CeLebrate Freedom to Marry WeekJ
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Valentine Couples
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GLAAD announces
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Remembering
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Gay Med Association
studies meth
Life for gays in India
difficult
VOLUME 20 . ISSUE 20
SINCE
WWW.Q-NOTES.COM
The state of gay marriage
From dvil unions to same-sex
marriage, the U.S. has 'em both
by Donald Miller
while the U.S. continues to embarass
itself around the globe with state after state
installing discriminatory same-sex marriage
bans, the country’s LGBT community can
take heart — there are states that offer mar
riage, civil unions and other alternatives.
To date, the only state that offers same-
sex marriage is Massachusetts. However, the
privilege is only offered to residents of the
state, although Provincetown has been mar
rying out-of-state gay and lesbian couples
since the law was put into place.
Connecticut and Vermont allow same-sex
couples to have their relationships recog-
niz^ through civil unions, while Maine. New
Jersey and California offer some type of
domestic partner registration.
The controversial civil unions law enacted
in Vermont in 2000 was passed as a
response to the Vermont Supreme Court rul
ing in Baker vs. Vermont requiring that the
state grant same-sex couples the same rights
and privileges accorded to married couples
under the law.
A Vermont civil union is nearly identical
to a legal marriage, as far as the rights and
responsibilities for which state law, not fed
eral law, is concerned. It grants partners
next-of-kin rights and other protections that
heterosexual married couples also receive.
However, despite the “full faith and credit”
clause of the United States Constitution, civil
unions are generally not recognized outside
of the state of Vermont in the absence of spe
cific legislation. Opponents of the law have
supported the Defense of Marriage Act and the
proposed Federal Marriage Amendment in order
to prevent obligatory recog
nition of same-sex couples in
other jurisdictions. This
means that many of the
advantages of marriage,
which fall in the federal juris
diction (joint federal income
tax returns, visas and work
permits for the foreign part
ner of a U.S. citizen, etc), are
not extended to the partners
of a Vermont civil union. As
far as voluntary recognition
of the civil union in other
jurisdictions is concerned.
New York City’s Domestic
Partnership Law, passed in 2002, recognizes
civil unions formalized in other jurisdictions.
Civil Unions in Connecticut were
signed into law by the governor on April
20, 2005, after a bill was passed by the
Connecticut Senate on April 6, 2005, in a
27-9 vote. Six of the Senate’s 12
Republicans and 21 of the 24 Democrats
voted for the bill. Six Republicans and
three Democrats voted against it. An
amendment to specifically define “mar
riage” as being between one man and one
woman failed on a 23-10 vote.
FEBRUARY 11 . 200«
The approval of the Senate came after the
bill cleared the powerful Judiciary Committee
in a 25-13 vote, and after Governor Jodi Rell
(a moderate Republican) gave her support for
the measure. A Quinnipiac University poll
released the day after the Senate approved
civil unions showed 56 percent of registered
voters in support. The bill was later passed
' by the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Of course, that’s just what’s available here
at home. If you want to hop across the bor
der to Canada same-sex couples can get
married any time of the day. Other countries
around the globe that offer same-sex mar
riage are the Netherlands, Belgium and
Spain. On Dec. 1, 2005, South Africa’s con
stitutional court extended marriage to
include same-sex couples which will go into
effect by December 2006.
North and South
Carolina
North Carolina:
Canboro gay former
mayor to run for county
commission 08
South Carolina:
Spirihiality workshop at
Columbia Gay Center 10
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2006
Business & Finance
HRC Carolinas announces award
winners to be honored at dinner
by Bert Woodard
CHARLOTTE — The Human Rights
Campaign’s (HRC) Carolinas Dinner Committee
has awarded Charlotte NC Black Gay Pride
(CNCBGP) the 2006 Community Service Award
Charlotte Block (*ay Pride will be honored at
the HRC Carolinas Dinner on Feb. 25 in
Charlotte.
and Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners
Chairman Parks Helms the 2006 Equality Award.
In addition, the Committee has named Dr.
Ed Madden, a professor at the University of
South Carolina in Columbia, the recipient of
the inaugural HRC Carolinas Legacy Award.
Helms, Madden and representatives from
CNCBGP will officially receive their awards at
the annual HRC Carolinas Dinner on Feb. 25 at
the Charlotte Convention Center. More than
1,500 guests are expected to attend. Actress
Jane Lynch and HRC Executive Director Joe
Solmonese will deliver the keynote addresses.
The annual HRC Carolinas Equality Award
and Community Service Award highlight the
accomplishments of individuals or groups that
make a significant contribution to the LGBT
community in North and South Carolina. The
Legacy Award recognizes an individual who
has contributed efforts to improve the lives and
visibility of LGBT people over a long period of
time and is seen as a role model to others.
“The HRC Equality Award and HRC
Community Service Award and The Legacy
Award are the only LGBT recognitions that are
see AWARD on 17
Soldier's story
Love and war
Ecfitor's Note: These ore the thoughts of a gay sol
dier — a North Corobio native — who has been
deployed to Iroq. Berause of the mStary's "Don't
Asit, Don't TeU" policy, he must remaki anony
mous.
I’m sitting here early in the morning —
in my 10x10 concrete cell. It feels and looks
like a jail cell and it’s as if i’m captured by
the Army and it’s restrictions — but I don’t
let that get me down. Above me I can hear
helicopter engines winding — they fly over
see SOLDIER'Son 4