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Today’s Top Headlines

Texas Appeals Court Rejects Gay Divorce Ruling
Mexico City Woos Same-Sex Honeymooners
Omaha Paper to Print Same-Sex Wedding Announcements

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A state appeals court in Dallas has rejected a lower court’s decision that two gay men married in Massachusetts had the right to divorce in Texas. In October 2009, state District Judge Tena Callahan ruled that the men could legally end their marriage and that the state’s prohibition of same-sex marriage violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection. But today the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas reversed that decision with instructions to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.

Read the full story from the Dallas Morning News.

As more governments approve same-sex marriage laws, officials here are hoping to attract a growing part of the tourism market: gay honeymoons. The first couple to wed under Argentina’s recent law allowing same-sex marriages nationwide arrives in Mexico this week on an all-expenses-paid trip — part of a new push by the government in Mexico City, Mexico to woo gay travelers. “We hope that many same-sex couples who get married around the world spend their honeymoons here,” says Alejandro Rojas, the city’s tourism secretary.

Read the full story from CNN.

The Omaha World-Herald, under fire from gay rights advocates who led an Internet-based campaign to protest the paper’s policy to not run same-sex paid wedding announcements, has changed its mind. The paper, Nebraska’s largest, said on Tuesday that it would now print all wedding and engagement announcements regardless of the couple’s gender. It said it would continue a policy of running announcements only for legal marriages — not civil unions or commitment ceremonies. In a statement published Tuesday, the paper’s publisher seemed taken aback at the protest the initial policy provoked from gay rights supporters.

Read the full story from the New York Times.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

Lutherans Split Over Gay Pastors, Bible Beliefs
Church Censures Minister After Same-Sex Marriages
Conservative UK Politician Reveals He is Gay
Pennsylvania Changes Transgender Rules on Driver’s Licenses

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Critics of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination and its more open stance toward gay clergy formed a new Lutheran church Friday at a meeting of a conservative activist group. The overwhelming voice vote by members of the Lutheran Coalition of Renewal created the North American Lutheran Church, a tiny denomination of churches formerly affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, headquartered in Chicago. As of early August, 199 congregations had cleared the hurdles to leave the ELCA for good, while 136 awaited the second vote needed to make it official. In all, there are 10,239 ELCA churches with about 4.5 million members, making it by far the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S.

Read the full story from the Associated Press.

For four days last week, the small beige Covenant Presbyterian Church on the outskirts of Napa was turned into a courtroom. The Rev. Jane Spahr, 68, was on trial, accused of failing to “further the peace, unity and purity of the church” by marrying 16 gay and lesbian couples in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal in California. Her judges were six mostly white-haired Presbyterian elders, who sat at a table beneath a cross, listening intently to the proceedings.

Read the full story from the New York Times.

Conservative minister Crispin Blunt has disclosed that he is gay and has separated from his wife. Mr Blunt, who is prisons minister in the coalition government, said he had “decided to come to terms with his homosexuality”. In a statement, he said the move was “difficult” for his family and hoped for their “understanding and support”. He has been MP for Reigate since 1997, before which he served in the Armed Forces for many years. The 50-year old – a junior minister in the Department of Justice – has two children.

Read the full story from the BBC.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is changing its policy on how transgender people identify themselves on driver’s licenses. The department and Equality Pennsylvania announced a settlement Wednesday that allows people to change the gender on their licenses if they are living full-time in their new gender and it can be verified by a licensed medical or psychological caregiver. The previous policy only allowed changes in gender for drivers who could prove they had sexual reassignment surgery. PennDot said about half the states already have adopted a similar policy. The policy takes effect immediately.

Read the full story from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

Washington University Ends Partnership with Target
Methodists to Review Barring Gay Man
Iowa Radio Station Says Host’s Gay/AIDS Remarks Had ‘Factual Errors’
Former Memphis Officer Pleads Guilty in Transgender Beating Case

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Washington U. backed out of a partnered event with Target Corp. after the retail powerhouse received heat for a donation it made to an organization backing a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate with a history of staunch opposition to gay rights. University administrators opted to cancel the Target After Hours Shopping Event-a nationwide program in which Target keeps various stores open after hours and provides transportation for college freshmen to shop and receive prizes. This was to be part of the First 40 Days series of events at Wash. U. for the incoming freshmen class. The University has participated in the Target event since 2007.

Read the full story from The Observer.

The highest court in the United Methodist Church will review its 2005 ruling that allowed a clergyman to bar a noncelibate gay man from joining a congregation. The Judicial Council will take up the issue when it convenes Wednesday, Oct. 27, through, Saturday, Oct. 30, in New Orleans, according to United Methodist News Service. The ruling five years ago came in the case of the Rev. Ed Johnson, who was senior pastor at South Hill United Methodist Church in Virginia. He had refused to allow a gay man, who said he was not celibate, to become a member of the congregation. Like many other Christian groups, Methodists are divided over how to interpret what the Bible says about same-sex relationships.

Read the full story from the Associated Press.

A WHO-AM talk-radio host made erroneous remarks about AIDS and homosexuality during a recent broadcast, station owner Clear Channel Communications said Thursday. The station’s on-air response said that commentator Jan Mickelson is entitled to his opinion but that his comments “confused strong opinion with medical fact and contained factual errors regarding HIV/AIDS, its spread and current efforts to inform the public about this disease.” Mickelson said during a show broadcast from the Iowa State Fair that some AIDS education efforts destigmatize the “stupid behavior” of homosexuality.

Read the full story from the Des Moines Register.

Former Memphis Police Officer Bridges McRae was originally facing ten years in prison if convicted. One month before his retrial McRae admits to using excessive force against Duanna Johnson while booking her into the Shelby County Jail. After watching video of the beating, all but one member of the jury wanted to convict Bridges McRae. His April 2010 trial ended with a hung jury. A month before McRae was set to be retried his attorney’s reached a plea deal. Will Batts, Executive Director of The Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center is happy McRae will serve time behind bars, but feels two years is a light sentence. “It’s incredibly senseless. It’s hard to imagine somebody watching that and not feeling horror.”

Read the full story from Eyewitness News.

 

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Today’s Top Headlines

Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Says He’s Gay
Police Investigating Slaying of Black Gay Pride Organizer
Pentagon to Meet with Gay Partners of Some Troops
Openly Gay Kansas Candidate Threatened

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