|
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 17:01 |
(Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights) California’s new law is a cause for celebration for same-sex couples living in and outside the state, because unlike Massachusetts, the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, California has no residency requirement. Any couple who desires can travel to California and marry. Whether a California marriage is recognized in other states is a different question. Only a few states currently recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere: Massachusetts, whose laws prohibit anyone from marrying whose home state does not offer equal marriage rights; New York, which does not currently permit same-sex marriage but whose new governor recently directed all state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; and possibly Rhode Island, where Massachusetts marriages are recognized. Some states “convert” same-sex marriages into their own local flavor of domestic partnership, and many ignore same-sex marriages outright. With its constitutional amendment defining marriage as exclusively between “one man and one woman,” Colorado is one of those states. Last week, Mountain Pride Connections’ editor Kit McChesney interviewed Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), whose organization was lead counsel in four-year legal battle. Representing 15 couples, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition, NCLR’s Legal Director Shannon Price Minter presented and successfully argued the case before the state’s Republican-dominated Supreme Court. The court heard oral arguments in March, and on May 15, delivered their historic opinion. Kit McChesney: First of all, congratulations on a stunning victory! Kate Kendell: Thank you!
KM: What should Coloradans who marry in California expect upon their return? Are they legally married? KK:We believe they are married and they should say that they are married. And while many institutions and family members and friends will respect that marriage and honor it, there will be some institutions and governmental actors who will not recognize the marriage. KM: And what happens if these marriages aren’t recognized? |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Tuesday, 17 June 2008 16:21 |
|
It's official! On Monday, June 16, California joined Massachusetts as the second state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage, and became a member of the small but growing club of states and nations that ensure marriage rights for same-sex couples. (Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, partners for 55 years, are the first to marry in San Francisco on June 16, 2008). Last week, Norway became the sixth country to legalize same-sex marriage (effective 2009), preceded by The Netherlands (2001), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005) and South Africa (2006). While the majority of countries in Northern Europe and some states and municipalities in the U.S. offer some kind of legal recognition for same-sex couples, most of these arrangements fall far short in encompassing the entire spectrum of rights and benefits afforded heterosexual couples who choose to marry. Court decisions affecting same-sex marriage in Connecticut and Iowa are pending.
The first couple married in California on the 16th, and the only couple married in San Francisco on that first day were long-time partners and lesbian activists Del Martin (87) and Phyllis Lyon (83), also the first couple married when San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. Together 55 years, Martin and Lyon were married in the mayor’s office, a ceremony that was chosen to be first specifically to honor their longtime commitment and to commemorate the new law. (Photo courtesy Bilerico Project. All rights reserved). |
|
Friday, 13 June 2008 12:52 |
|
On June 12, by a two-thirds majority vote, Norway's legislators legalized same-sex marriage, bringing the total number of countries worldwide to six whose laws have made marriage a gender-neutral institution. Norway now joins The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, and South Africa in granting same-sex couples relationship equality. In addition to making legal adoptions more accessible to same-sex couples, the new law also makes lesbians eligible for fertility treatment at government expense, just as with their heterosexual counterparts. Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Great Britain currently offer the same fertility treatments. Conservatives in Norway's government have raised objections to the new law on the grounds that "traditional" marriage will be compromised and that children of same-sex couples might experience problems. Many of Norway's prominent churches objected to the law, though Norway's Evangelical Lutheran Church last year lifted a ban prohibiting gay couples from serving in the clergy. Sources report that at least six of the country's 11 bishops support gay clergy. The law was opposed by the Roman Catholic Church. |
|
Welcome to Mountain Pride Connections! |
Mountain Pride Connections has expanded from publishing its gay-friendly business directory into a site featuring news and information, feature articles and stories, current event listings, and community networking opportunities including blogs, a community bulletin board, and the home of Pride Business Network, a leads group for GLBT businesses in the Boulder area.
Mountain Pride Connections publishes a high-quality digest-sized printed directory of businesses friendly to Boulder's GLBT community. The directory debuted in 2006 and featured more than 100 businesses eager to support Boulder's diverse communities. Now in its second year, the 2008-2009 Mountain Pride Connections features nearly 200 local businesses and organizations. The guide is available in several versions--in print, available at 300 locations in and around Boulder and Denver; online as a virtual E-Guide; and online, downloadable in PDF format. The print directory has proved very successful for advertisers who have seen their business boosted by an increase in GLBT customers and their allies.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2008 Mountain Pride Connections. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
