July 2. 2004
Serving the Carolinas' Gay & Lesbian Communities Since 1979
Volume 25. Number 14
Local: NC GOP Says Petition on Gay Marriage Falls Short, |4
Local: Durham Couple Drops Case p.9
Showdown in
Mass. Over Non
Resident Marriages
By Ann Rostow
The Texas Triangle
On Friday, June 18, the Gay and Lesbian
Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) teamed up
with the American Civil Liberties Union of
Massachusetts to send a one-two punch into
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administration. Governor
Mitt Romney, (who took
time out from running the
Bay State to testify in favor
of the Federal Marriage
Amendment before the
Senate Judiciary
1 i—~ j
the state bureaucracy to limit same-sex mar
riages to Massachusetts residents. His action
is based on his own personal interpretation of
a 1913 statute that as far as anyone knows, has
never been enforced in its entire history. And
for reasons unclear, he is backed up in his
view by Attorney General Tom Reilly, a
Democrat who has in the past manifested at
least some signs of sanity. Not as far as this
matter is concerned, however.
GLAD, the lawyers who litigated both the
Vermont and the Massachusetts marriage
cases, have said from the start that they will
not allow the 1913 law to be enforced against
gay couples without a fight. Since same-sex
marriages began on May 17, a handful of
towns issued marriage licenses to out of state
couples in defiance of Romney's orders. But
the towns pulled back after threats from the
Attorney General's office, while Governor
Romney took steps to see that the non-resi
dent marriages would not be processed. The
law in question, as many of you know, says
that a marriage is void if it would be void in
the home state of the couple in question.
Designed to inhibit interracial marriages near
ly a century ago, it was rediscovered in the
margins of the Massachusetts codebooks just
in time to be rehabilitated for an assault on
gay civil rights.
Two separate lawsuits have now been filed
against the state, and both of them could per
haps be considered the most critical marriage
lawsuits in the country. In one, GLAD is rep
resenting eight same-sex couples, all residing
outside of Massachusetts. Five of those cou
ples were able to be married before the towns
were forced to start imposing a residency
requirement. The other three couples tried to
get married, but were turned away. GLAD
argues that Romney's "extreme and over
continued on page 12
Pride Celebrates Marriage Rights
NEW YORK (AP) — Gay pride
parade-goers danced down Fifth
Avenue and waved rainbow flags
Sunday in celebration of a move
ment that has made huge strides
this year with the legalization of
same-sex marriage in
Massachusetts.
"Even 10 years ago I would have
said that's the wrong issue," said Ed
Glorius, arms entwined around his
partner, Dwight Pollard, whom he
married in an unofficial ceremony
at a Manhattan restaurant last
week. "And now I feel very differ
ently."
While Massachusetts became the
only U.S. state to legally recognize
gay marriages following a ruling by
its Supreme Judicial Court last
November, gay pride revelers said
they expect New York and other
states to follow.
'We will do it no matter what,"
said Ricardo Moran of
Bridgehampton, on Long Island. "It
will be happening."
Officially called the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Pride
March, the parade commemorates
the Stonewall uprising of 1969,
when gay bar patrons resisted a
police raid. The police did not give
a crowd estimate, but organizers
claimed nearly 300,000 participants.
There were marching bands,
politicians including Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and, as always,
plenty of men wearing G-strings
and towering heels.
Actor Harvey Fierstein, who
recently completed a Broadway run
Pretty Boys Galore at New York Price June 27
Some 300,000 people turned out foi
June 27. Y>
in "Hairspray,” drew cheers and
cries of "We love you Harvey!"
But the stars of the parade were
couples like Gus Archilla and Elmer
Lokkins, who married in Canada
last year after living together for 58
years. They waved from a convert
ible with a "Just Married" sign on
the bumper.
With President Bush supporting
a constitutional amendment to ban
gay marriage, the parade was a
political rally as much as a celebra
tion.
Several contingents handed out
voter registration forms, and
New York City's gay pride parade
ockner News Photo by Andres Duque.
Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank
led a large group of supporters of
Sen. John Kerry, the presumed
Democratic presidential nominee.
Frank, the first openly gay member
of Congress, said he wasn't sur
prised that his state had legalized
same-sex unions.
"I thought some day, but it hap
pened earlier than I thought and it's
been received better," he said.
Jim Williams of Baltimore said he
was glad to see politicians march
ing.
"It shows how important the gay
vote is," he said. "In a close election
we can really make a difference."
For the fourth year running, the
parade was preceded by a mass
symbolic wedding in Central Park.
J.M. Sorrell, a justice of the peace
in Massachusetts, told the 60 cou
ples gathered to exchange vows
how she cried when she officiated
at the first legal same-sex wedding
in Northampton, Mass.
"Everything has changed," she
said. "It goes beyond the institution
of marriage."
Evan Wolfson, executive director
of the national advocacy group
Freedom to Marry, said, "Let us cel
ebrate today and then go to work.
New York should lead, not lag."
On the Net: Heritage of Pride.and
nyqjride.org
North Carolina Pride 2004: www.ncpride.org