CA Faith For Equality's Kerry Chaplin honored by LA City Council as one of the "New Faces of LGBT Movement".

The Los Angeles City Council held its 3rd Annual LGBT Pride Celebration on Friday, June 26 at Los Angeles City Hall.

This year's theme for the celebration was, "Faces of the New LGBT Movement," which honored new leaders and the growing diversity of the LGBT civil rights movement.Councilmember Bill Rosendahl lead the event.

In addition to Kerry Chaplin, honorees included: Lt. Dan Choi, U.S. Army, Lisa Powell, Black Lesbians United, Javier Angulo, HONOR PAC, Dahlia Ferlito, Equal Action, Vincent Jones, Liberty Hill, Phillip Minton, Unite the Fight/OutWest, Morgan Early, COLAGE. Jake Finney, Gender Justice LA, Eddie Martinez, Latino Equality Alliance and API Equality-LA .

“As CA Faith for Equality’s Interfaith Organizing Director," said Chaplin, "I am honored to receive this award from LA City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl. Awards may buoy us to continue our work, but they do not mean we’ve accomplished our goals. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement has a difficult and historic path ahead, but led by families, people of color and people of faith, we will achieve full equality together.”

Among those cheering Kerry on was Pastor Samuel M. Chu, Interim Executive Director of CA Faith for Equality. "I am delighted that Kerry's leadership and work with California Faith for Equality is being recognized and honored by the City of LosAngeles today. She represents the powerful emergence of faith as a force for equality, and a new generation of leaders who is determined not to let fear and indifference define us and the society we livein. We are extremely proud of Kerry and all the honorees."

Congrats everyone!

ENDA out of committee: TAKE ACTION

WHAT'S HAPPENING:
Representative Barney Frank, joined by Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis, introduced an inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend the existing federal law prohibiting employment discrimination to protect people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

WHAT WE DO NEXT:
Call your U.S. Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.Dial the Capital Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be directly connected to your Representative.

Tell them:I am a constituent and I would like you to please tell Representative _______ that I would like him/her to become a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. ENDA would ban discrimination against all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace. Can you tell me whether or not Representative _______ has cosponsored the bill?

Go. Do it. Now. Really. Just call.

For Immediate Release: June 22, 2009

Marriage Equality Supporters Get Engaged as Latest Polling Data Is Shared and Community Feedback Is Collected in Gatherings Held Across California


Media Contacts:
Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA Media Director, media@marriageequality.org or 510-332-0872
Pamela Brown, Marriage Equality USA Policy Director, policy@marriageequality.org or 510-384-3655
Judy Appel, Our Family Coalition Executive Director, judy@ourfamily.org or 415-981-1960
Kerry Chaplin, California Faith for Equality Interfaith Organizing Director, kerry@cafaithforequality.org or 314-409-4887

San Francisco, California: "We are a resilient community. In the face of a California Supreme Court that failed to step in when a bare majority of voters added an exception to the equal protection clause of the State Constitution, we are ready to launch a 'Get Engaged' tour to restore marriage equality for all," said Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA Media Director. "We believe in our community and our collective wisdom about how to best move forward together from here."

“Through the Get Engaged tour, we will present findings from a May 2009 field poll that measured support for marriage equality and messaging provided by faith leaders, families and children of same-sex couples,” said Pamela Brown, Marriage Equality USA Policy Director. “This poll was created by a broad coalition of organizations representing communities of faith, people of color, labor, LGBT groups and straight allies and the Get Engaged tour is intended to not only share this information but to obtain feedback from our grassroots community on our next initiative campaign. In today’s economy, our greatest strength is our people. Only through engaging a broad coalition of organizations and incorporating community feedback into how we move ahead can we ensure the next campaign will honor our families, represent our faith and reflect our diversity.”

“The Yes on 8 lies about how marriage equality would affect school curriculum targeted our children and we won’t let that happened again,” said Judy Appel, Our Family Coalition. “There are over 70,000 children of gay and lesbian couples live in California and these children deserve to have two loving, committed parents that are married. Having married parents would give these kids the sense of security and legal protections that all children should have.”

