Gay Marriage

Veteran "KTLA 5 Morning News" anchor Michaela Pereira will be leaving the station at the end of May to join CNN's new morning show in New York. Pereira will be the news anchor for the show, which will be hosted by Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan. The announcement was made jointly by KTLA and President of CNN Worldwide Jeff Zucker, who is aggressively shaking up the struggling network's lineup and personalities. "I've been looking forward to this announcement since I first joined CNN," Zucker said in a statement.

Re "California, late to the altar," Editorial, April 26 Your editorial regarding the role of California in the race to recognize same-sex marriage omits what I believe to be the biggest catalyst of the changes taking place in the country. In 2004, then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom took the politically courageous action of ordering his city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. His action began the entire cavalcade going on today and placed California at the forefront of this civil rights battle.

WASHINGTON -- As he weighed a shift in his public position on gay marriage, perhaps no one had as much influence on President Obama as his wife, Michelle. "This is something that, you know, we've talked about over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way, she feels the same way that I do," Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts on Wednesday. Even as Obama's position was in a state of evolution, White House advisors said, the first lady went out of her way to invite gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual couples to the events she sponsored for military families.

Re "'Super PACs' bury limits on spending," April 27 Spending by "super PACs" is a direct result of unrealistically low contribution limits. It takes a lot of money to run for mayor of Los Angeles. The only way to stop PACs is to lift the limits on direct contributions. Then the money would at least be traceable and the candidates accountable. The PACs are running campaigns and crafting messages beyond the candidates' control. They are the direct result of misguided reforms that have simply driven the money underground.

PARIS - The French Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt, voting after months of often angry debate and sometimes violent protests in the streets. Members of the Socialist government chanted "Equality, equality" and stood up to applaud the results of the 331-225 vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The center-right opposition party immediately announced its intention to appeal the law. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, a strong supporter of the bill, said she was "overcome with emotion.

Re "GOP senator says he now supports same-sex marriage," March 16 Thank you, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), for waking up to the fact that there are people in this country different from you. This is the exact reason I believe politicians should be required to take a diversity training course like the one educator and activist Jane Elliott teaches to children and adults as documented in the PBS program "A Class Divided. " In fact, go live in the world you are making decisions about before handing down pronouncements about other people's lives.

The Valentine's Day Google Doodle is pure sweetness. A one-minute animation, drawn with childlike innocence, it depicts a little boy trying to figure out what to get for his heart's desire - a little girl who jumps rope. He buys her flowers, and chocolates (via Google, of course), but she pays no attention. He tries clothes, and balloons, a pie and a television, a top hat, an old-fashioned submarine helmet, and still she continues to jump rope, oblivious to his overtures. As a last-ditch effort he walks over to her with his own jump rope clutched in his hands and starts to jump rope alongside her. And then -- she stops jumping.

Just as President Obama's top campaign advisors are arguing that the prolonged GOP primary is raising controversial issues that will alienate the eventual GOP nominee from independent and swing voters in the fall, Democrats are facing a similar quandary. On Wednesday morning, the chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, called for the party's platform to push for the legalization of gay marriage. That's a position opposed by Obama -- though he's said his views on the issue are "evolving" -- and one that many Democrats ostensibly would not want to have highlighted a few months before the general election.

Turns out Brad Pitt's mother doesn't much like at least one of her son's friends, according to a letter she wrote earlier this week knocking President Obama and supporting candidate Mitt Romney. Jane Pitt wrote her letter to the News-Leader in response to another reader's missive suggesting Christians not support Romney for president because of his Mormon faith. In the letter to the Springfield, Mo., paper, she pulled no punches. Urging "prayerful consideration" from fellow Christians as they choose how they'll vote in November, Mama Pitt made the point that a vote against Mormonism -- or no vote at all -- would translate into support for the self-identified pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage incumbent Obama.

