September 30, 2007
Christian73 writes:
I may have mentioned before that I work for IN THE LIFE, sort of an LGBT “60 minutes” on public television. Today, we launched our new website:
www.inthelifetv.org
This new site has our entire last season to stream and download and the premiere of our new season will be available on Tuesday.
As we’re all civic-minded queers here, I thought you’d be interested in some of the stories we have on the site, such as, Taylor vs. Rice (the story of a guys who’s suing the State department because they refused him entry into the Foreign Service because he’s HIV+), the Women of ACT-UP (kind of self-explanatory), A Church Divided (about the impending split between the Epsicopal Church and the Anglican Communion). And much more…
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Filed Under: Television
New Version of ENDA Stripped of Gender Identity and Expression Protection
By David Mariner
After many years working as a bartender for Harrah’s Casino, Darlene Jespersen was fired for failing to conform to the Casino’s new ‘personal best’ grooming policy. As a female bartender, Jesperson was required to have her hair “teased, curled, or styled,” and to wear stockings. Jesperson was also suddenly required to put on makeup everyday: lipstick and nail polish mandatory.
It was a regimen she found burdensome and demeaning, and while sexual orientation was not an issue in her case, I know quite a few lesbians who might feel the same way. What would Ellen Degeneres do if NBC decided she needed to wear skirts on her show everyday? What would k.d. lang do if her record label demanded she adopt a ‘less masculine’ haircut?
While this may not have happened to Ellen or k.d., this kind of discrimination happens all the time. Darlene Jespersen lost her job because she did not live up to the female-specific requirements of her new dress code. And when she fought her termination in court, she lost.
Congress is now looking at two different versions of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. One would make this type of discrimination illegal. The other would not.
Congressman Barney Frank has chosen to introduce a straight-acting-only version of ENDA which bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity and expression. This version may protect gays and lesbians based on their sexual orientation, but it won’t protect gays and lesbians who don’t adhere to society’s view of what men and women should be.
It won’t protect the gay guy who dresses up in drag on Halloween. It won’t protect the lesbian who doesn’t want to be forced to wear a skirt as part of a company uniform. It won’t protect any gay man who can’t live up to society’s standards and “act more like a man”. It won’t protect any lesbian who can’t live up to society’s standards and “act more like a woman.”
We should be outraged that Barney Frank is considering a bill that excludes the transgender community, but let’s be honest, the transgender community are not the only ones being thrown under the bus. Some may argue that we should start protecting straight-acting gays and lesbians, and then come back for the rest of the LGBT community later. As the Task Force [and] other organizations have documented by looking at state laws, this simply does not happen. It is always easier to stand strong and stand united and pass an inclusive bill than it is to go back later and try and pass protections based on gender identity and expression.
Make no mistake, a straight-acting-only ENDA ais a hollow victory one that is not worth achieving because it takes us further, not closer towards the goal of protection from employment discrimination for all of us.
© David Mariner, All Rights Reserved. This article originally appeared in Temenos (www.temenos.net), the progressive lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and intersex community online.
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Filed Under: Barney Frank, Employment/ENDA, Guest Articles, Transgender
September 29, 2007
From the Springfield, Missouri, News-Leader:
Iranian president a true conservative
Cal Thomas complains that our “Liberal Universities” deny conservatives a voice while bemoaning Columbia University’s invitation to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Mr. Thomas’ positions are contradictory. Ahmadinejad is the poster child for conservatives. He does not allow gay marriage, enforces abstinence before marriage and heads a religious state that bases its laws on ancient superstition, bans abortion, restricts immigration and maintains heavily patrolled borders. He holds state security above individual liberty and supports a military/industrial complex at the expense of human rights.
While he does give us more freedom to record and disseminate his speeches than (John) Ashcroft, he is almost as right wing as the Republican Party. If he were a U.S. citizen he would be a shoe-in for the Republican nomination.
Jim Evans, Republic
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Filed Under: Iran, Republicans
Utah County gay couple fight DCFS for custody of children
Loving couple. Loving home. Steady jobs. No criminal history. Kids like them and the birth mother wants it.
Despite all that, Michael Valez and Michael Oberg are wading upriver through the state child protection system to be able to take care of four kids belonging to Valez’s niece. The two Salem men say it’s because they’re gay.
