Posts Tagged ‘same-sex marriage’
How to Effectively Protest Fred Phelps
Tomorrow, Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church will be protesting the first day of same-sex marriage in the District. Why? Well, because “God hates fags! God hates fag-enablers! Ergo, God hates District of Columbia, all of DOOMED america, and the World! You’ve turned the country over to the fags; now your soldiers/fire fighters/cops/kids/parents/etc. are coming home in body bags! Judges 19-21. Praise God! Amen.”
One District resident has dared to defy this logic. Bridget Todd is organizing a Phelps counter-protest from 11-12 p.m. tomorrow outside of D.C. Superior Court. Todd also intends to challenge the creative signage of the most flamboyant hate group around (”Bitch Burger”?). Plenty of inspiration for your anti-Phelps materials, after the jump.
UPDATE: Check out the results of the protest and the counter-protest. Read More “How to Effectively Protest Fred Phelps” »
To Avoid Funding Gay Marrieds, Catholic Charities Denies Benefits to All Spouses
The Archdiocese of Washington has been battling the D.C. government for the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians since D.C.’s same-sex marriage legislation got rolling last year.
One major point of contention: Once gays and lesbians are allowed to marry, the Archdiocese—which employs plenty of locals through Catholic Charities—will be required to provide health benefits to same-sex spouses, an act which it says would fly in the face of the Catholic church’s teachings on homosexuality.
The solution? No spousal benefits for anybody.
Read More “To Avoid Funding Gay Marrieds, Catholic Charities Denies Benefits to All Spouses” »
Need a Last-Minute Officiant for Your Gay Marriage?
Given the ambivalent history of same-sex marriage in this country—in 2008, gays in California only had a five-month window to get hitched before their newly-minted rights were revoked—many gay couples are understandably eager to redeem their marriage rights at their earliest convenience. If you’re one of those gays, Mike Newman is your guy.
Read More “Need a Last-Minute Officiant for Your Gay Marriage?” »
UPDATED: Gay And Getting Married Next Week? Bring $35, Work the Security Line, and Avoid Fred Phelps
Gay and itching to get married? On March 3, 2010, same-sex couples will be legally allowed to marry apply for marriage in the District of Columbia, and the D.C. government has just issued some guidelines on how it’s all going to go down. Here’s how to get hitched as soon as possible [This post has been updated to reflect the latest info from D.C. Superior Court]:
James O’Keefe’s Gay Marriage Stunt Proves Why We Shouldn’t Legislate Love
Conservative stunt journalist James O’Keefe—of alleged Mary Landrieu wiretapping “misunderstanding” and ACORN pimp fame—joined forces with another straight guy in 2008 in an attempt to enter into a Massachusetts same-sex marriage. The secretly-videotaped shotgun wedding was cooked up in order to score one of O’Keefe’s more bizarre wingnut points: To prove that government bureaucrats in charge of administering marriage licenses don’t care about love.
Read More “James O’Keefe’s Gay Marriage Stunt Proves Why We Shouldn’t Legislate Love” »
Are “Undercover Gay Reporters” Causing Media Bias in Gay Marriage Stories?
In her online “The Barras Report” column this week, Jonetta Rose Barras accused “undercover gay reporters” of undisclosed bias in their coverage of the D.C. same-sex marriage bill.
“Some opponents of same-sex marriage wonder why they couldn’t get coverage in the press similar to proponents,” Barras wrote. “Stand4Marriage coalition members . . . have been cast as backward, homophobic, discriminatory crew.”
Well this crew of forward-thinking non-homophobes need wonder no further! According to Barras, “undercover” gay reporters engaged in a gay media conspiracy to unfairly characterize people who oppose civil rights for gay people as homophobes.
Read More “Are “Undercover Gay Reporters” Causing Media Bias in Gay Marriage Stories?” »
We’re Number 1 In Gay Households
Today’s Economist graph ran the numbers on the prevalence of same-sex households across the United States. According to the data, collected by the Williams Institute, Washington, D.C. has the highest concentration of gay households—14 out of 1,000. If that number sounds small to you, keep in mind that the data excludes single gay men and women. This study is only concerned with American households run by gay couples.
Web Site Attempts to Convince Gay Priests To Stop Being Hypocrites
A new Web site hopes to use the oldest trick in the book to combat the Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage: A good, old-fashioned forced outing!
At ChurchOuting.org, you’re invited to scroll through a list of every Achbishop, Bishop, and Reverend in the Archdiocese of Washington, zero in on one you know is gay, and then submit your “detailed account of how you know the priest in question is being hypocritical through his silence.” (Alternately, get at them via Twitter or Facebook).
Read More “Web Site Attempts to Convince Gay Priests To Stop Being Hypocrites” »
A Guide to Gay Wedding Discrimination
Catholic Block: Church fights to keep weddings swinging one way.
The authors of the D.C. gay marriage bill are sensitive folks. While they’re eager to grant gays and lesbians the right to get hitched in the District, they don’t want to upset conservative churches in town. So they threw an exemption into the pending gay-marriage bill [PDF]: No church will be obligated to wed same-sexers. It’s a ceremonial loophole that’s not nearly wide enough for the D.C. arm of the Catholic Church. “The language of the bill only protects us on the day of,” says Susan Gibbs, communications director for the Archdiocese of Washington. “But for us, that day is the launching point for the rest of your life. It’s not a day-long event. It’s a life-long journey.”
D.C. Marriage Bill’s Religious Exemption Finalized
Yesterday, the The D.C. Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary performed a final mark-up on the language of the D.C. marriage bill, voting 4-to-1 to send the bill to a full council vote. The vote will likely take place early next month. Yay!
In committee, the bill’s religious exemptions were finalized to ensure that no religious organizations—including churches, schools, and nonprofits—would have to “provide services, accommodations, facilities, or goods” to aid in the solemnization, celebration, or promotion of same-sex marriage. Boo.
I can’t imagine that you folks are as interested in the implications of the religious exemption than Mike Riggs and I are, but the full language [PDF] of that portion of the bill is after the jump.
Read More “D.C. Marriage Bill’s Religious Exemption Finalized” »
