A Sad Day for Gay Rights

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2005
A Sad Day for Gay Rights
14
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 1:26pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060706/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage


2 top courts rule against gay marriage



By MARK JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago



ALBANY, N.Y. - The top courts in two states dealt setbacks to the gay marriage movement Thursday, with New York's highest court ruling same-sex unions are not allowed under state law and the Georgia Supreme Court reinstating a voter-approved ban on gay marriage.


In New York, the Court of Appeals said in a 4-2 decision that the state's marriage law is constitutional and clearly limits marriage to a union between a man and a woman.


Any change in the law would have to come from the state Legislature, Judge Robert Smith said.


"We do not predict what people will think generations from now, but we believe the present generation should have a chance to decide the issue through its elected representatives," Smith wrote.


In Georgia, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling, deciding unanimously that the ban did not violate the state's single-subject rule for ballot measures. The ban had been approved by 76 percent of voters in 2004.


Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriage, although Vermont and Connecticut allow same-sex civil unions that confer the same legal rights. Forty-five states have barred same-sex marriage through statutes or constitutional amendments.


The New York decision said lawmakers have a legitimate interest in protecting children by limiting marriage to heterosexual couples and that the law does not deny homosexual couples any "fundamental right" since same-sex marriages are not "deeply rooted in the nation's history and tradition."


"It's a sad day for New York families," said plaintiff Kathy Burke of Schenectady, who is raising an 11-year-old son with her partner, Tonja Alvis. "My family deserves the same protections as my next door neighbors."


The state had prevailed in lower appeals courts.


"I am satisfied that today's decision by the state's highest court to uphold our position that marriage is between a man and a woman is the right one," Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, said in a statement.


The lawsuit over the Georgia ban focused on the wording of the ballot measure that voters approved.


Lawyers for the plaintiffs had argued that the ballot language addressed more than one issues and that it was misleading because it asked voters to decide on both same-sex marriage and civil unions, separate issues about which many people had different opinions.


State officials held that Georgians knew what they were voting on when they overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure.


In New York, 44 couples acted as plaintiffs in a series of lawsuits filed two years ago after the Massachusetts decision legalizing gay marriage sparked gay marriage controversies across the country.


With little hope of getting a gay marriage bill signed into law in Albany, advocates marshaled forces for a court fight. Among the plaintiffs were the brother of comedian Rosie O'Donnell and his longtime partner.


Plaintiff Regina Cicchetti said she was "devastated" by the ruling. But the Port Jervis resident said she and her partner of 36 years, Susan Zimmer, would fight on, probably by lobbying the Legislature for a change in the law.


"We haven't given up," she said. "We're in this for the long haul. If we can't get it done for us, we'll get it done for the people behind us."


In a dissent, Chief Judge Judith Kaye said the court failed to uphold its responsibility to correct inequalities when it decided to simply leave the issue to lawmakers.

"It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and to order redress for their violation," she wrote. "The court's duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."

High courts in Washington state and New Jersey are also deliberating cases in which same-sex couples argue they have the right to marry, and a handful of other states have cases moving through lower courts.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2003
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 5:04pm
I want to cry.

Kim
Check out my

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2006
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 5:13pm
New York of all places... now that really makes me sad 8-(

*hugs Caly pentagram

 PPCLSIG.jpg picture by CalyD44

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2006
Fri, 07-07-2006 - 5:35am

I may complain occasionally about living in England...in a joking way usually:), but at do consider myself extremely lucky to come from a country which allowed me to 'marry' my partner. It's technically called a 'civil partnership' but frankly you could call it polly-wolly-doodle and i wouldn't care!.

My partner is from the u.s,and we have been working with the human rights campaign to help in any way we can to change the ridiculous and backward notion that is so prevalent in America that gay marriage would be the downfall of your society.

Is it irrelavent and not 'ruining the sanctity of marriage' that so many heterosexual marriages fail or last for for not much more than 24 hours?...(yes i'm talking about you Britney and god knows how many others) You can go to Vegas drunk and get married to the first person you meet, but lord help you if you've been in a 10 year relationship with someone of the same sex...thats clearly an unstable lifestyle!

It's quite telling that any mention of gay rights in America is headline news, while here in the u.k when the Queens speech included civil partnership rights it was almost at the end of news hour. We were more outraged at budget cuts in education...how foolish of us.

