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Monday, August 25
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Source: Boston Globe , South Coast Today Boston -- The state attorney general today approved paperwork filed by opponents of same-sex marriages who are pushing a statewide referendum that would reinstate a 1913 statute that prevented gay and lesbian couples from marrying in Massachusetts if their union wouldn't be legal in their home state. "After a thorough review by our office, we have concluded that this referendum petition has met the technical requirements that govern such petitions," Attorney General Martha Coakley said today in a statement. The paperwork, which included the...
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Monday, August 11
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Source: McClatchey via Houston Chronicle , McClatchey via Sacramento Bee , Fresno Bee Boston -- Nearly five years after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, the battle against marriage equality that brought international attention and apocalyptic fears to Massachusetts is all but dead, McClatchey/Tribune news service reports. While same-sex marriage is firmly entrenched in Massachusetts, gay activists in the Bay State say the future of the movement nationally could depend on what happens in California. In May, the California Supreme Court made...
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Thursday, July 31
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Source: Boston Globe , Bay Windows Boston -- With the stroke of the pen, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick opened the borders of the Commonwealth to out-of-state same-sex couples hoping to marry. Surrounded by cheering, clapping gay-rights activists and legislators, Patrick today signed a bill repealing a 95-year-old statute that had prevented gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts. "It's a good day," said Patrick, declaring that the repeal will "confirm a simple truth: that is, in Massachusetts, equal means equal." Massachusetts...
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Wednesday, July 30
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Source: Boston Globe , New York Times , Hartford Courant Boston -- In a major victory for advocates of same-sex marriage rights, the Massachusetts House voted by a wide margin yesterday to repeal a 95-year-old law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying here, setting the stage for Massachusetts to join just one other state, California, in allowing same-sex couples to marry regardless of residence. The repeal passed swiftly in the Senate earlier this month on a unanimous voice vote, but some wondered if the issue would stall in the larger House, where a handful...
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Tuesday, July 22
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Source: Belmont Citizen Herald , Boston Herald A vote last week in the Massachusetts Senate to repeal a 95-year-old law that has been used to block out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts prompted celebration from gay rights supporters and scorn from opponents, but a similar vote in the House is facing some resistance according to a report by State House News Service. With time to take up controversial matters in the 2007-2008 legislative session running short and lawmakers gearing up for reelection campaigns, some House members worry the emotionally charged issue could fail to...
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Saturday, July 19
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Source: Bay Windows , New York Times BOSTON -- Massachusetts may have been the first state to legalize same-sex marriage for its residents, but when California last month invited out-of-state gay and lesbian couples to get married, the potential economic benefits did not go unnoticed here. Now Massachusetts wants to extend the same invitation. On Tuesday, the State Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law that prevents Massachusetts from marrying out-of-state couples if their marriages would not be legal in their home states. The Senate passed the repeal bill on a voice vote with no fanfare or dissent...
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Wednesday, June 18
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Source: New England Blade , Boston Herald Writing for the Boston Herald , reviewer Jill Radsken describes Scott Pomfret's new book, Since My Last Confession [ Amazon ], as a "chaotic memoir." In the New England Blade , reviewer William Henderson, who calls the book "achingly funny and very readable," explains [T]his is no naval-gazing attempt to explain why he is the way he is. Instead, this memoir attempts to explain why it is that Catholicism is the way it is and why it can’t seem to wrap its brotherly-loving arms around gay men and lesbians and welcome them to the fold...
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Sunday, June 15
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Source: Boston Globe , WBZ-TV As the Governor's family marched together down Beacon Street past the State House to City Hall Plaza, they were greeted with a outpouring of cheers. They paused at the end of the parade to speak with well-wishers and pose for photos, the Boston Globe reports. It's the second time that the Patricks have marched in the parade, but it's the first time that Governor Deval Patrick's 18-year-old daughter, Katherine, marched after publicly announcing she is a lesbian . Patrick became the first governor in the state's history to march in the parade last...
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Friday, June 13
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Source: Bay Windows , Boston Globe Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick with his daughter, Katherine photo: Marilyn Humphries via Bay Windows Katherine Patrick, the daughter of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, has come out very publicly through an interview with the Boston gay newspaper, Bay Windows . Patrick and his daughter are planning to march tomorrow in the Boston Pride Parade. They also marched together last year, although at the time the governor did not know that his daughter was just becoming comfortable calling herself a lesbian. "We live in a fishbowl and to some extent we're...
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Tuesday, June 10
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Source: Boston Globe , ABA Journal , AFP , How Appealing blog Boston -- An appeals court has upheld the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in a case that originated in Boston with 12 former members of the military. The Boston-based First US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by a lower court judge who had previously dismissed a lawsuit filed by the 12, who had been discharged under the policy. The plaintiffs argued that the law that bans openly gay service members violates due process, equal protection, and the First Amendment. Their case was originally...