“Faith leaders across California will be actively involved in the Get Engaged tour and future campaign to protect religious freedom and restore civil marriage equality,” said Kerry Chaplin, California Faith for Equality. “A core value of people of faith is that all people are created in the image of God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Gay and lesbian people are our neighbors and they should be able to enjoy the dignity, respect and commitment that come with marriage.”

Over a dozen events have currently been posted with more to come in the month of July. A listing of current tour locations can be found at www.getengagedtour.com, communities not currently listed but interested in hosting events can contact us at getengaged@marriageequality.org and individuals can submit input via an on-line survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IPkXUbKd7ZdZF7RdAx3tLg_3d_3d

**********
Founded in 1998, Marriage Equality USA is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation. For more information, go to www.marriageequality.org.

Our Family Coalition promotes the civil rights and well-being of Bay Area lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) families with children and prospective parents through education, advocacy, social networking and grassroots community organizing. For more information, go to www.ourfamily.org.

California Faith for Equality educates, supports and mobilizes California's faith communities to promote equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and to safeguard religious freedom. For more information, go to www.cafiathforequality.org

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL Update

From Ben Mishkin Grassroots Organizer, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network :

As of this week, an estimated 265 service members will have lost their jobsunder "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since January 20.

That's when President Obama and the new Congress came to town promisingchange -- change they've failed to deliver, certainly with respect torepealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Every day they wait to act, another service member is fired simply becauseof his or her sexual orientation.

We're marching to the White House this Saturday to call on President Obamato show leadership on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Even though you're not nearWashington, you can join this effort by telling your friends why 265 isdisgraceful -- and why we've got to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell":
http://www.sldn.org/265IsDisgraceful

Like those who drew a line in the sand 40 years ago at the Stonewall Inn inNew York City, we're standing up to demand action. It's past time for thesediscriminatory discharges to end.

After 16 years of this nonsensical law, it's critical that President Obama and Congress act to kill "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Together, marching, we have a real opportunity to deliver a powerful messageto the White House, to Congress, and to the American people -- and to letour service members know they have not been forgotten.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

NEW LOS ANGELES TIMES POLL

Support for gay marriage varies widely among racial and ethnic groups. Latinos in Los Angeles split on issue, while other groups express a more definite opinion.

By Cathleen Decker 10:25 PM PDT, June 19, 2009

In the state's continuing political battles over gay marriage, both sides are targeting Latino voters, and a new Los Angeles Times poll illustrates why.Overall, the poll showed a majority of voters in Los Angeles support the right of same-sex couples to legally marry, with 56% in favor and 37% opposed. That finding closely tracked results of November's election, when Proposition 8, which limited marriage to a man and a woman, won statewide but lost in Los Angeles.But the poll also showed that within the city, views on the issue differed widely among racial and ethnic groups.White voters were most emphatic in supporting same-sex marriage, with 68% approving of it and 27% opposing. African American voters were almost the opposite, with 54% opposing same-sex unions and 37% supporting them. Opposition to gay marriage by African Americans was widely seen as a major factor contributing to the passage of Proposition 8.In the current poll, Latinos were split, with 45% supporting same-sex marriage and 46% opposing. Within the Latino population, there were additional divisions: Women, the young and people with a college education offered more backing for it than men, older voters and those with less education.Since the passage of Proposition 8, political analysts have suggested that statewide support for same-sex marriage is only a matter of time, and the poll offered support for that idea. Among Los Angeles voters, support for it grew consistently stronger as the age of respondents decreased.Among those ages 18-29, 66% said same-sex marriages should be recognized as valid, while 29% disagreed. The percentage of support declined slightly with each increment of age; those ages 50 to 64 supported it by a narrower 55%-39% margin.The only voters to oppose same-sex marriage were those older than 64. In that group, 43% supported legalizing same-sex marriage while 48% were opposed.The poll was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in conjunction with Public Opinion Strategies, both based in Washington, D.C., for the Times. The poll questioned 1,500 registered voters in Los Angeles from June 10 to 16. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Couples Show Solidarity on Wedding Anniversary

Celebration is Bittersweet in Light of
Ruling on Proposition 8: Couples make new vow to fight for marriage equality for all.


A celebratory mood was tinged with disappointment
at West Hollywood Park on June 16, when approximately 30
same-sex couples joined religious leaders and marriage equality advocates celebrating the one-year anniversary of the California
Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage in the state.