“They’d rather pull them out of a loving, caring home and put them into a foster home,” Valez said. “You walk into our house without anybody here and it’s going to be like any other house.”
To the state, it’s a simple matter of the law, which says that to adopt or be a foster parent, you must be legally married or single and not cohabitating. Officials asked for clarification of a judge’s directive that Valez have custody of the children, requesting that the court take custody or grant custody to the state’s Division of Child and Family Services. On Friday, the courts took custody, then turned around and granted Valez temporary custody of the children.
. . .
There are only three states that have outright bans on homosexual parents: Florida, Mississippi and Utah, though Utah’s is tied to the cohabitation rule and not expressly against homosexuals. In fact, people who are gay could adopt or be a foster parent, as long as they aren’t living with a partner…
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Filed Under: Parenting
Anglican rift sparks move for new church
PITTSBURGH–Conservative Anglicans in Canada and the U.S. plan to break away from their increasingly liberal national churches within 15 months, setting up a parallel continental church along orthodox theological lines.
. . .
If successful, it would be the first time the worldwide Anglican Communion has seen a church, known in Anglicanism as a province, established solely on the basis of shared theology. Currently, provinces are only set up along geographic lines.
. . .
A founding convention for the new North American church will be held within 15 months, once participating parishes and dioceses have formally broken ties with their national churches. The new group would then seek recognition from the communion as an orthodox province for North America.
. . .
The new North American church would have its own college of bishops, meeting every six months, and a shared method of worship and sacraments.
. . .
The Anglican Communion has been in crisis since 2003 when the Episcopal Church, as Anglicanism is known in the United States, named the openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. Increasing support for same-sex marriage blessings in the U.S. and Canada has widened the rift between theological liberals and conservatives, pushing the church toward schism.
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Filed Under: Anglicans / Episcopalians
Notes the NYT:
Newt Gingrich has sent so many hints pointing in so many different directions that we’re dizzy trying to follow them all. But now, it appears, he’s made up his mind.
Rick Tyler, Mr. Gingrich’s spokesman, confirmed today that the former Republican House speaker has decided against a presidential run in 2008.
Mr. Gingrich was “presented with legal advice this morning,” said Mr. Tyler in a quick phone interview. “There was a choice presented.”
The choice was to remain chairman of his political action committee, American Solutions, or to allow advisers to move forward with an exploratory committee. But he could not, legally, do both, Mr. Tyler explained.
. . .
Mr. Gingrich’s flirtation with a candidacy has been long and replete with mixed signals. Throughout the spring, he mocked the other candidates for starting their campaigns so early, and he said then that if a “void” existed after his American Solutions conference in September, he would consider jumping in.
Aw, we think the little jerk should run. Nothing like diluting the GOP field even further with one of the most polarizing RWers in recent history. And they can always use yet another hypocritical, mistress-shagging serial divorcé to represent the real values of the party.
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Filed Under: Election 2008, Republicans
Reports PlanetOut:
A court in Jaipur, India, has denied an HIV-positive woman custody of her 8-year-old daughter, a rights activist said Friday.
The woman, who was not identified to protect her privacy, married a soldier from northwestern Rajasthan state in the late 1990s without knowing that he was HIV-positive, said Kavita Srivastav, state convener of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a private rights group.
Her husband died four years ago. After his death her in-laws began treating the woman badly and took her daughter on the grounds that the mother had become HIV-positive, Srivastav said.
. . .
The court rejected her plea this week, ruling that she would not able to take care of her daughter because of her HIV-positive status, Srivastav said.
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Filed Under: Asia, HIV/AIDS, Random Bigotry
PlanetOut reports:
A 17-year-old Argentine has won a court battle to undergo surgery to become a female, the first decision of its kind involving a minor in Argentina, news reports said Thursday.
Ending a three-year legal battle, a court in the central province of Cordoba authorized the surgery this week.
In Argentina, the surgery requires court approval because of laws against mutilation.
A judge in 2004 initially ruled the teenager must wait until age 21, but the parents appealed and persuaded a court panel, the reports said.
. . .
