Who Skipped Their Harvey Milk Day Duties? This week in Prop 8 for May 31, 2010

How did you celebrate the first official Harvey Milk Day? If you're like most gays, you skipped the hard work of door-to-door canvassing. The Bay Area Reporter noted that only a handful of people showed up in SF to talk to voters about marriage equality. Where were you? Harvey would have been pissed. As the closing arg...

Stop8.org • May 31, 2010

Gay marriage gets high-profile help

Several times during the testimony phase of the case, proponents of California's ban on same-sex marriage have made the point that the gay community has the advantage of support from Hollywood. And that support will play out in the coming weeks and months with an array of documentaries and other projects. If they don't address the trial itself, they at the very least intend to keep the issue in t...

Variety • May 30, 2010

Testimony on Gay Marriage

I recently learned that a separate, lawyer-generated document submitted to the court apparently does list an article by Mr. Rekers in connection with my testimony, but that document, on this point, is in error....

NY Times • May 30, 2010

Our letter to Judge Walker on televising closing arguments

There was some confusion earlier this week over this issue, when the AP jumped the gun and said Walker had decided on the issue. However, the only thing that changed was a noticed was posted to the court's website that trial would not be broadcast outside of the courtroom. We weren't about to give up so we penned the letter. The letter includes the following:...

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • May 27, 2010

State Senate Passes EQCA Bill Strengthening Religious Freedoms

The California Senate today passed the Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act (SB 906) in a 23-11 vote. The bill protects clergy from performing any civil marriage that is contrary to the tenets of his or her faith and provides clear distinctions between civil and religious marriage in state law. Introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and co-sponsored by Equality California and California...

Equality California • May 27, 2010

Rekers more involved in Prop. 8 case than previously known

Think Progress also notes that Rekers is a member of a group that submitted an amicus "friend of the court" brief for Prop. 8. And this could be really huge news for the case. The New York Times talked to some legal experts about Rekers' credibility and how it affects cases he's been involved with....

Daily Kos • May 27, 2010

Wedding Bell Blues: Small crowd gathers at Harvey Milk Day marriage canvassing rally

About 50 people gathered at San Francisco's LGBT Community Center on Saturday, May 22 to celebrate the legacy of Harvey Milk and stoke enthusiasm for Equality California's canvassing efforts as it prepares to repeal Proposition 8 in 2012. The small crowd was a far cry from the thousands of angry protesters who flooded San Francisco streets after the same-sex marriage ban passed in November 2008. ...

Bay Area Reporter • May 26, 2010

Judge rules in Maine gay marriage case

A federal magistrate judge is recommending that information about donors to a group that helped to finance a successful referendum campaign to repeal Maine's gay marriage law last fall be turned over to a state election regulatory board....

Portland Press Herald • May 25, 2010

Walker says no to televising closing arguments

Well this is a bummer, but unsurprising. AP: Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a notice Tuesday stating that the final arguments scheduled for June 16 will not be transmitted beyond the San Francisco courthouse where he is hearing the case....

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • May 25, 2010

Harvey Milk, a Rent Boy, and a Trial Caught on Tape: This Week in Prop 8 for May 24, 2010

This weekend wasn't just the very first official Harvey Milk Day: it was also a prime opportunity for canvassing, fundraising, and gearing up for the 2012 election. EQCA had a full slate of activities planned all around the state, with nearly 1,0...

Stop8.org • May 25, 2010

Americans' Opposition to Gay Marriage Eases Slightly

Opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage continue to outnumber supporters in the United States, by 53% to 44%. However, opposition is now tied for the lowest Gallup has measured. Support was slightly higher, at 46%, in 2007....

Gallup • May 25, 2010

Protect Marriage Lawyer Asks Federal Prop 8 Trial Judge Not to Permit Broadcast of Closing Arguments

The issue of allowing cameras in the federal Prop 8 trial courtroom is still being played out behind the scenes as June 16 - the date scheduled for closing argument - fast approaches. Monday, Charles Cooper, attorney for Protect Marriage and the Defender-Interveners, filed a letter with Judge Vaughn Walker asking the judge to continue to ban cameras because "permitting public broadcast would viola...

LGBT POV • May 24, 2010

Harvey Milk Day Coincides with Prop 8 Repeal Strategy

EQCA is capitalizing on Harvey Milk Day to rally hundreds of volunteers. "We have about a thousand people signed up around the state," said EQCA spokeswoman Vaishalee Raja. Canvassing activities are planned from San Diego to San Francisco, with volunteers walking from door to door to tell neighbors about why marriage equality is personally important to them. And just as Harvey Milk called on gay...