Read the rest of this article from the Beverly Press here:

The new faces of the new campaign to undo Prop 8

Jim Reifsnyder-Smith & Frank Reifsnyder

twins Milo and Kaylee

We knew this already...but now it's official.......

Report: Gay Rights Groups Ignored Religion on Prop. 8

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Gay-rights groups made a major strategic error in their failed effort to stop California's Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage, by ignoring the faith community and trying to make their case purely on secular grounds.
That's according to a little-noticed paper released last week by a gay-rights group that is sharply critical of the gay community's campaign against Prop. 8. It says that gay-rights groups appear "significantly limited" in their ability to work in partnership with religious leaders and "unable or unwilling" to incorporate the leadership of pro gay-rights religious leaders.
During the Prop. 8 campaign, the report said. pro-gay religious leaders who opposed the measure were told not to use the religious language of their traditions to voice their opposition to the measure and, when they were finally encouraged to speak out as people of faith, it was too late.
The gay-rights community, the report concludes "has a problem with religion."The report is from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Task Force's National Religious Leadership Roundtable and is based on surveys of secular and religious anti-Prop. 8 organizers. (The report uses the rather formidable acronym "LBGTQQIA.." It stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and ally.")
Citing previous research, the report noted that much of the support for Prop. 8 came from conservative religious communities, most of them Christian. But the secular leaders of the "No on Prop. 8" effort ignored that fact and tried to argue gay marriage as a civil rights issue. The report found that few resources were devoted to outreach and education of communities of faith and communities of color. The strategy defined faith-based communities as expendable.
"Religious opposition requires a religious response," says the report, written by the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, program director for the Task Force's Institute for Welcoming Resources. "It is naïve to believe that a rights-based argument can trump the value-based arguments of conservative religious leaders. It is also naive to ignore the power and influence of the moral authority given to religious leaders within communities of faith. The voices of conservative religious leaders must be responded to by the voices of progressive faith."
It will be interesting to see whether gay-rights groups take this advice to heart. At least in the District of Columbia, they have. After a coalition of local pastors and same-sex marriage opponents requested a city-wide referendum to block the city from recognizing gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions, a competing coalition of more than 100 interfaith clergy members announced plans to oppose the referendum.
UPDATE: "Intersex" refers to people with sexual anatomy that mixes male and female characteristics.
By Jacqueline L. Salmon Report: Gay Rights Groups Ignored Religion on Prop. 8
By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Gay-rights groups made a major strategic error in their failed effort to stop California's Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage, by ignoring the faith community and trying to make their case purely on secular grounds.
That's according to a little-noticed paper released last week by a gay-rights group that is sharply critical of the gay community's campaign against Prop. 8. It says that gay-rights groups appear "significantly limited" in their ability to work in partnership with religious leaders and "unable or unwilling" to incorporate the leadership of pro gay-rights religious leaders.
During the Prop. 8 campaign, the report said. pro-gay religious leaders who opposed the measure were told not to use the religious language of their traditions to voice their opposition to the measure and, when they were finally encouraged to speak out as people of faith, it was too late.
The gay-rights community, the report concludes "has a problem with religion."The report is from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Task Force's National Religious Leadership Roundtable and is based on surveys of secular and religious anti-Prop. 8 organizers. (The report uses the rather formidable acronym "LBGTQQIA.." It stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and ally.")
Citing previous research, the report noted that much of the support for Prop. 8 came from conservative religious communities, most of them Christian. But the secular leaders of the "No on Prop. 8" effort ignored that fact and tried to argue gay marriage as a civil rights issue. The report found that few resources were devoted to outreach and education of communities of faith and communities of color. The strategy defined faith-based communities as expendable.
"Religious opposition requires a religious response," says the report, written by the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, program director for the Task Force's Institute for Welcoming Resources. "It is naïve to believe that a rights-based argument can trump the value-based arguments of conservative religious leaders. It is also naive to ignore the power and influence of the moral authority given to religious leaders within communities of faith. The voices of conservative religious leaders must be responded to by the voices of progressive faith."
It will be interesting to see whether gay-rights groups take this advice to heart. At least in the District of Columbia, they have. After a coalition of local pastors and same-sex marriage opponents requested a city-wide referendum to block the city from recognizing gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions, a competing coalition of more than 100 interfaith clergy members announced plans to oppose the referendum.
UPDATE: "Intersex" refers to people with sexual anatomy that mixes male and female characteristics.