In the United States, no court permission is necessary but most doctors are hesitant to operate on minors, said Denise Leclair, executive director of the International Foundation for Gender Education in Waltham, Mass.
An August court decision in Brazil required the public health system to pay for sex reassignment surgeries. At least eight other countries, including Canada, have similar policies.
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Filed Under: Latin America, Transgender, Youth
From PlanetOut:
A Salt Lake City bus driver has lost her trans discrimination case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
In a 25-page opinion, the panel ruled that the Utah Transit Authority was justified in firing Krystal Etsitty due to its concerns about her eventual use of public restrooms along her route.
Etsitty joins a lengthening line of cases that seek to extend the main federal law against workplace discrimination to protect people who are targeted due to sex stereotyping.
The decision, which is now binding law in the federal courts of the six states covered by the 10th Circuit, is a step backward in the continuing effort to bring the force of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to bear on LGBT discrimination cases.
Next week, Congress is poised to hold a House vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a separate bill that would protect LGBT workers against discrimination under most circumstances. Ironically, Democrats, who added trans folk to the bill for the first time this year, are considering cutting them loose as the vote looms, the Washington Blade reported.
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Filed Under: Employment/ENDA, Transgender
Gays to set up security patrol to curb attacks
Frustrated by a lack of official action on homophobic violence, the gay and lesbian community will organise its own security patrols at popular events and party venues.
The GenQ Street Angels want volunteers with policing, military, security or medical experience to join.
. . .
“We’re hoping that just by their presence, the Angels will deter people from any sort of threatening behaviour,” Mr Stopps said.
He stressed that the initiative would not be about vigilantism. But, he said, if people were now scared to venture out at night it was time to do something about it.
. . .
Fewer than 35 per cent thought increased police patrols were enough to remedy the situation and almost 60 per cent said they were in favour of community security patrols.
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Filed Under: Australia/NZ, Hate Crimes, Law Enforcement
September 28, 2007
Lane Hudson on ENDA, the HRC, and throwing transgenders under the bus:
While we should be celebrating a major advance [the Matthew Shepard Act] in the movement for equal rights, the celebration was considerably dampened by reports that Democratic Leadership in the House of Representatives was considering dropping trans-inclusive language from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The Washington Blade broke the story yesterday.
. . .
All of this boils down to whether we should sacrifice transgender inclusion in the ENDA legislation in order to pass a bill in the immediate future. For me, the answer is simple. No one should be left behind at the convenience of others. It is a moral obligation and a defining moment in the movement for equal rights under the law. …
. . .
Regarding the more comprehensive version of ENDA, every major organization advocating equal rights for LGBT America unequivocally and immediately expressed their opposition to dropping the trans-inclusive language and opposition to any bill not containing the language — every major organization except for the Human Rights Campaign.
There are conflicting reports as the action they will take. Some reports indicate a split between the staff and the board. …
. . .
That it appears they are questioning their policy of opposing the exclusion of transgender people from equality in the workplace is a very bad sign. …
Sapphocrat says:
It’s crunch time, kids. I don’t know about you, but I see one (and only one) good thing to come from this: It’s a test of our convictions. Are we LGB’s (and A’s) willing to stand with our transgender brothers and sisters, and risk losing ENDA altogether?
I am. I cannot accept anything less than full inclusion for TGs under ENDA. AFAIC, it’s all or nothing.
If ENDA passes without TG inclusion, it will be a pyrrhic victory.
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Filed Under: Employment/ENDA, Hate Crimes, LGBT Organizations, Transgender, U.S. Congress
Or: What the Radical Right Doesn’t Want You to Know, from Box Turtle Bulletin:
Reorientation, Old School Style
Pete Price is a radio personality in the UK. The Liverpool Echo has an extract of his autobiography Pete Price is a Namedropper. Price describes some of the methods used on him to cure his homosexuality:
In the morning I was shown into a windowless room with a male nurse. A crate of Guinness arrived, and I was given a stack of dirty magazines showing body builders – not the sort of thing that would have turned me on in a million years.
. . .
Then he gave me an injection and suddenly I started feeling sick.
“I think I’m going to vomit!” I yelled out. “I need a basin.”
The doctor smiled. “Then be sick.”
“I think I’m going to go to the toilet.”
