TOP6NEWS - Date 6.23.05

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1-NEWS: NJ appellate court: University doesn't have to recognize gay group
2-NEWS: OR Dems reunite CU, discrimination bills
3-NEWS: City University of NY will treat ssm like m
4-NEWS: Spanish Senate rejects ssm
5-NEWS: Canadian supreme court will review pensions for ss couples
6-NEWS: S. Fields: We should respect m, if only for children
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1-NEWS: NJ appellate court: University doesn't have to recognize gay group

Court upholds Seton's right to spurn gay group Catholic school can refuse to recognize campus organization not Thursday, June 23, 2005
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG NJ Star-Ledger Staff
A state appeals court ruled yesterday that Seton Hall University, a private, Catholic institution, is not required to recognize a gay and lesbian student organization.  The three-judge panel dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by a gay sociology major, Anthony Romeo, seeking official recognition for a gay and lesbian student organization.  The court ruled that Seton Hall was within its rights to refuse to recognize a student organization that was not in keeping with the university's "values and mission."

Decision
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2-NEWS: OR Dems reunite CU, discrimination bills

MICHELLE COLE Oregonian
SALEM -- In a sudden turnabout Wednesday, Senate Democrats withdrew a civil unions bill and instead decided to revive an earlier version that also includes anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians.
Leaders said the decision was made after their caucus members asked to vote on both civil unions and anti-discrimination. Some feared the 2005 legislative session would end before they had the opportunity to do both, said Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, a co-sponsor of both bills.
"This was the people stepping up and saying we want to vote on the whole package," Bates said. "This is important. This is where we are. It speaks for who Democrats are."

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3-NEWS: City University of NY will treat ssm like m

by Beth Shapiro 365Gay.com New York Bureau
Posted: June 22, 2005 
New York City) Following the intervention of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg the City University of New York (CUNY) has announced it will treat marriages of same-sex employees identically to marriages of other employees in administering employee benefits. Robert Pisano, an employee at Queens College, married his partner John Thomsen in a ceremony in Canada.  When they returned to New York Pisano attempted to register his husband under CUNY's spousal health plan. The university refused, saying New York State did not recognize same-sex marriage. It told the couple they had to register in New York as domestic partners.

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4-NEWS: Spanish Senate rejects ssm

by Malcolm Thornberry 365Gay.com European Bureau Chief
Posted: June 22, 2005 
Madrid) Spain's Senate on Wednesday defeated legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage - delivering a crushing blow to gay and lesbian couples and the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
The opposition Popular Party and a small conservative party from the Catalonia region voted together to defeat the bill on a 131 - 119 vote.
The measure had passed the Congress, Spain's lower house, in April and was expected to pass easily in the Senate. Following the vote a spokesperson for Zapatero said that the bill would now return to the lower house where the government would use an override provision in the constitution to force the legislation through. But, the move will likely cost Zapatero concessions and is a strong indication his Socialist government does not enjoy the support it once had in the upper house.

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5-NEWS: Canadian supreme court will review pensions for ss couples

OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada will sort out the question of whether Ottawa is on the hook for millions of dollars in retroactive pension benefits to widowed partners of gays and lesbians.

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6-NEWS: S. Fields: We should respect m, if only for children

By Suzanne Fields
June 23, 2005
"Can a child have three legal parents? Should parenthood be routinely determined by something other than biology? Should we extend the right to marriage to same-sex couples? To groups of people? Or should we abolish marriage as a legal institution?"
    — The Future of Family Law
Not so long ago such questions would have been raised only in a science fiction tale. Not any more. They're questions seriously discussed in college classrooms, advocacy seminars and in forums to challenge lawyers, judges and policy-makers. The idea is to change family law as we know it. Marriage is targeted for deconstruction.
    From the time that America was a colony, the marriage model was governed by law, culture and traditions flowing from the Judeo-Christian religious ideal. Marriage was specifically a social institution designed for the protection of children. The law wasn't perfect, suffering the flaws of humanity, but the law was clear and well intentioned. The law defined rights, responsibilities and punishment, and shaped a shared sense of obligation in private and social conduct on behalf of children. We made changes in the law from time to time, but we never dropped our concern for the offspring of marriage.

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