Gay rights activists gathering in Dallas for national conference this week

The Dallas Morning News

February 3, 2010

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's National Conference on LGBT Equality, Creating Change, begins Wednesday in Dallas, Texas. The conference is estimated to attract over 2,000 LGBT advocates from across the country including the newly-expanded team from Freedom to Marry. [Link]

Partner denied FMLA sick leave by ATT

dallasvoice.com
January 29, 2010
Bryan Dickenson and Bill Sugg have been together for 30 years. After Sugg suffered a debilitating stroke in September, Dickinson requested time off from his job at AT&T under the federal Family Medical Leave Act to care for his partner. But AT&T is refusing to grant Dickenson the 12 weeks of leave that would be afforded to a heterosexual spouse under the act. [Link]

Gay couple will apply for marriage license at Dallas’ Freedom to Marry Day demonstration

Pegasus News (Dallas/Ft Worth)
January 26, 2010
A same-sex wedding ceremony and protest for the rights that are denied to Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) couples will take place on Friday before Valentines Day, February 12 beginning at noon. The ceremony will begin in the Historical Plaza, outside the Records Building at 509 Main St. in downtown Dallas followed by the newlyweds proceeding to the marriage license office with the crowd in tow to demand a license that recognizes their union. Freedom to Marry Day is being co-sponsored by Equality March Texas. [Link]

Get involved and learn about Freedom to Marry Week here, and let us know about events planned in your area!

Houston Mayor Calls Swearing-In Milestone for LGBT Community

The Associated Press
January 4, 2010
Houston Mayor Annise Parker said Monday her election to lead the nation's fourth-largest city marked a milestone for LGBT people but was just ''one step toward a tomorrow of greater justice.'' [Link]

When Relationships become personal, Stereotypes fade away

edge Boston
December 28, 2009
Recent high-profile setbacks to marriage equality in places perceived to be liberal (New York, Maine) has been countered by the election of an openly gay woman to the mayorship of Houston, Texas. Freedom to Marry’s Evan Wolfson says, "The fact that an openly gay candidate wins for mayor in the nation’s fourth largest city, in the South, in Texas, shows that when Americans get to know gay people as people, not as stereotypes, their resistance to treating gay people equally reduces." [Link]

Editorial: Fallen barrier, little fanfare

The Balitmore Sun
December 15, 2009
The Baltimore Sun editorial board: "Houston voters decided that having a gay mayor is no big deal; perhaps one day they - and the rest of the nation - will think the same about marriage equality as well." [Link]

Gay Mayor-Elect: Victory Shows Houston's Diversity

The Associated Press
December 13, 2009
Annise Parker was elected the first openly gay mayor of Houston on Saturday in a runoff race against Gene Locke. Parker: "It's a historic election for my community, and I believe an election that will change some people's minds about the city of Houston. It's a diverse, international city that welcomes everyone." [Link]

City Council Upholds Benefits for Unwed, Gay Partners

KVIA.com (El Paso, TX)
December 8, 2009
The El Paso City Council has decided to uphold its decision to extend medical benefits to the gay and unwed partners of city employees. Opponents of the decision must collect 1,548 signatures in order to put the issue on the ballot in May 2010. [Link]

An Interview With Annise Parker, Candidate for Houston Mayor

The BILERICO Project
December 8, 2009
Adam Bink posts an interview he conducted with Annise Parker, the openly lesbian Houston mayoral candidate. When asked her opinion on recent setbacks in LGBT equality ballot measures and legislation, Parker said, "We just have to keep chipping away, coming out, being visible, integrating our concerns into the issues of our society at all levels, and we're going to get there." An excerpt from the interview:

Adam: I’m interested to know what you think of the recent losses on marriage equality in California, Maine, and yesterday in New York State. There’s a lot of discouragement and debate about where to go from here.

Annise: It’s frustrating. I’ve been an out, gay activist since the 70s. I helped found the gay student organization at my university. I was, for a decade in the 80s, arguably the most visible lesbian activist in Houston for a very long time. Texas lost marriage a few years ago. I really take the long view. We lose battles, but we’re winning the hearts and minds of this war. And we just have to keep chipping away, coming out, being visible, integrating our concerns into the issues of our society at all levels, and we’re going to get there.

Adam: There has been a lot of discussion about shifting strategy and resources from marriage equality to domestic partnership benefits. While I know Houston is “a blue island in a sea of red”, I’m curious what you think of that coming from a more conservative state.

