual defense authorization bill.

The Pentagon and congressional Republicans have urged Democrats to allow the military to first complete its study of the policy and the impact of a potential repeal. The study is expected to be completed by Dec. 1

Meanwhile, Lieberman and Levin have called for a moratorium on further dismissals of gays under the current law while the Pentagon conducts its review.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, strongly endorsed President Obama’s plan to end the ban, and said the current law “forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

In his State of the Union address on January 27, Obama called on Congress to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. More than 13,000 members of the military have been discharged since the law was enacted in 1993.

Photo credit: Jeff Sheng.

Kerry

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts called today for the Food and Drug Administration to lift a “discriminatory” ban on gay men donating blood.

Kerry led a group of 18 senators — 17 Democrats and one independent — who sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, urging her to lift the lifetime ban on men who have engaged in homosexual relationships since 1977.

“Not a single piece of scientific evidence supports the ban,” the Democratic senator said in a statement.

“A law that was once considered medically justified is today simply outdated and needs to end, just as last year we ended the travel ban against those with HIV.”

The American Red Cross and other health organizations support ending the ban, saying the law is “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”

“All donated blood is mandated to be tested for HIV with two different, highly accurate tests. Between these two tests, the risk of tainted blood entering the blood supply undetected is virtually zero,” said Kerry’s office.

The FDA, in a statement, defended the ban and said that “while FDA appreciates concerns about perceived discrimination, our decision to maintain the deferral policy is based on current science and data and does not give weight to a donor’s sexual orientation.”

The ban, enacted at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, bars men who have ever had sex with other men after 1977 from donating blood.

Read Sen. Kerry’s thoughtful essay at Bay Windows.

Johnson

Rep. Christine Johnson, one of Utah’s two openly gay lawmakers, will step down from her seat in the State House at year’s end, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

“I’m not leaving because I’m giving up on the fight in Utah,” the two-term Salt Lake City Democrat said Thursday after announcing she won’t seek re-election.

“We have so many budding leaders (in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community) that I’m anxious to see who’s going to step up next.”

As a single mom and a surrogate for a gay couple — the baby is due in June — Johnson expressed some displeasure at what she sees as hypocrisy in the Legislature.

“For the past four years, I have stood with my colleagues each morning of the session, placed my hand over my heart and pledged ‘liberty and justice for all,’ ” she said in a statement, “and yet repeatedly witnessed blatant disregard of those so in need of equal protections in the name of ‘family values.’ “

Johnson, 41, expressed satisfaction with her efforts to pass statewide gay-rights measures, which have faced universal defeat in the Legislature.

In Mexico’s capital city, the measure also allows same-sex couples to adopt children.

According to Associated Press, throngs of gay and lesbian couples registered for marriage licenses in Mexico City Thursday, the day Latin America’s first gay-marriage law took effect.

The first gay weddings will take place within a week to 10 days, after the paperwork is processed.

Mexico City’s legislature approved the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December.

The change will also allow same-sex couples to apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, rights they were denied under civil unions allowed in the city.

The Catholic Church has slammed the same-sex marriage law; Cardinal Norberto Rivera called it “perverse” and an attack on the family.

Conservative President Felipe Calderon has also challenged the law, and filed a suit with the Supreme Court to overturn it on the grounds marriage should be between a man and a woman. The court has not yet decided whether to take up the case.

Ashburn

The California Highway Patrol pulled over (State) Senator Roy Ashburn at 2:00 a.m. Wednesday after an officer noticed a black Chevy Tahoe swerving at 13th and L Streets, reports KOVR- TV.

Ashburn, a father of four, is a Republican (State) Senator with an extensive history of opposing gay rights. A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained.

Ashburn issued a statement on the arrest Wednesday afternoon:

“I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did. I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me – my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate.”

According to Project Vote Smart, Ashburn’s voting record shows he has voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office including Recognizing Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages”, Harvey Milk Day and Expanding Anti-Discrimination Laws.

Stay tuned for the next installment — you know, the one where the hypocrite goes to rehab and gets cured of his gay demons.

Gwen Migita, left, and Cuc Vu, at D.C. SUperior Court Wednesday to apply for a marriage license. (Washington Post photo.)

Cheering erupted from the crowd when the first couple signed in at the city’s marriage bureau just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

By just before noon Wednesday, about 100 couples had come to the bureau, and about 40 had completed applications. Each couple is leaving the bureau to a round of applause from the crowd.

Because of a mandatory waiting period of three business days, however, couples won’t actually be able to marry in the District of Columbia until Tuesday.

The gay marriage law was introduced to the 13-member D.C. Council in October and had near-unanimous support from its inception. The bill passed and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signed it in December.

But because Washington is a federal district, the law had to undergo a congressional review period that expired Tuesday.

Opponents have tried numerous attempts to get a referrendum on the ballot to force a vote on the measure, but it has been repeatedly rejected by the Elections Board, citing it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act.

On Tuesday, The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to block the District’s gay marriage law from taking effect; opponents, however, are still attempting to overturn the bill in court.

As of Tuesday, Catholic Charities will no longer offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan.

Under the District’s new same-sex marriage law, if companies and organizations offer benefits to spouses of its employees, those benefits now must be extended to the spouses of employees in same sex unions.

Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Tuesday that the decision by Catholic Charities to change its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex spouses of its workers is justifiable under Catholic teaching as long as the employees are paid a just wage.

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs says currently about 10 percent of those employees have their spouses covered by their health care plan.

Catholic Charities, which provides services such as substance abuse treatment programs and shelters, employees some 850 people.

Last month, the Archdiocese announced it was shutting down its 80-year-old foster care program, also citing the District’s plan to legalize gay marriage.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected opponent’s request to block the District of Columbia’s gay marriage law, which takes effect on Wednesday.

Opponents of the law had asked the Supreme Court to step in and issue a temporary delay so they could hold a city-wide referendum on the issue before the law took effect.

Chief Justice John Roberts released an opinion refusing to put the law on hold, reaffirming the D.C. Board of Elections, the city’s superior court and its court of appeals rulings, all of which previously rejected opponent’s request for a referendum.

The elections board has refused to put gay marriage on the ballot, ruling it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act, designed to protect gays and lesbians and other minority groups from discrimination.

Roberts said the Supreme Court’s practice has been to defer to local court decisions on District of Columbia matters of exclusive local concern and said he saw no reason for the Supreme Court to step into such a local matter involving the referendum process.

In a three-page opinion, Roberts said that emergency action isn’t warranted in part because Congress chose not to block the marriage measure during the 30-day review period that applies to new laws in the nation’s capital.

The D.C. Council, the city’s legislative body, voted to legalize gay marriage in December.

D.C. gay couples can begin applying for marriage licenses tomorrow. Pursuant to District law, couples must wait three business days before the marriage license is issued, so expect to see the first gay unions in D.C. officiated on Tuesday, March 9.

The Distirct of Columbia will become the sixth jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire.