This week, Sam Adams became the second openly gay mayor elected to lead one of the largest cities in the U.S. Adams won 58 percent of the vote to become the new mayor of Portland, Ore. In 2004, Adams became Portland's first openly gay city commissioner. There, he helped create Portland's domestic partner registry. The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund endorsed Adams, as well as Oregon secretary of state candidate Kate Brown, who is openly bisexual.
Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Larry Langford has said that he will not interfere with a scheduled gay pride parade, according to The Birmingham News. Langford initially said that he would not sign a proclamation for the annual event or grant the sponsoring group, Central Alabama Pride, a parade permit. He later said that he would would grant a permit, although he is not necessarily condoning the parade.
The court hearing for a challenge to the Wisconsin's same-sex marriage ban has been set for May 30. Last fall, a circuit court judge rejected university professor William McConkey's claim that the Wisconsin marriage ban violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Now, the professor, with the help of Fair Wisconsin, is pursuing the claim that the referendum on the 2006 ballot illegally asked two questions, which violates the state's single subject rule. In 2006, 59 percent of Wisconsin voters approved the ban. If the judge agrees with McConkey, the amendment will be overturned.
A South Carolina high school principal threw in the towel after the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance ( GSA ) at his school. Irmo High School principal Eddie Walker resigned, effective at the end of the 2008-09 school year, because the formation of a GSA conflicts with his religious beliefs. Walker also quit because he thought the formation of the club conflicted with the school's abstinence-only education. He believes that the club's presence will lead to students having sex.
Following the news that California's supreme court lifted the state's ban of same-sex marriage, Human Rights Campaign pledged $500,000 to help keep California's Supreme Court ruling from being overturned. Opponents have proposed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that would overturn the ruling. The national LGBT organization pledged $500,000 to Equality for All to help maintain marriage equality in California.
According to The Southern Voice, U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Georgia, said that he will reintroduce the Federal Marriage Protection amendment, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Broun was inspired by the recent California Supreme Court ruling. 'What the activist judges in California have shown is that the traditional definition of marriage is under assault by a cadre of lawyers and judges who hold the will of the voters in contempt,' he stated in a press release.
Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres pressed Republican presidential nominee John McCain about his stance on the gay marriage issue on a recent episode of her show. DeGeneres, who announced that she will marry Portia de Rossi following the California Supreme Court ruling that allows gay marriage, entered into a friendly debate with the senator. DeGeneres pled her case to the presidential nominee. 'We are all the same people, all of us,' she said. 'You're no different than I am. Our love is the same.