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News items affecting gays, lesbians, bisexuals & transsexuals
2008-October, November, December
Sponsored link.
In the following, "SSM" refers to "same-sex marriage."
News during 2008-OCT:
 | 2008-OCT-02: USA: Tenth anniversary of the crucifixion of
Matthew Shepard: The assassination of Matthew Shepard had some of
the same effects on the gay rights movement as the assassination of four
girls about 35 years earlier at the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, AL on 1963-SEP-15 by a white supremacist bomber. Both were acts
of such viciousness that they galvanized public support in favor of equality
for minorities. None of the five died in vain. In the years since Shepard's
assassination, his parents have founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation
and had many achievements "at the forefront of the fight to replace hate
with understanding, compassion and acceptance." See:
http://www.matthewshepard.org/
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| 2008-OCT-10: CT: Court introduces SSM in Connecticut: The
state Supreme Court ruled that the state's provision
for civil unions did not give same-sex couples rights equal to opposite-sex
married couples. Since the state constitution requires all citizens to be given
equal protection under law, the majority of judges voted in favor of same-sex
marriage. All loving, committed couples in Connecticut will be able to obtain
marriage licenses as of 2008-OCT-28. 1
More details
A newspaper online poll shows over 70% support among their readers for SSM.
2
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| 2008-OCT-10: USA: McDonald's Corporation abandons support for
sexual equality: Earlier this year, Richard Ellis, a former
McDonald's vice-president, joined the board of directors of the National
Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). McDonald's had earlier
donated $20,000 to the NGLCC. Unable to convince McDonald's to back off
their recognition of diversity and equality, the fundamentalist Christian
American Family Association resorted to an economic boycott in MAY. After
five months McDonalds caved in and announced that they were adopting a
position of neutrality in the drive for equality.
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| 2008-OCT-20: USA: Joe Biden comments about SSM on the "Ellen" show: Ellen Degeneres asked Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), Democratic candidate
for vice-president, about his position on Prop. 8. First, he congratulated her on
her recent marriage to Portia de Rossi. After the audience applause settled
down, he said:
"If I lived in California, I'd clearly vote against
Prop 8. Barack [Obama} and I
both opposed a similar attempt nationally. There was an attempt to talk about a
constitutional amendment which I think is regressive; I think it is unfair."
3
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| 2008-OCT-26: Australia: Researchers identify transsexual gene
link: Researchers in Australia announced the result of a DNA study
in the journal Biological Psychiatry. They analyzed the DNA
volunteered by 112 MTF (male to female) transsexuals. MTF transsexuals are
sometimes described as having a male body and a female brain. Researchers
found that the subjects were more likely to have a longer version of the
androgen receptor gene in their DNA. This may cause weaker testosterone signals
which may cause the individual to develop an atypical gender identity.
More details.
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| 2008-NOV-03: USA: Barak Obama comments about Prop 8 on MTV:
Senator Obama was asked about California's Prop 8 during an MTV interview aired on
2008-NOV-3. He responded: "I think it's unnecessary."
"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay
marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to
prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that's
not what America's about." 4
On other occasions, Senator Obama has indicated his support for civil
unions for same-sex couples with rights and obligations equal to those of
marriage.... but without the word "marriage."
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| 2008-NOV-04: CA: Initial voting data indicates Prop 8 narrowly passed:
As of 2008-NOV-04 at 10:30 ET, the day after voting day, with 94.6% of the
precincts reporting:
 | 52.1% of voters approved Prop 8 |
| 47.9% were opposed. |
If passed, and if the proposition is upheld by the courts, it would end marriage equality in the
state. For the first time in history, a political jurisdiction has first
allowed, then terminated the right of loving, committed same-sex couples to
marry.
Chip White, the press
secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign, said: "The momentum has really been
with us."
Jose Ronni Pahl, with her wife
Hannah, were one of the first same-sex couples married in Santa Clara
County. She said:
"It's bittersweet right now because we just watched the first
African-American president elected. We were watching it with our
African-America son, there were tears coming out of our eyes, and we
went to look at what's happening at 8. We're speechless right now."
Some commentators attribute the win on Prop 8 to fear tactics used by its
promoters. They invested over 30 million dollars in advertising campaigns
and ran TV ads claiming that if SSM were allowed to continue, churches that
refused to marry same-sex couples would lose their tax exempt status and
that students in grade 3 would be taught about SSM.
A court challenge to Prop 8 is expected.
Meanwhile, state constitutional bans were passed in Arizona and
Florida. 5 An Arkansas measure
that would prevent unmarried couples from adopting children or being foster
parents also passed. This measure mainly targets same-sex couples.
5,6,7,8 More info.
