Marriage Equality bill fails in NY Senate. Gays and Lesbians remain 2nd class citizens in the Empire State.

This post is a work-in-progress. Still developing...

The NY State Senate voted 24 Y, 38 N (Ds 24-8 in favor; Rs 30-0 against) and defeated the marriage equality bill in New York state. This comes at a time when there was great optimism that New York state would pass the bill and send it to Gov. Paterson's desk for his signature.

Supporters claimed to have enough votes to secure passage of this landmark legislation. This was clearly not the case. Gays and lesbians will continue to be second-class citizens in the Empire State.

FULL ROLL CALL (from TimesUnion.com)
Eric Adams (D) — YES “This is about love.”
Joseph Addabbo (D) — NO
James Alesi (R) — NO
Darrel Aubertine (D) — NO
John Bonacic (R) — NO
Neil Breslin (D) — YES
John DeFrancisco (R) — NO
Ruben Diaz (D) — NO “Sen. Smith, it is better to keep your word.”
Martin Malave Dilan (D) — YES
Tom Duane (D) — YES
Pedro Espada (D) — YES
Hugh Farley (R) — NO
John Flanagan (R) — NO
Brian Foley (D) — YES
Charles Fuschillo, Jr. (R) — NO
Martin Golden (R) — NO
Joseph Griffo (R) — NO
Kemp Hannon (R) — NO
Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D) — YES
Shirley Huntley (D) — NO
Craig Johnson (D) — YES
Owen Johnson (R) — NO
Jeffrey Klein (D) — YES
Liz Krueger (D) — YES
Carl Kruger (D) — NO
Andrew Lanza (R) — NO
Bill Larkin (R) — NO
Kenneth LaValle (R) — NO
Vincent Leibell (R) — NO
Tom Libous (R) — NO
Elizabeth Little (R) — NO
Carl Marcellino (R) — NO
George Maziarz (R) — NO
Roy McDonald (R) — NO
Hiram Monserrate (D) — NO
Velmanette Montgomery (D) — YES
Thomas Morahan (R) — NO
Michael Nozzolio (R) — NO
George Onorato (D) — NO
Suzi Oppenheimer (D) — YES
Frank Padavan (R) — NO
Kevin Parker (D) — YES
Bill Perkins (D) — YES
Michael Ranzenhofer (R) — NO
Joseph Robach (R) — NO
Stephen Saland (R) — NO
John Sampson (D) — YES
Diane Savino (D) — YES
Eric Schneiderman (D) — YES
Jose Serrano (D) — YES
James Seward (R) — NO
Dean Skelos (R) — NO
Malcolm Smith (D) — YES
Daniel Squadron (D) — YES
William Stachowski (D) — NO
Toby Ann Stavisky (D) — YES
Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) — YES
Antoine Thompson (D) — YES
David Valesky (D) — YES
Dale Volker (R) — NO
George Winner (R) — NO
Catherine Young (R) — NO

We will be editing this post to add more. Please leave your comments below. Gay rights activists may have lost this particular battle, but the war will be won over time.

Polling suggest major shift in Michigan voters' attitudes towards gay rights and marriage

In 2004, Michigan voters adopted a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage by a 58% to 42% margin. Now polling suggests a nearly even split on the issue, with 46.5% in favor of same-sex marriage rights and 48% opposed.

The shift is even more profound when you look at other issues:

92.2% believe that same-sex partners should have hospital visitation rights, while only 6% are opposed.

70.9% favor inheritance rights when a gay or lesbian partner is deceased, while only 26% are opposed.

65.5% support domestic partner benefits for government and university employees, and only 29.7% are opposed.

63.7% are in favor of civil unions for gay/lesbian couples, while only 31.1% are opposed.

57.5% believe gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to adopt children, while only 35.9% are opposed.

Why the change in attitudes? Polling in 2004 suggested that only 56% of voters personally knew a gay or lesbian person. Now that number is sharply higher, 80.2%.

Source: The Glengariff Group Inc. poll of 600 registered Michigan voters conducted May 27-29. MOE +/- 4%.

Atlanta mayoral candidates court the gay vote

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Atlanta’s major mayoral candidates were all in the same room for the first time Thursday, each making his or her case as the best person to run the city to a room full of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.

Five candidates gathered for a forum of about 150 people held at the Amsterdam Cafe in Midtown. Mayor Shirley Franklin, a two-term incumbent, is prohibited from running for a third consecutive term.

