Delaware governor signs civil-union bill
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed the state's civil-union bill into law May 11 at World Café Live at The Queen theater in Wilmington.
"Tonight we say to loving and committed couples across the state who want the law to endorse the promise they made long ago in their hearts, 'Your love is equally valid and deserving, your family is now equal under the law,'" Markell said. "And tonight we say to children of gay and lesbian parents in committed relationships -- and there are so many wonderful kids growing up in those families all over our state -- that it doesn't matter if your parents are gay or straight. The people you love and look up to and that are dedicating their lives and love to raising you -- those are your parents. You are a family. And while we've known it, and you've known it for years, tonight that equality becomes real under law."
In April, the Senate passed the bill 13-6 and the House of Representatives passed it 25-16.
The law grants same-sex couples the state-level rights, benefits and obligations of marriage, and recognizes same-sex civil unions and marriages from other states, treating them as Delaware civil unions.
Seven other states have similar laws, and five states and Washington, D.C., let same-sex couples marry. Five additional states recognize people married in other states and countries as married.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C. Same-sex marriages from elsewhere are recognized as marriages in Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and California (if the marriage took place before Proposition 8 passed). Eleven other nations allow same-sex couples to marry -- Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Mexico (where same-sex marriages are allowed only in the capital city but are recognized nationwide).
The states with civil-union laws that grant all marriage rights are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. The Hawaii and Illinois laws were passed recently and have not come into force. Five other states have gay-union laws that extend some rights of marriage: Colorado, Hawaii (an older law), Maine, Maryland and Wisconsin.
The situation in California is unusual. Same-sex marriage was legal from June to November 2008, when voters amended the state constitution via Proposition 8 to put a stop to it. The couples who married then are still legally married, as are other same-sex couples who live in California and got married anywhere in the world before Prop 8 passed. Gay couples who married somewhere else after Prop 8 passed, or who marry elsewhere in the future, receive every state-level right and obligation of marriage in California except for the legal right to call their marriage a "marriage" when they are in California. They are not recognized under the state's domestic partnership law, but rather are married couples who are denied use of the word "marriage."
Presbyterians OK noncelibate gay pastors
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has become the latest mainstream American Protestant denomination to allow noncelibate LGB people to become pastors.
On May 10, a vote of a regional governing body in Minnesota pushed the number of "presbyteries" supporting the change over the halfway mark.
The development effectively ratified a July 2010 vote of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to end ordination discrimination against everyone who wasn't either straight, married and monogamous, or single and celibate.
The change removed from the Presbyterians' constitution the requirement that pastors, elders and deacons be living "in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." Now the church will instead look at one's "calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office."
The Presbyterian Church has 173 presbyteries, and the Twin Cities presbytery was the 87th to approve the constitutional revision.
"While it has taken longer for our church to get to this amazing moment of entering into a new era of equality, this voting process has given us the opportunity to affirm that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are part of God's good creation and can be called by God to serve the church," said Michael Adee, executive director of More Light Presbyterians. "The thousands of conversations, prayers and the sharing of hopes and dreams are all part of building a church that reflects God's heart."
"Passing this amendment makes clear the good news that the Presbyterian Church welcomes and values every person -- because Jesus does," said the Rev. Mary Lynn Tobin, co-moderator of Covenant Network of Presbyterians. "Its passage removes an enormous stumbling block for many who would otherwise be drawn to following Jesus."
Sylvia Thorson-Smith of Presbyterian Voices for Justice added: "We rejoice that God's justice-loving spirit has blown like a mighty wind through our church after long decades of struggle. For years we have wept for the many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Presbyterians who have left our church because their calls were denied. But today, we shed tears of jubilation that our church has finally said yes to their full participation."
Other mainline U.S. Protestant denominations that allow noncelibate LGB people to be pastors include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church.
Minn. Senate OKs marriage referendum to amend constitution
Minnesota's Senate voted 38-27 May 11 to send voters a referendum to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which already is banned by statute.
The measure now moves to the House of Representatives, where its prospects are thought to be good.
Thirty other states ban same-sex marriage via their constitutions and 19 of them also ban civil unions. Five states and Washington, D.C., let same-sex couples marry.
Assistance: Bill Kelley
