Gay Rights

Now that Gray Davis is governor, our representatives are moving forward with an agenda that includes gay-rights and "domestic partner" legislation ("Opponents of Gay Rights Measures Stage Rally," May 25). Race, religion and national origin are bona fide civil rights. Sexual preference is a private matter that has nothing to do with civil rights. The idea that we are somehow "discriminating" against unmarried couples, gay or straight, is absurd. Heterosexual marriage has always been a cornerstone of society and a social objective that confers certain benefits.

Obstacles to legal equality for gay and lesbian Americans are crumbling fast. Congress has repealed the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevented gay service members from being open about their sexuality. Nearly a dozen states have legalized same-sex marriage, and a stampede of U.S. senators - including two Republicans - has endorsed marriage equality. Activists are hopeful that the Supreme Court will overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

When crowds of gay-rights advocates march down Constitution Avenue and swing past the White House on their way to the Capitol on Sunday, President Clinton will not be at home. Yet, while sidestepping direct involvement in the march, Clinton has demonstrated that the politically explosive question of homosexual rights is one of the few issues that he considers non-negotiable.

Americans are turning a corner on gay rights, and slowly but surely, they seem to be dragging the Boy Scouts along behind them. Leaders of the organization recently proposed dropping its ban on openly gay Scouts, while continuing to prohibit gay adults from serving as scoutmasters. Although we're glad to see the Boy Scouts of America become more tolerant, however limited and belated that change is, it must waste no time before taking the next step as well. There is no valid reason to exclude gay troop leaders of either gender, and the Scouts' lack of acceptance smacks of old and ignorant prejudices against homosexuality.

— Catholic Charities announced Monday that it was ending its legal battle over Illinois' civil unions law and no longer was providing state-funded services. The move ends the group's long history in Illinois of providing foster care and adoptions. Catholic Charities held foster care contracts with the state for about four decades. The group had wished to continue its state contracts, while also referring unmarried couples who want to be adoptive or foster parents to other agencies, citing principles of religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

AMARILLO, Texas - It's well after midnight in a parched corner of Texas known as the buckle of the Bible Belt, down the road from the Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center, which is just what it sounds like: an evangelical truck stop. In the back of an empty strip mall, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist with the self-assurance and billowing locks of Samson is shooting a video. His hair is up in a tidy bun and he's enduring a second hour of makeup transforming him into the likeness of a gender-bending woman, all of which makes more sense once you know that Adair Lion began his career by destroying it. Hip-hop has been described as the heartbeat of urban America, but for years, it had an open secret - that heart was brimming with hate.

VATICAN CITY - The timing said it all. A smiling Pope Benedict XVI had just wrapped up an official visit to Portugal in May 2010, during which he praised Catholic organizations striving to protect families based on "the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman. " But barely 72 hours after the pontiff flew home, the president of Portugal declared that he would sign a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. With Spain having granted such rights five years earlier, the move turned the entire Iberian Peninsula, historically a Catholic stronghold, into an unlikely hitching post for homosexuals.

Early in Wade Davis' first NFL training camp, in 2000, a teammate with the Tennessee Titans approached the rookie defensive back with some helpful advice. If you want to make the team, he whispered, stay away from people who are "different" - a code word Davis instantly knew referred to players suspected of being gay. So that night Davis, who realized he was "different" during his sophomore year in high school, followed a group of teammates to a nearby strip club where he spent $1,500 to prove he was one of the guys.

Legal experts said Wednesday that U.S. Supreme Court justices suggested they might strike down the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to legally married gay couples. It marked the second landmark gay-rights case the justices considered this week. On Tuesday, they heard testimony on Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriages. Some members of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to be concerned Wednesday that a  federal law barring recognition of same-sex marriages interfered with state rights, a law professor said.

