In Lambda Legal’s historic lawsuit to achieve marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples in New Jersey, all three motions by right-wing activists to become defendants were rejected Monday by Judge Linda Feinberg of the trial court in Mercer County. The ruling allows the case to proceed unencumbered by the anti-gay activists.
Texas’s first gay divorce was reversed last week, according to the Houston Chronicle. State District Judge Tom Mulvaney originally ordered a ‘divorce’ in the case of John Anthony and Russell Smith who were partners under Vermont’s civil union law. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott intervened and asked the judge to reverse his order because Texas does not recognize civil unions nor does it recognize gay marriage.
If you are a white male and have several older brothers, you have a better chance of being gay, according to a report discussed in this week’s New Scientist. Researcher Ray Blanchard and his fellow scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto have studied trends in homosexual indicators for years. Previously, they concluded gay men are more likely to be left-handed than straight men and lesbians are more likely than gay men to have the same predilection. Now, they say, the ‘Big Brother Effect’ affects 15 percent of all gay men. Blanchard found that the average man who has 2.5 older brothers is twice as likely to be gay as a man with no older brothers. And a man with four older brothers is three times as likely to be gay.
A Marion County, Ind., Superior Court judge heard from the state of Indiana Monday in the state’s request to dismiss a case questioning the constitutionality of Indiana’s defense of marriage law. The Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of three same-sex couples.
James Tyler Williams, 32, was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison last week for the slaying of a gay California couple, reports gay.com. Williams, an alleged white supremacist, admitted he killed the couple while they slept in their home. Mathew Williams, James’ elder brother, killed himself in jail just days after the two were arrested for the crime.
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