United Church of Christ Backs Gay Marriage
The president of the United Church of Christ said his denomination "acted courageously to declare freedom" when it passed a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage on Independence Day.

Why 'ex-gay' programs like Love in Action are immoral
This post will tell you exactly why we have to continue to fight the American Taliban, the Dominionists, that absolutely unhinged element that is trying to take over our culture and invade every aspect of our lives. Homosexuality isn't destroying the family, it's institutions like the "ex-gay" movement that want to emotionally and psychologically destroy gay people. These are gay people who are still trying to come to grips with their orientation; by crushing them with guilt and hellfire, the ex-gay movement represents the height of immorality.

Exodus Presents Failures As Success Stories Out of Desperation
Exodus International, a worldwide umbrella group for the ex-gay ministries, was accused today by former member Shawn O'Donnell of misrepresentation for continuing to post his picture on the front page of its web-site, even though he is now an out and proud gay man. "I can honestly say that in five years, I did not meet one person that I believe had truly changed," said O'Donnell. "What Exodus is doing is damaging lives. They give false hope and when people fail to change they consider killing themselves, as I once did. The harmful work of Exodus almost killed me and I don't want others to suffer."

Youth's blog stirs uproar over 'ex-gay' camp
Sixteen-year-old "Zach" is apparently enduring a rite of passage still too common for gay youth: His parents say he must change. When they enrolled him last month in a Christian camp-like program to turn him straight, he documented his fears in his online diary, or blog. Click here for Zach's Blog

Why 'ex-gay' programs like Love in Action are immoral
This post will tell you exactly why we have to continue to fight the American Taliban, the Dominionists, that absolutely unhinged element that is trying to take over our culture and invade every aspect of our lives. Homosexuality isn't destroying the family, it's institutions like the "ex-gay" movement that want to emotionally and psychologically destroy gay people. These are gay people who are still trying to come to grips with their orientation; by crushing them with guilt and hellfire, the ex-gay movement represents the height of immorality.

Psychiatric group supports gay marriage
Representatives of the nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday urging legal recognition of gay marriage in the interest of maintaining mental health.

Gays, allies protest at Focus on the Family
A two-day protest against Focus on the Family and its anti-gay views resulted in the arrest of a family who tried to deliver a letter to the group's leader.

Event marks 40 years of gay rights activism
Gay leaders and celebrities gathered in Philadelphia Sunday to begin commemorating a 1965 gay rights march considered by many the true beginning of the modern gay rights movement.

Michigan Attorney General Opinion No. 7171 (03-16-05)
Constitutionality of city providing same-sex domestic partnership benefits
Const 1963, art 1, § 25 operates as a limitation on government conduct and therefore applies to state and local governmental entities, including the City of Kalamazoo. Const 1963, art 1, § 25 prohibits state and local governmental entities from conferring benefits on their employees on the basis of a "domestic partnership" agreement that is characterized by reference to the attributes of a marriage. Accordingly, the City of Kalamazoo's Domestic Partner Benefits Policy is contrary to the mandate of Const 1963, art 1, § 25. Const 1963, art 1, § 25 does not invalidate a state or local governmental entity's existing contractual obligations but does apply to its future contracts.

Dutch gay couples may soon adopt abroad
A majority coalition of lawmakers in the Netherlands submitted legislation Wednesday that would allow same-sex couples to adopt children from other countries.

Penguin Pride
Gay penguins made headlines last week -- and then there are bisexual bonobos and even transgender fish. Can we really learn about our sexuality from the birds and the bees?

United Church agrees
Many followers of Jesus wish to be in solidarity with gays and lesbians in their quest for legal marriage

Ouster of gay partner 'negative'
A court ruling forcing a homosexual father's partner to move out of the house where the father is raising his 12-year-old son "has been so negative for the child in so many ways," the father's attorney said yesterday. "It's very upsetting to the child. He wants his father's partner to be able to move back in, and they can just resume their normal family life."

Act of aggression on religion's right
What business does government have attempting to redefine what is essentially a religious institution anyway? Isn't government venturing into religion's territory here as opposed to the other way around? The state recognizes, by status and benefit, those entered into holy matrimony — but is it government's place to define the sacrament itself?

