Coordinated Strategy Propelled Gay Marriage in RI

Rather than court one-issue candidates, marriage advocates formed ties with the AFL-CIO, environmental activists and other progressive groups. By teaming up, the coalition was able to pool their support for candidates with wider voter appeal -- and who also happened to support gay marriage. The strategy worked, and in November several new gay marriage supporters were elected to the House and, more...

ABC News • May 2, 2013

US Pediatricians Back Gay Marriage, Cite Research

The American Academy of Pediatrics' new policy, published online Thursday, cites research showing that the parents' sexual orientation has no effect on a child's development. Kids fare just as well in gay or straight families when they are nurturing and financially and emotionally stable, the academy says. ...

ABC News • Mar 22, 2013

Santa Fe Goes Rogue on Gay Marriage

Same-sex marriage is already legal in New Mexico, if Santa Fe city officials are to be believed. Citing an ABC News-Washington Post poll this week that showed growing support for gay marriage nationally, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, City Attorney Geno Zamora and Councilor Patti Bushee announced their support for gay marriage Tuesday and recommended that city clerks begin doling out marriage licenses...

ABC News • Mar 20, 2013

Poll Tracks Dramatic Rise In Support for Gay Marriage

Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed. ...

ABC News • Mar 18, 2013

Eric Holder: Gay Marriage Is the Next Civil Rights Issue

"From my perspective, this is really the latest civil-rights issue," Holder told ABC News. "It is the question of whether or not American citizens are going to be treated with equal protection of the laws. And so with regard to Prop. 8, we're in the process now of deciding what position we're gonna take." ...

ABC News • Feb 28, 2013

Boehner Bolsters Support of Defense of Marriage Act

Despite poll numbers showing the majority of Americans now support gay marriage, House Speaker John Boehner sent a strong message today authorizing the continued use of taxpayer funds to defend a federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman....

ABC News • Jan 3, 2013

Australian Lawmakers Uphold Ban on Gay Marriage

Australian lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected a bill Wednesday that would have legalized gay marriage, and similar legislation looked unlikely to pass despite public support for same-sex marriage. The House of Representatives voted 98-42 against the legislation, the first of four bills introduced to Parliament that aim to lift the country's ban on same-sex marriage. A separate bill was also being ...

ABC News • Sep 19, 2012

Tasmania takes first step to gay marriage

Tasmania is a step closer to becoming the first state in Australia to legalise gay marriage. The Premier, Lara Giddings, today tabled a marriage equality bill in State Parliament. It should pass the Lower House by the end of the week, but faces a tougher battle in the Legislative Council, the state's upper house. ...

ABC News • Aug 30, 2012

Obama declares support for gay marriage

The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states deciding the issue on their own. But he said he's confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married, citing his own daughters' comfort with the concept....

ABC News • May 9, 2012

Abbott dismisses calls for gay marriage conscience vote

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says it is unlikely Coalition MPs will be given a conscience vote on gay marriage. Labor figures have been urging Mr Abbott to grant his members a conscience vote after delegates at the ALP national conference voted on Saturday to change the party policy to endorse same sex marriage....

ABC News • Dec 5, 2011

US House Group Files Motion in Gay Marriage Suit

The filing Friday in San Francisco's U.S. District Court comes in a lesbian federal employee's lawsuit that claims the government wrongly denied health insurance coverage to her same-sex spouse. Karen Golinski says the law under which her spouse was denied benefits -- the Defense of Marriage Act -- violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. But attorneys representing the Hous...

ABC News • Oct 16, 2011

Australia: Why the same-sex marriage consultation mattered

Sure, the majority of MPs who reported back said they and their constituencies oppose same-sex marriage. But this doesn't mean a majority of MPs, let alone a majority of Australians, oppose reform. The sample sizes were tiny and in stark contrast to all the large-scale national opinion polls which show at least 60 per cent support for marriage equality. The best we can say about most of the surv...

ABC News • Aug 30, 2011

President Obama: 'I've Met My Commitments to the LGBT Community'

ust hours after he declined to answer questions about his position on gay marriage, President Obama declared tonight "I've met my commitments to the LGBT community." "I have delivered on what I promised," the president said at an LGBT pride event at the White House this evening, noting "that doesn't mean our work is done."...

ABC News • Jul 4, 2011

Target Sues California Gay Rights Group for Lobbying Outside Stores

Eight months after sparking a national firestorm over donations in support of a political candidate who opposed gay rights, Target Corp. once again is raising the ire of the gay and lesbian community by suing a California advocacy group that has been lobbying for same-sex marriage outside its stores....

ABC News • Mar 29, 2011

The Decade's Rise of Gay Marriage

Five states in 10 years may not seem like an significant accomplishment for gay marriage advocates, but for men and women who thought they might never be able to marry their same sex partners, the victories have been monumental....

ABC News • Dec 17, 2009

Post-1980s Children of Gay Parents Thrive in School, More Open Society

Less research has been done on children in families headed by gay men, but data collected as part of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study have shown few differences in psychosexual development, psychological adjustment and overall well-being. "Boys seem to do as well as girls," said Dr. Nanette Gartrell, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francis...

ABC News • Aug 3, 2009

Outraged By Obama Legal Brief, Gay Democratic Donors Boycotting DNC Bash

The timing of the brief, which the president of the leading gay and lesbian rights organization said caused his community "pain," is awkward, given that next Thursday, June 25, the Democratic National Committee is hitting up the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community for cash in a fundraiser featuring Vice President Biden. As John Aravosis at AmericaBlog reports, gay donors, outr...

ABC News • Jun 16, 2009

Democrats' Domino Effect on Gay Marriage Issue?

Polling shows the country moving with deliberate speed on the issue. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 54 percent of moderates and 52 percent of independents now favor gay marriage. That's an uptick from 38 percent and 44 percent, respectively, in 2006. The issue still clearly cuts along partisan lines, but with 62 percent of all Democrats in favor of gay marriage, party lead...

ABC News • May 14, 2009

California Gay Marriage Backers Poised to Try Again in 2010

California voters approved Proposition 8 in November, a change to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Although a decision has not yet been rendered in the legal challenge to Proposition 8, many gay marriage proponents in California expect the state Supreme Court to uphold the voter-approved ban on new gay marriages while leaving intact the gay marriages performed in 2008 when a decis...

ABC News • May 5, 2009

Changing Views on Gay Marriage, Gun Control, Immigration and Legalizing Marijuana

Take gay marriage, legal in Massachusetts, Connecticut and now Iowa, with Vermont coming aboard in September. At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed -- the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents. More than half, moreover -- 53 percent -- say gay marriages ...

ABC News • Apr 30, 2009

Gay Marriage Spreads Without Backlash

"It's almost like the silence is deafening," said Tony Fabrizio, a GOP pollster. "This is the first time in probably 15 years that the social right has really no levers of power, and they are watching their agenda get rolled back."...

ABC News • Apr 22, 2009

Prop 8 Sparks Gay-Black Divide

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ABC News • Nov 19, 2008