Gay Marriages

Here's the latest line of argument put before the Supreme Court against same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage is bad because gays don't have unplanned pregnancies. I'm not kidding. I wish I were. TIMELINE: Gay marriage chronology My colleague David Savage's weekend story about legal briefs submitted in support of California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act's bans on gay marriage left me incredulous, flummoxed, mystified, gobsmacked -- well, get out your own thesaurus.

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.

California's long, tortuous war over same-sex marriage enters its next phase on Thursday, when the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments on three lawsuits challenging Proposition 8, the controversial constitutional amendment that bans gay marriage. The easy way to think about these cases -- and the way most non-lawyers are likely to do it -- is to decide which side of the issue you're on and root for that side to win.

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?

The question for the last week has been: Which Judge Walker would emerge with the decision on whether same-sex marriages could go forth immediately? Would it be the cautious one who, slapped down by the U.S. Supreme Court over cameras in the courtroom, decided not to allow them during the closing arguments on Proposition 8? Or the one who overturned the ban on same-sex marriage with a historic and elegantly written opinion? The answer was both. Having ruled last week that Proposition 8 was unconstitutionally discriminatory, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker would have been hard-pressed to decide this week that the resumption of same-sex weddings in California should be delayed until the case wends its way through the appeals process.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court took no action Monday on the gay marriage cases pending on appeal, putting off a decision at least until Friday. The justices have a closed-door conference set for Friday morning, the last such meeting prior to the holiday recess. They have before them 10 appeals concerning gay marriage. One set of cases involves the Defense of Marriage Act and its provision denying federal benefits to legally married gay couples. That law has been challenged by same-sex couples in New England, New York and California and has been struck down by two U.S. appeals courts.

Re "Foes of Gay Marriage Find New Momentum," Aug. 1: I'm feeling low and literally beaten up by my president, the pope and anyone else who seems determined to declare war on unions of gays and lesbians. My dreaded "gay agenda" includes getting my kids dressed, fed and off to school, while worrying if they'll be safe in addition to getting the best education. My partner of 16 years stays home to care for them while I go to work each day, cutting corners on ourselves so that we can put money away for college and make sure they are loved, happy, healthy and intellectually satiated every day. How do I explain to them why their parents ("You are the best moms in the whole world!"

Acting Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan on Tuesday told county supervisors that his office would be ready to perform same-sex marriages June 16. That is the earliest date on which the state Supreme Court's ruling allowing such marriages could take effect. Logan said he would extend the corps of volunteers needed to officiate at marriages and would seek to open new offices to facilitate the ceremonies. "We expect that when the decision goes into effect that there will be an initial peak in the volume of people coming into our office," he said.

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 law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt, voting after weeks of often angry debate and protests in the streets. Members of the Socialist government chanted "equality, equality" and stood up to applaud as the result was announced.  The center-right opposition party immediately announced its intention to appeal the law, which was adopted by 331 votes against 225. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira said the Constitutional Court would have one month to make a ruling on the appeal, meaning the first same-sex unions could take place in June.

New Zealand became the latest country to legalize gay marriage on Wednesday, spurring cheers and applause inside and outside Parliament. Smiling couples and their supporters in the House of Commons broke into a Maori love song after the 77-44 vote was tallied. “Nothing could make me more proud to be a New Zealander than passing this bill,” Louisa Wall, the lawmaker who sponsored the marriage law, said Wednesday after thanking her partner. “I thank my colleagues, for simply doing what is fair, just and right.” With the Wednesday vote, New Zealand has become the first country in the Asia-Pacific region where gay marriage is legal.

Republican leaders unanimously approved a resolution Friday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8, the measure under court review that forbids same-sex marriage in California. The Republican National Committee “affirms its support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and as the optimum environment in which to raise healthy children for the future of America and … implores the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the sanctity of marriage in its rulings on California's Proposition 8 and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act,” according to a resolution approved at the group's meeting in Hollywood.

Uruguay is poised to become the second country in South America that allows gay marriage, after lawmakers approved a bill despite the objections of the Roman Catholic Church. President Jose Mujica is widely expected to sign the “equal marriage law,” which the nation's Congress approved Wednesday. The bill removes references to “husband and wife” in marriage contracts, substituting a gender-neutral term, and also allows couples of the same sex to adopt children. “A marriage is a union of two people who love each other,” leftist lawmaker Sebastian Sabini said Wednesday, according to El Observador . ”Nothing more and nothing less.” Before the vote, Catholic bishops in Uruguay said that the law “jeopardizes the rights of the child” and went beyond protecting the rights of gay couples to “assimilate these situations into marriage.” The bishops quoted the words of Pope Francis, who opposed gay marriage while serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires in neighboring Argentina, writing, “The identity and survival of the family is at stake.” Gay marriage opponents lost that fight in Argentina, the first country on the continent to allow same-sex couples to wed, and now appear to have lost it in Uruguay as well.

Would Ronald Reagan have supported gay marriage? His daughter, Patti Davis, thinks so. She told the New York Times in an interview that, growing up in California her family had close relationships with and accepted gay couples. “I grew up in this era where your parents' friends were all called aunt and uncle,” Davis told the paper. “And then I had an aunt and an aunt. We saw them on holidays and other times.” She added, “We never talked about it, but I just understood that they were a couple.” According to the New York Times: Davis "offered several reasons her father, who would have been 102 this year, would have bucked his party on the issue: his distaste for government intrusion into private lives, his Hollywood acting career and close friendship with a lesbian couple who once cared for Ms. Davis and her younger brother Ron while their parents were on a Hawaiian vacation - and slept in the Reagans' king-size bed. " She also said that when Reagan once saw Rock Hudson kill a woman on screen, he told her the closeted gay star “would rather be kissing a man.” Davis' comments come as the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding the fate of Proposition 8, California's ban on gay marriage.