Two groundbreaking studies find religious voices critical to the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality

New studies from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable and the Center for American Progress


WASHINGTON, June 4 — The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s National Religious Leadership Roundtable and the Center for American Progress released two groundbreaking reports today analyzing religious and secular advocacy of marriage equality ballot initiatives in California and Michigan. Although examining different campaigns in different states in different years, the two reports draw remarkably similar conclusions about the need for partnerships between religious and secular supporters of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

The Task Force’s report, A Time to Build Up: Analysis of the No on Proposition 8 Campaign and Its Implications for Future Pro-LGBTQQIA Religious Organizing, examines last fall’s Proposition 8 battle in California, highlighting religious-secular partnerships relevant to marriage equality. The report was written by the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, program director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Institute for Welcoming Resources, and funded by the Arcus Foundation.

The Center’s report, The Faithful Divide Over Wedding Vows: A Profile of Michigan’s 2004 Battle Over Marriage Equality, examines the role that religious groups played in support of and opposition to Proposal 2, the ballot initiative on marriage equality in Michigan. It was written by Sally Steenland, senior policy advisor, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, Center for American Progress; and Jonathan Duffy, senior political science major, Kent State University, and intern, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, Center for American Progress. Similarities in the report findings include:

• Anti-LGBT ballot initiatives are often rooted in conservative religious rhetoric. Effective responses require faith voices and messages to counteract these claims in order to show religious diversity in support of marriage equality and to disprove the notion that conservative religious voices are the sole guardians of morality on these issues.
• Secular-religious partnerships are crucial to the success of legislative campaigns and to the broader goals of social justice and equal rights under the law for LGBT people.
• Advocates should not write off certain religious communities as impossible to win nor overlook any “unlikely” allies, be it the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church or African-American churches. While some communities may have official pronouncements against marriage equality and campaign against it, almost always there are members within that community who by conscience have different views. 20
• A narrow political campaign frame hinders effective collaboration with religious communities. LGBT faith advocates and supporters must work within their denominations for full support of LGBT rights, including marriage equality and adoption by same-sex couples.
• Media work that takes seriously the language and culture of religious people is critical. It is crucial to quickly rebut inaccurate religious arguments and misleading statements from anti-equality forces. Furthermore, the message of LGBT rights should be framed in a mainstream way so that people feel connected to the issue. In addition, non-LGBT organizations, such as civil and human rights and faith groups, should be sought as campaign allies.
• It is important to have both a robust on-the-ground organization and an effective media campaign, especially in larger states where much of the battle is fought over the airwaves.

Michigan report author Sally Steenland says, “The findings of these two reports are highly relevant for future battles on marriage and family equality because these are deeply moral issues. Faith voices have much to contribute to the debate and authentic religious-secular partnerships are essential to achieving human and civil rights for LGBT Americans.

”The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel says of the California report: “As secular and religious organizers, we all strive for a country whose mores, culture and laws reflect the dreams of our forebears — life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and genuine justice for all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and intersex people and families. Although there yet remains uncertainty and unknowing between us, these shared visions and values provide us with a solid foundation upon which to build strong partnerships.”

Representing the Arcus Foundation, funder of the California report, Tom Kam, director of the Religion and Values Program, says, “Collectively, these reports recognize the power of conservative religious voices to utilize their moral authority to influence public debate on LGBT equality. It is time to respond to these voices with similar authority, fully incorporating within the leadership of the LGBT movement and the public debate, the LGBT and allied religious leaders whose lives and voices speak the truth about our civil and moral equality.” The goal of the Arcus Foundation’s Religion and Values Program is to achieve LGBT moral equality.

To download the reports:
Download a copy of A Time to Build Up: Analysis of the No on Proposition 8 Campaign and Its Implications for Future Pro-LGBTQQIA Religious Organizing at www.welcomingresources.org.

