Marriage equality update

In addition to the briefs the Obama administration filed urging the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, and in support of same-sex marriage, many other politicians and groups got into the act. Over 200 members of Congress urged the court to overturn DOMA; the Attorneys General of Oregon, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Washingtion and 9 other states urged the court to overturn California’s Prop 8 which banned same-sex marriage; several cities including Providence RI, Boston MA, New York NY, and Seattle WA urged the court to support same-sex marriage. All this action leads up to the Supreme Court’s scheduled hearings on DOMA and Prop 8 later this month.

In other states –

Illinois – a bill to allow marriage equality  was narrowly approved by a House committee, sending the bill to the floor for debate; The Illinois Senate approved marriage equality in a floor vote on Valentine’s Day.

Minnesota: Push for gay marriage underway at Minn. Capitol 
Patrick Condon, Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Lawmakers formally launched a long-anticipated effort Wednesday to legalizegay marriage in Minnesota by summer, and gay couples and their small children crowded the kickoff news conference — a visual reminder that family diversity exists in the state but is not recognized by its laws.

Arguing that such families deserve the same recognition from the state as more traditional ones, sponsors of the gay marriage bill aim to repeal Minnesota's 1997 law that prohibited marriage between couples of the same sex. The bill exempts churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings.

"We're a family in the eyes of God," Michael Adam Latz, a Minneapolis rabbi raising two daughters with his male partner. "But right here in my home state of Minnesota, the place where I was born, where we live, work, pay taxes and raise our children, we are legal strangers."

Gay marriage supporters point to last fall's defeat of the constitutional gay marriage ban as the starting point for what they hope is a final push to legalize it. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk; if that happens, same-sex weddings would commence on Aug. 1.

But Republicans opposed to gay marriage said supporters got the wrong message from defeat of the marriage amendment.

"The people simply said they didn't want to take the definition of marriage as it's written in Minnesota state law, and include that in the constitution," said Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove.

The bill would change Minnesota's current statutory definition of marriage from "a civil contract between a man and a woman" to "between two people." The bill would exempt churches from being forced to perform same-sex weddings.

"Communities of conscience and others in Minnesota who may disagree with this bill won't be compelled to do anything, won't be required to violate their own conscience," said Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, a co-sponsor of the bill.

But Sen. Dan Hall, a Burnsville Republican and a pastor, said he worried that exemption could be lifted in future legislative sessions. "I will personally go to jail before I ever perform a marriage for a homosexual," Hall said. Republicans said they were also worried that business owners who cater to weddings could face consequences if they refuse on moral grounds to do business with gay couples.

It has been a long road for gay Minnesotans seeking the right to get married.

The state Supreme Court ruled against gay marriage back in 1971. In 1997, when the Legislature was under Democratic control, lawmakers strengthened that prohibition by overwhelmingly passing a "Defense of Marriage Act."

By 2004, conservative activists were seeking an even stricter ban. Michele Bachmann, then a state senator, initiated a multi-year effort to put a constitutional gay marriage ban before voters statewide. It finally reached fruition in 2011, when Republicans in control of both legislative chambers voted the amendment onto the ballot.

The amendment failed by about 150,000 votes after a long and expensive campaign, on an Election Day that saw three other states vote affirmatively for gay marriage. Those results were widely seen as a turning point for gay marriage supporters after years of electoral setbacks nationwide.

"It was a very clear statement," said Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, the bill's chief House sponsor. Gay marriage is now legal in nine U.S. states, and a bill to legalize it in Illinois is moving through that state's Legislature.

But the amendment's defeat left gay marriage still illegal under existing Minnesota statute. With the governor's office and Legislature under Democratic control after the 2012 election, gay marriage backers had the optimal political landscape for their push.

The bill's chief Senate sponsor, Minneapolis Democrat Scott Dibble, rejected the idea that the amendment campaign pivoted on whether the gay marriage ban should be in the constitution.

"The conversation was, 'What is marriage all about? Why does marriage matter?' We argued that marriage is for everyone, freedom is for everyone, love is love and a commitment is for a lifetime," Dibble said. "My sense is that Minnesotans have come so far, so fast on this issue and the Legislature is ready to settle this question and move on."

Dibble said he doesn't yet know if the votes are there to pass the bill, but added, "I think we're close." House and Senate committees plan hearings in March; final votes could come in April or May.

So far, only one Republican lawmaker publicly supports the bill: Sen. Branden Petersen, R-Andover. Clark said she believed other Republicans would get on board.

Pat Anderson, a Republican former state auditor and party official, published an essay in Wednesday's St. Paul Pioneer Press supporting gay marriage.

"This is a limited government issue," Anderson said. "The question is: What is government's role in the marriage issue? I would say it should be limited."

But the GOP still has strong reservations.

"There is no gay gene. OK?" said Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe. "So the concept that you're born that way and it's an immutable characteristic is an unscientific lie."

The American Psychological Association declared in 2009 that there's no scientific consensus about why an individual develops a specific sexual orientation. But the group also said most people experience no sense of choice over their sexual orientation, and advised members not to counsel patients that homosexuality can be changed.

Some legislative Democrats face a tough vote on gay marriage, representing legislative districts where voters backed last fall's amendment. By the same token, some Republicans hail from districts that voted it down.

Rep. John Ward, DFL-Baxter, represents a Brainerd-area district that supported the amendment by nearly 15 percentage points.

"I'm undecided," Ward said Wednesday. "My main focus is the budget, and I want to take care of that before we start worrying about these hot-button issues."

