A lesbian couple “married” in Massachusetts, the only state to allow such “marriages” has decided married life isn’t for them and they want a divorce.

They have a big problem though. They live in the neighboring small state of Rhode Island and want that state to grant them a divorce. Otherwise one will have to move to Massachusetts and set up residence to get a divorce.

Since Rhode Island doesn’t recognize marriages of people of the same gender, why would they agree to let them divorce? As far as Rhode Island and forty-eight other states are concerned they are two single women living together.

Is another state, say Connecticut, going to get them for bigamy if they “marry” someone else?

What a slippery slope this stupid law has become.

This seems to be an issue that just won’t go away. Even churches are finding themselves dealing with it.
Maybe it’s time that we start treating everyone the same and maybe it isn’t. I don’t have the answer.

Never in a “million years” did Robert Renix think he would find a Baptist church that would accept someone like him: a black Baptist gay man. Never mind one that would allow what happened one Saturday last month, when a tuxedo-clad Renix stood in front of the pulpit at Covenant Baptist Church in Anacostia, exchanging vows with his partner, Antonio Long.

It didn’t turn out to be that simple, though.

About 140 members jammed into the fellowship hall a few weeks later for a tense meeting about the recent decision of Covenant co-pastors Dennis and Christine Wiley to conduct same-sex union ceremonies. Some expressed their opposition through Bible verses, saying they were worried that Covenant was getting a reputation as a “gay church.” Others wept as they defended the Wileys, said people who were there.

“I don’t care who does it in their bedroom with whom,” said Yvonne Moore, a longtime member who left the church over the same-sex ceremonies. “But don’t bring that foolishness into my church.”

Other heterosexual church members defend the Wileys and their actions. “It’s never been a traditional church,” said Jeffrey Canady, a lifetime member who lives in Takoma Park. “That’s the beauty of the church. It has always been at the forefront of change.”

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Sad story. What is wrong with people?

ARLINGTON, Texas — A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,’” she said Friday.

Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”

Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.

“We did decline to host the service _ not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it _ yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”

Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.

“Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness,” Simons said.

Wright called the church’s claim about the pictures “a bold-faced lie.” She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.

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I guess they didn’t please this crowd.

At the first-ever televised presidential forum devoted to gay rights issues, the Democratic front-runners, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), were sharply questioned on why they do not support same-sex marriage, while the two joined the other candidates in backing civil unions and the end of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military.

Obama said it is less important to focus on the semantics of the word “marriage” than to focus on equal rights, and Clinton — responding to a comment by singer Melissa Etheridge that gays were “thrown under the bus” during Bill Clinton’s administration — said “I am a leader now” on gay rights.

Activists were even more frustrated with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who when asked whether people are born gay or choose to be, said, “It’s a choice” and later explained, “I’m not a scientist.”

At the two-hour event in West Hollywood, Obama was asked several times why he would not back same-sex marriage, and he pledged to ensure that all same-sex couples have the same rights as married couples, the stance adopted by most of the Democrats.

“Semantics may be important to some,” he said, adding that if gay couples had equal rights, “then my sense is that’s enormous progress.”

The forum, organized by the Human Rights Campaign and Logo, a gay-themed television network operated by MTV, underscored the increasing importance of the constituency to the Democratic Party. When a similar forum was held in 2003, one of the top contenders, then-Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), did not attend, and the event was not televised.

This time, Edwards appeared, along with Obama and four other Democratic candidates who each spent more than 15 minutes taking questions from a four-person panel that included Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, and Etheridge.

When pressed on gay marriage, Edwards said, “My position on same-sex marriage has not changed.” He then used the question to challenge the Clinton administration on its approach to gay rights — and by implication to challenge his rival, Sen. Clinton. ” ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is not just wrong now, it was wrong when it began,” Edwards said.

Clinton took a stance similar to Edwards’s and Obama’s, not backing marriage but saying she wanted same-sex couples to have equal rights. She also said states were making better progress on gay rights than the federal government.

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Bouncing off of Guss’ post on the Democratic debate on gay issues, the Pew Research Center reports that familiarity with gays “Is Closely Linked to Greater Tolerance.”.

There’s some interesting comparisons below: 1) The big gap between those older than 65 and the rest, and surprisingly similar numbers for the other age groups. I would have thought the numbers for the <29 crowd would be a lot higher than the others. 2) The similar numbers for moderate to liberal Republicans and moderate to conservative Democrats.

Some less surprising findings: 3) The big gap between men and women. 4) The gulf between conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats.

This survey also reports that people that have gay friends are much more likely to oppose firing gay teachers, and more likely to support gay marriage.

A more recent survey shows that support and opposition to both gay civil unions and gay marriage have slightly moved up and down over the past three and a half years. As of now, Americans are evenly divided over the matter of civil unions (favor and oppose both at 46%), and a clear majority oppose gay marriage (32% favor and 57% oppose).

I realize that this is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable but it’s still news.
If it offends you, I apologize in advance.

The Human Rights Campaign’s Joe Solmonese and Melissa Etheridge will question Democratic candidates in Los Angeles in a first-ever debate on gay issues, sponsored by LOGO and HRC. It will take place on August 9 and be broadcast live on LOGO as well as stream live at their website.

According to 365gay.com, “the panelists in a statement said they plan to cover a range of issues including relationship recognition, marriage equality, workplace fairness, the military, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other important issues.”

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