“Just do it on the bed.”
I screamed: “You’re joking.”
. . .
When it ended, I lay there sobbing, the doctor came in.
“Now you’ve got to have the electrodes … ” he said. …
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Filed Under: "Ex-Gays", Radical Religious Right
This is the sort of thing that damages the best-intentioned anti-discrimination laws:
Fingerprinted and Fined: Girl, 10, Who Crayoned on a Wall
Girl Guide Shannon Smith, 10, was fingerprinted by the police and fined £40 after marking a neighbour’s wall with crayon. The tearful little girl was also threatened with an Asbo.*
. . .
Police called at the family’s home after being told Shannon and her eight-year-old brother Aaron had written on a neighbour’s house. Aaron, who is below the age of criminal responsibility, was told off by an officer for scrawling “Harry Is Gay” about a playmate.
But the following morning at 7.30, the officer returned and questioned Shannon, who tearfully admitted she had written a three-inch “S” for Shannon in red crayon on the wall beneath Aaron’s graffiti. …
. . .
Sgt Paul Leigh, the town’s community engagement officer, said: “We are committed to tackling all reports of anti-social behaviour and remain victim-focused.”
* ASBO = in the UK & N. Ireland, an “Anti-Social Behaviour Order”
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Filed Under: Crime, Random Stupidity, United Kingdom & N.I.
From silive.com:
A gay police officer has filed a discrimination suit against the city and the New York Police Department, saying he was threatened with violence, called vulgar names and treated unfairly by supervisors because of his sexuality.
. . .
[Michael Harrington, 30], of Brooklyn, said in the suit that within months he overheard an officer in the men’s room referring to him as a “faggot.” Harrington spoke to the officer who said he would hurt Harrington if he confronted the officer again.
Court papers say Harrington also repeatedly sought a transfer from the 75th Precinct but his written applications “kept getting lost.” He was told that after he finally transferred out of the 75th Precinct, that someone posted obscene drawings of him in a sex act, the suit claimed.
. . .
Harrington says he complained to a supervisor about being mistreated and the supervisor said he was going to transfer him to the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village “so plaintiff could be with his people,” the suit said.
At the Sixth Precinct, court papers say, a co-worker told Harrington in December 2006 that “all faggots should be shot.”
Harrington was repeatedly denied a chance to work day shifts even after he explained to his supervisors that he needed to do so because hoped to adopt a child, according to court papers.
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Filed Under: Employment/ENDA, Hate Speech, Law Enforcement, New York
Detective Takes Stand in Hate Crime Murder Trial
Detective Christopher Cennamo of the 61st Precinct Detective Squad took the stand yesterday in the hate crime murder trial of John Fox and Anthony Fortunato, both 21, who face murder charges in connection with the death of Michael Sandy.
. . .
After the NYPD’s technical squad retrieved an address book from the cell phone, Cennamo was able to call Sandy’s parents, eventually leading them to an apartment where police discovered Sandy had left his computer on.
That detail would prove key to breaking the case. …
. . .
Defense attorneys Gary DiChiara and John Patten had not gotten a chance to question Cennamo by the time state Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser’s call for a recess concluded yesterday’s morning session. …
. . .
Testimony is expected to continue this morning in the ceremonial courtroom at Brooklyn Supreme Court.
See also:
Suspect sought ‘gay guys to rob’
Defense Takes On Hate Crime Tag
Judge Rules 3 Can Be Charged With Hate Crimes
Gay-slay suspects can’t beat hate rap
Suspect Said to Have Joked About Attack on Gay Man
DA’s Case Emerges in Sandy Murder
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Filed Under: Hate Crimes, New York
Our suggestion.
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New Stalls for Craig’s Airport Restroom
MINNEAPOLIS - The infamous airport men’s room where Sen. Larry Craig was arrested is getting new stall dividers that drop nearly to the floor to make it a less inviting spot for sexual liaisons.
Web sites had touted that restroom as a popular site for sex with strangers, and police reports over the summer described several cases of men ducking their heads under the dividers into adjoining stalls, allegedly in search of sex.
On June 11, an undercover police officer was the men’s room when Craig allegedly tapped his feet and swiped his hand under the divider in a way authorities said was a signal for someone wanted sex.
