ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest

Hungarian court annuls domestic partnerships law - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/15/AR2008121501070.html Hungary's Constitutional Court says it has annulled a law giving rights to domestic partners because it would diminish the importance of marriage. The law, passed by parliament a year ago, would have allowed unmarried or gay couples to register their domestic relationships beginning Jan. 1, 2009. The court says the new legislation is unconstitutional because it would give unmarried heterosexual couples practically the same rights as married ones, "downgrading" the institution of marriage.

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High court weighs how maternity leaves affect pensions - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-12-10-maternity-pensions-supreme-court_N.htm The court heard arguments in the case of four women who lost seniority credit when they took maternity leave before passage of a 1979 law that barred the practice of treating pregnancy leaves differently from other disability leaves. The size of retirement paychecks for thousands of women hangs in the balance as the court considers whether to credit decades-old maternity leaves in calculating pension benefits. Justice David Souter asked why payment of the lower retirement benefits now isn't an act of discrimination.

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Gay employees urged to skip work, volunteer - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2008-12-09-calling-in-gay_N.htm Denver artist Courtney Gray, 32, is taking off work today to volunteer at a food drive organized by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Colorado. He's doing it as part of the national "Day Without a Gay," intended to show the impact of gays by asking them to skip work and spend the day volunteering and refraining from spending money. The day, which coincides with International Human Rights Day, "gives us all a great opportunity to participate in our community and to bring awareness on the fact that we are contributing members of the society," Gray said. The idea for Day Without a Gay grew after a column by Joel Stein in the Los Angeles Times last month called for a boycott similar to the 2006 Great American Boycott organized by Latino immigrants, event co-founder Sean Hetherington said. Hetherington, 30, a personal trainer and stand-up comedian in California, and his partner, Aaron Hartzler, 33, an actor and writer, wanted to expand on the work stoppage idea and do something positive.

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Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10marriage.html?ref=us Outraged by California voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of advocates, shaken out of a generational apathy, have pushed to the forefront of the gay rights movement, using freshly minted grass-roots groups and embracing not only new technologies but also old-school methods like sit-ins and sickouts. Matt Palazzolo, 23, a self-described “video artist-actor turned gay activist,” founded one group, Equal Roots Coalition, with a group of friends about 10 days ago. “I’d been focused on other things in my life,” Mr. Palazzolo said. “Then Nov. 4 happened, and it woke me up.” Often young and politically inexperienced, the new campaigners include an unlikely set of leaders, among them a San Francisco chess teacher, a search-engine marketer from Seattle and a former contestant on “American Gladiators,” who jokingly suggested that he had become involved in the movement as a way of making up for his poor performance on the show.

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Calif. activists split on ‘call in gay’ day - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/12/09/calif_activists_split_on_call_in_gay_day/ Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to "call in gay" tomorrow to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians, but others question whether it is wise to encourage skipping work, given the nation's economic distress. Organizers of "Day Without a Gay," scheduled to coincide with International Human Rights Day and modeled after similar work stoppages by Latino immigrants, are also encouraging people to perform volunteer work and refrain from spending money. Sean Hetherington, a West Hollywood comedian and personal trainer, dreamed up the idea with his boyfriend, Aaron Hartzler, after reading online that a few angry gay-rights activists were calling for a daylong strike to protest California voters' passage last month of Proposition 8, which reversed this year's state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

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Adoption ban targets gay couples, critics say - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gay-adopt4-2008dec04,0,642864.story Anne Shelley and Robin Ross are unwinding after a jam-packed day of ferrying 4-year-old daughter Eva Mae from preschool to ice skating lessons to speech therapy. "It's pretty much your mundane American family," said Shelley, 46, over a dinner of barbecue at their home near the Ozark Mountains. But not everyone sees their domestic situation that way. Arkansas residents recently voted to ban anyone "co-habitating outside of a valid marriage" from being foster parents or adopting children, as did Shelley and Ross, 52. Child welfare experts say that the initiative was ostensibly written to prohibit any unmarried couples from adopting or becoming foster parents, but that the measure's real objective is to bar same-sex couples from raising children -- even if it means that youths in need of homes have to wait longer.

