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thaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson announced
March 1 that the city would fully recognize mar
riages of same-sex couples
performed elsewhere and
accord them the same
rights as all other marriages
within the jurisdiction.
“Same-sex
couples
deserve the equal protec
tion of the law, the same
as any other couple,” she
said. “They deserve to he
able to bring their fami
lies out of the status of second-class citizenship
and into the full array of rights and responsibili
ties that are available to married couples.”
Peterson also told same-sex couples that the
city would accept their applications and forward
them to the New York State Department of Health
for its determination rather than having Ithaca
make a decision about whether to issue a license.
She hopes this will secure their legal position
should they wish to challenge Albany’s decision.
“The mayor’s decision. ..makes for a stronger
community where all families in Ithaca are
treated equally by their government,” said Ross
Levi, Empire State Pride Agenda public policy
and government affairs director. “There are
same-sex couples right now in Ithaca who are
100 percent legally married.”
I
O H IO
leveland Heights City Councilman Jimmie
Hicks Jr. filed a lawsuit Feb. 19 seeking to
shut down the nation’s first voter-approved
domestic partner registry.
Since the registry opened Jan. 26, 56 unmar
ried couples have signed up. T he suit alleges
that the registry violates the O hio Constitution.
List summer Hicks said he would let the vot
ers decide whether they wanted to create the
registry. It passed in November with 55 percent
of the 14,222 votes cast.
“It looks like all of that sloganeering about ‘let
the people vote’ was just a smoke screen from the
start,” said David Caldwell of Heights Families for
Equality, which campaigned for the registry. “It was
an attempt to hide Rev. Hicks’ anti-gay agenda
behind a dishonest, populist pander. That didn’t
work, so now he’s going to try something else.”
Although the registry has no listed legal bene
fits, it does offer same-sex couples a way of formaliz
ing their relationships. Supporters hope it will make
it easier for couples to share employment benefits,
inherit property or get hospital visiting rights.
“The people of Cleveland
Heights asked for and voted for a
simple registry, which allows
same-sex couples no more bene
fits than a public decree,” said
Camilla Taylor of Lambda Legal.
“While this registry doesn’t give
committed, loving couples any
government benefits, it lets
them prove they are more than
legal strangers. A city council
man is attacking his own voters
in a senseless attempt to repeal
the registry. This shows how far
the anti-gay movement is willing
to go to banish all respect for gay
and lesbian families."
C
“I think the actions of the president are, in
my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever
spoken by a sitting president,” O ’Donnell told
Good Morning America. “I am stunned and I’m
horrified. I find this proposed amendment very,
very, very, very shocking. A nd immoral. And,
you know, if civil disobedience is the way to go
about change, then I think a lot of people will be
going to San Francisco. And I hope they put
more people on the steps to marry as many peo
ple as show up. And I hope everyone shows up.”
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IL L IN O IS
he Chicago Commission on Human Rela
tions unanimously adopted a resolution
Feb. 18 taking a stand against marriage amend
ments to the Illinois and U.S. Constitutions.
“These proposed amendments would codify
one religious view of marriage to the exclusion of
others,” the resolution stated. “Legally preferring
only one religious view in civil marriage laws
threatens the freedom of religion and church-state
separation guaranteed by th e.. .First Amendment.”
The resolution originated with the commis
sion’s Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Issues, which also approved the
measure unanimously.
“The right to legal protection including mar
riage should not be limited,” commission chair
man Clarence N. W<xxJ said. “T he time has
come for fair-minded persons to step up and
uphold everyone’s right to fully and equally par
ticipate in society.”
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ouse Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas,
told reporters Feb. 19 in Tennessee that he
thinks same-sex marriage will be a “central” issue
in the upcoming presidential election. “Ameri
cans have been tolerant of homosexuality for
years, but now it’s being stuffed down their
throats and they don’t like it,” he said.
“It is now clear that Tom DeLay has joined Pres
ident Bush and Karl Rove in deciding that attacks
against gay and lesbian families will be this year’s
election strategy," said Eric J. Stem, Democratic
National Committee queer outreach director.
“President Bush and Tom DeLay would rather pro
mote divisive policies instead of confronting the
realities of 43 million Americans living without
health insurance, millions of children left behind by
an underfunded education policy and 2.9 million
jobs lost during this administration.” J H
l> ll\ III >1 lie s.
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Compiled by News Editor JlM R a DOSTA, who am
be reached at jim@justout.com.
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N A T IO N A L
C A L IF O R N IA
fo rm e r talk show host Rosie
O ’D onnell married her
longtime girlfriend, Kelli C ar
penter, Fch. 26 in San Francis
co. Earlier that day she said
President Bush’s call for the
Federal Marriage A mendment
inspired her to take “a proud
stand” for gay rights.
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Rosie O ’Donnell (right) and Kelli Carpenter receive thunderous
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