Matt Baume • May 23, 2010

Pressure mounts to pass ENDA

It's been 16 years since the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was first introduced in Congress, and according to organizers of a Tuesday rally at Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office, it's closer than ever to being finally passed. Braving wind and a light rain, a crowd of about 100 gathered to call for a vote on ENDA. According to media reports this week, Pelosi promised LGBT leaders on M...

Bay Area Reporter • May 20, 2010

How The Rekers 'Rent Boy' Scandal Could Undermine Prop. 8 Supporters' Court Battle

Charles J. Cooper, the attorney defending the marriage equality ban, told the Times that Rekers "has had no involvement in the Proposition 8 case." However, ThinkProgress found at least four ties to the Prop. 8 trial....

Think Progress • May 20, 2010

Marriage equality activists hit the streets on Milk Day

It is still more than two years away from when LGBT groups in California plan to seek repeal of Proposition 8, the ban against same-sex marriage, yet the fight to regain marriage rights for same-sex couples is well under way in the Golden State. And this weekend will see a statewide action to talk to voters about marriage equality. With the state's inaugural Harvey Milk Day set for this Saturday,...

Bay Area Reporter • May 20, 2010

Media groups seek to televise final stage of Prop. 8 trial

In a letter filed Tuesday, media groups urged Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to allow televising of the proceedings, tentatively scheduled for June 16. The closing arguments are the final stage in the trial before Walker rules on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which voters approved to forbid same-sex couples from marrying....

Mercury News • May 19, 2010

Local Activist Asks Prop 8 Judge To Come Out

I was walking past 2223, a Castro District restaurant, at around 7 pm Monday night, when I spotted a bald attractive man at a table up against the Market Street facing window. Turned out to be Brett Andrews, the executive director of the Positive Resource Center, an AIDS org providing employment and benefits counseling. Seated opposite him was a white-haired older gentleman, who I instantly reali...

San Francisco Appeal • May 18, 2010

Gay Entertainment Report: Prop 8 Film Opens June 18

Director Reed Cowan's documentary on the Mormon Church's decades-old involvement in the fight to ban gay marriage in the United States will open in limited markets June 18. 8: The Mormon Proposition premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, just 30 miles from the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints....

On Top Magazine • May 18, 2010

Josh Einsohn On Courage Campaign: Why The Hate Josh?

As Einsohn stated in his Facebook message broadcast this had already been done by John Ainsworth and John Ireland with YouTube videos posted on their site Marriagetrial.com for any and all to see. Why did Courage Campaign feel the need to do this over with tin cup in hand for donations from the public to boot? We thought that was kinda' whack on Courage's behalf as well---until we saw the actual ...

RENWL • May 18, 2010

Gay Marriage Opponents Inch Closer to Death

This probably isn't a very nice way of putting it, but basically, the most significant segment of the population that opposes gay marriage is the one that's closest to death....

Washington City Paper • May 17, 2010

Making Court Sexy: This Week in Prop 8 for May 17, 2010

A quiet week for Prop 8 news, the flashiest headlines came from the Courage Campaign, which launched its "Testimony: Equality on Trial" project. It's a neat idea: they started with Hollywood celebrities (or in some cases, Hollywood-ish), and had them read trial transcripts from Perry vs. Schwarzenegger. It's an effort ...

Stop8.org • May 17, 2010

CA Assembly Calls for DADT Repeal

The California Assembly approved a resolution calling for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in a 51-17 bipartisan vote. The resolution now heads to the state Senate for a concurrence vote., which will likely take place on Monday....

Box Turtle Bulletin • May 13, 2010

Stars Reenact Prop 8 Trial Testimony

The Courage Campaign has launched Equality On Trial, in which stars reenact the testimony given by the plaintiffs in California's Prop 8 trial. Below are reenactments from Marisa Tomei, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Urie, Patricia Clarkson, Alan Cumming, and Ellen Greene. The Courage Campaign invites you to download trial scripts and upload your own reenactments to the Equality On Trial site....

Joe My God • May 13, 2010

The Gayest Republican

These days he calls himself "an old Rockefeller Republican," fiscally conservative but socially moderate. But there's nothing moderate about his commitment to gay rights. Karger is the founder of Californians Against Hate, inspired by opposition to the anti-gay marriage movement behind the 2008 referendum overturning the California Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples could marry. Under Kar...