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Wednesday, May 28
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Source: WCSH-TV , Harvard Crimson via Politico.com SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine -- Four students from Harvard protesting the government's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy were arrested on criminal trespass charges Wednesday morning at a military recruiting center in South Portland. They were part of a group of between 20 and 30 people protesting the military policy used to discharge gay service members whose sexual orientation becomes known. Jacob Reitan, a student at the Harvard Divinity School who is gay, visited the recruiting center and asked to enlist. It was a request he knew...
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Wednesday, April 30
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Source: Boston Globe , PhysOrg.com Saying that being bullied can leave a mark on a child for life, state public health officials today released a comprehensive guide to prevent bullying in the state's schools. "Our kids deserve to grow up in an environment that is free from harassment and violence," Department of Public Health Commissioner Jon Auerbach said in a statement. "Bullying is not an inevitable part of growing up and we need to do more to stop it." In 2005, nearly one in four Massachusetts middle or high school students surveyed reported being bullied, health officials...
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Tuesday, March 18
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Source: St. Joseph News-Press , Associated Press via Boston Herald , KY3 TV ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A lesbian’s request for an annulment from her lesbian partner has created a legal quandary for a circuit judge. Missouri doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Charisse Sparks and Janet Peters Mauceri Sparks married each other in Boston three years ago and moved to Missouri shortly thereafter. Late last year, Charisse Sparks went to Buchanan County Circuit Court to dissolve the marriage. The filing is a legal challenge in a state that voted overwhelmingly four years ago to limit marriage...
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Monday, March 17
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Source: Guardian , Bay Windows Deteriorating market conditions forced developers to shelve plans for this 53-unit retirement community in Boston A fluffy yellow bedspread is severely tucked around the hospital-style bed, there's a wheelchair-accessible shower and a token pot plant. At first glance, the Asta Nielsen Haus in Berlin looks like the average old people's home. But this is a pioneering facility - the first in Europe to cater exclusively for gays and lesbians. "We just want people to be able to speak freely of their pasts. They shouldn't have to worry about reactions or...
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Monday, March 10
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Source: Nurse.com Even in Massachusetts, which is considered a beacon of tolerance and diversity for many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans, the older members of this group remain in the shadows, as in the rest of the country. Many fear going into assisted-living or skilled nursing facilities, or getting home health care, say those who work in agencies serving gay and lesbian elders. They retreat into the closet rather than face scornful remarks of fellow residents or possible discrimination from caregivers. But a growing number, led by aging gay and lesbian baby boomers, are starting...
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Friday, February 29
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Source: Boston Business Journal Massachusetts native Jeffrey Webb loved the Los Angeles lifestyle. He had a great job as a law partner in an L.A. firm, and his life partner, Mark Schuster, was equally happy with his work as chief of general pediatrics and professor at UCLA . "We both had positions that were hard to replicate," said Webb, 43. Even so, Webb and Schuster left the California sunshine in December and moved to Brookline with their twin sons. It wasn't the promise of enduring a gloomy Massachusetts winter that beckoned them -- it was the ability to live in Massachusetts...
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Tuesday, February 19
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Source: Boston Globe Boston -- Saying the state ignored its own rules, the Massachusetts Appeals Court today ordered MassHealth to revisit its decision not to pay for surgery for a teenager who developed a hump on her neck from HIV medications. Ashley Shaw's doctors at Children’s Hospital Boston said in 2004 that she needed to get the large pad of fat removed from her neck because it was changing her posture, giving her headaches, and leading her to be withdrawn from others. The day before surgery, MassHealth notified Ashley’s mother, Elizabeth Shaw, that it would not pay for the liposuction...
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Monday, February 11
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Source: GayWired , Raw Story , Lexington Minuteman , School Library Journal A Massachusetts federal appeals court ruled last week that an elementary school can continue to use children's books that encourage tolerance for gay people. The court rejected the claims of parents who said exposing their children to such books violated their ability to direct the religious training of their children. Noting that there has never been a federal case finding a constitutional right of parents to exempt their children from exposure to books used in public schools, the court said, "There is no free...
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Friday, February 01
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Source: Associated Press via Boston.com BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Lexington parents who objected to same-sex families being discussed in their children's elementary school classrooms. Tonia and David Parker of Lexington sued school officials in April 2006 after their son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay family. Joseph and Robin Wirthlin joined the suit after a second-grade teacher read the class a story about two princes falling in love. In a ruling yesterday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed...
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Thursday, January 17
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Source: Compiled by seaQwa's Qnews from reports in Cambridge Chronicle Cambridge, Mass. -- City councilors voted Monday night to make Denise Simmons the new mayor of Cambridge. Simmons, a member of the council since 2001, is the second consecutive mayor who is black and openly gay. She is the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor since Sheila Russell held the office from 1996-1997. City Councilor Ken Reeves’ third term as the city’s mayor ended with the new year. “It feels really great,” Simmons said. “When I first came to the School Committee, one of the things I always said was that I...
