quote:
Developments on Gay - Marriage Issue
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 27, 2004
Filed at 9:04 p.m. ET
A look at developments Friday on the issue of gay marriage:
-- California Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the state Supreme Court to immediately stop San Francisco from conducting gay weddings and nullify the nearly 3,500 such marriages already performed. The court declined, but told the city and a conservative group that opposes gay marriages to file new legal briefs by March 5.
-- In New Paltz, N.Y., Mayor Jason West conducted wedding ceremonies for 25 gay couples, giving them certificates but not marriage licenses. The state Health Department called on Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to seek an injunction to stop the weddings, but he refused, saying such a move should be taken only as a last resort. Spitzer did not issue an opinion on whether the marriages were legal.
-- More than 30 gay couples in Iowa City, Iowa, were denied marriage licenses by an openly lesbian county official who said she must uphold the law.
-- In Idaho, a state Senate committee voted 5-4 to kill a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have banned same-sex marriages. ``If I thought for one minute that this would threaten marriage in Idaho, I would vote for it,'' said Sen. Brad Little, one of three Republicans to reject the measure. ``The sanctity of marriage is not under attack in Idaho.''
-- The Social Security Administration has told its offices nationwide not to accept marriage certificates from San Francisco as proof of identification for newlyweds looking to make name changes on Social Security cards.
Whew! I've certainly had politics on the brain today. Anyhoo, here's the latest updates in the gay marriage struggle: