Washington starts issuing same-sex marriage licenses

Shortly after the clock struck midnight, two Seattle women legitimized their 35-year love affair early Thursday by becoming the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in King County, Washington. The two women met on a blind date in 1977, when homosexuality was highly taboo and gay people socialized privately in homes, never in public. Now Pete-e Petersen is 85 and Jane Abbott Lighty i...

CNN • Dec 6, 2012

Same-sex marriage: Will the Fortune 500 jump into the fray?

Recently, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos announced that he and his wife had given $2.5 million out of their own pockets to advance the same-sex marriage cause in Washington state. Preceding them were Microsoft's (MSFT) founder Bill Gates and its current CEO Steve Ballmer. On June 29, they each donated $100,000 to the legalization campaign in the state. So did Microsoft itself, two months earlier, wh...

CNN • Aug 8, 2012

Powell favors same-sex marriage

"I have no problem with it," he said in the interview, which will air at 5 p.m. ET. "In terms of the legal matter of creating a contract between two people that's called marriage, and allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country. And so I support the president's decision."...

CNN • May 24, 2012

Same-sex spouses lose big on taxes

Same-sex spouses are paying as much as $6,000 a year in extra taxes because the federal government doesn't recognize gay marriage, according to an analysis conducted for CNNMoney by tax specialists. While marriage provides tax benefits for many heterosexual couples, same-sex families don't enjoy the same perks because they are not allowed to file their federal returns jointly....

CNN • Dec 27, 2011

Update: Married woman in same-sex couple faces deportation to Japan

When CNN met Frances Herbert and Takako Ueda this summer, they were newlyweds - legally married in Vermont - but worried that Ueda would be required to return to her native Japan. The Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal government from giving them any benefits, so Herbert can't sponsor Ueda for a green card. Just this month, the government denied Ueda's application to remain in the Unit...

CNN • Dec 19, 2011

Census: More same-sex couples in more places

Researchers from Alfred Kinsey to local nonprofits have tried for decades to count the United States' gay, lesbian and bisexual population, and still, there were no hard numbers. But for the first time, the decennial census results report counts of same-sex partners and same-sex spouses, regardless of whether same-sex marriage is legal in their states. Headlines from across the country reveal comm...

CNN • Aug 25, 2011

Cuba: For macho island, a shift on civil unions

The announcement was made by Mariela Castro, daughter of Raul Castro and the director of Cuba's national sex education center, during an interview with Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser earlier this month. Castro, the island's leading gay rights advocate, said Cuban authorities are already studying the proposal in preparation for the upcoming Community Party conference on Jan. 28....

CNN • Jul 31, 2011

Colombian court says Congress must decide on gay marriage

The court gave the Congress two years to legislate the status of same-sex marriages. If the deadline passes with no legislation, then same-sex couples will be able to formalize their unions before a notary public, the court said....

CNN • Jul 27, 2011

Woman escapes deportation until status of same-sex marriage made clear

An Argentine woman living illegally in the United States after overstaying her tourist visa will not be deported until the legality of her same-sex marriage is made more clear. Judge Terry A. Bain and government attorneys agreed Tuesday to halt deportation hearings in Manhattan's immigration court for Monica Alcota, 35, who came to the United States from Argentina more than 10 years ago. Alcota ...

CNN • Mar 26, 2011

Maryland set to expand gay rights, same-sex marriage

Maryland is poised to become the sixth state to recognize same-sex marriage as proponents say they believe they have enough support to pass such a measure in the upcoming legislative session. The expansion of gay rights appears to have gained significant traction as Maryland's General Assembly begins its 90-day session Wednesday. Not only are Democrats optimistic about their chances of approving ...

CNN • Jan 13, 2011

Americans split evenly on gay marriage

Nearly half of all Americans think the Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Forty-nine percent of respondents think gay and lesbian couples have the constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law, while 51 percent say those rights do not exist. Full results [pdf] The gap widens dramati...

CNN • Aug 12, 2010

Will Prop 8 ruling have an impact on other states?

An appeal to the Supreme Court on the case is all but guaranteed by the losing side, but it would go first to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, considered the most liberal federal appeals court. An issue the defendants could use if the law is overturned is what legal standard was applied in the case. Maria Blanco, the executive director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Inst...

CNN • Aug 3, 2010

Schwarzenegger same-sex marriage bill called 'unconstitutional'

Former Rep. Tom Campbell supports same-sex marriage and disagreed with the successful ballot initiative, Proposition 8, that put in place a constitutional ban on such marriages in the state. But he opposes elements of the bill Schwarzenegger signed on Sunday, SB 54, which recognizes same-sex marriages performed in states other than California before November 5, 2008, when voters approved Proposit...

CNN • Oct 15, 2009

Gay Latino Americans are 'coming of age'

The Latino community has long had a reputation for being notoriously homophobic. But some surprising developments within the Latino world -- in the United States and abroad -- suggest that may be changing, gay scholars and activists say....

CNN • Sep 16, 2009

Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama

The memorandum Obama signed Wednesday is not expected to grant health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners, as that is prohibited under the Defense of Marriage Act. "It will absolutely be seen as something good -- but I think, for example, it not including full health insurance -- that is going to put a real microscope on that question. You know, why not?" Kim said, adding that the memo ...

CNN • Jun 18, 2009

Commentary: Obama absent on equal rights for gays

During the campaign, Barack Obama assured gays and lesbians that he supported repealing "don't ask, don't tell" as well as adoption and anti-discrimination rights for the gay community. Those kinds of promises carry a particular weight when made by a man whose very capacity to run for elected office is the yield of another civil rights struggle. That lineage and the high expectations that come w...

CNN • Jun 10, 2009

What's next for same-sex couples?

While California's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on same-sex marriages that voters voters passed in November, the fight will undoubtedly go forward....

CNN • May 27, 2009

Obama's choice of evangelical leader sparks outrage

Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for Obama, defended the choice of Warren, saying, "This is going to be the most inclusive, open, accessible inauguration in American history." ... "The president-elect certainly disagrees with him on [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] issues. But it has always been his goal to find common ground with people with whom you may disagree on some issues."...

CNN • Dec 17, 2008

D.L. Hughley talks to Dan Savage about Prop 8

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CNN • Nov 17, 2008

Same-sex marriage rallies stretch across nation

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CNN • Nov 15, 2008

CNN's Jane Velez-Mitchell Hyperventilates at Mark Leno and Liberty Council Apologist

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CNN • Nov 13, 2008

Gay marriage supporters take to California streets

In San Francisco, an estimated 2,000 protesters marched down Market Street toward Dolores Park. The march stretched out for at least three city blocks, and the protesters completely blocked Market Street's westbound lanes and the eastbound lanes in places. "I believe that politics and religion should be completely separate," protester Eric Rogers told CNN affiliate KGO-TV. "This has been, actual...

CNN • Nov 7, 2008