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Monday, January 14
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Source: Reuters , San Francisco Chronicle , and MedPageToday SAN FRANCISCO -- A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday. They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles. This superbug can cause life-threatening and disfiguring infections and can often only be treated with expensive, intravenous antibiotics. Most of the infections are limited to the skin...
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Sunday, January 13
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Source: Boston Globe Ethan Santiago, a physical education major in his first semester at Northern Essex Community College, had been using the men's locker room for weeks when he decided he needed a spot to stash his gym bag. So, he applied for a locker. He said a school administrator denied his request, citing safety reasons. Santiago, a transgendered student, still has some female anatomy. The rejection spurred the 20-year-old to file an affirmative action grievance against the school in October, alleging that he was discriminated against because of his gender identity. Santiago said he just...
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Monday, January 07
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Source: Patriot-Ledger MARSHFIELD, Mass. -- Parishioners of First Congregational Church of Marshfield have postponed a decision on whether to withdraw from the United Church of Christ because of differences over such issues as gay marriage and global warming. "There was quick recognition that we were not ready to vote," the Rev. Jim Howard, pastor, said after a two-hour meeting on Sunday attended by about 80 parishioners. Members of the Green Harbor church began talking about breaking ties with the national church after a Nov. 4 sermon by a visiting clergyman that included strong words...
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Sunday, January 06
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Source: Boston Globe MassEquality's David Wilson (left) and his husband, Robert Compton. photo: David Kauffman, Daily Free Press As a plaintiff, he won over the state's highest court. As an advocate, he helped persuade the Legislature. Now, as chairman of the state's leading gay rights organization, David Wilson says he is determined to make the case to his own community. MassEquality, a gay marriage advocacy coalition, has launched a statewide push to increase support for its cause among black residents of Massachusetts. The effort is a priority for Wilson, an African-American who...
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Saturday, January 05
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Source: Bay Windows Matthew Bank, CEO of HX Media, which owns IN Newsweekly , fired the paper’s associate publisher, Bill Berggren, Jan. 2. Berggren’s termination comes less than a month after four of the paper’s longtime freelancers, including former editor Fred Kuhr and religion columnist Rev. Irene Monroe, left the paper, claiming that the paper has lost editorial focus and that they have waited months for HX Media to pay them for their work. HX Media, a New York-based company that publishes both the New York Blade and HX magazine, purchased IN Newsweekly last year. Berggren, an eight-year veteran...
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Wednesday, January 02
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Source: Washington Post When her three-year-old marriage broke up, the 44-year-old doctor assumed she and her ex would split their property and jointly parent their two children. Her stay-at-home spouse wanted sole custody and the right to move the children out of Massachusetts. In pretrial motions, both parents made the same argument to a judge: The children should be with me; I'm their mother. For years, family court judges leaned toward a maternal preference when it came to custody disputes. But what to do when both parents are women, or neither is? Judges in Massachusetts have been grappling...
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Monday, December 31
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Source: Boston Globe Boston -- As Governor Mitt Romney made his final exit from the State House, he paused to shake hands with Deval Patrick at the door of the governor's office. "We are looking forward to a great administration," the ever-polite Romney told the incoming Democrat. "You can count on it," Patrick said, with a self-assurance that reflected his extraordinary journey from political obscurity to a landslide victory. But Patrick's first year in office has been marked by initial high-profile missteps, political frustrations, and a senior staff shakeup. He scored...
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Friday, December 28
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Source: seaQwa's Qnews A report today carried on the social conservative news site, Cybercast News Service, indicates that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney still hasn't convinced all social conservatives that he's fully behind their anti-gay agenda. The story by Cybercast reporters Fred Lucas and Pete Winn quotes anti-equality marriage activists who claim Romney's record as Massachusetts governor is more pro-gay than his campaign has painted it. Marriage-equality opponents quoted in the article say it was Romney who actually got gay marriage started in the state, reacting...
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Saturday, December 22
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Source: Associated Press via Boston Globe BOSTON (AP) Religious leaders who took opposing sides in the state's turbulent gay marriage debate have found something to bring them together again: Casino gambling. Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to bring three casinos to Massachusetts has united religious groups who were once entrenched foes. It was just six months ago that one of the toughest gay marriage battles -- over a ballot question that would have banned the marriages -- ended when lawmakers killed the question. "You would like nothing better than to hold grudges. But in government...
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Friday, December 14
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Source: Providence Journal and Boston Globe PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Less than a week after the Rhode Island Supreme Court said a same-sex couple could not get divorced in Family Court, one of the Providence women involved in the groundbreaking case filed for divorce yesterday in Superior Court, the main state trial court. The new filing is a tactical move intended to skirt a major roadblock caused by a recent state Supreme Court ruling. Margaret R. Chambers and Cassandra B. Ormiston married in Fall River in May 2004 shortly after Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licenses to same...
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