Today’s Top Headlines

New Hampshire Senate Votes Wednesday on Gay Marriage
Maine Panel Strongly Endorses Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Paterson Criticizes NY Gay Marriage Opponents
Signs G.O.P. Is Rethinking Stance on Gay Marriage

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A bill that could make Maine the fifth state to recognize same-sex marriages won a strong endorsement Tuesday from a legislative committee, setting the stage for votes by the Senate and House. Eleven of the 14 Judiciary Committee members voted to pass the bill, while two voted against it and one member proposed sending it to voters in a November referendum. Gov. John Baldacci, a former opponent, is undecided. …

Read the full story from The Associated Press.

It was only five years ago that opposition to gay marriage was so strong that Republicans explicitly turned to the issue as a way to energize conservative voters. Yet today, as the party contemplates the task of rebuilding itself, some Republicans say the issue of gay marriage may be turning into more of a hindrance than a help. …

Read the full story from The New York Times.

New York Gov. David Paterson says some opponents of gay marriage who cite religious belief failed to act on their faith when gays and lesbians were victimized. Paterson told thousands of gay rights advocates lobbying in Albany on Tuesday that some of the opponents who invoke religious doctrine did not step up when young gay and lesbian students were victims of hate crimes. …

Read the full story from WCBSTV.

The New Hampshire Senate is voting Wednesday on legislation to make the Granite State the fifth to allow gay marriage. The Senate Judiciary Committee recommends killing the bill, which narrowly passed the House. Supporters argue that gay marriage is a civil rights issue and that excluding gays is discriminatory. Opponents counter that marriage is a sacred religious institution that would be cheapened by allowing gays to marry. …

Read the full story from The Chicago Tribune.

 

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Today’s Top Five Headlines

Rights Groups Slam Burundi Law Criminalizing Gays
Judge Waives Waiting Period for Gay Iowa Couple
Presbyterians Reject Gay Clergy
NH Committee Recommends Killing Gay Marriage Bill
Life in Prison for Killer in Transgender Murder

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More than 60 national and international rights groups have slammed a measure making homosexuality a crime punishable by jail, which was signed into law last week in Africa’s Burundi. They called on President Pierre Nkurunziza to go back on his promulgation of the parliamentary bill, which was not officially announced though confirmed Saturday by an aide. The groups, including international heavyweights Human Rights Watch, said that under the new criminal code promulgated by Nkurunziza on April 22, “same-sex sexual conduct becomes illegal for the first time in Burundi’s history.” …

Read the full story from AFP.

In the end, it didn’t matter if Angie Zapata was seen as a man or a woman, but as Maria Zapata’s baby. “I’m my baby’s mom,” a bleary-eyed Maria Zapata said Wednesday. “And I’ve lost something so precious. I feel so, so alone.” Zapata spoke just before Weld District Judge Marcelo Kopcow sentenced her child’s killer — 32-year-old Allen Andrade — to life in prison without possibility of parole. An eight-man, four-woman jury took barely two hours to convict Andrade of first- degree murder. …

Read the full story from The Denver Post.

The state Senate’s Judiciary Committee has recommended that the Legislature reject legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire. The committee voted 3-2 Thursday against a bill that passed the House last month. Committee Chairwoman Deborah Reynolds, a Democrat, said she doesn’t think New Hampshire is ready for gay marriage. Republicans who voted against it said marriage is an institution created and defined by God as between one man and one woman. …

Read the full story from The Boston Globe.

Efforts to allow gays and lesbians to serve as clergy in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have been defeated again. Votes on Saturday by two presbyteries, or district church bodies, ensured the defeat of a proposal to drop a requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.” …

Read the full story from The Associated Press.

A same-sex Iowa couple will be allowed to wed as soon as Monday after a judge allowed them to bypass the state’s three-day waiting period. Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe of Des Moines received their waiver by 9 a.m. Same-sex couples in Iowa began applying for marriage license Monday after a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay unions took effect. The high court issued an order early in the day confirming that the appeals process in the case has officially concluded. …

Read the full story from The Associated Press.

Today’s Top Five Headlines

New York Governor Gives Senate Time on Gay Marriage
Jury Says Guilty in Transgender Murder Case
New Jersey Voters Support Gay Marriage
Domestic Partnership Not Honored During Hospital Stay
Washington Governor OKs Transgender Hate-Crime Protection

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The same day a Colorado man became the first in the nation to be convicted of the hate-crime murder of a transgender person, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a law paving the way for similar kinds of prosecutions in Washington. Senate Bill 5952 added “transgender” to the definition of sexual orientation in the state’s hate crime law, meaning people who commit violent crimes against someone because of gender identity or expression can be charged with hate crimes and face harsher penalties. Washington on Wednesday became the 12th state to have such a law. …

Read the full story from The News Tribune.

Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of a Colorado man charged with beating a transgender woman to death with a fire extinguisher. The verdict was expected to be read Wednesday afternoon in Greeley. Jurors deliberated for only about two hours. Thirty-two-year-old Allen Andrade is charged with murder and a bias-motivated crime in the death of 18-year-old Angie Zapata. Prosecutors say Andrade knew for 36 hours that Zapata was biologically male and killed her out of his dislike for homosexuals. Andrade’s attorneys argue Zapata deceived him, and that he snapped when he discovered Zapata was biologically male. …

Read the full story from The Associated Press.

A visit to Oregon Health and Science University hospital turned into a frustrating situation for a gay couple who said their rights as domestic partners were not honored until a lawyer got involved. The domestic partner of a man who appeared to be near death was reportedly ordered to leave the room when it was time to make some major decisions about the patient. This all started with a hospital visit. The patient, who only wanted to go by his first name of Christopher, was having trouble breathing. So his partner, Patrick took him to OHSU. …

Read the full story from KGW.