In Australia, two separate private member's bills to legalize same sex marriage will be introduced Monday in a historic move for the gay rights movement. Labor backbencher Stephen Jones will present his bill to legalize gay marriage while Greens MP Adam Bandt and Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie will sponsor a second bill. Wilkie's bill, however, carries a caveat that religious ministers will not be obliged to perform same sex ceremonies. But with Labor MPs allowed a conscience vote on the issue, the twin bills appear doomed to be voted down by the combined forces of its Labor opponents - including Prime Minister Julia Gillard - and the Coalition. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has refused to allow a conscience vote and warned Liberal MPs last year against crossing the floor in contravention of party policy, which opposes same sex marriage. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that yet another bill seeking to legalize same sex marriage will be introduced later this year with the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young announcing her intentions to seek to present a bill in the upper house. Bandt has aired fears Labor and the opposition have colluded to water down Mr Jones' bill to civil unions, which is not expected to go to a vote for several months. But Jones told ABC radio today that assertion ''was putting the cart before the horse.” The expected introduction of the backbencher's bill comes after December's national conference voted to reverse the party's long-standing opposition to same sex marriage. While Jones will make history as the first ALP member to attempt to legalize same sex marriage; he will also be the first government MP to introduce a bill that is voted down by his own party. The member for the blue-collar seat of Throsby in the Illawarra region in NSW, says he has the support of ministers and of the Left but admits he does not expect the bill - which will propose to amend the Marriage Act to include gay and lesbian couples - to pass the House of Representatives. But he said the prospect of defeat was not a deterrent as the legislation was "a reflection of the basic Labor Party values of equity and fairness,” adding that, ''I have not been a crusader on this issue. I came late but it is about how we treat people and the respect we afford their choices.” Nationals senator Ron Boswell said today he was ‘‘absolutely’’ opposed to the same-sex marriage bills. “If you are going to have a society, a society must be based on the family and marriage underpins the family,” he told reporters in Canberra. He said moving towards a society that openly embraced same-sex marriage was a “very dangerous course,” adding, “Thank goodness, I think the numbers are not there for it to get through.” Labor backbencher Andrew Leigh said this morning he intended to support the Jones bill, while his Western Sydney MP colleague David Bradbury confirmed he would not vote to legalize gay marriage.
GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum described last week’s court ruling striking down California’s ban on same sex marriage as “almost absurd” and an example of “judicial tyranny,” stating Sunday that, “Judicial tyranny is a serious issue in this race and in this country. We need judges who respect the people’s voice. Let the people decide with respect to what the Constitution says.” Santorum's bid for the GOP presidential nomination surged last week after he swept Tuesday's nominating contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. David Gregory, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, cited last week’s ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down California’s Proposition 8, and asked Santorum what he would do as president if the Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians had a right to marry. “I would do the same thing I’d do with Roe v. Wade, which [is] I would seek to try to overturn it,” said the former Pennsylvania senator. He did not go as far as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said that as president he would “ignore” Supreme Court rulings that he strongly disagreed with. Santorum said he was particularly troubled by the 9th Circuit ruling because the federal judges had overturned a state constitutional amendment approved by the voters. “Here, you have the 9th Circuit saying that a constitutional amendment is unconstitutional. I mean, that’s just, on its face, almost absurd,” he said. “The people of the state of California can decide what kind constitution they have.” In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit judges said that repealing gay marriage by a voter initiative violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.
Days after state lawmakers introduced legislation to legalize same sex marriage in Illinois, Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network led a demonstration outside Holy Name Cathedral Sunday morning. As WBBM Newsradio’s Michele Fiore reports, protesters were holding up signs accusing Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, of being the city’s “arch bigot,” Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, said, “People may not like to hear that word, but when you oppose equal employment rights, equal housing rights and equal health care rights and equal marriage rights, you are by definition a bigot.” Thayer applauded the enactment last year of legislation legalizing civil unions for same sex couples in Illinois, “but we want full marriage rights. We don’t want separate drinking fountains for our community. We want full marriage rights.” Gay rights activists staged a demonstration outside Holy Name to draw attention to the Catholic Church’s opposition to same sex marriages. Across the sidewalk, Peter LaBarbera, president of the anti-gay organization Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, led a small counter protest. “I believe most Catholics still oppose same sex marriage, but the point is Cardinal George stands up for the Catholic Church teachings; and they are trying to intimidate him by showing up on a Sunday morning with very hateful signs, calling him ‘arch bigot,’” LaBarbera said. “I think it’s pretty unseemly for people who just want to go to church have to walk through a protest, reading these signs that are accusing Cardinal George of being an ‘arch bigot.’” He said it’s harsh words like bigot that make the Gay Liberation Network seem like what they claim to oppose: hateful.
In Washington, a 59-year-old man was arrested on investigation of a hate crime Tuesday afternoon, February 7, after he allegedly pointed a revolver at one of his neighbours and yelled gay slurs at him. The Bellingham Herald reports that about 1:30 pm Stephen Douglas Roberts called 911 and claimed his neighbours were spying on him, said Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks. While deputies were en route to his home in the 300 block of Pacific Highway, he called 911 again to say he almost shot his 50-year-old neighbour. Roberts had walked to the end of his neighbour’s driveway, pulled out a gun and pointed it at his neighbour, the victim later told deputies. He then put the gun away. Roberts also yelled gay hate speech at him; he believed the victim and a 49-year-old witness of the assault were a gay couple, Parks said. Roberts consented to a search and a handgun was recovered by deputies. He was booked into Whatcom County Jail on investigation of first-degree assault and malicious harassment, a hate crime. The two men had been arguing with Roberts about a cat, Parks said. In 2003, Roberts pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and harassment after pulling a knife on two men and telling them, "I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to enjoy it," according to court records.
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