Jerry's email update on the fight for Equal Rights (December 2, 2004)
  

Supreme Court Declines Mass. Gay Marriage Case

Also...

Lawyer speaks about same-sex marriage effort in Connecticut.
 
 Friends,

I This week's update is relatively short as I'm on a short vacation.  I had to get something out as I was SURPRISED to learn that a right wing, religious-based organization went to the Supreme Court to try to overturn the MA SJC ruling.  I didn't even realize this was in the works.                                             

Notable items this week:
 

Supreme Court Declines Mass. Gay Marriage Case
Views on abortion, gay marriage cited
 
The Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a dispute over gay marriages, rejecting a challenge to the nation's only law sanctioning such unions.

Justices had been asked by conservative groups to overturn the year-old decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. They declined, without comment.

In the past year, at least 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples have wed, although voters may have a chance next year to change the state constitution to permit civil union benefits to same-sex couples, but not the institution of marriage.

FULL STORY

  
 

Lawyer speaks about same-sex marriage effort in Connecticut
 
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Tuesday's lecture began with one story after another of same-sex couples being denied hospital visitations or health insurance because they weren't married.

Mary Bonauto, a Boston lawyer who led a successful fight for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts, told about 50 students and visitors at the University of Hartford that the time appears right for Connecticut to approve similar rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Bonauto, a petite woman whose head barely made it over the podium, is now the lead attorney in a lawsuit filed in New Haven Superior Court by seven same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Connecticut.

FULL STORY

 


Move To Void Michigan Gay Partner Benefits
 
(Detroit, Michigan) A Michigan lawmaker wants the legislature to void a section in a new civil service contract that would provide benefits to the same-sex partners of state workers.

The state reached an agreement earlier this month with the labor unions on a new contract that would take effect Oct. 1, 2005 and includes a 10 percent raise over three years.

The contract, with the state’s five unions, already has been overwhelmingly ratified by the United Auto Workers Local 6000, which represents nearly one-third of state workers.

Rep. Ken Bradstreet (R-Gaylor) said the contracts violate Michigan’s Constitution which bans gay marriage. The state was one of 11 which passed same-sex marriage bans on Nov. 2.

FULL STORY

  

TAKE ACTION HERE

 
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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! 
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Previous updates:

11/26/2004: ACLU Drops Marriage Case

11/18/2004: SS Marriage Ruling 1yr Later

11/11/2004: No marriage Backlash in Ma

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 

 

HRC, leader Cheryl Jacques part ways
Cheryl Jacques is leaving as president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. LGBT political group, over differences with the group's board, but some sources claim she was fired.
 Full Story 
   

Filipino Husband Denied U.S. Citizenship Because Wife Was Transsexual
A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services alleges the agency discriminated against a Filipino couple when it denied the husband's legal residency because his wife had a sex change operation nearly 24 years ago.
Full Story 

Couples seek answers about partner law
Stirred by the sense of a looming Jan. 1 deadline, an increasing number of California's same-sex couples are attending a series of informational seminars on the advantages and pitfalls of the state's new Domestic Partnership Act, AB205.
Full Story 
  

Church convicts, defrocks lesbian cleric
The rare United Methodist Church (UMC) trial of a lesbian minister who violated church law by being honest about who she is ended Thursday with a guilty conviction and a vote to defrock hea. 
Full Story 

Missouri students sent home due to T-shirts
Missouri high school students in Webb City were sent home Tuesday for sporting gay-rights T-shirts in support of a classmate, who is suing the school because he was sent home for wearing a similar shirt last month.
 Full Story 


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