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst contributed to this report.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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Maine: Gay couples begin booking weddings in Maine 
Clarke Canfield, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Gay couples are booking wedding dates and exchanging vows in Maine, but inns and wedding venues aren't expecting a deluge of new business like Massachusetts experienced when it became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage nearly a decade ago.

About 2,360 same-sex couples were married in Massachusetts the first month alone after its gay-marriage law went into effect in 2004, according to the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders organization.

In contrast, about 150 gay couples have exchanged vows in Maine since same-sex marriage became legal Dec. 29. While the new law has given hotels, photographers, florists and others a boost, many say they're not anticipating a bonanza from same-same couples right off the bat, but still expect the gay marriage business to grow in the years ahead.

The Portland Regency Hotel has booked three same-sex weddings for this year. Besides making money from the weddings themselves, the hotel benefits because wedding parties often book blocks of rooms for guests, said David Davis, director of sales. The hotel has also gotten room reservations for same-sex weddings that are being held elsewhere.

Gay weddings represent only a sliver of the hotel's events business, he said, but he expects it to grow over time.

"We'll see more bookings in 2014 and 2015 and beyond," he said.

When Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, there was a rush to get married because it was the first state to allow gay marriage and there was uncertainty whether the law would survive, said Lee Swislow, executive director of GLAD.

"Maine is in a much different position than Massachusetts in 2004," Swislow said. "If you wanted to get married then, this was it."

Now, in addition to Massachusetts, gay marriage is legal in neighboring New Hampshire, six other states and the District of Columbia.

After Maine voters approved a gay marriage referendum in November, The Williams Institute, a national think tank at the UCLA School of Law, estimated that nearly 2,000 same-sex couples living in Maine would get married in the first three years of the law, generating $15.5 million in wedding-related spending. The estimate didn't include spending from out-of-state gay couples who get married in Maine.

As of Feb. 25, the Department of Health and Human Services had recorded 148 same-sex marriages in Maine, 78 of which took place the first three days the law was in effect.

While some couples got married as soon as they could, most same-sex weddings — just like other weddings — are expected to take place from mid-spring through summer into fall, when people from other states want to come to Maine and the weather is better for outdoor weddings.

Amanda Hollander and Katy McCormack of Portland are getting married over Memorial Day weekend. They wanted to wait so they could invite friends and relatives and make all the arrangements that come with a wedding in which 224 people are being invited.

Hollander said they've sent invitations to people as far away as Washington state, England, New Zealand and Costa Rica. The wedding will be held at a lakeside children's summer camp in Ellsworth, where guests can sleep in camp cabins and have access to kayaks and canoes. A catered dinner will be served in the camp's dining hall.

Hollander and McCormack, who've been together for 3½ years, will be married in an outdoor chapel.

"The marriage license is of course super important, but so is making vows in front of family and friends, and we weren't willing to give that up," said Hollander, 31. "So we decided to wait to get our license to allow our family and friends to hear somebody say, 'By the power vested in me by the state of Maine.' That's a really important moment for me and Katy to experience, and we wanted our families to experience it as well."

Businesses are beginning to reap the benefits of the new law.

The Camden Harbour Inn typically hosts about 15 weddings a year, in May, June, September and October. The weddings are elaborate affairs and can cost $50,000 to $60,000, including lodging and food. With threegay weddings booked, the available wedding dates this year have filled up faster than usual, said co-owner Raymond Brunyanszki.

"And we've already booked two gay weddings for the spring of 2014," said Brunyanszki, who is gay.

Some businesses that host weddings have yet to book any for gay couples. The Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport has gotten several inquiries, but hasn't scheduled a same-sex wedding yet, said Timothy Ames, director of sales. The law has barely been in effect for two months, and it will take time to feel the full benefits, he said.

"I've talked with other people in the business, and they're saying the same thing, that it's not that all of the sudden the gates have opened," he said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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China: China's Xi rides high hopes ahead of presidency 
Gillian Wong, Associated Press

LUOTUOWAN VILLAGE, China (AP) — China's fawning state media, jaded social media commentators and even poor corn and cabbage farmers agree: New Communist Party chief Xi Jinping is off to a good start.

"General Secretary Xi doesn't put on any airs. He talks like an ordinary person," said 69-year-old farmer Tang Rongbin. The new leader visited Tang's sparse, dimly lit farmhouse in Luotuowan village in December, bearing gifts of cooking oil, flour and a blanket.

Xi has styled himself as an economic reformer, an iron-fisted graft-buster, a staunch nationalist and a no-frills man-of-the-people — spurring expectations for change. But as he prepares to be appointed to the largely ceremonial role of president, pressure will be growing on him to deliver.

China faces rising public anger over endemic corruption, a burgeoning rich-poor gap and the degradation of the country's air, soil and waterways. Slower economic growth and territorial disputes, especially with Japan, add to the tension.

Mounting protests over environmental issues, land seizures and high-handed officialdom point to the underlying social discontent. Days before the party conclave that brought Xi to power last year, thousands of protesters in the eastern city of Ningbo faced off against riot police outside government offices, calling on officials to halt a chemical plant expansion.

"I think there has been a revolution of rising expectations," said Willy Lam, an expert on party politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "People realize they can get away with even demonstrations to make their wills heard."

Joining the clamor for change this past week were dozens of prominent intellectuals who signed a petition urging the government to ratify an international treaty on protecting human rights and the rule of law. Also, a group of about 100 parents of gays and lesbians urged lawmakers to legalize gay marriage.

Compiled from AP reports.