. . .
The Minneapolis airport has more than 80 restrooms, but only two are being targeted for the new dividers, including the one now known for Craig’s arrest.
“These two have been the most problematic in terms of complaints from people and indications on Web sites that sexual activities are occurring in them,” said airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. He said the dividers would be installed within the next two months.
. . .
The new stall dividers will fall to just 2 to 3 inches above the floor, instead of leaving as much as a foot of open space as they do now. The airport expects to spend $25,000; installing them in every restroom there would cost about $1 million, Hogan said.
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Filed Under: Minnesota, Random Stupidity, Republican Sexcapades
From the “But He Was Such A Nice Boy!” Department:
Georgetown Student Arrested In Hate Crime Beating
. . .
Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced that Phillip Anderton Cooney was arrested for the Sept. 9 attack in the 1400 block of 36th Street Northwest. The 19-year-old student from Texas is charged with assaulting the victim while yelling homophobic slurs.
. . .
“The victim said he was walking by a party that was dispersing and two men started following him and yelling homophobic epithets, “D.C. Police Lt. Alberto Jova said. “One of the males approached him and started punching him with closed fists about the face. The victim in this case suffered cuts and bruises to his face and a broken thumb.”
. . .
“The victim said he made it a point to etch the suspect’s face in his mind and remember him,” Jova said. “Because of that he was able to give a very positive identification.”
. . .
“We are all completely shocked,” Pat Depoy said. “Phil is one of the nicest and most gentle people that we know at this school. He’s one of our best friends. We’re just completely blown away by these accusations.”
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Filed Under: Hate Crimes, Washington, D.C.
Carolyn Lochhead writes:
The decision by House Democratic leaders yesterday to dump transgender people from a civil rights law protecting gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination has put the Human Rights Campaign in a terribly awkward position.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco is to be the guest of honor at the HRC’s big national dinner Oct. 6, where she is to be feted for her accomplishments on behalf of gay people.
The HRC gala could help explain the sudden rush to push the long-languishing Employment Non-Discrimination Act, known as ENDA, through the House next week — even if it means throwing transgender people off the bus.
The move has generated outrage in the gay rights community — with the notable exception of HRC, which so far remains silent…
. . .
The hate crimes bill includes transgender people, but as House Democrats concede, it is much easier to pass a law punishing people for clubbing transgender people with a baseball bat than it is to require employers to hire them. Hence it is unlikely that ENDA is going to get through the Senate anytime soon.
But [Rep. Barney Frank] said Democratic leaders had to dump trans-gendered people from the ENDA in order to pass it in the House. The decision came after strategy sessions involving Frank, Pelosi, and Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who chairs the committee that will mark up the ENDA bill Tuesday.
So far that argument is not flying with most gay activists. …
It isn’t flying with us, that’s for sure. 
See also:
Frank Confident ENDA Will Pass; Gay Bashers Cry Foul
House Wants to Throw Transgenders Under Bus
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Filed Under: Barney Frank, Employment/ENDA, LGBT Organizations, Transgender
From WMUR:
Prosecutors Say Man Beaten For Being Gay
John Lavasser, of Colebrook, said that he was targeted by two men in July because he is gay. He said he didn’t know his attackers, but he believes they knew him. He grew up in Colebrook, and he said people in the community know he is gay.
. . .
Prosecutors said Lavasser was beaten in his car by Sheane Eldritch, 23, and Thomas Baker, 20.
“As they were walking away, witnesses heard them bragging about it, saying, ‘I’m gonna kill that fag,’” Coos County Assistant Attorney Keith Clouatre said.
. . .
Lavasser’s partner, Ron Sayres, arrived moments after the men fled and said he was stunned by what he saw. …
. . .
New Hampshire does not have a specific hate crime law, but when police believe that a crime was motivated by hate, a statute allows for more severe punishment in the form of extra jail time.
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Filed Under: Hate Crimes
Reports pinknews.co.uk:
An Essex businessman has been sentenced to three months in prison after drunkenly threatening and shouting homophobic abuse at his neighbours.
43-year-old asbestos contractor Stuart Makemson of Twelve Acres, Braintree, brandished a snooker cue at Andrew Morrison saying: “I’m going to take that nose off your face with this.”
