Marriage Equality

Volunteers needed for Canvass for a Cause "Knock 4 Equality" event

SDGLN Staff
July 21st, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- Canvass for a Cause is looking for volunteers to "help shape the future of California."

Volunteers are needed to assist with its upcoming "Knock 4 Equality" event, a door-to-door effort that intends to educate community members about marriage equality. The event will take place on Saturday, July 30, at 10 am.

Suit asks immigration officials to stop using DOMA against married same-sex couples

SDGLN Staff
July 12th, 2011

NEW YORK -- Lambda Legal on Monday filed an amicus brief in a case involving Cristina Ojeda and Monica Alcota, a married binational lesbian couple from Queens, New York.

The friend-of-the-court brief argues that immigration officials are incorrectly relying on an inapplicable case for authority to continue deportation proceedings while the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is being challenged.

ACTION ALERT: Help save Alex and Doug's marriage

Change.org
July 12th, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol have built a life together in Cathedral City, Calif. Last year, they got married in Connecticut.

Now, they may have to decide between staying together and staying in the U.S.

Doug is American, but Alex came to the U.S. from Venezuela on a tourist visa 12 years ago and is now under threat of deportation.

Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Alex can't apply for a green card through Doug even though they are legally married.

On Wednesday, July 13, in San Francisco, Alex will face a deportation hearing.

TONIGHT: San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality to host educational forum on LGBT Pride movement

SDGLN Staff
July 12th, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- To give perspective into the LGBT pride movement and the actions that launched it, the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME) will present a program called "Rediscovering Stonewall" on Tuesday, July 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

The future of same-sex marriage ballot measures: California among states likely to end ban

Nate Silver - The New York Times
July 1st, 2011

Last week’s passage of a bill to make New York’s marriage law gender-neutral may accelerate efforts to put the issue before voters in other states.

A measure to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota’s Constitution is already scheduled to be on the ballot in 2012, and one could follow in North Carolina. But with relatively few states now holding neutral positions on same-sex marriage, there may be efforts to repeal constitutional bans that already exist, such as in California and Oregon.

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Binational couple Henry and Josh get to stay together in the U.S.

SDGLN Staff
June 30th, 2011

NEWARK, N.J. – Henry and Josh apparently have won their fight to stay together in the U.S. as a binational married couple.

Henry Velandia, 27, a salsa dancer from Venezuela, and Josh Vandiver, 29, a graduate student at Princeton, were legally married last year in Connecticut. The couple have been fighting the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which would have forced the deportation of Velandia and broken up their marriage.

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AMA makes the case for ending marriage discrimination

SDGLN Staff
June 27th, 2011

NEW YORK -- With the New York State now the sixth – and largest – state to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy position declaring that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is “discriminatory.”

The AMA also reaffirms its existing policy to support relationship recognition of gay and lesbian couples as a means of addressing health disparities faced by those couples and their families.

"Equality 9" to ask that charges against them be dropped at hearing TODAY

SDGLN Staff
June 27th, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- A group of nine activists who engaged in a relatively peaceful sit-in at the County Administration Building last August in support of marriage equality will present their case today before Judge Joan Weber arguing that all charges against them be dismissed.

The group, which consists of many who are affiliated with the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME), has been dubbed the "Equality 9."

Bankruptcy Court rules Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional

SDGLN Staff
June 13th, 2011

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California ruled late Monday that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, granting a legally married gay couple a joint Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The case involves a bankruptcy filing by Gene Douglas Balas and Carlos A. Morales of Los Angeles, who were married on Aug. 20, 2008. Balas and Morales were among about 18,000 same-gender couples who legally wed until the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008 took away marriage equality in California.

The court concluded:

"Motion to Marry" rally set for Monday in San Francisco

SDGLN Staff
June 11th, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO -- Marriage Equality USA will host a “Motion to Marry” rally from 7:30 to 8:30 am Monday, June 13, at the U.S. District Court immediately preceding Judge James Ware’s hearing on the Proposition 8 proponents’ motion to vacate Judge Walker’s ruling holding Proposition 8 unconstitutional.