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Friday, July 18, 2008
BOSTON (AP) — Gay couples from Connecticut and other states are one step closer to a Massachusetts wedding. The Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law used to bar out-of-state gay couples from marrying here. The law prohibits couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they couldn’t legally wed in their home states. After Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages in 2004, then-Gov. Mitt Romney ordered town clerks to enforce the little-known law and deny licenses to out-of-state couples. Critics, including Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, the state’s first black governor, said the 95-year-old statute carries a racist taint and needs to be repealed. The law dates to a time when the majority of states still outlawed interracial marriages. Opponents said the law was designed to smooth relations with those states. The House was expected to vote on the repeal later this week, after Blade deadline.
Gay U.S. bishop fights exclusion from Anglican meeting in U.K.
LONDON (AP) — The first openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop was barred from a once-a-decade Anglican meeting so he wouldn’t become a focus of the global event. Anglicans on all sides of the issue agree: The strategy has backfired. New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson has been embraced by sympathetic Anglicans in England and Scotland who view his exclusion as an affront to their Christian beliefs. Robinson plans several appearances on the outskirts of the Lambeth Conference to be what he called a “constant and friendly” reminder of gays in the church. “I’m just not willing to let the bishops meet and pretend that we don’t exist,” Robinson said in an interview Sunday with the Associated Press before preaching at St. Mary’s Church Putney. “They’ve taken vows to serve all the people in dioceses, not just certain ones.” The Anglican spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, did not include Robinson and a few other bishops in the conference as he tried to prevent a split in the world Anglican Communion. The 77 million-member fellowship — the third-largest in the world behind Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians — has been on the brink of schism since Robinson was consecrated in 2003. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S. Robinson and Episcopal leaders had tried for years to negotiate a role for the New Hampshire bishop at Lambeth, but were unsuccessful. He resolved to come to England anyway. “I’m not storming the pulpit to wrestle the microphone from the archbishop,” Robinson said. “My agenda is this: What does the church’s treatment of gay and lesbian people say about God? You’ve got all these people talking about gays and lesbians being an abomination before God. Does that make you want to run out and go to an Anglican church and sing God’s praises?”
McCain assailed over gay adoption stance
NEW YORK — Gay rights activists denounced GOP Sen. John McCain, an adoptive father, for opposing adoptions by gays, which prompted his presidential campaign to clarify this week that he does not seek a federal ban on the practice. The presumptive Republican nominee was asked for his views on the subject in an interview published Sunday in The New York Times. “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption,” McCain said. Yesterday, as criticism of McCain’s comments spread, his campaign elaborated on the candidate’s views. “John McCain could have been clearer in the interview in stating that his position on gay adoption is that it is a state issue. ... He was not endorsing any federal legislation,” a campaign statement said.
ABC, FX win high marks from gay rights group
NEW YORK (AP) — The marriage between the gay characters Kevin and Scotty in the season finale of ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” helped the network win high praise from an advocacy group that pushes for more visibility of such characters on television. It was the first wedding of two gay or lesbian characters in a prime-time scripted series, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. ABC has had other historic moments, including introducing a gay character to “Soap” in 1977, having a gay teen in “My So-Called Life” and Ellen DeGeneres coming out on “Ellen” as well as in real life. ABC ranked highest among the broadcast networks in hours where gay and lesbian characters were portrayed, with FX topping the 10 cable networks monitored, GLAAD said. FX was praised for “Nip/Tuck,” which GLAAD said had one gay, lesbian or bisexual character in each episode. “Rescue Me” had a minor storyline with a gay couple having a commitment ceremony and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” featured a transgender character. Fox, also owned by News Corp., and NBC both had “failing” grades from GLAAD. While GLAAD was pleased by the inclusion of gay characters on “House” and the shows “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” the group didn’t like a “New Amsterdam” episode in which two lesbian characters fell in love with a straight man. GLAAD is pushing NBC to include more gay characters, particularly after the prominent lesbian doctor Kerry Weaver left “ER.”
From staff and wire reports
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