July, 2010

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Italy: Lesbian Couple’s Relationship Recognized by the City of Torino

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Note: This was sent to us by one of our Italian followers. The original article is in Italian, and for speed, we have used Google Translate to translate it. It’s not perfect, but you’ll get the gist:

Debora and Antonella six months ago were symbolically united by Chiamparino. This is the first lesbian couple who obtained official certification actual official name.

Now it is not just a symbolic act: Debora and Antonella Galbiati Ventrella D’Annibale, the two women in February “celebration” of their marriage in the presence of the mayor of Turin Sergio Chiamparino, have their certificate of residence of family recognition based on affective bond.

The actual official name of the City withdrew this morning, after a few days ago of the Turin city council had approved the proposal of popular initiative establishing it.

“For years we have been on the same family and that we withdrew the certificate now has the same number of that act,” notes Deborah Galbiati Ventrella underlining a “continuity between the symbolic and our marriage certificate withdrawn today – continues – is not a goal: we recognize the importance of this decision, but our fight continues because there is a recognition at national unions like ours.”

The symbolic marriage of six months ago of a couple in a room of Valentine, is a source of controversy for the presence of the mayor, beginning with the Curia of Turin to the effect that it was a gesture intended to create “confusion”.

Yesterday the first certified master of emotional bond was given to a couple formed by a man and a woman, Silvano Canatrale Olive and Catherine, both divorced with children, who live together for years.

Full Story from La Stampa

Click here for gay marriage resources.

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CA: Sonoma County Settles With Man Who Was kept From Dying Partner

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The County of Sonoma and a Sonoma nursing home have reached a $653,000 settlement with the estate of Clay M. Greene and Harold Scull, two men who were partners for decades, ending a complicated saga that had sparked a firestorm within the gay and lesbian community.

In March, Greene, who was 78, filed a lawsuit claiming that after Scull’s hospitalization and subsequent death, Sonoma County officials sold all of the belongings that he had accrued during a lifetime with Scull because they refused to recognize the right of conservatorship for same-sex couples.

All told, the story was wrenching and infuriating.

Full Story from The Bay Citizen

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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ME: Why the No on 1 Campaign Failed

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The manager for the “No on 1″ campaign in Maine that sought to keep voters there from overturning marriage-equality legislation last fall pondered the lessons of the unsuccessful effort at a Netroots Nation panel in Las Vegas on Thursday.

“This is still very painful for us to talk about. We put forth a campaign that we thought was going to be the first one in the nation to win,” he said of him and his fellow panelists, Julia Rosen with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Adam Bink of OpenLeft.com, and Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog.com, all of whom worked closely with the campaign in different capacities.

Connolly thanked the room of activists for engaging so thoughtfully in rehashing the effort. “This is something that, for a straight ally like me, is one the most important things in my life – to figure out how we win these campaigns,” he said.

Full Story from the Advocate

Click here for gay marriage resources in Maine.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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Paraguay: VP Against Gay Marriage

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The vice president of Paraguay, Federico Franco, said this week that if he were president, he would veto any law allowing same-sex “marriage,” because of the harm it would bring children raised in such an environment.

“During the campaign I was asked about homosexual marriage, and I might add that I am also against abortion because of my Christian convictions,” Franco said. He then underscored that his opposition to gay “marriage” is because he considers “marriage to be a sacrament, the cornerstone of society, and out of defense of children.

“I say selfishness must not prevail over the interests of society,” he added.

Full Story from CNA

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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IA: After Marriage Equality, Divorce Down, Marriage Up

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Iowa ended a four-year slide in the number of couples getting married last year, but experts say the turnaround could have been aided in part by an April 2009 court ruling that legalized same-sex marriages. Also, Iowa posted the lowest number of divorces since 1970 with 7,286 dissolutions, according to preliminary statistics issued by the state Department of Public Health.

“That’s really good news,” said Laurie Linhart, a lecturer in Drake University’s Department of Culture & Society who specializes in marriage-related issues.

Preliminary vital records compiled by state officials indicate 21,139 marriages occurred in Iowa last year – the most since 2000 and the first increase since 2005. The 1,573 jump in marriages over 2008 included the first-ever same-gender unions that took place statewide after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a state law that defined marriage as only between one man and one woman.

Full Story from the Sioux City Journal

Click here for gay marriage resources in Iowa.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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Italy: Catholic Priests Caught Trolling Gay Bars

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

An Italian magazine owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has exposed a large number of Catholic priests going out to gay bars and having sex with men that they meet there. These men are having consensual relationships with other men in direct violation of their oath of celibacy and the teachings of their own Church.