Jon Margolis • May 13, 2010

What Prop 8? Poll Finds OC Supports Gay Marriage, Gays in Military

In 2008, 57.7% of Orange County voters supported Proposition 8, the law banning gay marriage. Today, if a poll from Brandman University--the new spin-off of Chapman--is to be believed, 52% of county residents are fine with gay marriage. Support among Democrats is 74%, Republicans 31% and independents/third-party voters 67%. Also, 74% of residents support the repeal of the military's Don't Ask,...

OC Weekly • May 13, 2010

Prop 8 Trial Testimony Gets a Marisa Tomei Makeover

Today the Courage Campaign, an online organizing network for progressive causes, launched a Web site dedicated to re-enactments of the ongoing trial. At equalityontrial.org, they've posted videos of a handful of celebrities -- including Oscar winner Marisa Tomei -- giving dramatic readings of the court proceedings. Acting in a West Hollywood park Tomei portrays Kristin Perry, one of the lesbian p...

Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2010

Laura Bush: Gay Marriage Is Coming

Of course, it's nice to rainbow wash the Bush administration's hateful efforts by throwing Laura Bush out there as a symbol of moderation. However, when it comes down to it, George W Bush and Karl Rove cynically used our personal lives as a way to scare voters. And meanwhile, as one Republican in Alabama is busy denying that he ever believed in evolution, don't expect that the days of our communit...

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • May 12, 2010

Obama Nominates Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court

Elena Kagan was apparently in the running for a SCOTUS position last year, but Sonia Sotomayor was nominated instead. The two women have a certain amount in common, and Sotomayor's reception by the right wing and the American public is like a preview of how this confirmation process will likely turn out. Sotomayor was reviled by conservatives and criticized for a perceived inability to remain "neu...

Autostraddle • May 11, 2010

One Case Wraps up While Another Begins: This Week in Prop 8 for May 10, 2010

David Boies sure is Mister Popular lately: normally too hard at work on the case against Prop 8 to give interviews, he popped up in multiple venues this week to do interviews. I don't know if you could really use the word "gleeful" to describ...

Stop8.org • May 10, 2010

Prop 8 lawyer David Boies: 'SCOTUS won't give a gay-bashing opinion'

Will the Court be willing to go against the 45 states that don't allow same-sex couples to marry? Don't they usually prefer to wait until only a few states are lagging behind, as was the case when the Court finally threw aside the bans on interracial marriage? "There are a number of historical examples of the Court getting ahead of most states," he said. "When Roe v. Wade was decided, only a hand...

365Gay • May 10, 2010

Prop. 8 attorney looks to case resolution

PGN: Do you have your closing arguments planned? DB: We do. In fact, we had them almost planned for January because we didn't know the judge was going to have the briefs filed before the closing arguments. So I think we're well-prepared. We filed our last briefs at the end of February, and I think we're now ready to conclude this....

Philadelphia Gay News • May 10, 2010

Prop. 8 proponents alleged to use latest discovery dispute in Perry case to try to distance themselves from anti-gay prejudice

Parties in Perry v. Schwarzenneger continue to dispute the scope of First Amendment protection from compelled disclosure of private communications to develop campaign strategy and messaging. The latest version of the dispute concerns whether Prop. 8 proponents, and their recalcitrant witness, Dr. Hak Shing "William" Tam, can now claim a First Amendment privilege as reason to strike from the trial...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • May 9, 2010

Challenging DOMA

Today is a big day. In a court in Boston, attorneys will begin the first serious challenge to the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act." This lawsuit focuses only on Section 3 of DOMA, the part that blocks the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of same-sex couples, in this case under Massachusetts law....

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • May 6, 2010

Prop 8 Fighters Olson and Boies Make the 2010 TIME 100 List

The 2010 TIME 100 just posted their annual TIME 100 list of "people who most affect our world" and included in the "Thinkers" category is the federal Prop 8 trial odd couple of Ted Olson and David Boies (pictured here in a photo by Diana Walker)....

Bilerico Project • May 4, 2010

Prop. 8 federal trial likely to conclude in June

The trial in the federal lawsuit against Proposition 8 is likely to finally wrap up in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on June 16, when Judge Vaughn Walker has tentatively scheduled closing arguments. The trial has been paused since testimony concluded on Jan. 27 because Walker said he wanted to study the record before hearing the attorneys' final statements....

Bay Windows • May 4, 2010

The Clock is Ticking: This Week in Prop 8 for May 4, 2010

Are you on the edge of your seat yet? The last few days have been all about suspense! Mystery! And secret documents! The big news, of course, is that we finally have a date for closing arguments in the Prop 8 trial, Perry vs Schwarzenegger. (I will be very happy when the day comes that I do not have to remember how to s...

Stop8.org • May 4, 2010