TOP6NEWS - Date 2.28.05

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1-NEWS:  Ohio Woman trying to use m amendment to cancel custody agreement

2-NEWS:  CA county assessor challenges partner benefits

3-NEWS:  Gay parents offended at Romney's 'mean-spirited' comments

4-NEWS:  New Paltz ssm anniversary (Oregon is coming up too)

5-NEWS:  ON quietly passes solemnization of ssm bill

6-OP-ED:  Pro-ssm writer says marriage is about more than sexuality

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1-NEWS: Ohio Woman trying to use m amendment to cancel custody agreement

By Kristen Convery 

Before Election Day, law professors warned voters that Issue 1 was a legally ambiguous "jobs bill" for attorneys.

Meanwhile, gay-rights activists warned that the anti-gay-marriage ballot issue would take away the legal rights homosexuals have worked so hard to carve out for themselves.

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2-NEWS: CA county assessor challenges partner benefits

Sutter challenges partner benefit

By Harold Kruger, Appeal-Democrat

Sutter County Assessor Mike Strong is challenging one of California's domestic partner benefits.

Strong sued the state Board of Equalization, saying its rule that exempts from reassessment the transfer of property from a deceased domestic partner to the surviving partner is unconstitutional.

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3-NEWS: Gay parents offended at Romney's 'mean-spirited' comments

Boston Globe

By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent

SALT LAKE CITY -- Speaking before an adoring audience of Utah Republicans last night, Governor Mitt Romney drew a link between America's prestige around the world and the legalization of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts.

''America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home," Romney said, calling the Supreme Judicial Court's legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts ''a blow to the family."

Hours after gay marriage supporters in Boston criticized him for his recent, strident criticism of same-sex marriage, Romney delivered a half-hour speech laced with references to religion, family values, and praise for Ronald Reagan's foreign policy.

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4-NEWS:  New Paltz ssm anniversary (Oregon is coming up too)

by Doug Windsor

(New Paltz, New York) The first anniversary of the first same-sex marriages in New York state passed with little fanfare over the weekend as gays and lesbians now look to the state's highest court to decide if they can marry.

But, a year ago, this tiny college town on the Hudson River north of New York City was thrown into the national spotlight when its young mayor decided to perform same-sex weddings in front of the town hall.

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5-NEWS:  ON quietly passes solemnization of ssm bill

By IAN URQUHART

In Ottawa, the same-sex marriage bill is bogged down in controversy and tearing apart the parties in the Commons. But at Queen's Park, a similar bill, dealing with the solemnization of marriage, a provincial responsibility, sailed through the Legislature last week with no fuss and without even a recorded vote.

How did this happen?

Essentially, all three parties in the Legislature saw it as in their interest to keep the bill below the radar screen. There was a high-minded reason for this approach: None of the parties wanted a messy debate that would exacerbate divisions within society on this volatile issue.

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6-NEWS: Pro-ssm writer says marriage is about more than sexuality

Los Angeles Daily News

Marriage is about more than sexuality

By Jonathan Dobrer, Guest Columnist

Whether to permit or forbid gay marriage is a hot issue in California. A conservative religious group intent on "saving marriage" demonstrated here in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day. Meanwhile, a liberal religious group sent 3,500 Valentines to the governor affirming their commitment to "stand on the side of love."

As a self-proclaimed liberal, I believe that marriage is a civil right. Church and state sometimes act capriciously toward this right. Once upon a too-recent time, blacks could not marry whites in many states.

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