Bill shields religious right to refuse
Ottawa — A long-awaited bill to legalize same-sex civil marriage makes its debut today in Parliament with an explicit guarantee of religious freedom written into the proposed law. The guarantee is designed to defuse charges that the bill will lead to religious groups being compelled to recognize gay marriage.

Queer Beer launched for gays
A trio of Swiss businessmen have launched a new drink for gay people called Queer Beer.

'Ex-gay' therapist cited for ethics breeches
Richard Cohen, an influential figure in the "ex-gay" movement, has been permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association (ACA) because of ethics violations.

Anti-Gay Foster Care Ban Overturned
Finding that children are not harmed by living with gay or lesbian parents, an Arkansas court today struck down a state regulation that banned gay people and anyone living in a household with a gay adult from being foster parents in the state.

Was Jesus Gay?
As Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus few of them will be told in their churches and Cathedrals anything about the sexuality of Jesus, yet a growing group of Biblical scholars believe that Christ may have had at least one sexual relationship with another male. Noted Methodist theologian Rev. Theodore Jennings Jr. and Dr Morton Smith, a world renowned Bible scholar, say there is irrefutable evidence that Jesus was at least bisexual. Dr Rollan McCleary of the University of Queensland, in Australia, says he has discovered through his research that three of the disciples were gay.

Onward Christian Ex-Gays
"OK, time to get into the hot seat!" the leader of the Fellow Warrior support group announces. I'm herded over to the coffee table in the center of a small back room in a crappy two-story office complex. I sit down and bow my head. Suddenly, 12 Fellow Warriors -- or "ex-gays," as their propaganda calls them -- put their hands on my body, most particularly the shoulders and upper torso, and the praying begins. Like freestyle rappers coming to the mike, each takes a turn praying that my sinful soul stays on the right path. I'm going by the pseudonym Monty today, and the Fellow Warriors are praying that the Lord will watch over me and prevent me from falling back into the gay lifestyle.

What's the Harm in the Michigan Marriage Amendment?
Nearly 40 years ago a couple decided to share their hearts. Each knew they'd found the person they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. They remember the date--Jan. 14, 1966.

Report: U.S. to save $1B with gay marriage
Allowing same-sex couples to marry would have a positive impact on the U.S. federal budget, the Congressional Budget Office announced on Monday.

Study links diet pills, having gay children
A new study suggests that women who take diet pills or thyroid medications when pregnant are more likely to have lesbian and gay children.

Mich. moves to revoke partner benefits
Because of an announcement from the governor's office late Wednesday, contracts for Michigan's state employees won't contain domestic partnership benefits as originally planned.

Man who wed transsexual faces exile
According to Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Javenella is one of several men and women facing draconian Bush-era rules and regulations regarding transgender marriages. Up until this administration, said Minter, the U.S. Immigration Service has enjoyed a solid reputation for wise dealings in cases involving transgender people. Marriages involving a transgender wife and husband were respected for decades until recently. Now, however, transgender people are rigidly assigned to their birth sex, and if the results of that policy produce a "same-sex marriage," the foreign spouse is black-balled from citizenship. According to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. policy "disallows recognition of change of sex in order for a marriage between two persons born of the same sex to be considered bona fide." The bureaucrats cite the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act to justify their denial of residency to Javenella, based on his illegal "same-sex marriage."

Bush's Vatican appeal 'inappropriate'
"I think it was entirely and extraordinarily inappropriate, and I think it speaks for itself," the Massachusetts senator, who is Catholic, told reporters in a question-and-answer session outside Cincinnati, Ohio. A Vatican official privy to discussions between Bush and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state to Pope John Paul II, said Bush "complained that the U.S. bishops were not being vocal enough in supporting him on social issues like gay marriage and abortion." The discussion took place June 4 during Bush's visit to the Vatican.

UCLA Research Suggests That Sexual Identity Is 'Hard-Wired' Before Birth
Refuting 30 years of scientific theory that solely credits hormones for brain development, UCLA scientists have identified 54 genes that may explain the different organization of male and female brains. Published in the October edition of the journal Molecular Brain Research, the UCLA discovery suggests that sexual identity is hard-wired into the brain before birth

Judge throws out Louisiana gay marriage ban
Louisiana (AP) -- A state judge Tuesday threw out a Louisiana constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, less than three weeks after it was overwhelmingly approved by the voters. District Judge William Morvant said the amendment was flawed as drawn up by the Legislature because it had more than one purpose: banning not only gay marriage but also civil unions.

