Same-sex marriages

Gay married couples suing the government over a federal law that doesn't recognize same-sex unions say there is "no legitimate or plausible" reason for having a federal definition of marriage that excludes gay couples. The lawsuit was brought by seven gay couples and three widowers, all of whom were married in Massachusetts after it became the first state in the country to legalize gay marriage in 2004. In court documents filed Tuesday, the couples say the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because it denies them access to federal benefits given to other married couples, ... Read Full Story

It looked like a stunning reversal: the same church that helped defeat gay marriage in California standing with gay-rights activists on an anti-discrimination law in its own backyard. On Tuesday night, after a series of clandestine meetings between local gay-rights backers and Mormons in Salt Lake City, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it would support proposed city laws that would prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. The ordinances passed and history was made: It marked the first time the Salt Lake City-based church had supported gay-rights legislation. The Mormon church — which continues to suffer a backlash over ... Read Full Story

It looked like a stunning reversal: the same church that helped defeat gay marriage in California standing with gay-rights activists on an anti-discrimination law in its own backyard. On Tuesday night, after a series of clandestine meetings between local gay-rights backers and Mormons in Salt Lake City, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it would support proposed city laws that would prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. The ordinances passed and history was made: It marked the first time the Salt Lake City-based church had supported gay-rights legislation. The Mormon church — which continues to suffer a backlash over ... Read Full Story

  The Modern Classic Reader Society this year named G. Roger Denson’s novel Voice of Force as the 2009 gay novel to rank with the great gay novels of the past.    Here is the story synopsis from the back cover of the novel along with the synopses of the twenty classic novels it joins.     To see the actual website go to:  http://modernclassicreader.tripod.com/gaynovels/ G. Roger Denson -- Voice of Force The first significantly gay novel set in the 21st-century, Voice of Force is a fictional dossier leaked from the office of the Manhattan District Attorney and pieced together to tell a story of ... Read Full Story

Following Tuesday’s narrow rejection of same-sex marriage in Maine, the latest front in the battle over gay rights has moved to New Jersey. The Democrat-controlled legislature in New Jersey, which currently recognizes same-sex couples in civil unions, is under pressure to pass a bill that would authorize gay marriage before Jon Corzine ends his term in mid-January. Corzine, who was unseated in Tuesday’s election, said he would sign such a bill. On the contrary, his successor, Republican Chris Christie, has taken a stand against same-sex marriages and has stated that he would veto it as governor. “New Jersey is at the very top of ... Read Full Story