Download a copy of The Faithful Divide Over Wedding Vows: A Profile of Michigan’s 2004 Battle Over Marriage Equality at www.americanprogress.org.

Presidential Proclamation

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.


The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans.

These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

FAITH LEADERS & LAWMAKERS CELEBRATE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the U.S. Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, right, shakes hands with Mo Baxley in the gallery of Representatives Hall in the State house after lawmakers voted in favor of gay marriage in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena Opts Out of the Civil Marriage Business

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 3, 2009


All Saints Church Opts Out of the Civil Marriage Business

Last night the vestry of All Saints Church, Pasadena, unanimously passed the following resolution:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Rector, Wardens and Vestry do declare that the sacramental right of marriage is available to all couples, but that the clergy of All Saints Church will not sign civil marriage certificates so long as the right to marry is denied to same-sex couples.

Brought forward in response to the May 26th Supreme Court decision upholding Proposition 8, the vestry framed its decision theologically, stating that “our active participation in the discriminatory system of civil marriage is inconsistent with Jesus’s call to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.”

The Rev. Ed Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church, said, “At the heart of Jesus’s moral vision and All Saints’ historic mission is respecting the dignity of every human being. The California Supreme Court in its recent opinion has ruled that those of same-gender affections are second class citizens. Denying fundamental rights to a certain classification of humanity is blatant discrimination with which our governing board, the other clergy of All Saints, and I will not participate. We invite other clergy and congregations to join us in this stand for marriage equality.”

The resolution states “civil marriage in the State of California is, as a result of Proposition 8 and the Court’s decision, a constitutionally-mandated instrument of discrimination, which furthers injustice and denies same-sex couples the fundamental dignities to which each human being is entitled.” Pastoral allowances will be made for those couples already in the preparation process for upcoming weddings as clergy meet with them individually and discuss the new policy and reasons behind it.

All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena Church Opts Out of the Civil Marriage Business

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 3, 2009


All Saints Church Opts Out of the Civil Marriage Business

Last night the vestry of All Saints Church, Pasadena, unanimously passed the following resolution:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Rector, Wardens and Vestry do declare that the sacramental right of marriage is available to all couples, but that the clergy of All Saints Church will not sign civil marriage certificates so long as the right to marry is denied to same-sex couples.

Brought forward in response to the May 26th Supreme Court decision upholding Proposition 8, the vestry framed its decision theologically, stating that “our active participation in the discriminatory system of civil marriage is inconsistent with Jesus’s call to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.”

The Rev. Ed Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church, said, “At the heart of Jesus’s moral vision and All Saints’ historic mission is respecting the dignity of every human being. The California Supreme Court in its recent opinion has ruled that those of same-gender affections are second class citizens. Denying fundamental rights to a certain classification of humanity is blatant discrimination with which our governing board, the other clergy of All Saints, and I will not participate. We invite other clergy and congregations to join us in this stand for marriage equality.”

The resolution states “civil marriage in the State of California is, as a result of Proposition 8 and the Court’s decision, a constitutionally-mandated instrument of discrimination, which furthers injustice and denies same-sex couples the fundamental dignities to which each human being is entitled.” Pastoral allowances will be made for those couples already in the preparation process for upcoming weddings as clergy meet with them individually and discuss the new policy and reasons behind it.

New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

From the New York Times.......

BOSTON — The New Hampshire Legislature approved revisions to a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday and Gov. John Lynch promptly signed the legislation, making the state the sixth in the nation to let gay couples wed.
The bill had been through several permutations in an effort to satisfy Mr. Lynch and certain legislators that it would not force religious groups that oppose gay marriage to participate in ceremonies celebrating it.
Mr. Lynch, who previously supported civil unions but not marriage for gay couples, said in a statement that he had heard “compelling arguments that a separate system is not an equal system.”
“Today,” he said, “we are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they will receive the same rights, responsibilities — and respect — under New Hampshire law.”
The law will take effect on Jan. 1.

Read the reast of the story here.

MITM Photos: Courtesy Mary Helen Doherty

The California Faith for Equality Tent

A prayer service before the rally.

Rabbi Denise Eger leads the prayer service.

CA Faith for Equality clergy and lay leaders surround the Rev. Dr. Eric Lee at the rally.