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Judge rules against Fla. gay adoption ban - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/11/26/judge_rules_against_fla_gay_adoption_ban/ A judge ruled yesterday that a strict Florida law that blocks gay people from adopting children is unconstitutional, declaring that there is no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said the 31-year-old law violates equal protection rights for the children and their prospective gay parents, rejecting the state's arguments that there is "a supposed dark cloud hovering over homes of homosexuals and their children." She noted that gay people are allowed to be foster parents in Florida. "There is no rational basis to prohibit gay parents from adopting," she wrote in a 53-page ruling. Florida is the only state with an outright ban on gay adoption. Arkansas voters last month approved a measure similar to a law in Utah that bans any unmarried straight or gay couples from adopting or fostering children. Mississippi bans gay couples, but not single gays, from adopting.

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Inquiry Set on Mormon Aid for California Marriage Vote - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26marriage.html?ref=us California officials will investigate accusations that the Mormon Church neglected to report a battery of nonmonetary contributions — including phone banks, a Web site and commercials — on behalf of a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage. Roman Porter, the executive director of the Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees California campaign finance laws, signed off on the investigation after reviewing a sworn complaint filed on Nov. 13. The complaint, filed by Fred Karger, founder of the group Californians Against Hate, asserted that the church’s reported contributions — about $5,000, according to state election filings — vastly underestimated its actual efforts in passing Proposition 8, which amended the state’s Constitution to recognize only male-female marriage. Broadly speaking, California state law requires disclosure of any money spent or services provided to influence the outcome of an election. Mr. Porter said the announcement of the investigation was not “a determination on the validity of the claims or the culpability of the individuals,” but that the claims had been reviewed by a lawyer for the commission and its chief of enforcement and deemed worth pursuing. Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, issued a statement Tuesday saying it had received the complaint and would cooperate with the investigation. Frank Schubert, campaign manager for the leading group behind Proposition 8, said the accusations were baseless and made by a “rogue group.”

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Gay-marriage debate roils, unites Mormons - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/24/gay_marriage_debate_roils_unites_mormons/ This has been a stormy year for Mormons in the United States. First, there was the candidacy of Mitt Romney for president, which brought to the surface a deep strain of anti-Mormonism in American culture. Then, there was the raid on a group of schismatic polygamists in Texas, which reminded America of Mormonism's uncomfortable history. And now, there is a wave of protest, rolling across the country from west to east, in which some gay rights advocates have targeted Mormons because of their church's support for a successful California referendum to overturn same-sex marriage. Ironically, the protests appear to be helping repair a rift within Mormonism caused by the election. The church's outspoken support for Proposition 8 exposed an unusual level of disagreement in the ordinarily harmonious Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Internet facilitated grass-roots organizing by the minority of Mormons who support same-sex marriage. But a smattering of anti-Mormon acts since Election Day - the burning of a Book of Mormon, a mailing of packets of white powder to Mormon sites, and some anti-Mormon invective expressed on signs and in sloganeering - has helped rally a denomination with a long history of persecution.

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Parents’ despair is left at Nebraska’s doorstep - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nebraska22-2008nov22,0,3255126.story First Melyssa Cowburn's 5-year-old child tried to bash in a baby's head with a hammer. Then he set the shower curtain on fire. The next day he plugged all the sinks and toilets in their apartment and flooded the place. Cowburn and her husband had tried unsuccessfully to get their insurance company to pay for mental health treatment for the boy. The difficulty she had keeping him under control had already helped drive her to attempt suicide last year. Now she felt she had only one option: She flew with her child to Nebraska last week and tearfully left him there. This state has become notorious for being the one place in the country with a law whose wording allows parents to abandon children up to age 18. Its unique safe-haven law -- which was intended to let parents leave unwanted infants at hospitals without legal consequences -- took effect in September, and since then 35 children have been abandoned, almost all of them 11 or older. The Nebraska Legislature gave final approval this morning to adding a 30-day age limit to the state's safe-haven law.