Several candidates stressed their past achievements and support for a community that advocates say accounts for one out of every seven Atlantans. It has become an influential force in city politics, particularly in neighborhoods near downtown.

Read the rest of the article at the AJC web site to find out where the candidates stand.

Federal lawsuit over Florida hospital visitation rights among LGBT and unmarried heterosexual couples

When a loved one is in the hospital, you naturally want to be at the bedside. But what if the staff won’t allow it?

That’s what Janice Langbehn, a social worker in Lacey, Wash., says she experienced when her partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond, collapsed with an aneurysm during a Florida vacation and was taken to a Miami trauma center. She died there, at age 39, as Ms. Langbehn tried in vain to persuade hospital officials to let her visit, along with the couple’s adopted children.

“I have this deep sense of failure for not being at Lisa’s bedside when she died,” Ms. Langbehn said. “How I get over that I don’t know, or if I ever do.”

The case, now the subject of a federal lawsuit in Florida, is being watched by gay rights groups, which say same-sex partners often report being excluded from a patient’s room because they aren’t “real” family members.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times web site.

South Carolina dating violence bill lacks protections for LGBT youth

COLUMBIA — Gay rights advocates on Tuesday protested the exclusion of gay and lesbian relationships from a South Carolina bill meant to curb teen dating violence.

Limiting dating violence prevention to students in hetereosexual relationships further discriminates against students who are already vulnerable to bullying, depression and self-doubt, the advocates said. They urged senators to remove the reference.

"The message this sends gay kids is, we're not worthy, we don't count — it makes them feel like second-class citizens, and isolated," said Harriet Hancock, who founded the Columbia chapter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Keep reading at The Spartanburg Herald-Journal web site.

Dear Gay Graduate - an inspiring letter to new LGBT grads

From Jennifer Vanasco (posted at The Huffington Post)

Hello Gay Graduate,

You sure are in a bitter time to be thrust out of the womb of higher education. When I graduated college 15 years ago, America was in a golden decade. Five years before, the Berlin Wall had come down, giving us a new sense of security. We were at peace. We had saved the World Trade Center from destruction in 1992. The economy was booming. For someone like me, who wanted to go into print journalism, the job opportunities were everywhere.

How times have changed.

Great letter that you should continue reading at The Huffington Post.

Openly gay student wins lawsuit against school district

NBC Bay Area reports that Rochelle Harrison, who has been openly gay since the age of thirteen, was ridiculed on a daily basis by teachers and staffmembers at Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, who would say such nonsense as: "You'll never get a job," "You're going to hell," "You're so ignorant. You don't even know whether you're a boy or a girl."

Harrison's mom, Cheri, wrote letters, made phone calls, and scheduled meetings with school officials, but the harassment continued. So, the Harrisons turned to the ACLU for help.

From the title of this article you know that she won, but click on this link to get the details of the lawsuit and her award.

School district says reparative therapy sites ok, but gay rights sites blocked. ACLU says "not so fast my friend!"

According to the article:

Two school districts representing thousands of Tennessee students were sued Tuesday for blocking access to web sites discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, but are not filtering sites advocating “reparative” therapy to change their lifestyle away from being gay.

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Knox County Schools and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools to stop the practice. Evidently, they didn’t. So the ACLU made good on its promise, and sued the districts in federal court on Tuesday.

Read the full article at wired.com. (I hate when people/press use the word "lifestyle.")

Gay voters and groups ratchet up the heat on President Obama

With more states enacting same-sex marriage laws, pressure is growing on President Obama to moderate his stance against gay marriage.Advocates are urging him to appoint a gay man or woman to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice David H. Souter.

Even if Obama does not name a gay justice, senators are likely to question the nominee about the hot-button issue during confirmation hearings, propelling it to the top of the political agenda this summer.

Read the rest of the article at the LA Times web site.

Clergy Descend on Washington to Advocate for Gay Rights

WASHINGTON—Months after giving an invocation at a kickoff event for President Barack Obama's inauguration, the U.S. Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop returned to Washington on Monday to persuade Congress to pass an expanded hate crimes bill.

V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is among more than 300 clergy members from different faiths who planned to spend Tuesday lobbying on Capitol Hill for support of a bill that broadens the definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. The House passed the legislation 249-175 last week over conservatives' objections.

A weaker bill died two years ago under a veto threat from President George W. Bush. In contrast, Obama is urging the Senate to support it, saying it would enhance civil rights protections.

Read the rest of the article at boston.com by clicking here.