Via SacBee: Judge to rule on stay Thursday in Prop. 8 case

The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban says he is ready to rule on whether gay marriages should resume immediately in the state or await an appeals court's input.

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Via 365gay: Costa Rica court blocks gay civil union referendum

(San Jose, Costa Rica) Costa Rica’s top court has blocked the electoral tribunal from holding a referendum that would have let voters decide if same-sex civil unions should be allowed in the Central American country.

The Constitutional Court’s 5-2 decision released Tuesday says such a referendum would put a minority at a disadvantage in a largely Roman Catholic country. It also says gay civil unions is a legislative issue and not an electoral one.

The court says it considers homosexuals a group that is at a disadvantage and the target for discrimination, requiring government authorities to protect their rights.

The electoral tribunal had planned to hold the referendum Dec. 5, when Costa Rica also is holding municipal elections.

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"Walker was right to say that separate isn't equal. Civil unions are hardly ideal. But his decision treats civil unions as if they were trivial or worthless. By refusing to give them any weight and declaring them not just inadequate as a matter of policy but prohibited as a matter of law, Walker uses the Constitution to put compromise out of bounds. [snip]

"So I think the decision is a radical one, but not, ironically, as it pertains to homosexuality or to marriage. No, Walker's radicalism lies elsewhere: In his use of the Constitution to batter the principles of its two greatest exponents - Madison and Abraham Lincoln, a Burkean who was steadfast in his belief that ideals must be leavened with pragmatism.

"History will, I believe, vindicate Walker's view of marriage. Whether it will see him as having done gay rights a favor is less clear. For all its morally admirable qualities, his decision sets the cause of marriage equality crosswise with moderation, gradualism and popular sovereignty. Which, in America, is a dangerous place to be." - Jonathan Rauch, writing for the New York Daily News. Rauch, who gay-married in Washington DC in June, is the co-founder of the homocon site, Independent Gay Forum.

Labels: homocons, HomoQuotable, Jonathan Rauch, marriage equality, Proposition 8, Vaughn Walker

reposted from Joe

Julianne Moore & Mark Ruffalo on Gay Parenting, Don't Ask Don't Tell & Prop 8

Via 365gay: Calif. seeks tax equity for gay married couples

The California legislature passed a resolution asking the IRS to tax same-sex spouses and domestic partners the same way it taxes heterosexual married couples.

The resolution, AJR29, passed the Assembly 59 to 2 on Monday.



The taxes of the 18,000 same-sex couples who married in California before Proposition 8 passed are quite complicated because while their state taxes can be filed as the married couples they are, their federal taxes cannot.

The Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal recognition of these marriages, which extends to taxation.
Assembly member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) authored the resolution.

“I commend the IRS for affirming that domestic partners have the same community property rights as heterosexual spouses. Now it needs to ensure that same-sex married couples can enjoy the same protections from unfairly high taxes. I urge the IRS to respect California law and honor the rights of California’s same sex couples,” said Feuer.

Mario Guerrero a spokesperson from Equality California said, “All married couples deserve to be taxed fairly and appropriately, regardless of their sexual orientation.”

jump here to read the article in full on 365gay

Via 365gay: Calif. seeks tax equity for gay married couples

By Celeste Lavin, 365gay.com 08.10.2010
The California legislature is urging the IRS to enforce tax laws equally to all married couples in the state.

Read more here...

Via 365gay:What's next: Can the Prop 8 decision be appealed?

Gay Californians are waiting to hear if there will continue to be a stay on their right to marry. It may depend on the possibility of appeal. Read more here...

Via Box Turtle: Name That Bar

When not inventing drag queen names, my partner and I have a road-trip game where we invent small town gay bar names. Past nominees included Winks, Rumors, Just Friends, Club Innuendo — you get the idea. A Fox News host announced that he would open a gay bar near the proposed “ground zero mosque” (so named even though the mosque is blocks away from ground zero). Andrew Sullivan noted that the bar would need a name, and posted some of his reader’s suggestions:

I have to say I’d definitely go into a bar called Jihard. “Who’s Your Baghdaddi?” isn’t bad either. Infidel-ity is too upscale – that should be a piano bar playing only Gershwin. Halal Sailor: a little retro. Dicka Dicka Dicka should be a sex club. The Sixth Pillar is a little T.E. (but could definitely add a little upper-class English S&M for spice). imam4imam should be a website. Men-R-It is a nice play on minaret, but way too subtle. TGI Thursdays is a classic.

Go here to see his winning bar name. Sully suggests that Anderson Cooper’s partner would be the perfect manager.

 Make the jump here to read the article

Via JMG: American Bar Association Announces Support For Marriage Equality

The 410,000 member 132-year old American Bar Association, arguably the most influential legal group in the world, has announced its firm support for same-sex marriage. The Advocate reports:

In a resolution adopted less than one week after a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California's Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, the group acknowledges that same-sex couples "are only seeking to participate in an equal basis in a foundational institution of our civil life," former ABA president Tommy Wells told the organization's house of delegates. "They simply want to share in the legal blessings that we give to married couples. It can only strengthen marriage.”

The ABA's statement: "RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges state, territorial, and tribal governments to eliminate all of their legal barriers to civil marriage between two persons of the same sex who are otherwise eligible to marry."

Labels: good news, law, LGBT rights, marriage equality

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eposted by Joe

Via Kermit: Wildflower of the week “Gay Penstemon”

In recognition of the California Supreme Court’s overturning of that state’s Proposition 8--which had banned same-sex marriage, the wildflower of the week (this week) is Gay Penstemon. Gay Penstemon, or Penstemon laetus, occurs in southern Oregon from Josephine to Klamath Counties and also extends south into California (of course). The word Penstemon means five threads, or five stamens—however, one in every five stamens of every flower never fertilizes anything.

The species epithet “laetus” is from Latin meaning gay, pleasing, abundant, or joyful. Or in the words of Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, (as reported on August 4, in the Christian Science Monitor) "We rejoice at today's decision ..." http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0804/Proposition-8-federal-judge-overturns-California-gay-marriage-ban

Unlike people, flowers that are both male and female are termed “perfect”. Botanists describe flowers that are only male, or only female, as “imperfect”. Like all other non-gay Penstemons, botanists have always described Gay Penstemon too, as having “perfect” flowers.