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News Analysis - With Same-Sex Marriage, a Court Takes on the People’s Voice - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/us/21marriage.html?ref=us When the California Supreme Court begins weighing arguments over same-sex marriage — again — in December, some 18,000 such marriages could hang in the balance. Opponents of such unions also have high stakes, having spent countless hours, and nearly $40 million, to pass Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage and is under review by the court. And the justices could lose out, too; some are already being threatened with being voted out of office if they rule Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

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California Supreme Court agrees to hear challenges to voter-approved gay marriage ban—chicagotrib

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-gay-marriage-lawsuits,0,5007717.story California's highest court agreed Wednesday to hear several legal challenges to the state's new ban on same-sex marriage but refused to allow gay couples to resume marrying before it rules. The California Supreme Court accepted three lawsuits seeking to nullify Proposition 8, a voter-approved constitutional amendment that overruled the court's decision in May that legalized gay marriage. All three cases claim the measure abridges the civil rights of a vulnerable minority group. They argue that voters alone did not have the authority to enact such a significant constitutional change. As is its custom when it takes up cases, the court elaborated little. However, the justices did say they want to address what effect, if any, a ruling upholding the amendment would have on the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that were sanctioned in California before Election Day.

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30-day age limit in Neb. safe-haven law appears headed for final approval—chicagotribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-safe-haven,0,6222794.story A 30-day age limit in the Nebraska safe-haven law appears headed for final approval. The state Legislature voted 41-6 Wednesday to give second-round approval to the limit. A final vote is expected Friday and then the bill will go to Gov. Dave Heineman, who has said he would support a 30-day age limit. If Heineman signs the bill, it would become effective immediately. "The rails are greased and the train's heading down the track," said state Sen. Tom Carlson.

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Gay marriage: Conservative court faces pressure from all sides of Proposition 8 issue - Los Angeles

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-me-prop8-supreme-court19-2008nov19,0,7603226.story Six months ago, California's highest court discarded its reputation for caution and ended the state's ban on same-sex marriage. Now the moderately conservative state Supreme Court is being asked to take an even riskier step -- to overturn the November voter initiative that reinstated the gay-marriage ban and possibly provoke a voter revolt that could eject one or more of the justices from the bench. The court is under intense pressure from all sides. Its first response to the challenges may come today, when the justices meet privately in a weekly conference to decide which cases to accept for review. Legal scholars say case law does not give the court a clear path for overturning the voter-approved measure. The state high court -- six Republicans and one moderate Democrat -- generally defers to the will of the people. Only twice has the court rejected initiatives on the legal grounds cited by opponents of Proposition 8. Despite the uncertainties, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said publicly that he expects and hopes that the state high court will reject Proposition 8.

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Age limit for Nebraska safe-haven law debated - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nebraska18-2008nov18,0,7056224.story Nebraska legislators opened a public hearing Monday on adding an age limit to a safe-haven law that has allowed nearly three dozen children -- some close to adulthood -- to be abandoned at hospitals. Lawmakers are in a special session in Lincoln called by Gov. Dave Heineman, who has proposed allowing parents and guardians to drop off only infants no older than 3 days at hospitals without fear of prosecution for abandonment. Some legislators want a higher age limit; Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler said Monday that it should be 30 days. At three days, "you haven't spent all night up with them, you haven't fed them. . . . Everything that goes along with being a new parent hasn't set in yet," Langemeier said after introducing his amendment.

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5 years later, views shift subtly on gay marriage - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/17/5_years_later_views_shift_subtly_on_gay_marriage/ When the Supreme Judicial Court handed down its landmark decision five years ago tomorrow allowing same-sex couples to wed in Massachusetts, opponents warned that traditional marriage would be endangered, while supporters envisioned an equality movement that would spread across the nation. Over 11,000 same-sex marriages later, neither has happened. Massachusetts has yet to become, as former governor Mitt Romney predicted, the "Las Vegas of same-sex marriage." Gay marriage rates leveled off at about 1,500 a year - about 4 percent of all state marriages - in 2006 and 2007. The divorce rate in Massachusetts has remained the same - and the lowest in the country. And only one other state now allows same-sex marriage; 30 states have a ban against it.

