The South Bend, Indiana, Common Council has voted to table the human rights ordinance that would have extended employment discrimination protection to its gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender citizens.

About 200 people packed the meeting room Monday night as council members heard more than two hours of public debate about the proposal.

Some citizens spoke about the need of a progressive mindset, while others spoke about harmful effects they believe could come from the amendment.

“I’ve been ministering to those struggling with same sex attraction for more than 30 years. This lifestyle is truly harmful and dark,” said Patrick Mangan with Citizens for Community Values.

Councilman Oliver Davis, one of the measure’s three sponsors, sought the continuance when it became clear he lacked the five votes needed for a majority on the nine-member council.

Former Gov. Joe Kernan, a former mayor of South Bend, told council members failure to adopt a gay rights bill, ordinance number 30-10, will hurt the city’s image.

“The failure to pass 30-10 sends the message that we as a community are intolerant and we are better than that,” Kernan said.

The South Bend Tribune reported that councilwoman Karen White is the swing vote among the nine-member council. She said the proposal’s language was too vague to win her support. After the meeting, she said she remains undecided on whether she ultimately will support the bill if it comes up for a vote again.

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The once-progressive Aloha state seems doomed for Republican takeover, following lame duck Governor Linda Lingle’s veto yesterday of a same-sex civil unions bill passed last month by the state legislature.

Lingle was certain to make the pending veto as agonizing as possible for LGBT couples in the state, who anxiously waited weeks for her to “carefully consider” the bill, then put it on a list of potential vetoes, then slam down the hammer last night.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the state's same-sex civil unions bill

Many were hopeful Lingle would simply ignore the bill, making it become law by default.  But she took a different approach altogether, calling her decision “well-reasoned,” and seizing the opportunity to use typical GOP speak, blaming the mostly Democratic legislature for passing the bill without giving the people of Hawaii a chance to vote on it.  Sorry, Lingle, but in a Republic like the United States, the civil rights of a minority are not a matter for the tyranny of the democratic majority to decide.   That’s what our elected representatives in the legislature are there to prevent, and a true Republican should know better.

Just look at what’s happening right now in California following the disastrous 2008 passage of Proposition 8 – it’s left 18,000 married couples in the state in legal limbo, and is the subject of a landmark federal case, Perry v. Schwarzeneggger, which is expected to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Connecticut School of Law professor John C. Britain wrote a rather compelling article regarding the use of ballot initiatives to decide civil rights.  In it, he notes that “the [Supreme] Court, in a truly Madisonian fashion, guards the interests of the minority against the will of the majority” when considering the use of “direct democracy”, which is espoused by so many conservative Republicans today.

Of course, Lingle’s veto has been applauded by her conservative supporters and counterparts.  Hawaii News Now reports that the two Republican gubernatorial candidates – Lt. Governor James “Duke” Aiona and Honolulu mayor Muffi Hanneman – support Lingle’s decision.  Both agree with Lingle that the people of Hawaii should have the opportunity to vote on the issue.

Abercrombie

However, Democratic candidate Neil Abercrombie, who left Congress to run for Hawaii Governor, issued a statement saying:

“Civil unions respect our diversity, protect people’s privacy, and reinforce our core values of equality and aloha. It will be up to the next governor and legislature to ensure that all people of Hawaii receive equal treatment.”

The ACLU and Lambda Legal are already preparing lawsuits.  Staff attorney Laurie Temple of the ACLU told the AP, “We’re obviously disappointed that Governor Lingle has, once again, used her power to deny the people of Hawaii their civil rights.  Luckily for the people of Hawaii, however, our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation. If the Governor won’t honor her oath to uphold the constitution, the courts will.”

But it’s going to be a long, uphill battle.  The state legislature has already indicated it will not attempt to override Lingle’s veto, and Aiona, the front-runner in the Governor’s race, came to Lingle’s defense, saying, “To put that kind of pressure on one person, especially during an election year, and knowing how this issue is falling, that’s just totally unfair.”

The San Francisco Chronicle is wondering if gay and lesbian (or all) travelers should boycott the state.  But contributor Jeanne Cooper noted, “Recently I wrote about wedding sites and package providers in Hawaii, and all but one of the representatives I interviewed said they welcomed same-sex couples for commitment ceremonies, and would do the same for same-sex marriages, as soon as those became legal (the other made referrals to a specialist in same-sex ceremonies.)”

