Massachusetts Resurrects Constitutional Amendment to Ban Same-Sex Marriages

April 29: Massachusetts lawmakers have begun new hearings into a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth, sponsored by state Representative Philip Travis and drafted by conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, is being considered less than a year after a similar measure was killed following a bitter fight.

Minister Found Guilty of Marrying Same-Sex Couples

April 28: Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken is 'rebuked' but he vows to appeal, and continue marriages. He stood trial before Permanent Judicial Commission of the Cincinnati Presbyterian church, by 6-1 vote was rebuked for defying church law by officiating at marriages for same-sex couples. Van Kuiken was found guilty of violating the church constitution's prohibition against marrying same-gender couples, but not guilty of a second charge of ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians as elders and deacons.

Related Gays and the Church News Article:

*April 11: Minister on Trial For Defying Gay Marriage & Ordaining Ban.

Church Banished After Baptizing Gay Men

April 28: A North Carolina association of Baptist churches has severed ties with a church in Concord because it baptized two gay men. In a letter to McGill Baptist church, part of the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest faiths in the U.S., the Rev. Steve Ayers was told the Carabbus Baptist Association "must take a stand against any of our churches supporting or condoning this lifestyle. To allow individuals into the membership of a local church without evidence or testimony of true repentance is to condone old lifestyle."

California City Calls For Legal Gay Marriage

April 24: The city of Davis, in Northern California, has passed a resolution calling on the state to legalize gay marriage. The resolution asks the Governor and state Legislature to "end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people and their families by removing references to sex and gender as eligibility requirements for a civil marriage license."

Goin' To The Chapel? Swing by Provincetown First

April 17: Provincetown, or Ptown, has been a haven for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender vacationers and residents for years. Now, the Provincetown Business Guild (PBG) wants to spread the word that the picturesque town at the tip of Cape Cod is also the ideal spot for a romantic commitment ceremony. PBG is hosting its first "Celebrate Commitment Weekend" April 25-27, an opportunity for couples to focus on planning for their own big event. So, if you're thinking of or planning to tie the knot in the near future. Ptown's PBG wants you and your partner, to tie that knot at Ptown.

More info @ Ptown's website: www.ptown.org/commitment_page/.

Connecticut Nixes Civil Unions

April 10: Connecticut's legislature judiciary committee rejected proposed legislation to legalize civil unions. The proposal would have extended essentially all the rights of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. If the legislation had become law it would have established a domestic partnership registry similar to a system created by the California legislature two years ago, but would not go as far as Vermont's domestic partner law. Critics argued that the bill was too sweeping and would have become a catalyst for changing the state's marriage laws.

New Survey Shows Massachusetts Residents Approve of Same-Sex Marriages

April 8: Massachusetts residents, by a slim majority, approve of gay marriages, according to new survey, with young people and women more in favor of such same-sex unions than adult men. Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll of 400 Bay State residents, taken last week, found that 50 percent of those asked supported legalizing gay and lesbian marriages, while 44 percent said they oppose it. Nationally, polls show 35 and 39 percent of people surveyed favor same-sex marriages. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court currently is considering
whether to permit gay couples to marry.

Texas Gay Marriage Ban Closer To Vote

April 6: Legislation that would prohibit Texas from recognizing civil unions or marriages between people of the same sex has been approved by a key Senate committee. The endorsement by the Senate State Affairs Committee moves the bill closer to a full vote on the Senate floor.

Gay Unions Were Only Half the Battle

April 6: John Anthony and Russell Smith traveled from Texas to Vermont to make their relationship official. In a ceremony in Waterbury, the two men entered into a civil union, the legal status that, for a gay or lesbian couple. By the end of the year, Mr. Anthony and Mr. Smith had broken up, they requested a divorce and were granted one on March 3 by a state District Court judge. But the attorney general of Texas, asked the judge to withdraw it, but Mr. Smith, said he couldn't afford to fight the attorney general, withdrew his divorce petition.

Related Texas Gay Divorce News Archives

*Mar 31: Texas Civil Union Ruling Challenge Successful and Gay Divorce Reversed. ~ Two News Articles ~

*Mar 28: Texas Appeals Gay Couple's Divorce ~ News Article ~

*Mar 7: Gay Divorce Texas Style ~ News Article ~

March 2003

Indiana Couples Challenge Same-Sex Marriage Ban

March 31: The Indiana Civil Liberties Union filed has suit on behalf of three same-sex couples, challenging Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage. Today, that suit will be challenged in Marion Superior Court when the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit is heard.

Massachusetts's Asked to Allow Same-Sex Marriages

Mar 5: Attorneys for seven gay and lesbian couples argued that they should be allowed to

wed and asked has Massachusetts's highest court to make their state the first in the nation

to sanction same-sex marriage.

Landmark Marriage Case Heard by Massachusetts SJC

Mar 5: The full bench of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) heard oral arguments in

a landmark case in which seven same-sex couples are asking the state's highest court to rule they

are entitled to civil marriage licenses.