Mr Morrison and his wife had been woken earlier by Mr Makemson verbally abusing their gay son and his boyfriend, reported the Essex Chronicle.
. . .
Mr Makemson has shown no remorse or insight into the effect his homophobic remarks had on his victims and is not willing to address his attitude said magistrates.
. . .
Ms Perera said her client would be appealing against the length of his sentence, adding that he had an asbestos contract with the Saudi Arabian government and was due to fly there next month with eleven UK staff.
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Filed Under: Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, United Kingdom & N.I.
Chicago cop accused of anti-gay fracas
Three women claimed Thursday in a federal lawsuit that an off-duty Chicago police officer roughed them up and called them names because of their sexual orientation after this year’s gay pride parade.
. . .
“This case is another example of the corruption, cover-up and brutality that is festering inside the Chicago Police Department,” said attorney Dana Kurtz, who filed the suit for damages on behalf of the three women.
. . .
According to the lawsuit, a vehicle driven by Fuery came upon a car moving at 30 mph on Interstate 55 after the June 24 parade. Fuery beeped her horn, and Szura responded by slamming on his brakes, speeding up and switching lanes, making it impossible for Fuery to pass, the lawsuit said.
Fuery was forced to the shoulder, where Szura screamed words such as “dyke” and spit at her, according to the lawsuit. The women claim he stuck a gun in Fuery’s abdomen, “causing her to fear for her life.”
When Sciortino tried to step in, Szura shoved her, and she fell, the lawsuit said. When Tomaskovic drove up in another car and tried to help, Szura placed her in a chokehold, according to the suit.
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Filed Under: Hate Crimes, Illinois, Law Enforcement
Notes The Sun:
A Catholic leader has claimed condoms are infected with HIV deliberately.
Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio, the head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique, claimed some anti-retroviral drugs were also infected “in order to finish quickly the African people”.
. . .
Aids activists have been angered by the remarks, one calling them “nonsense”. …
. . .
It is estimated that 16.2 per cent of Mozambique’s 19million inhabitants are HIV positive.
. . .
Archbishop Chimoio said that abstention, not condoms, was the best way to fight HIV/Aids.
“Condoms are not sure because I know that there are two countries in Europe, they are making condoms with the virus on purpose,” he alleged, refusing to name the countries.
Here’s an idea: Why doesn’t Mozambique just send all their AIDS sufferers to Ethiopia for the holy-water cure?
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Filed Under: Africa, Catholicism, HIV/AIDS, Radical Religious Right
What the Miami Heat guard said, back in February: “You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
A contrite Tim Hardaway now embraced by some in gay community
The topic was finding ways to keep transgender children safe, and someone asked for volunteers to share an idea.
Tim Hardaway was the first to raise his hand.
“He was so genuine,” said Martha Fugate, the director of the YES Institute, a children’s advocacy group based in South Miami which hosted that discussion. “He gave the perfect answer.”
. . .
“I just wanted to go in and get educated, that’s all. Get educated on what I said and why I said those things,” Hardaway said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m working on understanding it now. I’m not really trying to make amends. I’ve been there trying to get help.”
. . .
“I had no idea how much I hurt people,” said Hardaway, who spent most of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, and still makes his home in South Florida. “A lot of people.”
. . .
“Thanks to his honest albeit misguided reaction, Tim did find his way to YES Institute and the education he got was not just about others, but about himself,” Fugate wrote. “Because he is a role model, perhaps other people will also learn — hopefully before bad consequences happen to them.”
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Filed Under: Hate Speech, Homeland Insecurity, Homophobia
September 27, 2007
Local Clergy Ask State To Support Same-Sex Marriage
More than two dozen San Diego clergy members who support same-sex marriage have signed a brief asking the state Supreme Court to overturn California’s ban, it was reported Thursday.
. . .
The announcement came a week after San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders reversed his stand and backed the city Council’s vote to join several other California cities in signing a friend-of-the-court brief asking the state high court to reverse California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
. . .
The issue is particularly divisive in religious communities because some view homosexuality as sinful. The Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were among supporters of a successful campaign in 2000 barring homosexual marriages.
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Filed Under: California, Christianity, Marriage