Re "A lesson in expression," editorial, Feb. 27 I teach political science at Riverside Community College. There are students who would like to forgo the research it takes to understand an issue and instead depend on information they learned at Bible study. This is unacceptable. I have no problem with a student expressing his or her opinion in a class discussion. But if the assignment is to write an informative speech about gay marriage, and the student only factors in a religious argument, he would probably end up with an F in my classroom.

California finds itself in an unaccustomed place these days: behind the curve. Another state, Rhode Island, and two more countries, France and New Zealand, were just added to the steadily growing list of places where same-sex marriage will receive full recognition and status. The roster now encompasses 14 nations and 10 states - as soon as the Rhode Island legislation is signed - as well as Washington, D.C. Missing from it is California. How could California, with its frontier live-and-let-live sensibility and a reputation for social progressiveness that verges on downright weirdness, have ended up in this situation?

WASHINGTON - Married same-sex couples cannot make joint contributions to federal candidates as opposite-sex couples are permitted to do, the Federal Election Commission said Thursday, a decision that gay rights advocates said reinforced their case for overturning the Defense of Marriage Act. The five-member, bipartisan panel said the 1996 law defining marriage as between a man and woman prohibited the commission from viewing gay couples as spouses,...

Rhode Island took a step Wednesday toward becoming the 10th state to recognize gay marriage after the Senate passed a bill that could clear the way for same-sex weddings to begin this summer. The bill passed 26 to 12 after about 90 minutes of debate and is due to take effect Aug. 1, assuming nothing blocks what is seen as a routine vote in the House and the signature of Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Chafee, an independent, supports the legislation, and the House easily passed the bill in January.

LAS VEGAS -- As Nevada lawmakers took a step toward repealing a state ban on gay marriage, the late-night floor arguments in the Legislature in Carson City were emotional and came with a surprise announcement. One senator told his stunned colleagues that he's gay. The Nevada Senate voted 12-9 Monday night to begin the process of repealing the gay marriage ban from the state Constitution, a move to legalize unions between gays and lesbians. TIMELINE: Gay marriage chronology Supported by 11 Democrats and one Republican, the bill, Senate Joint Resolution 13, would amend the state Constitution to remove a provision declaring that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

PARIS - The French Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt, voting after months of often angry debate and sometimes violent protests in the streets. Members of the Socialist government chanted "Equality, equality" and stood up to applaud the results of the 331-225 vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The center-right opposition party immediately announced its intention to appeal the law. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, a strong supporter of the bill, said she was "overcome with emotion.

From the well-lighted Argentine restaurant - my suggestion via Yelp - to the 70-degree night, all is well on this second date. As Dylan tactfully yanks shrimp from their shells, he tells me about his Japanese father, who strictly regulated all behavior in his mixed-race Kentucky home, from television viewing to bowel movements. How disturbing and interesting. Go on, I tell him with nods and eye contact. "We couldn't swear - ever," he says. "Not even d-a-m-n. " He still tries not to curse.

Jim Nabors, beloved to audiences as TV's Gomer Pyle, has married Stan Cadwallader, his partner of 38 years. The wedding took place Jan. 15 in front of a judge at a Seattle hotel, said Hawaii News Now , which first reported the news Tuesday. Washington state legalized gay marriage in December "I'm not ashamed of people knowing. It's just that it was such a personal thing, I didn't tell anybody," said Nabors, 82, a resident of Honolulu. "I'm very happy that I've had a partner of 38 years, and I feel very blessed.

California finds itself in an unaccustomed place these days: behind the curve. Another state, Rhode Island, and two more countries, France and New Zealand, were just added to the steadily growing list of places where same-sex marriage will receive full recognition and status. The roster now encompasses 14 nations and 10 states - as soon as the Rhode Island legislation is signed - as well as Washington, D.C. Missing from it is California. How could California, with its frontier live-and-let-live sensibility and a reputation for social progressiveness that verges on downright weirdness, have ended up in this situation?