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Mormon Church feels the heat over Proposition 8 - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mormons17-2008nov17,0,3771395.story Protesters have massed outside Mormon temples nationwide. For every donation to a fund to overturn Proposition 8, a postcard is sent to the president of the Mormon Church. Supporters of gay marriage have proposed a boycott of Utah businesses, and someone burned a Book of Mormon outside a temple near Denver. "It's disconcerting to Latter-day Saints that Mormonism is still the religious tradition that everybody loves to hate," said Melissa Proctor, who teaches at Harvard Divinity School. As an indication of how seriously the Mormon leadership takes the recent criticism, the council that runs the church -- the First Presidency -- released a statement Friday decrying what it portrayed as a campaign not just against Mormons but all religious people who voted their conscience. "People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights," the statement said. "These are not actions that are worthy of the democratic ideals of our nation. The end of a free and fair election should not be the beginning of a hostile response in America."

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Nebraska begins its special legislative session - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502416.html When social worker Courtney Anderson got the urgent call, she knew another child was being abandoned to the state. She spotted a boy, 12 years old, sobbing in a chair at the emergency room registration desk. Standing behind him was a woman, also crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the woman told the boy over and over. "Please don't leave me," he begged. Anderson introduced herself and began asking the woman the boy's name, his address and school, but the woman said she was in a hurry. She got ready to leave and hugged the boy, who asked through his tears, "Will you come see me?" "I will if I can," the woman said and ran out the door. When Nebraska legislators passed a bill creating a safe haven to help overwhelmed parents and guardians, they were thinking of babies and toddlers who had been abandoned by young mothers. Instead, 35 children -- typically adolescents -- have been dropped at the hospital door, most recently a 5-year-old boy on Thursday night.

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34th child abandoned in Neb. under ‘safe haven’ - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-13-safe-haven-rush_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip Parents and guardians have brought 16 children to Immanuel Medical Center here, intending to abandon them. "We've had parents come in tearful and shaking and very upset it had to get to that point, and they didn't know what to do," says nurse Linda Jensen, who manages the emergency department. The kids were 11-18 years old. Under a unique state law, parents may leave children 17 and under at hospitals without fear of prosecution for abandonment. That has set off a national controversy, prompting the Legislature to consider narrowing the law. "Some children know why they're here. Some don't," Jensen says. "One staff nurse said a child said, 'I'll be good! I'll be good! I'll be good if I can go home.' " After the parents were told about mental-health services and other support, eight of the kids were taken home, says hospital spokeswoman Kelly Grinnell. The others went into foster care.

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Calif. activist accuses Mormon church of not fully reporting aid it gave to gay marriage ban—chic

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-gay-marriage-mormons,0,2256327.story A California gay rights activist filed a complaint Thursday accusing the Mormon church of failing to report the full value of the work it did to support the state's new ban on same-sex marriage. Fred Karger, the founder of Californians Against Hate, submitted the complaint to the enforcement division of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the agency that regulates campaign activity. Karger alleges that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ran out-of-state phone banks, produced commercials and provided other services that must be reported as contributions to the Proposition 8 campaign. "Let's be transparent here. If they are going to play in the political process, they need to abide by the rules like everyone else," he said.