Would a boycott of Hawaii really help the LGBT couples who live there and are affected by this decision?  Most of them work in the hospitality industry, which depends heavily on tourism.  A boycott would simply cause them to lose their jobs on top of keeping them second-class citizens in the eyes of the state.  They are the ones we should be thinking about, because they have the most at stake in Hawaii’s already-ailing economy and political environment.

Stay tuned for more as this story develops.

Jury selection got under way Monday in a gay rights case that could settle a long-running dispute between local Boy Scouts and the city of Philadelphia.

At issue is whether the local scouts group, the Cradle of Liberty Council, should be allowed to stay rent-free in its city-owned headquarters, despite the Boy Scouts of America’s national policy banning gays.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says to get free rent, the local Scouts needed to renounce the national Scout organization’s admission policies excluding gays.

The lawsuit filed by the Scouts contends that the mayor’s demand violates their First Amendment rights.

The city has an ordinance saying that groups can’t discriminate based on sexual orientation, and it says the Scouts can rent their space, but can’t get free office space.

The Scouts haves occupied the downtown building since 1928.

Walker

No broad conclusions can be made from this order as to how Chief Judge Vaughn Walker will ultimately rule. But they do provide a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence presented during the January trial.

The queries posed by Walker cover all sides and angles of the case on topics ranging from voter intent and the role of churches in the 2008 election campaign to the definition and purpose of marriage.

Among the questions, attorneys for the plaintiffs are asked to answer:

“What is the import of evidence showing that marriage has been historically limited to a man and a woman?”

“If the evidence of the involvement of the LDS and Roman Catholic churches and evangelical ministers supports a finding that Proposition 8 was an attempt to enforce private morality, what is the import of that finding?”

On the other side, the judge asked the sponsors of Proposition 8:

“What evidence in the record shows that same-sex marriage is a drastic or far-reaching change to the institution of marriage?”

“Why is legislating based on moral disapproval of homosexuality not tantamount to discrimination? … What evidence in the record shows that a belief based in morality cannot also be discriminatory?”

The complete list of questions can be viewed here.

Walker also noted that he has not yet ruled on whether to exclude testimony from the star witness for Yes on 8, Daniel Blankenhorn.

Blankenhon’s testimony provided the bulk of testimony that heterosexual relationships are better for children, but in cross-examination he admitted he knew of no study showing that children reared from birth by same-sex couples fared worse than those raised by biological parents.

“If the motion [to exclude] is granted, is there any other evidence to support a finding that Proposition 8 advances a legitimate governmental interest?” Walker asked.

Walker is conducting the non-jury trial, the nation’s first on a U.S. constitutional challenge to a prohibition on gay marriage.

The key question before Walker as a judge, however, is whether California’s ban on same-sex marriage, passed by voters in 2008 as Prop. 8, violates the U.S. Constitution.

Walker heard two and a half weeks of testimony in January and has scheduled a daylong hearing on closing arguments on June 16. His ruling is expected to come within 30 days of closing arguments.

Regardless of the outcome, the case is certain to be appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Monjeza (left) and Chimbalanga

President Bingu wa Mutharika announced his pardon of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to the country’s solicitor general, Anthony Kamanga.

Monjeza, 26, and Chimbalanga, 20, were jailed last week, prompting an international outcry.

Mutharika said he would release the men on “humanitarian grounds only.”

“These boys committed a crime against our culture, against our religion, and against our laws,” Mutharika said. “However, as head of state, I hereby pardon them and therefore order their immediate release without any conditions.”

But he added, “We don’t condone marriages of this nature. It’s unheard of in Malawi and it’s illegal.”

Earlier this month, a judge convicted and sentenced the two men on charges of unnatural acts and gross indecency, both colonial-era laws. They were arrested in December, a day after they celebrated their engagement.

Homosexuality is illegal in at least 37 countries in Africa, including Malawi.

Ashburn

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, who came out in March after the DUI arrest placed him at a Sacramento gay nightclub, said he was “no longer willing or able to remain silent” on issues that affect sexual orientation and the rights of individuals.