Same-sex listings OK'd for publication
When the Detroit Jewish News began including interfaith couples in its popular lifecycle pages some 15 years ago, reaction ranged from righteous outrage to gushing approval. So controversial was the move that even today, the paper hears from the occasional reader about the announcements. The Southfield-based weekly recently decided to publish engagement, union, anniversary and birth announcements for same-sex couples. "We felt this step made sense," said Sklar. "The gay and lesbian community is not asking us to do anything different or more; they just want to be treated like any other. If we're really going to be the mirror of the Jewish community, we have to reflect what's going on. To ignore it seems wrong."

Answers to Questions about Marriage Equality PDF
A wonderful pamphlet that answers common questions and concerns about marriage equality for same-sex couples, including: "Why aren't civil unions enough?", "I believe God meant marriage for men and women. How can I support marriage for same-sex couples?", "Can't same-sex couples go to a lawyer to secure all the rights they need?" and much more. Get it and spread the word.

2004 Elections Pride Guide
Everything you want and need to know about the November 2 elections.

Pistol Packing Bishop Says Gays Should Be Killed
(Pontiac) – A leading trainer of chaplains told a group of students last week that he cannot “tolerate homosexuality” and that homosexuals “should be killed.”

Women's nuptials test Cherokee laws
Two women who married each other have stirred controversy in the Cherokee Nation over the legality of same-sex marriage.

An Open Letter from the Campaign Manager for the Coalition for a Fair Michigan
As you may have seen in the media last night or this morning, the Board of Canvassers deadlocked yesterday on whether the proposed consitutional amendment to ban civil unions and domestic partnerships for all couples and mariages for same-sex couples should be certified to appear on the November ballot. However, we cannot afford to be fooled by the headlines announcing that the amendment is off the ballot. While that is technically true for the moment, our opposition can and will challenge yesterday's decision in the Court of Appeals.

Circuit City donates money to anti-gay pols
Circuit City may be the second-largest retailer of electronics in the United States, but some gays are saying they’ll go somewhere else for their DVDs and home electronics. That’s because the Circuit City Stores, Inc. Political Action Committee has a long record of donating money to anti-gay legislators.

State's 1st openly gay appointee, Serra eager to serve
Serra is also Michigan's first openly gay person appointed to a judgeship. And he hopes his appointment will open doors for others.

Psychologists to endorse gay marriage
Gay couples should be able to marry in civil ceremonies and, if they are parents, they deserve all the legal rights of straight parents, says a policy the American Psychological Association was expected to adopt Wednesday at its Honolulu meeting.

Gay-marriage battle is about real people
I met my partner Beth in February 1977, when she applied for a position at the job-training center where I worked. Almost overnight, we fell in love. We liked and admired each other so much. We would stay up all night, night after night, hungry to hear each other's stories. I felt as if my soul had found home. Then in August of that same year, Beth pulled the car over one night as we were driving along the interstate and read a letter asking me to marry her. I accepted. Dime-store rings were all we could afford, but I've never been happier than I was pledging my heart to Beth on the shoulder of the highway with my kids asleep in the backseat. We considered ourselves married from that night on. In time, "my kids" became "our kids," and we built a family.

Former Lawyer For Anti-Gay Group Joins Gay Marriage Advocates
Miami, Florida – Nearly three decades ago Ellis Rubin was one of the most vehement anti-gay lawyers in the country serving as the attorney for the right wing group that overturned Miami-Dade's gay rights ordinance. Today, Rubin joined The Equality Campaign as its Senior Legal Counsel.

U.S.: 50-state rundown on gay marriage laws
August 5 - Missouri voters Tuesday (August 3) approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, making them the first voters to do so since Massachusetts’ high court legalized gay nuptials in the Bay State. Polls indicate proponents of same-sex marriage will face a backlash in as many as 12 other states voting on similar measures this fall. However, gay rights advocates achieved a victory Wednesday when a Washington state court ruled that banning same-sex marriage violates the state’s constitution.