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Gay couples marry in Connecticut - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-marriage13-2008nov13,0,6138711.story A four-year legal battle for same-sex marriage in Connecticut came to an end Wednesday when Superior Court Judge Jonathan E. Silbert signed an order paving the way for couples to get licenses. Less than 30 minutes later, state Rep. Beth Bye and her partner, Tracey Wilson, became the state's first legally married same-sex couple. The experience "took my breath away," Bye said at West Hartford Town Hall. In New Haven, Jennifer Vickery and Peg Oliveira took their wedding vows with friends watching and their 3-month-old daughter, Willow, tucked in a carriage. They exchanged rings and pledged to share their lives "in good times and in hard." Last month, the state Supreme Court ruled that preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying violated the state Constitution. The hearing Wednesday was a formality needed before gay couples could obtain marriage licenses. For gay-rights activists, Connecticut is a bright spot after election day losses in California, Arizona and Florida.

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Judge clears way for gay marriages in Connecticut - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gaymarriage13-2008nov13,0,6838941.story A judge cleared the way today for gay marriage in Connecticut, a victory for advocates stung by California's referendum that banned same-sex unions in that state. Minutes after a judge entered a final ruling, the New Haven city clerk's office issued its first marriage license to a gay couple. It went to Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman of New Haven, one of the eight couples who successfully challenged a state law prohibiting gay marriage. "It's a great day for Connecticut," Robin Levine-Ritterman said after a brief hearing in court. Others couples planned to celebrate by immediately marching to New Haven City Hall to get marriage licenses. At least one ceremony was scheduled Wednesday morning on the New Haven green.

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Democratic legislators ask state Supreme Court to void Prop. 8 - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marriage11-2008nov11,0,2507607.story Forty-three Democratic legislators, including leaders of the California Senate and Assembly, filed a brief Monday urging the California Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and incoming President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg signed the friend of the court brief, filed with the state Supreme Court. No Republican legislator signed the petition, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, denounced the anti-gay marriage measure over the weekend. With almost 11 million ballots tallied, Proposition 8 had 52.3% of the vote to 47.7%. Although many ballots remain to be counted, the 500,000-vote spread is viewed as insurmountable. "The citizens of California rely on the Legislature and the courts to safeguard against unlawful discrimination by temporary, and often short-lived, majorities," the legislators said in the document, written by attorneys at the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. "This is a Hail Mary, no question about it," said Frank Schubert, manager of the Proposition 8 campaign. Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's office would be obligated to defend the initiative. But Schubert said that if the high court agrees to hear the case, backers of the initiative would seek to intervene to defend it.

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Legality of Same-Sex Marriage Ban Challenged - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111002874.html The future of same-sex marriage in the Golden State will rest, once again, in the hands of its highest court. But this time, its fate will hinge on a different question: Can a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage go before voters? Or must it go before the legislature first? The answer, legal experts say, will determine whether gay rights advocates can overturn Proposition 8, a recently passed ballot measure that overruled a state Supreme Court judgment that legalized same-sex marriage. Three lawsuits, ready since the initiative was green-lighted for the November ballot, have been filed with the California Supreme Court asking it to stop the state from enforcing the proposition until the court has decided on its constitutionality. The suits aim to undo the measure on grounds that, under the equal protection clause in the state's constitution, a majority of voters are not allowed to revoke equal rights intended for everybody. Now, nearly six months after its landmark decision, the California Supreme Court is being asked again to determine the fate of the nearly 18,000 unions made since May, and the possibility of those to come.

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Gay Leaders in Utah Plan 5-Bill Attack in Legislature - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/11gay.html?ref=us Leaders of Utah’s largest group supporting equal rights for gay people announced a proposal on Monday to increase the rights of same-sex couples in the state, saying they saw a silver lining in the passage last week of a same-sex marriage ban in California. The measure in California stripped away the legality of thousands of same-sex marriages and incited protest rallies and marches against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the ban’s major supporters. But leaders of the rights group here, Equality Utah, said statements made by Mormon leaders in defense of their actions in California — that the church was not antigay and had no problem with legal protections for gay men and lesbians already on the books in California — were going to be taken as an endorsement to expand legal rights that gay and lesbian couples have never remotely had in Utah, where the church is based. “We are taking the L.D.S. Church at its word,” said Stephanie Pappas, Equality Utah’s chairwoman.

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