Hey, i know i'm usually all laughs i'll be back to normal on a lighter issue;)

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Fri, 07-07-2006 - 7:08am

Well, I'm sorry about this. I hope for all you ladies and others out there that one day soon gay marriage will be granted. Me personally it doesn't matter, which is why I don't keep up with it. I mean, I can't get a date so it really doesn't matter. Well, I should say that I can't get a date with a gay woman. I'm not lesbian material. It is strange but I can't get a date with a gay woman but I can get hollers and such from college guys when I take walks around the college. LOL I once hated that sort of attention but at 35 I welcome it. Whoo-hoo tell the old lady she's hot. LOL I doubt they realize that I'm 35. I'll be shopping for dresses and makeup soon. It is a bit scary I'll admit. I know little about them both. I wish that I had someone to go with me and help out. LOL My hair is looking good though. :) I'm getting looks from guys. :)

Have a great weekend,

-firebird-

Avatar for nursepam2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Fri, 07-07-2006 - 9:35am

I keep telling Loubie and Nony that I continue to look toward Great Britain kind of like I look toward the Queen: that genteel older woman who has a far more intelligent, practical, and calm perspective on life and the world than does that young upstart the USA.


Great input Sarah :o)

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2006
Fri, 07-07-2006 - 7:07pm

Thanks Pam, good lord i was actually getting serious there for a while wasn't i? it's an issue i feel very strongly about.Our marriage is just not recognised and ignored in the u.s which is highly annoying.

Sorry i never got back to answering the rest of your bizarre head content list....but i have been quite ill for a couple of days :( never fear,i'm back on my feet again now!

Btw, i read your post about the dancing queen and what it was about. I can see exactly where you are coming from. Some of our students (quite a few have downs) put on a musical performance at a local theatre not one of them put a foot wrong, they were wonderful:)

Avatar for nursepam2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 1:40pm

>Our marriage is just not recognised and ignored in the u.s which is highly annoying.


I would say that the US is dangerously close to be looked down upon as a backward country.


I'm sorry you've been ill.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 3:43am
My Dear (((((Friend)))).. Lesbian Material.. What is that?.. Please remember you are you.. and

 C  >^. A .

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 4:41am

Not lesbian material eh?....i always figured lesbian material would be a denim style fabric,maybe crossed with a little linen...but not much:).

There is no such thing as lesbian material mate, it's who you are.

What's that about tell the old lady she's hot?...you're 35!....i'm getting dangerously close to that milestone myself, it's nothin honestly. I think attention from anyone is always a nice and flattering thing, it just so happens that it's guys, so what!
I've tried for years to 'get attention' from lesbians.... what can i say i'm an attention seeker;).......all i get generally is to be called 'young man' hehe.

Dresses and makeup are really not my forte either, don't change yourself or what you like because you think it suits others.you are 'you'....The Blazing Firebird! i'm certain you are perfect just the way you are, and at some point the most amazing woman will notice all the great things about you and you'll forget all about this post....and the strange woman who is clearly far too perky in the morning for her own good;)

Have a good rest of your weekend!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 8:50am

Well I'm just the girl next door who is attracted to the girl next door type. But, I think the girl next door isn't into me. LOL

I don't know really, I mean, I have been rejected several times online. So, after that I decided I must find a date locally. I tried out Match.com. Well, let me back up here just a bit...one lady who rejected me online commented that I was short. I'm between 5'3 and 5'4. On Match.com, I simply listed my height as 5'3, cause if I listed it as 5'4 that would have been incorrect and I didn't want to be one of those people who lie about their height, you know.

I saw this one woman I found interesting locally on Match.com. I sent her a wink and a message. :) Anyway, she turned me down because of my height. I am beginning to think that height is an important thing in the lesbian world. After that I wondered if there wasn't some sort of list of criteria and I simply didn't meet them. That was sort of the nail in the coffin so to speak for me.

When I was married, my husband never said anything about my height. He was 6'0. He was crazy about me just as I was. I broke up the marriage after I told him I was gay, which now I regret. This woman on Match.com was only 5'8.

So you know my attitude is life is short and spend it with someone who really loves and cares about you. Gender shouldn't matter all that should matter is that the person in your life truly cares about you. I'm open now to dating men or women. Though, I'm more attracted to women, you can't miss what you've never had.

Oh, about the dress and makeup. That would be necessary if I join a Baptist church singles group. I wouldn't want to stick out. But, I am not 100% sold on this idea of mine yet because I'm such a free thinker that I'm afraid that might show at some point. LOL I've just been racking my brain trying to figure out some social outlets.

Well, thanks for your reply and take care,

-firebird-

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