News

According to Tuesday’s issue of North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer, one of the proponents of the upcoming referendum to outlaw marriage equality in the state, Rev. Mark Harris, the head of the state’s Baptist Convention, wants a “civil debate” over the issue…

OMG, 2011 — what a year for marriage equality. We’re still not ready to get married yet, but wow we are so close. Think about where we were a year ago — so much has happened. Let’s do a quick year-in-review to look at all the amazing stuff of 2011, and look ahead to where we’re going to win in 2012…

In terms of the news — international reporting — this was the year of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage (or ‘marriage equality’ or ‘gay marriage’) was a leading international concern — whether in the West or raised as a chimeric threat, particularly in Africa.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Gay rights advocates expect a strong turnout of same-sex couples at Orlando’s City Hall when the city’s new domestic-partnership registry opens next month. The registry, which takes effect Jan. 12, will extend vital legal protections to gay and lesbian families.

According to ABC News Chicago, Cardinal Francis George has began to backtrack on comments likening gay activists to the Ku Klux Klan, even after earlier refusing to do so. Last week Chicago’s Roman Catholic leader decried a rerouting of the 2012 June LGBT Pride parade route to a path that would take the march in front of a Catholic church, saying “You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”

CONCORD, N.H. — As the 2012 session of the New Hampshire legislature looms, most political observers agree that the top issue for at least GOP lawmakers is repealing the state’s same-sex marriage law.

A new law in Ireland means that New Yorkers now have more rights on the Emerald Isle than they do in their own country. A hospital in Tennessee violates federal guidelines in denying visitation to a lesbian couple. There’s a new ad for marriage equality in New Hampshire that epitomizes Yankee thrift. And 20,000 Australian doctors agree: marriage equality is good for your head.

On the heels of an agreement about parade times reached between Chicago LGBT Pride organizers and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church — which sits on the June parade route — the Windy City’s Cardinal Francis George compared the event to “something like the Ku Klux Klan.”

Bob Vander Plaats’ endorsement of Rick Santorum has produced a backlash among conservatives in Iowa, some of whom are accusing the “Family Leader”president of engaging in “pay for play” schemes and selling his coveted support to the highest bidder.

LANSING, Mich. — Following months of heated debate, Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder on Thursday signed House Bill 4770, eliminating health care coverage for domestic partners of public employees, and prohibiting any government entity in the state from providing such coverage.