In a remarkably candid interview Thursday, Ashburn called himself a “hypocrite.”

“My practice in my entire political career when it came to gay issues was to prevent any kind of spotlight from being shined my way, because I was in hiding. So casting any kind of vote might, could in some way, lead to my secret being revealed,” he said.

“That was terrifying to me. It was paralyzing. So I cast some votes that have denied gay people of their basic, equal treatment under the law, and I’m not proud of it. I’m not going to do that again.”

Ashburn’s previous voting record revealed he had voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office, including Recognizing Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages, Harvey Milk Day, expanding Anti-Discrimination Laws, and a Senate resolution to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

On Thursday, Ashburn was the only Republican senator to vote in support of allowing openly gay people to serve in the military; the resolution passed the state Senate on a vote of 24-7.

But Ashburn was among several Republicans who opposed SB 906, which was also approved by the state Senate and would clarify that clergy members would not be required to perform a civil marriage that was contrary to his or her faith.

Ashburn said it was “troublesome’’ that the bill also described marriages as “civil’’ unions. Proposition 8, approved by voters, gave a definition of marriage, and Ashburn worried the new definition in the bill could muddy the water and lead to new lawsuits on the issue.

According to The Hill:

Legislation to scrap the ban on openly gay service members in the military is expected to clear a major hurdle Thursday in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The chief backers of repeal, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), another senior member of the panel, would need 15 votes, or a simple majority, to include the legislation in the 2011 defense authorization bill.

According to the latest count by gay-rights activists, who are pressuring panel members to vote for repeal, all Democrats on the committee — except Sen. Jim Webb (Va.) — are expected to support scrapping the ban.

The House Armed Services Committee passed its version of the Department of Defense Authorization bill last week without addressing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

But House Democratic leaders are expected to include an amendment calling for the policy’s repeal. A full House vote on the bill could happen as early as Thursday also.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he wouldn’t oppose the Democrats’ approach, although he added he would prefer Congress to hold off until the Pentagon completes its study.

Monjeza (left) and Chimbalanga

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were arrested on December 28 after their symbolic wedding and accused of violating “the order of nature,” and were told by a judge they would also serve 14 years hard labor as a warning to other gay people in the country, the maximum sentence under the penal code.

“I will give you a scaring sentence so that the public be protected from people like you, so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example,” said magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa Usiwa, the Associated Press reported.

In unusually graphic language, Usiwa Usiwa convicted Monjeza of “having carnal knowledge of Tiwonge through the anus, which is against the order of nature.”

Chimbalanga was found guilty of “permitting buggery”, which the judge said was similarly contrary to the natural order.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi and most other African countries.

The Malawian minister of information, Leckford Mwanza Thotho, said the government was pleased at the conviction.

Amnesty International called for their immediate release and said their rights have been “flagrantly violated.”

Photo courtesy: Get Equal (getequal.org)

Participants, who were removed from the fence and arrested around 1 p.m., included Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo, who were arrested in a similar action last month.

Activist group Get Equal coordinated Tuesday’s protest, and tweeted as it unfolded. All six protesters were reportedly arrested within an hour of chaining themselves to the fence.

In a press release, Get Equal called on President Barack Obama to quit stalling and repeal the ban on openly gay service members:

“We are handcuffing ourselves to the White House gates once again to demand that President Obama show leadership on repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

If the President were serious about keeping his promise to repeal this year, he would put the repeal language in his Defense Authorization budget,” said Choi.

“The President gave us an order at the Human Rights Campaign dinner to keep pressure on him and we will continue to return to the White House, in larger numbers, until the President keeps his promise to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year.”

More at CBS News.

The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night while he was at a fundraiser in Miami.

There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean — a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them…

Uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.

Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority of the nation’s health-care institutions.

It is currently common policy in many hospitals that only those related by blood or marriage be allowed to visit patients.

Jacob

A federal judge on Monday approved a settlement that includes a series of reforms for an upstate New York school district in a gay student’s harassment lawsuit.

The New York Civil Liberties Union sued the Mohawk Central School District last August on behalf of a 14 year-old student who alleged that he was repeatedly harassed, threatened and physically assaulted at school for being gay and not conforming to gender stereotypes.

The lawsuit maintained that district officials were aware of the bullying and did nothing to stop it.

