Jiorth
& sout
CAROLIN
Win $50 from
Q-Notes!
See page 3 for
details.
The McGreevey
controversy
North Carolina:
Celebrity visits and
potitical change in 2004 06
South Carolina:
For2004: New appointments
and battling polib'cos 08
wii^lhinkthdgay .
marriage issue
was responsibie for
ini2004?
2004: A Year in Review
TheYearin
Review: Music
noted . notable . noteworthy GLBT issues
VOLUME 19 . ISSUE 17
SINCE 198« WWW.Q-NOTES.COM
JANUARY 1 . 2005
The biggest noises in 2004
Gays got married and then not in
San Francisco, the Mayor of N.J. says
he's gay, 11 states pass marriage
amendments, Dubya gets re-elected
and Jamaica can't stop hating us
by David Moore
Q-Notes staff
A year full of elation and disappointment,
2004 showed us what can happen when the
community and our friends believe in
change. It also showed us how the manipu
lation of ignorance and fear can be used for
political gain.
It didn’t come as a surprise to most in
the LGBT community. When Canada got
same-sex marriage — we wanted,it too!
And why not? We deserve it — just like
every other human being that shares love
with another and reaps the benefits of gov
ernment recognition.
It’s a fact change in this country comes
slow. Regrettably, we’re not as liberal as our
neighbors to the north. But in 2004 the LGBT
community in the United States had one
thing on their mind: marriage.
Maybe it was that word “mar
riage.” Perhaps we should use the
phrase “civil unions" many in the
community would say. No matter
what words you choose, the subject
was in the forefront of the entire
nation’s consciousness throughout
the year — sometimes even overshad
owing a continuing war in Iraq and a
presidential election.
The first inklings of change began
Feb. 4, when The Massachusetts
Supreme judicial Court ruled that civil
unions are not the constitutional
equivalent of civil marriage, effectively
reaffirming that same-sex marriage
should be allowed. But Massachusetts
would not be the first place to offer
same-sex marriage
On Feb. 12, San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom threw open the doors of
City Hall and in walked 15 same-sex
couples, eager to tie the knot. Newsom was
all too happy to oblige.
“This is an unforgettable day,” said Kate
Kendall, executive director of the National
Center for Lesbian Rights. “For the first time
Rosie O'Donneli and her partner Kelli Carpenter
were among the many same-sex couples to marry
in San Francisco.
in this country, lesbian and gay couples in
loving, committed relationships were able
to exercise the same right to protect their
families that others take for granted.”
see LOTS on 10
All those amendments
•••
In an election year that used the issue of same-sex marriage like a bluff
card, it’s hardly a surprise that marriage amendments would pop up on the
voting screen like lights on a Christmas tree. What did come as a surprise for
most in the LGBT community was that there were so many. And that all of
them — save for one overturn —
were passed.
On April 21, Lawmakers in
Virginia passed a sweeping ban
on same-sex partners, outlawing
any “partnership contract or other
arrangements that purport to pro-
vide the benefits of marriage.” •
Although the Marriage
Protection Act failed in the Senate
and would later fail in Congress,
the U.S. House of Representatives
passed on July 21 a bill that restricts federal courts from hearing challenges to
a law, in this case the Defense of Marriage Act.
The 233-194 vote on the Marriage Protection Act (MPA) came one week
after the Senate defeated a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex cou
ples from marrying.
On Aug. 3, voters in Missouri officially banned same-sex marriage in
their state. Louisiana voters followed suit Sept. 18 when they overwhelm
ingly approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex mar
riage. A state judge, however, threw out the amendment on a technicality
just 17 days later.
On the bright side, attempts at putting constitutional amendments on the bal
lot in both South Carolina Oune 4) and North,Carolina Qune 29) were defeated.
But the crushing blow came at the same time conservatives would once
gain capture the White House. On Nov. 2, all II states with amendments on
their ballots voted in favor of imposing a ban on lesbian and gay marriage.
Those states include Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Dakota, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana and Utah.
Bush re-elected
Despite all our best efforts, Dubya won again. Not by
a landslide, but just a tiny little bit. That’s not what’s so
troubling about his victory, though, it’s a look at the
political map that
map
might leave you
scratching your
head. The South
and the Midwest
went for George
W. Bush, while the
North voted for
john Kerry. Sound
like a re-enact
ment of the Civil
War? Not quite.
Polls show that
most urban areas
throughout the
country gave Kerry
a -victory — though
it may have come in the form of a county (Mecklenburg,
for example), not a state’s electoral votes. So as it seems,
those in less urban areas prefer the conservatives to be in
power, while those in larger cities lean more to the left.
Doesn’t sound like something that could be sliced very
easily, huh?
The campaign was clearly unlike any other in U.S.
history. After sitting on the fence for most of the year.
Bush finally announced his support for the Federal
Marriage Amendment. This led to the Log Cabin
Republican’s refusal to endorse Bush, although an
obscure African-American gay
GOP group, the Abe Lincoln Black see FOUR on 11