Their actions have brought about the condemnation of the Italian Catholic diocese of Rome. The article in the Italian magazine Panorama detailed the sexual encounters of these priests and their trips to clubs. The diocese characterized their behavior as sullying the honor of all others.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that sex outside of marriage is sinful and homosexuality is unnatural. It is teaching these in a day and age when scientific research has shown that homosexuality is perfectly natural and many Catholics are refusing to get married because of the Church’s stance on divorce.

Full Story from Lez Get Real

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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AZ: Federal Judge Blocks State Cutoff of Domestic Partner Benefits

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

A federal judge has blocked Arizona from implementing a cutoff of domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian state employees. U.S. District Judge John Sedwick on Friday issued a preliminary injunction that requires the state to still make family health insurance available to gay and lesbian state employees who have established relationships that meet residency and other standards under state administration rules.

The judge also dismissed part of a lawsuit challenging the prohibition against providing domestic partner benefits to gays and lesbians, but he left another part intact, allowing the lawsuit to continue.

State officials approved domestic partner benefits in late 2008 under rule changes proposed by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano’s administration over objections from social conservatives.

Full Story from KTAR

Click here for gay marriage resources in Arizona.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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Spammers Latch On To Gay Malawian Couple’s Story

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

OK, I don’t usually pay much attention to spam, but the name on this one jumped out at me:

My dear,

I am Tiwonge Chimbalanga a Malawian gold merchant gay man who was prisoned for 14 years after my marriage in Malawi , I was released from prison with the help of the president Bingu wa Mutharika, US president Obama and UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon.

I ran out of the country as many people was after my life to kill me for been gay in our country, I am now in Ivory Coast where I am taking refuge with my belongings, I have Ten million five hundred thousand united state dollars ($10.500.000) and 150kg of gold which I have deposited in one of the security company here for safe keeping, I want you to help me to relocate to your country with this fund for my life sake, I will offer you 20% of this fund after helping me transfer my belongings to your country and make a way for me to come over and invest it. Pardon me if gay is against your religion and come to my aid.

Yours brother,

Tiwonge Chimbalanga

Kudos for use of a legitimate targeted reference, spammers. Only a few small details out of place. They were imprisoned for 5 months, not 14 years. Tiwonge is now back in his home village, not on the Ivory Coast. And hmmm… don’t you think if he had ” Ten million five hundred thousand united state dollars”, he would have been able to buy a little justice?

OK, OK, so I’m easily amused…

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Gay Marriage Events Today/Tomorrow

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

(Full Events List & Details: http://www.purpleunions.com/mn/gay-marriage-events-list.html):

–USA, CA, Palm Springs: 07/24, Equality Happy Hour, Hamburger Mary’s, 4-7 PM.
–USA, IA, Des Moines: 07/24, Voter Canvassing, One IA Office, 9 AM-12 PM.
–USA, IA, Iowa City: 07/24, Voter Canvassing, Java House, 1-5 PM.
–USA, OH, Columbus: 07/23, NOM Anti Gay Marriage Tour, TBD, 12-1 PM.
–USA, OH, Columbus: 07/23, Counterprotest NOM’s Tour, TBD, 12-1 PM.
–USA, OH, Lima: 07/24, NOM Anti Gay Marriage Tour, Old Dave’s Market, 2-3 PM.
–USA, OH, Lima: 07/24, Counterprotest NOM’s Tour, Farout Park, 12-1 PM.

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Western Hemisphere Support for Marriage Equality Varies Widely

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Gay Marriage Support By CountryJoining South Africa, Canada and seven European countries, Argentina has now extended the full rights of marriage to gays and lesbians nationwide. The law, signed by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on July 21, 2010, means that civil registries can now process marriage licenses for gay couples with the first ceremony set for August 13 in Buenos Aires.

But gay marriage is also the subject of intense discussion across the Americas. Disputes are marked by sharply conflicting opinions among citizens, social organizations, religious groups, the highly influential Catholic Church, and policymakers. In Latin America, these debates have led to outcomes that vary sharply across countries.

Same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned in Honduras (2005), El Salvador (2009) and the Dominican Republic (2009). In Bolivia, the new Constitution (2009) limits legally recognized marriage to opposite-sex unions. In Costa Rica, the Supreme Court ruled against same-sex couples seeking the right to be legally married (2006), while a national referendum on the subject remains a possibility.

Full Story from the Americas Quarterly

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

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