A documentary on California’s gay marriage fight is set to open the West Hollywood International Film Festival (WHIFF) Wednesday.

Annul Victory officially debuted in May at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival but next week’s screening is certain to feel like a homecoming for producer and viewers alike.

The documentary centers on Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, one of the 14 original gay couples involved in the landmark California Supreme Court lawsuit that opened gay marriage in the state for a brief five months in 2008. Filmmakers follow the couple as they ride a rollercoaster of feelings. First their joy as they legally marry, followed by agony as voters approve a gay marriage ban that places the legality of their new marriage in question.

Full Story from On Top Magazine

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Supporters of gay marriage have gathered more than 60,000 signatures from people pledging to vote against a repeal of Maine’s new law allowing same sex marriage.

The group that now calls themselves No On One/Protect Maine Equality says the signatures were gathered mostly by volunteers and are from people from Fort Kent to Kittery and everywhere in between. Organizers hope to get 150-thousand pledges by election day.

Opponents of gay marriage remain focused on gathering their own signatures for a petition to put a repeal vote on the November ballot. Stand For Marriage Maine will submit their signatures to the Secretary of State on Friday. They will not say how many they’ve gathered, only that it is well in excess of of the 55,000 required.

Full Story from WCSH6

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Reflecting changing national views on gay and lesbian relationships, a House subcommittee voted Thursday to extend employee benefits to the same-sex partners of federal workers.

The debate that preceded the 5 to 3 vote along party lines quickly moved beyond the federal workplace and into such fundamental cultural issues as religion, morality and the state of marriage — heady stuff for a House Oversight and Government Reform panel that more typically deals with the arcane details of government employment.

The action by the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia would grant same-sex partners of federal workers the same benefits provided to spouses of workers, including health insurance and retirement and disability benefits. It would also subject partners to the same obligations of spouses, including abiding by anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements.

Full Story from the Washington Post

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Social conservatives who organized the Referendum 71 challenge to domestic-partnership rights for same-sex couples turned in fewer signatures than initially thought.

David Ammons of the Office of the Secretary of State said the actual number is 137,689, about 800 fewer than the 138,500 estimated at Saturday’s turn-in of signatures by the Protect Marriage Washington campaign, which is led by Christian faith groups.

The signature total is 14 percent more than the 120,577 valid signatures needed for the issue to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot. That is below the typical 18 percent invalidation rate, raising questions about the measure’s viability.

Full Story from McClatchy DC

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Washington.

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Quakers in the United Kingdom voted to approve same-sex marriage on Friday and called on the government to provide full and equal marriage rights to same-sex couples, reports The Times. The approval represents a first for a mainstream religious group in Britain, where same-sex civil partnerships, but not same-sex marriages, are allowed.

More than 1,600 Quakers voted at their annual meeting in York “to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages.” However, the Quakers also agreed that the question of legal recognition by the government is “secondary,” and declined to require Quaker registrars to disobey the law by marrying same-sex couples. Quaker meetings will be urged to petition the government to change relevant laws to recognize same-sex couples.

In the immediate future, the Quakers plan to rewrite their prayer book to give same-sex couples the same status as married heterosexual couples.

Full Story from the Advocate

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in England.

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A federal judge in Tacoma has temporarily blocked release of the names and addresses of those who signed petitions for Referendum 71, which would repeal a recent law giving gay couples new marriagelike benefits.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle on Wednesday afternoon granted a temporary restraining order requested by Protect Washington Families to stop the Secretary of State’s Office from making the signers’ names public.

The order will remain in place until a hearing set for Sept. 3.

Full Story from Seattle Times

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A group fighting to overturn a new law legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine is planning to turn in an undisclosed number of petition signatures to the Secretary of State on Friday, demanding that the issue go before voters in November.

Meanwhile, a group that supports gay marriage, Maine Freedom to Marry, held an open house Wednesday night at the group’s new campaign headquarters on Forest Avenue in Portland.

Full Story from My Fox Maine

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

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ALBANIA’S recently re-elected Prime Minister Sali Berisha held out the possibility on Thursday of legalising gay marriages despite hostility in the Balkan country.

‘A law that could provoke debates and reactions aims to put an end to discrimination and will allow civil unions between same-sex persons,’ he said in a government statement.

Mr Berisha said there was ‘a certain hostility towards minorities’ in Albania and called on citizens to respect ‘the standards of other European countries.’

Full Story from Straits Times

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According to a comprehensive new analysis of public opinion surveys conducted over the last 15 years, support for the legalization of same-sex marriage has grown substantially in the United States. Among other conclusions, two political science professors at Columbia University found reluctance among state and local policymakers to expand equal rights laws and protections even where majorities of voters support them.

The state-by-state analysis of polling data, titled “Gay Rights in the States: Public Opinion and Policy Responsiveness,” tracks trends over time on eight policies affecting gay and lesbian rights: same-sex marriage, civil unions, employment non-discrimination, housing non-discrimination, hate crimes, second-parent adoption, health benefits for same-sex partners and sodomy laws.

Full Story from PhysOrg

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The Rudd government has finished its one-year anniversary by honouring an election commitment to remove discrimination against same-sex couples from a wide range of federal laws.

The federal parliament on Monday approved changes to superannuation laws that allow same-sex couples to leave entitlements to their partner or children upon death. The Senate also agreed to a bill to extend the meaning of de facto to include same-sex relationships.

The legislation brings long-awaited equality to same sex-couples in areas including tax, social security, health, aged care and employment.

Full Story from Live News

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources in Australia.

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