Annise: Because I have been doing this kind of work for more than 30 years, and I do tend to take the longview, but I’ve also been in a lot of negotiations, and you don’t start a negotiation from your bottom line. You start from where you’d like to be, and you settle for your bottom line. Full marriage equality is where we want to be. But we have to be pragmatic as we move forward, and I would remind folks, when I started in public office, we were only talking about domestic partner benefits. When we shifted to marriage, domestic partnership started popping up lots of places, and people would say, “please leave marriage alone! You can have domestic partnership benefits!” Marriage is a cultural institution that provokes a visceral reaction. Domestic partnership benefits is something you can have a discussion with folks on its merits. Soon as you talk about marriage, you tap into collective, subconscious issues for a lot of us. You don’t abandon marriage, but you take the pragmatic course when there’s an opportunity to advance.

The Houston election is on Saturday. You can contribute here. If you are in the area or know folks who are, they also need help getting out the vote. You can also join the campaign on Facebook to stay up to date in the final stretch. [Link]

Op-Ed: Authors Of Texas Marriage Amendment: Who Barks The Loudest?

The Huffington Post
November 21, 2009
Barbara Ann Radnofsky blogs about her discovery of language within the Texas constitutional amendment banning marriage equality that says that Texas "may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage," which she says bans all marriage. [Link]

Op-Ed: World's Best Persons: Texas AG Candidate, Barbara Ann Radnofski

MSNBC: Countdown with Keith Olbermann
November 19, 2009
Keith Olbermann commends Texas attorney general candidate Barbara Ann Radnofski for bringing to light a clause in the Texas amendment banning marriage equality which Radnofski believes could outlaw all marriages in Texas. [Link]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Texans: Are you really married? Maybe not.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
November 18, 2009
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for Texas attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. [Link]

Texas doing the divorce fandango

The Janesville Gazette
October 8, 2009
I suppose there is something charming about watching conservative politicians in Texas trying so ardently to preserve a gay couple's marriage.

How else can you explain their passionate opposition to a court ruling last week that would allow a couple legally wed in Massachusetts to be divorced in their state? (Link)

Dallas Judge Paves Way for Gay Couple to Get Divorce

The Dallas Morning News
October 2, 2009
In a first for Texas, a judge ruled Thursday that two men married in another state can divorce here and that the state's ban on marriage equality violates the U.S. Constitution. Dallas state District Judge Tena Callahan's ruling says the state prohibition of the freedom to marry violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection. [Link]

Marriage Equality Strong Component at Dallas' Gay Pride Parade

Dallas Morning News
September 20, 2009
With a strong message of equality dominating the 26th annual Dallas Pride parade on Sunday, marchers took a stand in support of the freedom to marry, with signs proclaiming “A civil marriage is a civil right” and “Marriage is about love not gender. [Link]

Gay couples forced to flee US over immigration law

The Associated Press
June 10, 2009
The mayor of San Angelo, Texas offered a stunning explanation when he suddenly resigned: He was in love with a man who was an illegal immigrant and had gone to Mexico. His local prominence and his run for the border on the day he was supposed to be sworn in for a fourth term caused jaws to drop, but it also became a high-profile example of the thousands of Americans who face a similar choice — separate or move abroad — because they can't secure green cards for their partners like heterosexual spouses can. [Link]

Dallas divorce case for same-sex couple a first for Texas

Dallas Morning News
January 23, 3009
A Dallas man has filed for divorce from his husband and longtime partner. The men married in Cambridge, Mass., in 2006 and later returned to Dallas. But on Wednesday one of the pair, citing "discord or conflict of personalities," asked a state district court in Dallas to void the union in what is believed to be the first such action in Texas. (Link)

Texas same-sex couples heading to California to wed

Dallas Morning News
June 1, 2008
Dr. Love, a former Dallas pastor who now heads Metropolitan Community Churches in Abilene, discusses the importance of California honoring the freedom to marry: "It's just really important to us to have that moment, that acknowledgment and that piece of paper all our straight friends have." [Link]

Native American Church Removes Ban on Gay and Lesbian Marriages

eMediaWire
April 20, 2007
"First Nation Church, its members and ministers believe that marriage is a covenant between two adults and their God, based upon their love for one another. We believe that love for each other, for nature and for all things created by God materializes from the heart, not from legislative bodies. This basic tenet was so important that the founding fathers established it as the cornerstone of the United States Constitution, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights: that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'" [Link]

Couples gather for gay rights

The Daily Texan
February 19, 2007
It was unusually warm at the end of a week that charted record low temperatures only days before. More than 100 people welcomed a resurgence of sunshine Saturday at the City Hall plaza for the culmination of national Freedom to Marry Week. [link]