Canada embraces gay marriages

Canada embraces gay marriages - Despite landmark decision, unions unlikely to be honored. NEW LONDON, Prince Edward Island - Bowing to a landmark court decision, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said Tuesday that Canada would amend federal law to recognize same-sex marriages. The policy opens the way for same-sex couples from the United States and around the world to travel to Canada to marry, since the nation has no marriage residency requirements. However, such marriages would not be legally honored in the United States, predicted Geoff Kors of the group Equality California, which is working to legalize gay marriage in the state. Canada would join the Netherlands and Belgium as the only countries where same-sex marriages have the same legal status as those between men and women.

None of the 50 American states allows marriages for gay couples. Vermont recognizes "civil unions", which give gay couples many of the legal rights, benefits and legal responsibilities of marriage but are distinct from full marriage. The new law is expected to be drafted soon and submitted to the Parliament, where it is likely to pass. Chrétien's Liberal Party commands a powerful majority in the House of Commons, and most party members appear to support the move. "We won't be appealing the recent decision on the definition of marriage,'' Chrétien said. "Rather, we'll be proposing legislation that will protect the right of churches and religious organizations to sanctify marriage as they define it,'' he said. ``At the same time, we will ensure that our marriage legislation includes and legally recognizes the unions of same sex-couples.'' Canadian marriage licenses have always been accepted in the United States, but now that the definition of marriage in the two countries is about to diverge, legal challenges to same-sex couples claiming rights and privileges deriving from their Canadian licenses seem certain.
Canadian law will recognize gay marriages (Oregonian)
Canada OKs gay unions (Twincities)
Canada approves same-sex marriage (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Canada to allow gay couples to marry (Chicago Sun-Times)
PM to use court to avoid gay union rift. Justices to be asked to rule marriage comes under federal jurisdiction, thus dodging Alberta challenge.
CANADIAN COURT LEGALIZES GAY MARRIAGE. Same-sex couples began getting married in Toronto June 10. Married-married. Under the regular marriage laws.
Canada to draft a law recognizing gay marriages
Gay hate capital? Alberta's reputation made worse by stance, says magazine editor.

What Gay-Friendly Republicans? ith stars in their eyes, 200 Log Cabin Republicans gathered at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington last month. There, they heard an associate White House counsel, an associate director of the White House domestic policy council, and the openly gay AIDS czar, Joseph O'Neill (a supporter of abstinence education). Was this "a policy briefing with senior administration officials," as The New York Times described it, or was this merely one of the administration's periodic gay-courtship rites? Depends on whether you judge intention by words or deeds. Abetted by an all-too-credulous press, the Republicans have presented themselves as a big-tent party striving to balance tolerance for gays with commitment to the Christian right. But there's a difference between meeting with a gay group, as GOP strategist Marc Racicot did recently, and acting in its interest. Under the Republicans, gays get the glad hand while phobes get the power. The most vivid proof is Bush's willingness to nominate men with anti-gay records to lifetime terms on the federal bench. Rick Santorum's wrath is nothing compared with the impact of these and other right-wing appointments. Bush's judicial agenda could pose the greatest threat to gay rights in a generation.

Sen. Susan Collins Cites 'Compelling Evidence' of Problems During Bush Nominee's Command of Kentucky Army Base. WASHINGTON, June 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has expressed concern regarding President Bush's nomination of Major General Robert T. Clark for promotion to lieutenant general.

In an interview yesterday on NBC Nightly News, Sen. Collins told reporter Lisa Myers that, "There is compelling evidence that there were problems at this base," referring to MG Clark's command of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. President Bush recently re-nominated MG Clark for promotion. During the last session of Congress, the Armed Services Committee did not act on the nomination due to serious concerns about MG Clark's leadership before and after the murder of PFC Barry Winchell at Fort Campbell. Targeted because he was believed to be gay, PFC Winchell endured constant anti-gay harassment in the months leading up to his murder. (Complete information regarding the murder and nomination are available online at http://www.sldn.org).

Senators also told NBC News that, in private meetings, "MG Clark portrayed himself as the victim, claiming his character was being maligned." One Republican told Myers that, "The general still doesn't get it." "MG Clark's nomination has raised concern across party lines," said SLDN Executive Director C. Dixon Osburn. "Leadership is exhibited through responsibility, and Clark has failed that test again and again. His assertion that he has been victimized by PFC Winchell's family underscores the very reasons he is not deserving of this promotion." Other groups opposing Clark's nomination include People for the American Way, the National Organization for Women, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, American Veterans for Equal Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, the Transgender American Veterans Association and Michigan's Triangle Foundation.
Justice moves slowly in army murder case

Students Push for a Gay/Straight Chapter at Logan School. A proposed Logan High School chapter of the national Gay/Straight Alliance caught school officials off guard, but they say they will work with students to make the club a reality. "It was a lot worse my freshman year, but now I don't even interact with those people," said junior Mark Sailor of the harassment he endures for being gay. He is one of the students trying to start the club. But the climate of intolerance is enough that he and friend Jessica Liddell are pushing for the support group, which would pro- vide support for marginalized gay and lesbian students and promote tolerance and acceptance. Principal Charles Nelson agrees that some at the school harbor an intolerant attitude toward gays and lesbians. "I don't think I would describe it as hostile, but I would certainly describe it as unfriendly," he said Monday.