The lawsuit drew the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which filed a motion to intervene in the case on behalf of the student, identified only as Jacob. That motion was pending when settlement negotiations commenced.

As part of the settlement, the school district agreed to hold staff training on how to address harassment claims and to review its policies and procedures governing harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Gates

The changes to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy includes increasing the standard of evidence required in cases so that most hearsay and “malicious outings” will no longer be allowed to show that a service member is gay and mandating that third party evidence be presented under oath.

In addition, the rank of officer accountable for determining whether to initiate action against a member of the military will be raised to general or flag officer.

“These changes reflect some of the insights we have gained over 17 years of implementing the current law, including the need for consistence, oversight and clear standards,” Gates said.

“I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice — above all, by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency to a process for handling what are difficult and complex issues for all involved.”

The military services have 30 days to conform their regulations to the changes. The new policies, however, took effect immediately upon Gates’ announcement, meaning that they apply to all open cases, according to a Pentagon briefing.

They changes are considered a first step toward President Obama’s call to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

An act of Congress is needed for a full repeal of the law and, and there are bills currently pending in both the House and Senate to end the ban on openly gay service members.

Gates

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to announce that the military will no longer investigate the sexual orientation of service members based on anonymous complaints, will restrict testimony from third parties and will require high-ranking officers to review all cases, according to The Washington Post.

Officials said the new steps would include a requirement that only a general or admiral could initiate action in cases where service members were suspected of violating the prohibition against openly gay service in the armed forces.

The new measures would make good on Gates’s pledge to Congress last month that the military would move toward enforcing the current policy in a fairer, more humane manner.

“The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it,” Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. “We have received our orders from the Commander in Chief and we are moving out accordingly.”

President Obama called for Congress to repeal the law during his State of the Union address on January 21.

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.

“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.

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.

The Associated Press reports that court papers filed Monday with Chief Justice John Roberts argue that D.C. residents should be able to vote on the matter.

On three prior occasions, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has rejected efforts to put gay marriage on the ballot, ruling that such a measure would violate the city’s Human Rights Act that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

On Friday, a District of Columbia appeals court Friday unanimously rejected the latest attempt to block the city from legalizing same-sex marriages next month.

To date, the U.S. Congress has declined to take action against the gay marrige bill. Because the capital city is a federal district, Congress has final say over its laws.

If the Supreme Court refuses to block the measure, gay couples in D.C. can begin applying for marriage licenses as early as Wednesday.

Plantiffs (left to right) Paul Katami, Jeff Zarillo, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier.

The two sides in the case — two same-sex couples as plaintiffs, and the sponsors of California’s Proposition 8 as defendants — filed their final briefs late Friday shortly before a midnight deadline.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who presided over 12 days of testimony in the case, could soon announce when’s he scheduling closing arguments.

Eventually, following closing arguments, Walker will issue a written ruling on a suit to determine if the enactment of Proposition 8 violated the defendant’s federal constitutional rights. His ruling is expected sometime in March.

Legal experts following the trial expect Walker to find that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Even the “Yes on 8″ legal team intimated in the final days of testimony that they were bracing for a decision favorable to the plaintiffs.

Walker’s eventual ruling can be appealed to a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, then to an 11-judge panel of the same court and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Walker himself is gay. And though there has been no comment from the proponents of Proposition 8, it is widely expected that Walker’s sexual orientation will become an issue if they lose the case, and front and center in their arguments on appeal.

Proposition 8 was the November 2008 voter approved ban on gay marriage, which amended the California state constitution. Earlier that year, the California Supreme Court ruled to extend marriage rights to all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation.

Aiken

More than a year after disclosing he is gay, Clay Aiken is speaking before a gay-rights event in his hometown of Raleigh, NC, reports the Raleigh News & Observer.

This weekend, he will speak as part of the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas gala at the Raleigh Convention Center.

HRC provided a speechwriter to help Aiken, 31, with his remarks, but he decided to write his own. The original speech was too political, Aiken said, and included a slam aimed at George W. Bush.

“I don’t feel like this is the place to be horribly politically charged and bash people and talk about the wrongs that have been done,” he said. “My goal is to be hopeful, that it’s time for everyone to have equal rights.”

