Coors Brewing Company, the target of a gay-backed boycott, attempted to distance itself last week from the beliefs of its former chairman, Peter Coors, reports AP. Coors is running for Senate and acknowledged that he supports a federal Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriages. Coors issued a statement saying they do not support discrimination against LGBT people even through legislation, but stopped short of saying they disagreed with Peter Coors on this particular issue.
New Paltz, NY, Mayor Jason West has been barred from marrying gay couples. A state judge ruled it is up to the legislature or the courts to decide the issue. West had married 25 couples Feb. 27 before being stopped. West faces misdemeanor charges of solemnizing marriages without a license.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed legislation that would have required all city contractors to provide equal employment benefits to all employees, whether they are married or in domestic-partner relationships. This represented a formal breaking of a promise he made to the GLBT community during the 2001 campaign for mayor. Some council members said they will move to override the mayor's veto.
An appeals court in Oregon reversed a lower court's ruling that would have forced the state to register the 3,000 same-sex marriages performed in Multnomah County until April, reports the Oregonian. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Frank L. Bearden ruled that the state's law barring same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, ordered that the marriages already performed be registered, and halted further same-sex marriages until the legislature had time to correct the problem. The appeals court ruling stops the state from registering the licenses in question while the case is on appeal. Meanwhile, a recall petition drive has failed against two county commissioners who approved gay marriage licenses.
The Republican county clerk in New Mexico who began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples says she'll begin issuing licenses again, reports AP. Victoria Dunlap issued the licenses shortly after the city of San Francisco issued licenses to same-sex couples. Dunlap says there is no law in place preventing same-sex marriage. A temporary restraining order kept her from issuing further licenses, but she says the order is no longer in place so she may again issue gay marriage licenses. Dunlap lost her bid for county commissioner last week.
South Carolina is the ninth state to dismiss a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The measure overwhelmingly passed in the state house but failed to come up for a vote in the senate.
The prosecution concluded its case against the three men accused of killing Gwen Araujo, the trans teen in California, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The defense argued the murder was a crime of passion sparked by sexual fraud. At press time the jury was deliberating.
A few Indianapolis churchgoers may have been hungry this weekend. Three churches in Indianapolis sponsored three days of fasting and praying to oppose same-sex marriage, reports the Indianapolis Star.
A Texas divorce court judge is in a predicament over a divorce between two women, reports the Houston Chronicle. But one of the women entered the marriage as a man. Linda Gail Carter began living as a woman in 1998. Carter's lawyer tried to get the case heard in family court but was rebuffed when Carter refused to certify herself as a man. The couple was married in Las Vegas four months after Carter changed her name and began living as a woman. She began taking female hormones but, as an ordained minister, still performs marriages as a man.
Suggesting someone's gay when they are not may no longer be grounds for a defamation lawsuit, said a Southern District judge. Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. ruled that social perceptions of homosexuality are changing in such a way that he questioned the ability of a complainant to use accusations of homosexuality as grounds for a defamation suit, according to New York Lawyer.
While major cities celebrate decades of pride parades and rallies this month, some smaller towns are just beginning. Black Hills Pride Festival begins next weekend and it's only the second year the group will celebrate, reports Rapid City Journal. The group expects 300 spectators this year—up from 100 last year.
The Mayor of Ferndale, Mich., officiated a symbolic marriage of about a dozen gay and lesbian couples at city hall this weekend, reports the Utah Daily Herald. A pastor from the Metropolitan Community Church co-officiated the weddings in a stand against what the participants consider inappropriate blocking of gay marriage by the state.
Several of the country's leading churches came out against the Federal Marriage Amendment. According to the Indy Star, the Washington offices of the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America co-signed a letter saying that while they may not support gay marriages, they also do not support governmental intrusion that would create one narrow definition of marriage. The Quakers, Sikhs, the Interfaith Alliance, and the American Jewish Committee also signed the letter.
News Tips? RaphaelNews@aol.com
