OTTAWA — The next printing of a guide designed to educate immigrants applying for Canadian citizenship will contain references to gay rights — ones thatImmigration Minister Jason Kenney had vetoed for the current version. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had vetoed for the current version. 

Conservative MP Rick Dykstra, parliamentary secretary to Kenney, said Wednesday the government will include references to the legality of gay marriage in Canada and prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the next version, due out within months.

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An architect and a retired office administrator have become the first gay couple to marry in Argentina under a new law legalising same-sex marriages.

Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, and Jose Luis Navarro, 54, have lived together for 27 years.

Argentina is the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage despite heavy lobbying by, of course, the Catholic Church.

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Jan 12th 2010 | LOS ANGELES | From The Economist print edition

THE venue, gay-friendly San Francisco, may at first glance seem predictable for a legal challenge that may lead to the legalisation of gay marriage in America. But nothing else about the trial of Perry v Schwarzenegger, which began on Monday January 11th, fits stereotypes. Pitting both a male and female gay couple (including Kristin Perry) against the state of California (nominally represented by its governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger), it is a federal review of whether Proposition 8, a Californian voter initiative of 2008 that outlawed gay marriage in the state, is constitutional.

Whatever the outcome, the case is likely to go to appeal and come before the Supreme Court. But first the trial will do two things: it will establish, for the first time, a body of evidence, through expert testimony, that appelate courts can use to evaluate the claims by supporters and opponents of gay marriage. And it will blur the existing partisan divide on the issue between conservatives and liberals.

This is thanks to the unusual pairing of lawyers who are arguing in favour of gay marriage for the plaintiffs. David Boies, a well-known liberal who litigated for Al Gore in his 2000 court fight against George Bush over the presidency, is an unsurprising choice. But his partner, Theodore Olson, is a prominent conservative and was Mr Boies’s courtroom adversary in 2000. Now he has teamed up with Mr Boies to argue for legalising gay marriage based on what he considers an arch-conservative interpretation of the constitution.

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Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who first floated the idea of broadcasting the highly anticipated proceedings live several months ago, said he decided instead to have court employees record the trial for delayed broadcast on the YouTube Web site.

Walker did not explicitly say why he favored a system that could keep the proceedings from being aired for hours instead of one that allowed for simultaneous broadcast. But he said he felt strongly that “it’s important for the transmission to be absolutely within the court’s control.”

It will be the first federal trial in a Western state and one of only a handful nationwide to be taped and aired in public in any form. It also will be the first federal trial on whether denying gays the right to wed constitutes unlawful discrimination to be taped and offered to the public.

The governing body for federal courts in the West recently approved a pilot program that would for the first time allow cameras in civil trials being decided by judges.

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The new year brought a new era in New Hampshire.

Some of us ushered in 2010 — the start of a new year and a new decade — with noisemakers, bubbly champagne and hearty attempts to remember the lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne.”

Some of us ushered in 2010 lounging on the couch watching the live coverage from Times Square and, later, LSU take on Penn State.

But some New Hampshire same-sex couples did not mark the start of the new year in typical fashion. With the arrival of the new year, the first same-sex couples legally married in the Granite State.

New Hampshire lawmakers passed marriage equality legislation in 2009, expanding upon rights already extended to same-sex couples through civil unions legislation in 2008. The marriage law took effect Jan. 1, making New Hampshire the fifth state to issue marriage licenses — legal marriage licenses — to same-sex couples.

By late December, about 40 couples had applied to their town clerks for licenses. Many more couples are expected to apply for licenses this year, and, in 2011, the more than 700 civil unions in the state will automatically be updated to marriages.

By Lisa Neff, columnist, 365gay.com
01.04.2010 8:31am EST

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Councilman David Catania speaks to the media before introducing the same-sex marriage bill at a D.C. Council meeting in October.

Gay rights advocates are declaring a cautious victory in the nation’s capital this week.

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington, D.C., is expected to pass a City Council vote on Tuesday.

David Catania, the openly gay councilman who drafted the bill, says he has been waiting for this day for a long time.

“After a year of planning and working and strategizing and organizing and cajoling and discussing it, I can finally see that the end is in sight,” Catania says.

The mayor has already committed to signing the bill, but opponents are vowing not to give up the fight against it. And because laws in the District of Columbia are subject to congressional review, even if the bill passes on Tuesday, it won’t be too late for opponents to lobby for it to be overturned.

Read more @ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121422326

One of the most common arguments against marriage equality is that the legalization of gay marriage threatens the institution of traditional marriage. But a recent poll conducted by the Des Moines Register finds that 92% of Iowans believe that “gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives.” The study comes just months after the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to overturn a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage.

The poll finds that Iowans are evenly split in their attitudes toward same-sex marriage.
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