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NewsBriefs - April 13, 2007
April 11, 2007
Kansas AG: Proposed DP Registry Legal
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison said that a same-sex couple-inclusive domestic partner registry proposed by the Lawrence City Commission would not violate the state's constitutional ban on same-gender marriage. "The ordinance does not permit something forbidden by the marriage amendment," Morrison wrote in his nonbinding opinion. He also said that if the ordinance were modified to restrict registrants to Lawrence residents, then the law should pass legal muster.
State Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe) had offered a bill (HB 2299) to outlaw municipal registries as a response to the City of Lawrence's efforts to recognize committed, yet unwed couples.
Indiana Marriage Amendment Dead for Now
A 5-5 vote in the House Rules Committee of the Indiana General Assembly on April 3 has killed a proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment in the Hoosier State for this session. The week before the vote, about 1,000 people rallied at the statehouse in support of the amendment.
In March, one of the Indiana's biggest employers, pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company, informed House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) that the passage of such an amendment could cost the company valuable workers.
Lilly has offered domestic partner benefits since 2004.
Gay Connections TV Show to Air in China
A new gay-themed chat show from China will soon begin broadcasting over the Internet. Emanating from Beijing, Tongxing Xianglian, which translates to Connecting Homosexuals or Gay Connections, will debut on phoenixtv.com and satellite television on Thursday April 5. The show's host, Didier Zheng (left), is an openly gay AIDS activist who works with AIDS orphans and helps to promote AIDS prevention. It is not known if Tongxing Xianglian, will face censorship from the PRC government.
Kiss-In Kicks Off Lawrence Pride Week
Wescoe Beach, on the campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, was the scene of this year's Kiss-In, the first of many events scheduled for Lawrence Pride Week. KU Queers & Allies officers and boyfriends Jonathan Pryor (left) and David Ta (right) made up one couple participating in the April 2 planned PDA.
For a detailed list of the week's activities, go to kuqanda.org/pride. For a detailed list of the week's activities, go to kuqanda.org/pride. (photo credit: The University Daily Kansan.)
April 3 is Fountain Day in Kansas City
At 11 a.m. Tuesday April 3, the City of Fountains Foundation and the Kansas City, Mo., Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners will turn on Kansas City's fountains. The Fountain Day celebration will be at the Delbert J. Haff Circle Fountain at Meyer Boulevard and Swope Parkway near the entrance to Swope Park.
Stagg Acquitted After Two Trials
University of Central Missouri music professor David Stagg was charged with first-degree murder in the 2004 Shawnee, Kan., death of William J. Jennings, his romantic partner. Twice Stagg faced Johnson County juries for his alleged crime, and each time the jury deadlocked. After the second mistrial, Tom Bath, Stagg's defense attorney asked the judge for an acquittal. District Judge John Anderson III agreed, and acquitted Stagg of the murder charge on March 29.
If you experience violence or threats of violence, whether domestic or otherwise, contact the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project at 816-561-0550.
Arkansas House Committee Rejects Anti-Gay Bill
On March 27, the Judiciary Committee of the Arkansas House of Representatives voted to reject SB 959. If passed, SB 959 would have barred gay people and most unmarried, cohabitating straight couples from adopting or serving as foster parents in the south central state. Last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down an administrative ban on gay foster parents that had been established in 1999 by the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency Review Board.
Jerry Cox, director of the Arkansas Family Council, said his group might attempt to get a gay foster care and adoption ban on the ballot in the bear future.
New Gay Parenting Study Out
A new report from the Urban Institute and the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law shows that more than one in three lesbians has given birth, that an estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent, and that a national ban on les-bi-gay foster care could cost from $87 to $130 million. (Statistics are for the United States only.)
Equality Riders Arrested at Baptist Seminary
On March 26, twelve Soulforce Q Equality Riders were arrested as they staged a sit-in at the office of Dr. R. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary located in Louisville, Ky. Mohler has drawn criticism from both gay rights advocates and anti-gay nurture theorists for his March 2 blog entry that suggested altering the sexual orientation of a fetus in utero if it had been determined that the baby would be born gay.
To read the March 30, 2007 NewsBriefs, go to NewsBriefs - March 30, 2007.
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