Gay marriage foes to fight expected Washington state law

With the bill seemingly headed for swift enactment, several parallel efforts by opponents are shaping up to rally Washington voters against the prospective law. Their options included two possible ballot measures in November -- a referendum to repeal the gay marriage statute outright and an initiative defining marriage as being exclusively between one man and one woman. ...

Reuters • Feb 3, 2012

Gay groups angry Kansas anti-sodomy law remains on books

Gay rights groups are outraged that a Kansas state law banning sex between people of the same gender was left off statutes Governor Sam Brownback wants to repeal, even though the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 ruled such a Texas law unconstitutional....

Reuters • Jan 25, 2012

Legal Brief: Appeals court arguments over video of Prop 8 trial

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on Thursday on whether to allow the dissemination of video recordings of a trial that found that Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative to outlaw same-sex marriage, violated the U.S. Constitution. Opponents of same-sex marriage are appealing a lower court decision to release the recordings. Same-sex marriage advocates, along with a co...

Reuters • Dec 7, 2011

Perry urges repeal of New Hampshire gay marriage law

Texas Governor Rick Perry pressed a conservative social agenda at an appearance in New Hampshire, calling for the repeal of the state's 2009 law legalizing same-sex marriage....

Reuters • Nov 1, 2011

Gay Marriage a Boon for Small Business

An increase in marriages subsequently means an increase in people clamoring to buy wedding-related goods and services. It's estimated that the U.S. spends more than $80 billion on weddings a year, and it's no small wonder that some businesses might want to try to cash in on this increase. ...

Reuters • Aug 11, 2011

Rhode Island set to vote on same-sex civil union bill

A week after New York became the nation's most populous state to legalize gay marriage, tiny Rhode Island is set to vote on a bill to allow same-sex civil unions. On the eve of long anticipated action by Rhode Island's Senate, activists on both sides of the issue were busy urging legislative leaders to either revise certain provisions or halt its passage altogether. If voted out of the Senate Ju...

Reuters • Jun 29, 2011

Gay marriage foes appeal ruling on gay U.S. judge

Matthew McGill, an attorney for two same-sex couples challenging the ban, said ProtectMarriage.com had been clear that they would continue a "smear campaign" against Walker. "The only thing surprising about this development is doing so in the face of such a well-reasoned opinion," McGill said....

Reuters • Jun 29, 2011

New York marriage bill paves way for same-sex divorce

Since same-sex marriages are now legally equivalent to heterosexual unions, same-sex couples' right to divorce will be rooted in New York's Domestic Relations Law, rather than cobbled together out of court rulings and individual judges' decisions, according to Hindin....

Reuters • Jun 26, 2011

Obama touts efforts to advance gay rights

Obama's speech reflected his desire to shore up his support among gay and lesbian voters, a constituency that supported him strongly in the 2008 presidential vote, as he revs up his 2012 re-election bid. But as he seeks to broaden his appeal to a wide base of independent voters, the president is not expected to push any new gay rights initiatives that could alienate social conservatives over the ...

Reuters • Jun 25, 2011

Gay judge never considered dropping Prop 8 case

The U.S. judge who struck down California's gay marriage ban never considered his own homosexuality as a reason to recuse himself from the case, he said on Wednesday. Former U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who retired from the bench at the end of February, said it would not be appropriate for any judge's sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin or gender to stop them from presiding over ...

Reuters • Apr 6, 2011

New Hampshire residents want gay marriage to stay: survey

The law took effect on Jan 1, 2010, making New Hampshire the fifth U.S. state, plus the District of Columbia, to allow same-sex marriages. But when Republicans took control of New Hampshire's state legislature in the November 2010 elections, curiosity swirled over whether controversial social issues like gay marriage and abortion rights would get another airing. Conservative groups have since vo...

Reuters • Feb 10, 2011

Equal marriage case will go to Supreme Court: attorney

The attorney representing two same-sex couples who were denied a right to wed in California said on Thursday he expected the case to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to hear a case on the equal marriage issue. "When it does get to the United States Supreme Court, we expect to win," Theodore Olson, who was solicitor general under former President George W. Bush, told reporters a...

Reuters • Jul 3, 2009

California equal marriage fight goes to Chinatown

Asian Americans have been building grass-roots support in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Filipinotown for four years. Gays, lesbians and straight allies have talked about the often-taboo topic of homosexuality, set up booths at festivals, harangued non-English language media to change coverage and lobbied elected officials for support. "What we felt we had to do is talk to people who aren't on our side...

Reuters • Jun 21, 2009

New England economy could see gay-couple boost

Five out of the region's six states now endorse gay couples after New Hampshire legalized equal marriage on Wednesday, leaving Rhode Island as the sole holdout. The spread of equal marriage could serve as a recruiting tool for universities, health care companies and financial services firms that dominate the region's economy, experts said. "It will be a selling point when it comes to trying to ...

Reuters • Jun 4, 2009

Which U.S. states may legalize gay marriage next

Gay rights advocates in the most populous U.S. state plan to resume their fight and go back to voters either next year or in 2012 in a bid to repeal Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and was passed in November 2008 elections....

Reuters • May 27, 2009

New Hampshire lawmakers reject gay-marriage bill

New Hampshire lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have made the state the sixth in the United States to authorize gay marriage....

Reuters • May 20, 2009

Broad support for New York gay marriage bill: poll

The bill has broad support in New York's lower house, the assembly, where Democrats have a comfortable majority. But the party holds a slim majority in the Senate, and several Democratic senators have said they will vote against it. New York Republicans generally oppose the legislation as do large numbers of older and African-American voters, the poll found. It said 53 percent of Protestants were...

Reuters • Apr 20, 2009

Gays killed in Baghdad as clerics urge clampdown

Homosexual acts are punishable by up to seven years in prison in Iraq. A gay Iraqi man said any alleged crimes should be left to the law to deal with....

Reuters • Apr 5, 2009

Homophobia damaging lives across Europe-EU study

Homophobia is damaging people's health and careers across Europe and the problem may be worse than reported because victims are scared to draw attention to themselves for fear of a backlash, an EU study said. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights said police in most countries were incapable of dealing with homophobic crime -- ranging from verbal abuse to deadly attacks -- and said many...

Reuters • Mar 31, 2009

California gay marriage battle turns to court role

Brown says that, unless there is a compelling societal need, the court must safeguard liberty first and foremost. Lawyers backing the ban, he said, want "to say that a fundamental liberty is only fundamental until 52 percent of the people say otherwise."...

Reuters • Jan 5, 2009

Vatican attacked for opposing gay decriminalisation

A strongly worded editorial in Italy's mainstream La Stampa newspaper said the Vatican's reasoning was "grotesque"....

Reuters • Dec 2, 2008

FACTBOX - U.S. laws on gay marriage and civil unions

The patchwork of laws has caused some unusual complications....

Reuters • Nov 28, 2008

Gay weddings a niche biz in two U.S. states

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Reuters • Nov 28, 2008

Power struggle complicates NY bid for gay marriage

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Reuters • Nov 26, 2008

Minorities fear trend from California gay marriage ban

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Reuters • Nov 24, 2008

Same-sex marriage ban to hit California economy: mayor

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Reuters • Nov 12, 2008