For Aiken, that means inheritance rights and hospital-visitation rights and all the other rights that heterosexual couples take for granted, including the right to be married.

Aiken made headlines in 2008 when he appeared on the cover of People magazine with the headline, “Yes, I’m gay.”

Meredith Baxter, the “Family Ties” actress who recently came out on the “Today” show, also will deliver a speech.

Still, the hearing for the Civil Justice Committee is stirring up a lot of emotion. The bills would recognize gay marriages in Minnesota and from other states.

The bill would eliminate the word marriage in state law and replace it will civil union contract. Gay and lesbian couples told the committee they lead normal lives but opponents called it immoral.

The three bills contemplated during the hour long testimony from both advocates and opponents were: one to create civil unions, one to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages and one to allow full legal marriage for same-sex couples.

The hearing was for informational purposes only.

McDonnell

Gay state workers in Virginia are no longer protected from discrimination now that the new Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, has stripped sexual orientation from the state’s policy.

McDonnell quietly signed an executive order on February 5 that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities.”

Like we wouldn’t notice… the new order effectively rescinds the earlier order that previous Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine signed Jan. 14, 2006. Kaine, in promising a “fair and inclusive” administration in his inaugural address, added sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy as one of his first actions.

The fact that there was already a policy in place, McDonnell’s action can only be seen as to intentionally exclude gays.

Said the HRC: McDonnell’s “message could hardly be clearer: discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is not prohibited.”

The House voted 201-135 to kill a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Supporters needed 60 percent of the House to place it on the November ballot.

Later in the day, the House voted 210-109 to reject a second bill, this one sought to repeal the state’s 6-week-old law legalizing same-sex marriage.

From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

Rep. Robert Thompson, D-Manchester who married his partner on Jan. 2, asked the House, “How has my marriage impacted upon your marriage or how has it diminished the value of your marriage?”

Kimmel

“I want to tell people who I am and what I am. I’m proud of it. I’m openly gay. I’m not hiding,” said Keith Kimmel.

“What better way to tell everybody than to put it on the back of a car?

The Oklahoma Tax Commission turned down Kimmel’s request for the vanity tag because of an internal rule against special license tags that “may be offensive to the general public,” according to the Oklahoman.

Kimmel points out officials allowed tags such as STR8FAN and STR8SXI.

“They defended using ‘straight sexy’” said Kimmel. “They didn’t think that one was inappropriate but yet ‘I’m gay’ is. I think it’s kind of a double standard.”

Kimmel, 28, a Norman OK resident, is a political science-pre-law student at Oklahoma City Community College, and filed the suit Wednesday in Oklahoma County District Court hoping the court will order tax officials to grant his application for the IM GAY plate.

Photo: © Jamie McGonnigal www.TalkAboutEquality.org

The group, members of the LGBT civil disobedience group Queer Rising, chanted “one struggle, one fight, marriage is a civil right,” as they blocked the entrance to the office after 20 same-sex couples tried to obtain marriage licenses and were rejected.

Alan Bounville, Jake Goodman, Justin Elzie and Gabriel Yuri Bollag were arrested, while more than 50 gay marriage supporters held a rally in the park across the street.

A spokesperson for Queer Rising, Spring Super, said:

“New York City is home to the Stonewall Riots and in that tradition we are here to say that equality doesn’t arrive through the ballot box. The bankrupt strategy of putting all efforts into electing so-called ‘friendly’ officials has failed. We must shift to building a grassroots, national movement that demands full equality by any means necessary. Today, through our symbolic marriage applications, rally and civil disobedience, that message was quite clear…We want everyone in New York from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to know that LGBT people in their chosen Mecca are not going to let their elected officials to consistently overlook them and forsake their basic rights any longer.”

The protesters were released from custody later in the day, according to a post on the group’s Twitter page.

Earlier today, Goodman posted to Facebook:

“To my Queer Rising family, I am SO incredibly inspired by all that we dared and succeeded to accomplish together, yesterday. Obviously, there is so much work to continue but, for just one minute, I want to bask in my love for you. I am brought to tears thinking about all the passion, commitment, bravery, grace and SOLIDARITY I saw so many people exhibit yesterday.”

More photos from the rally at TalkAboutEquality.org.