FMA Is DOA But We Should Still Be Worried
The defeat of the 'Federal Marriage Amendment' in the U.S. Senate - even though long expected - is a welcome repudiation of the President's cynical attempt to bash the gay community to both appease and energize his far right base.

Gay unions don't hurt society
New research claims to refute the notion that legally recognized same-sex unions have a negative impact on heterosexual families in some Northern European countries.

Will Providing Marriage Rights to Same-Sex Couples Undermine Heterosexual Marriage?
Same-sex marriage does NOT influence heterosexual marriage, says new report for Council on Contemporary Families

Anti-gay extremists attack Friends North Bike tour
The annual Friends North bike tour was apparently the target of a right-wing extremist attack near Thompsonville in northern Michigan the night of July 24. Around 70 people, including two children, were camped out on a remote, privately-owned land when a portable toilet rented for the event burst into flames.

Suburban Moms Launch Grassroots Web Campaign to Mobilize Straights for Gay Rights
Call it the “Straight Plot for the Gay Knot”: today marks the launch of Someone You Know Is Gay (www.someoneyouknowisgay.com), a grassroots online campaign to mobilize straight allies in support of marriage equality and other fundamental rights for gay people. The site asks users to pledge to promote positive awareness of gays and lesbians to those around them, with the aim of personalizing the gay rights debate for more Americans. Someone You Know is Gay was created by two suburban moms, one straight and one lesbian, Jeanne-Marie Baron and Beth Greenapple.

Failure Is Not an Option, It's Mandatory
For three days this week the nation was transfixed by the spectacle of the United States Senate, in all its august majesty, doing precisely the opposite of statesmanlike deliberation. Instead, it was debating the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would not only have discriminated against a large group of citizens, but also was doomed to defeat from the get-go. Everyone knew this harebrained notion would never draw the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment, and yet here were all these conservatives lining up to speak for it, wasting day after day with their meandering remarks about culture while more important business went unattended. What explains this folly?

'Rainbow' Votes Are Key to Victory
In 1984 I said to the Democratic Convention: "This is not a perfect party. We are not a perfect people. Yet we are called to a perfect mission - to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless, to teach the illiterate, to provide jobs for the jobless, and to choose the human race over the nuclear race."

If at First You Don't Succeed...
Think the defeat of the gay-marriage ban will quiet the debate? Think again. The paranoid style in American politics is not new. But it is certainly alive. Listen to some of the statements made last week in the U.S. Senate during the debate on whether to bar gays from marrying by changing the Constitution.

Cabin Fever
Rights and Liberties: The Log Cabin Republicans, who watched conservatives attempt and fail to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, are having trouble endorsing Bush for a second round.

Passions drive debate on gay marriage off course
From Oregon to Georgia to Washington, D.C., grandstanding legislators are turning to the nuclear weapon of politics — rewriting the U.S. and state constitutions — to prohibit marriages between same-sex couples. Perhaps all of this hyperventilating is unavoidable. Issues that mix faith, family and individual rights invite an emotional response and just about always get one. But reaching first to fiddle with the fundamental governing documents of states and the nation is just plain irresponsible.

Will Providing Marriage Rights to Same-Sex Couples Undermine Heterosexual Marriage?
Since the November 2003 court ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts, a new debate on expanding the right to marry has exploded across the United States. While the debate involves many issues, one particularly controversial question is whether heterosexual people would change their marriage behavior if same-sex couples were given the same marital rights and obligations.

ACTION: Tell your Senators to Oppose the Discriminatory Federal Marriage Amendment
The attempt to amend the Constitution to discriminate against same-sex couples and families will come to a head soon - a Senate vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment is expected in early July. We need to make sure that our Senators hear from us.

Transgendered workers gain protection
Breaking away from the backward rulings of the 1970s and ’80s, early 21st century courts are quickly making clear that employers will not be allowed to discriminate against transgendered workers — or anyone else — simply because they do not conform to traditional gender roles.

There is a simple way to end homosexuality
The only way to stop the spread of homosexuality on the planet is for all heterosexual couples to stop having babies. Those heteros are pumping out homo after homo after homo. They just can't stop!

Coalition for a Fair Michigan
Coalition for a Fair Michigan seeks to defend the state constitution, as well as the people of the state, all of whom would be adversely affected by the passage of an anti-gay amendment. "This amendment is opportunistic, redundant, and just plain cruel. It is designed to scare," Johnny Jenkins, co-chair. "I think the people of Michigan are smarter than that."

