The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court delayed action on the issue of same-sex marriage. It had been expected to rule Monday on the case of seven gay couples who were denied marriage licenses. Advocates are hopeful the delay means the high court is reconsidering based on both the U.S. Supreme Court sodomy decision and Canada’s recent moves toward nationwide gay marriage.
The court took the case on appeal from a Superior Court decision, which had said nothing in the Massachusetts’ laws or constitution requires the state to recognize gay or lesbian marriage.
The Boy Scouts of America took another hit, according to the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. A federal appeals court ruled that the State of Connecticut was within its rights to reject the Scouts as part of the State Employee Charitable Campaign because of the Scout’s discriminatory policies.
A former Army lieutenant colonel, discharged in 1997 for being gay, filed suit against the Army, challenging the constitutionality of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy, reports The New York Times. Lambda Legal’s Jon Davidson said this is the first challenge of its kind to use the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down anti-gay Texas sodomy law. Loren S. Loomis said he was seeking to reverse his discharge and have his military record corrected.
The new Bravo reality TV show, Boy Meets Boy, has at least one boy upset, according to this Newsweek Magazine. In this first-of-its-kind network TV gay dating show, Boy takes one ‘leading man’ and matches him with several suitors. That part’s not so unique. The ‘twist,’ says openly gay creator Doug Ross, is that some of the suitors are straight and will get $25,000 if they convince the ‘leading man’ to choose them. The star of the show told Newsweek he was disappointed in the twist and thinks it may inappropriately suggest gay men are attracted to straight men. Ross’s response, ‘Gay men are attracted to men. Sometimes they’re straight, sometimes they’re gay.’ ‘Nuff said.
Linguists from Monterey, Calif., may be getting fired for being gay, but lecturer Paul Baker from Lancaster University is interested in a secret language of gays used to help sailors stay in the service. The Guardian (UK) reports that Baker is rediscovering the lost language Polari. In the 1950s, Polari was used by British sailors as a gaydar of sorts. The language, which seemingly has little written history, appears to stem from the nineteenth-century slang language, Parlyaree, used by prostitutes, beggars, and carnival workers.
Pro-gay organizers in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, hope they will be able to get a domestic-partner registry in that town, reports the Plain Dealer. Volunteers for Heights Families for Equality drive went door-to-door to force the city’s hand in the matter. Nearly 6,000 residents signed the petition, putting the matter on the ballot if the city does not institute a plan of its own. Mayor Ed Kelley said the idea would be on the city council agenda but that he thinks the notion should be researched before action.
Getting married in Canada has its pitfalls, according to the Edmonton Sun. After Canada became the third country to recognize equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians, several Americans headed to Ontario to tie the knot. But, as in Vermont, it’s easier to get married than divorced. And, says a lawyer in the case that garnered these rights, for Americans—you may be able to get married, but not get divorced. In Canada, there is no residency requirement to get married, but one of the partners must reside in the country for a year to get a divorce. With immigration laws not so simple, that could be an impossibility for some.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm showed her support last month by declaring June Gay Pride Month—a first for a governor of that state, reports AP. Granholm, who has five openly gay staffers, used the proclamation as a message of support on several pro-gay issues. She has indicated, among other things, that she supports extending health benefits to the domestic partners of gay employees. But state Sen. Alan Cropsey says the legislature will not send pro-gay legislation to the governor’s desk. ‘This Legislature is very much in favor of the traditional family and is not going to be going out promoting (that) lifestyle,’ he said.
Is Harry Potter gay? U.S. critic Michael Bronski thinks so. According to The Mirror, Bronski said that Potter’s rebelling against societal norms and being forced to live in the closet by his ‘ordinary’ relatives is suggestive of a gay boy’s life. Potter creator JK Rowling said she was ‘astonished’ at the claims. A source close to Rowling told the Times plainly, Potter is not gay.
Hundreds of queer sports aficionados are expected to set sail in January for ‘GLBT Together,’ according to OutSports.com. The cruise aboard the Norwegian Sun is billed as the first gay conference-cruise. Author Dan Woog (the ‘Jock’ series), Kevin Jennings (the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), and Pat Griffin (author of ‘Strong Women, Deep Closets’) are expected to be on board. Proceeds are said to benefit undisclosed ‘non-profit organizations working in and for the gay community.’
‘I want my Gay TV’ is not a battle cry expected to be answered anytime soon from Viacom/Showtime, according to gfn.com. The network, which airs the popular Queer as Folk, was part of a frenzy to announce the development of all-gay cable stations last year. Showtime went as far as to create a block of gay programming on ShoToo, one of the network’s alternative offerings. Viacom CEO Matt Blank said ideas for the new network have been tabled. ‘[R]ight now we’re not going ahead,’ he said. The announcement follows the failure of Canada’s PrideVision to penetrate the American market late last year.
Gay students at California’s state universities may see funding for their organizations cut if Board of Regents member Ward Connerly gets his way. According to 365gay.com, Connerly (who led the successful fight to ban race-based admissions in California), now wants to ban use of university funds for minority organizations like the Queer Resource Center, as well as groups that support ethnically and racially diverse students. Connerly, who is Black, unsuccessfully tried to pull funding from minority groups in 1996 and 1998.
A Dutch study of gay relationships is now being used as ammunition against gay marriage. The Washington Times reports that the research of Dr. Maria Xiridou, of the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service, suggests that the average gay relationship in the Netherlands lasts less than two years. Of those relationships, Xiridou found that almost all of them had agreements that allowed partners to have sex outside of the relationship. Peter LaBarbara of the conservative Concerned Women for America said, ‘[t]hey’re redefining what it means to be monogamous,’ and added, ‘It’s just preposterous to claim that these relationships even approximate normal, steady relationships.’
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