WASHINGTON -- A new public opinion survey is the latest to confirm a major social trend that shows no sign of ebbing: rising acceptance of same-sex marriage and homosexuality in America. Fully one in seven adults (14%) say they've changed their mind about gay rights, often because they have a friend or family member who is gay, according to the new national poll by the independent Pew Research Center. Recently, another national poll, by the Washington Post and ABC News, found that support for gay marriage is now at an all-time high, as the Supreme Court prepares to take up the issue, including a test of California's  Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriages.

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.

In a week when the Rutgers men's basketball coach was fired for, among other things, hurling gay epithets at his cowed players, how refreshing to see the professional basketball world, not always known for its tolerance, come a step closer to embracing gay rights. On Monday, the Hollywood gossip website TMZ posted a video of Magic Johnson's 20-year-old son, Earvin “EJ” Johnson III, strolling down the Sunset Strip holding hands with another man . Johnson, a student at NYU, wore what appeared to be a furry black Persian lamb vest, and a pink quilted leather Chanel-style bag over his arm. And he was very clearly coming out, as his father later confirmed.

The Supreme Court, hearing arguments on the emotionally charged issue of gay marriage for the first time, appeared willing Tuesday to restore marital rights to gays and lesbians in California but uncomfortable with legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices sounded sharply divided as they considered Proposition 8, California's ban on gay marriage, and wary of going too far, too fast. None of them spoke up for a sweeping ruling that would require every state to change its marriage laws.

The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a gay rights lawyer said Wednesday. Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said after attending the court's hearing that she believed there were five justices willing to rule on the constitutionality of the federal law. “By June, DOMA will be history,” Kendell said. FULL COVERAGE: Same-sex marriage ban She said the justices appeared more relaxed during the hearing on the federal law than they had been Tuesday in the arguments over Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage.

A shallow magnitude 3.6 earthquake was reported Wednesday morning 13 miles from Anza, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 11:17 a.m. PDT at a depth of 1.9 mile. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 14 miles from La Quinta, 16 miles from Palm Desert, 16 miles from Rancho Mirage, and 251 miles from Phoenix. In the last 10 days, there have been three earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby. Read more about Southern California earthquakes . ALSO: Earthquake: 3.6 quake strikes near Anza, Calif.

As the U.S Supreme Court hears two days of arguments on gay marriage, West Hollywood Councilman John Duran, who is gay and an attorney who fought for gay rights in the 1980s, says the subject has “been an ever-evolving issue. " "The city of West Hollywood supported marriage equality when we incorporated in 1984, but back then it was just a dream,” Duran said Tuesday after the Supreme Court heard arguments over California's Proposition 8. The Supreme Court will decide whether Proposition 8 - which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman - will stand as law in California.

SAN FRANCISCO - For Ohio senator Rob Portman, knowing that his son was gay helped change Portman's mind. For President Obama, talking with gay White House staffers and learning that his daughters' friends had same-sex parents proved influential. On Tuesday, Jean Podrasky, a 48-year-old accountant from San Francisco, will be sitting in a courtroom where her first cousin -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. -- and rest of the U.S. Supreme Court are hearing a challenge to California's ban on gay marriage.

Re "Gay marriage at the polls," Editorial, Oct. 28 The shift in public opinion regarding gay marriage has more to do with civil rights than religion. People finally understand that denying marriage also denies legal protection afforded to the partner who maintains the household in community property states. It denies partners the right to file joint federal tax returns. Many companies deny medical coverage to same-sex couples. Discrimination against one group of people is legally unsound and should have nothing to do with religion.

Experts said that based on Wednesday's arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court appears willing to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. Gay rights lawyer Jon W. Davidson said Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court was likely to permit married same-sex couples to have federal benefits. Davidson, legal director of Lamba Legal, said there appeared to be five justices willing to strike down the federal prohibition on recognizing same-sex marriages. FULL COVERAGE: Same-sex marriage ban The high court seemed likely to overturn the law either on grounds that it discriminates against lesbians and gay men without a valid reason or because it usurps the traditional state power to regulate marriage, he said.