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| 2008-NOV-06: Sweden: SSM expected to be approved by their
parliament" A "gender-neutral marriage" act is being
presented to the Swedish parliament. It would extend to same-sex couples all
of the same rights and obligations that opposite-sex couples have always
enjoyed, including church weddings, adoption and artificial insemination.
More info. |
| 2008-NOV-25: FL: Ban on adoption by same-sex couples found
unconstitutional: A child welfare judge in Florida declared the
state's 31 year-old ban on adoption by homosexuals unconstitutional after a
lengthy four day hearing in which decades of psychological and sociological
studies were studied. Miami-Date Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman approved the
adoption of two half brothers, aged 4 and 8 by Frank Gill, a gay man who had
raised them as foster children for the past four years. She wrote:
"John and James left a world of chronic neglect, emotional
impoverishment and deprivation to enter a new world, foreign to them,
that was nurturing, safe, structured and stimulating, They are a family,
a good family, in every way except the eyes of the law."
9
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| 2008-DEC-02: USA: Evangelical leader, Richard Cizik, supports
same-sex civil unions: Rev. Cizik was the
vice-president of governmental affairs for the National Association of
Evangelicals (NAE). When interviewed t PBS' program Fresh Air
on 2008-DEC-02, he said that he supported civil unions for same-sex couples.
This contradicts the NAE's position which is to have governments recognize
such couples only as roommates. Nine days later,
Cizik resigned from the NAE. 10
More details
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| 2008-DEC-22: UK: Catholic adoption agency defunded: In
2007, the government of the UK passed a set of Sexual Orientation
Regulations (SOR). It prohibits most groups or individuals who
provide goods and services to the public from discriminating against persons
on the basis of their sexual orientation. The law has been widely
misrepresented by religious conservatives. It does not apply to religious
rituals and services. It does not create special rights for homosexuals; it
applies to persons of all sexual orientations.
Catholic Caring Services (CCS) of Lancaster UK was caught between a
rock and a hard place. One of their sponsors, the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Lancaster requires the CCS to discriminate against homosexuals when
selecting adopting parents. They also require the agency to follow Catholic
teaching on marriage, abortion, human sexuality, the morining after pill,
etc. The SOR requires agencies to be free of discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation. However, the regulations do contain an exemption to
cover agencies that are committed to operate according to the beliefs of
their religious sponsor; they can continue to discriminate. The CCS elected
to follow the spirit of the law. As a result, the Diocese eliminated the CCS
funding and now regards them as a non-Catholic agency. The CCS' trustees
voted 9 to 1 to remove the word "Catholic" from their agency name.
12 |
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Mark Spencer, et al., "High court grants marriage rights for same-sex
couples," Hartford Courant, 2008-OCT-10, at:
http://www.courant.com/
- "Same-sex Marriage in Connecticut?," Hartford Courant, 2008-OCT-13, at:
http://www.courant.com/
- Biden on 'Ellen' to talk about gay marriage, not wanting to be VP,"
Women on the Web, 2008-OCT-21, at:
http://www.wowowow.com/ (Includes video)
- Jennifer Mesko, "With Obama, the Writing is on the Wall,"
CitizenLink.com, 2008-NOV-03, at:
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008596.cfm
- Mike Swift, "Early returns show voters favoring Prop 8," Mercury News,
2008-NOV-04 @ 8:00 PM PST, at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/
- David Crary, "Massachusetts voters reject income tax repeal," Associated
Press, 2008-NOV-04.
- Tamara Audi et al., "California votes for Prop 8," Wall Street Journal,
2008-NOV-05, at:
http://online.wsj.com/
- "Election Night Results," CA Secretary of State, at:
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/
- Carol Marbin Miller, "Judge strikes down Florida ban on adoption by gay
parents," McClatchy Newspapers, 2008-NOV-26, at:
http://news.bostonherald.com/
- "Top evangelical leader resigns over gay unions remarks," ReligionNewsBlog, 2008-DEC-12, at:
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/
- Hilary White, "Lancaster Bishop Pulls Funding from Ex-Catholic Adoption
Agency," LifeSiteNews.com, 2008-DEC-22, at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/
- Kathleen Gilbert, "Boycott Successful: McDonald's Abandons Homosexual
Activism," LifeSiteNews.com, 2008-OCT-10, at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/
Notice:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. sec 107: The news items
contained in the above hyperlinks are provided without profit by the
Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, PO Box 27026, Kingston ON
Canada K7M 8W5, and are intended to be available to anyone
interested in the topics included, for educational purposes only. Any
editor, author, Webmaster, writer, publisher, news service, etc. that
objects to being part of this listing may request that future works be
excluded. We will also attempt to delete previous entries from the
same source.
Copyright © 2008 by the Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2008-OCT-13
Latest update and review: 2009-JAN-08
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
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