During the oral argument before the California Supreme Court, on the lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 , there was one brief shining moment of agreement. Justice Ming Chin asked whether it might not be best if the state got out of the marriage business entirely and just issued civil union permits—...

in In These Times: ...Making your marriage sacred should be between you and your goddy thing. Making your union legal, on the other hand, should be between you and state-guaranteed legal and human rights. And it should be available to any two people, gay or straight, in whatever configuration: Mothe...

Some very promising news on an otherwise disappointing day. The Chicago Tribune and local news stations report a bill giving gay and lesbian couples the right to form civil unions in Illinois has "squeaked" through a key committee. [The bill]......

  Is former New York City Mayor Ed Koch gay? Does anyone even care at this point? Scariest hate crime suspect of all-time? This guy: "So I killed somebody - that makes me a bad guy?" We're against the death penalty, so let's hope he gets brutally beaten in prison every day for...

According to a report on Box Turtle Bulletin , the Mormon Church is using their private email system to rally members to deluge Illinois legislators with calls objecting to a coming committee vote on moving a civil unions bill to the full state House. The Illinois House will begin considering anothe...

Back in the 1950's communism truly was a threat to America, Europe and the whole concept of freedom, liberty and democracy. The leaders of monolithic communism made no bones about their intention of burying America. This legitimate fear resulted in such things as McCarthyism , the House Committee on...

There is someone who writes using part of my name and causes me deep shame whenever I see his byline. His name is David Blankenhorn (right). He runs something called the Institute for American Values, and its Center for Marriage and Families. We are the same age. He's a nut. A right-wing loon. A hor...

Here is the experience of lesbian blogger Keori outside the civil unions debate in the Hawaiian legislature. You know, it gets really tiresome to be called diseased and a pedophile and a rapist and an abomination and a threat to America three dozen times in one day. It infuriates me to hear that yes...

...a mighty link round-up! (I'm posting this now, unfinished, because I'm worried that my computer will crash--will keep adding to it. EDIT: Computer did crash, but I've now fixed this post, so there will be no new additions.) First, here's their op-ed again, "A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage." Ryan...

in the New York Times: IN politics, as in marriage, moments come along when sensitive compromise can avert a major conflict down the road. The two of us believe that the issue of same-sex marriage has reached such a point now. We take very different positions on gay marriage. We have had heated deba...