Jerry's email update on the fight for Equal Rights (November 14, 2004)
  

Gay Marriage Backlash Not Felt in Mass

Also...
Caution in Court for Gay Rights Groups  

Friends,

Hopefully by now we have all had time to adjust to the disappointing results of the November elections.  For many of us, this disappointment is nothing new.  It just feels worse as we were beginning to make leaps forward and now are being pushed back,

The best we can do now is recompose ourselves and choose our battles wisely as we WILL make it through the next 4 years, one way or another.                                           

Notable items this week:

Gay Marriage Backlash Not Felt in Mass
 
BOSTON - The national Election Day backlash against gay marriage never reached the state blamed for triggering it: Every Massachusetts lawmaker on the ballot who supported gay rights won another term in the Legislature.

The election outcome, combined with the ascendancy of a new state House speaker who supports gay rights, has left in doubt the fate of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts.

FULL STORY

 

Caution in Court for Gay Rights Groups
 
Fearful that aggressive action could backfire and generate public hostility, gay rights groups are planning to limit the scope of their legal challenges to the constitutional amendments banning gay marriage that were passed by 11 states last week.

The groups are making a temporary retreat from their most fundamental goal, winning the right for same-sex marriages, and focusing instead on those measures that addressed civil unions in some way. The groups say that broader suits seeking the right to marry could add fuel to President Bush's efforts to create a federal prohibition on gay marriage. Many of the state amendments passed by overwhelming margins, and Karl Rove, the architect of Mr. Bush's re-election, said this week that there was a broad national consensus that marriage is between a man and a woman.

FULL STORY

 

Prop 2 May Threaten State's Plan to Offer Gay-Partner Benefits
 
The state has agreed to offer domestic partner benefits to gay employees in new contracts with five unions, but the provision could be blocked by last week's approval of Proposal 2.

The state reached tentative pacts with the unions a week before the Nov. 2 election. The benefits would kick in Oct. 1, 2005. But on Election Day, voters approved a constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and similar unions.

FULL STORY

 

Gay Marriage Legalized In Can. Prairie Province
 
(Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) Canadian bans on same-sex marriage are falling like a deck of cards with Saskatchewan Friday becoming the seventh area to declare that preventing gays and lesbians from obtaining marriage licenses to be unconstitutional.

The ruling, by Madam Justice Donna Wilson of the Law Division of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, comes the same week that 11 states in the US amended their constitutions to bar gay marriage.

FULL STORY

 

 

TAKE ACTION HERE

 
Please revisit my HRC, take action page. CHECK IN REGULARLY as HRC is always adding new action items.
I have met my goal for 100 actions, but strive for continued support.
Submit an editorial to your local paper every 35 days.  It is important to publicly show support for gay marriage! 
Helpful suggestions

Dontamend.com
 


Previous updates:

11/4/2004: Dealing with the bad news.!

10/28/2004: Last chance to spread the word...VOTE!

10/21/2004: Ohio's anti-gay "Issue 1" campaign gets ugly.

10//142004: La. marriage ban goes to state high court.

10//72004: LA Amendment is THROWN OUT.

9/30/2004: BUB-BYE Bigoted MA House Speaker.

9/23/2004: L.A. VOTES TOTAL DISCRIMINATION

9/16/2004: Primary elections victories for pro- equality candidates, but not for Jerry's.

9/9/2004: House is back in session, to debate marriage again!

9/2/2004: Tell Bush "YOU'RE FIRED"

8/26/2004: JERRY IS MARRIED!!!

8/19/2004: MA Supreme Court Judge rules in favor of discriminatory law!

8/12/2004: California High Court Voids Same-Sex Marriages!

8/05/2004: ANOTHER MAJOR SETBACK & ANOTHER SMALL WIN.

7/29/2004: MAJOR SETBACK!
Discriminatory Marriage Protection Act Passed by a Vote of 233 to 194 

7/21/2004: GOP HAS MOVED THE MARRIAGE DEBATE TO THE HOUSE AND EXPECTS TO WIN

7/15/2004: The US SENATE SHOOTS DOWN THE FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT!    But,..

7/08/2004: Court Date Set In Mass. Out-Of-State Weddings Case

6/30/2004: Federal appeals court denies attempt to block same-sex weddings 

6/24/2004: Romney urges federal ban on gay-marriage 'experiment'

6/17/2004: Gay marriage opponents gear up for fall. .

6/9/2004: Tell Mitt Romney To Stop His Anti-Gay Crusade.

5/27/2004: Governor Romney is BOOed at Suffolk Commencement Ceremony!

5/20/2004: WE CAN MARRY!!! 

5/13/2004: Judge refuses to stop gay marriages!!!

5/7/2004: Boston may ignore governor's directive on gay marriage

4/30/2004: Governor Aims to Limit Marriage to Mass. Residents, GLAD Offers Perspective

4/22/2004: I'm featured in today's paper  :-) HORRIBLE PICTURE!

4/13/2004: LETTER FROM QUINCY'S HERO: REP RONALD MARIANO

4/8/2004: Quincy's Rep Mariano Changes Vote to Support Civil Rights!

4/1/2004: CIVIL RIGHTS SETBACK IN MA
  

News Articles of Interest

Upcoming Events 

 

Students Walk Out to Protest Gay-Marriage Ban
The students at North Eugene High School were too young to vote in this week's election, but they were old enough to be upset with the adults who cast ballots. 
 Full Story 
   

A Vote for Inequality
IT'S NO SURPRISE that proposals to bar gay marriage passed in all 11 states where such wrongheaded measures were on the ballot. But that doesn't make the results any less disappointing to those who believe, as we do, that gay individuals, couples and families are entitled to the same legal rights and protections as other Americans.
Full Story 

More anti-gay ballot measures on the way
Conservatives who were emboldened by last week's winning ballot measures that ban same-sex marriage in 11 states have already begun new efforts to place similar amendments on the ballot in 2006..
Full Story 
  

Gay Republicans offer new strategy
Calling last week's election a "historic wake-up call for gay and lesbian Americans," the nation's largest gay Republican group is urging a new political strategy to win equality for LGBT Americans. 
Full Story 

Suit attacks new Georgia marriage ban
As expected, legal experts in Georgia took action Tuesday against a constitutional amendment forbidding marriage rights to same-sex couples that voters approved last week.
 Full Story 

NYC must implement equal benefits law
Though New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration is promising to appeal, a judge's ruling on Monday means the city will begin implementing the city's Equal Benefits Law (EBL)..
 Full Story