Anti-gay extremists want to amend the MI Constitution to ban marriages, civil unions and domestic partner benefits for same-sex couples. YOU CAN HELP STOP THEM BEFORE JULY 6   Petitioners are all over Michigan in all 83 counties. They are in churches, in front of supermarkets and post offices and at local festivals. They are getting at least $2.50 per signature.    We have waged a Decline to Sign campaign. If the anti-gay activists get the needed number of signatures our state will go through a very divisive and expensive election. HELP US AVOID PUTTING OUR RIGHT TO A FAMILY ON THE BALLOT.   Do all you can to seek out the petitioners and if they are somewhere they shouldn't be, tell the property owner or police that they are on private property. Hang around them and talk to the people they are talking to and tell them that the petitions are discriminatory.   They are gathering 50,000 names a week. At that rate they may qualify.   ACT NOW TO STOP THEM FROM BANNING OUR MARRIAGES.

Foes Confounded by Limited Outcry Against Gay Marriage
He has preached for months that gay marriage could be the downfall of Western civilization, but ... across the country, evangelical Christians are voicing frustration and puzzlement that there has not been more of a political outcry since May 17, when Massachusetts became the first state to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

A Condensed History of Gay Pride
Several years ago I found myself standing on a sidewalk in Southern California watching a gay pride parade. As the Dykes on Bikes roared past, breasts to the wind and mirrored sunglasses glinting in the morning light, a young man to my right sporting rainbow-colored running shorts and a pink tank top turned to his friend and said, "I wonder how all of this started, anyway." His companion took a sip from the rainbow-colored bottle of spring water in his hand and said...

With marriage on its mind, gay community shows its pride
The Province of Ontario passed a law allowing same-sex marriage last year, and since then gay and lesbian couples have been flocking across the border.

Scandal's Shame, Massachusetts' Pride
What a wonderful image of democracy and tolerance the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has presented to the world by allowing same-sex marriages. At a time when elements of the U.S. military machine have perverted homosexual acts into a form of torture, the sight of responsible and joyful gay adults freely choosing the commitment of marriage could not be more timely.

Recognition of gay marriage begins in Mass.
Wedding fever has beset this town at the end of Cape Cod, for many years a retreat for artists and writers and a nexus of gay commerce and culture. In the span of a few days, the town - population 3,431 - will issue more marriage licenses than it usually does in years.

Same-Sex Couples Marry in Massachusetts
Gay couples began exchanging vows here Monday, marking the first time a state has granted gays and lesbians the right to marry and making the United States one of four countries where homosexuals can legally wed.

Long Road To Gay Marriage
The road to marriage equality for same-sex couples has been long and treacherous, and even with the landmark Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling the journey is not over.

More Newspapers Run Same-Sex Unions in Michigan
More newspapers in Michigan will run announcements of same-sex commitment ceremonies than any other state in the country. This puts Michigan media outlets ahead of the country in recognizing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) families.

Talking points on marriage, part 1
In the first of Advocate.com’s series of “talking points” to counter arguments against same-sex marriage, we take on “civil unions are just as good” and “are you saying that mothers are irrelevant?”

Talking points on marriage, part 2
In the second of Advocate.com’s series of “talking points” to counter arguments against same-sex marriage, we take on everything from “marriage exists only for procreation” to “doesn’t traditional marriage need to be protected?”

Bush pushes discriminatory amendment
We've progressed from being a country with slaves to one with a black Supreme Court justice. We're a country where women not only vote but serve as governors, senators and Cabinet members. And we're one where Congress tore down the physical barriers on every sidewalk and at every business that kept disabled Americans from working and playing with the rest of us.

These marriage amendments discriminate
We are at war. Millions of Americans can't find work. Soup kitchens are full. And the most important thing on some leaders' minds is to cleave this country over the ties that bind. We have never written discrimination into the law of the land. We shouldn't start now.

The Joy of Gay Marriage
Here's the denouement of the epic drama over gay marriage.  It's going to happen, it's going to happen within a generation, and it's going to happen even though George W. Bush teed off his re-election campaign this week by calling for a constitutional amendment to outlaw it