Gay and Lesbian Relationships

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Fighting back

Two cases in federal court here in Massachusetts could help turn the national tide against DOMA
Thanks to a federal law that codifies discrimination against same-sex couples, more than 15,000 legally married couples (and an untold number of children) are being denied basic benefits, such as the right to file their taxes jointly, or Social Security payments and health-insurance subsidies.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 04, 2010

Make yourself uncomfortable

Xiu Xiu bloom on Dear God
In the past month, Sandra Bullock’s husband betrayed her by screwing a white supremacist with a face tattoo, a Georgia teenager was granted the right to take his boyfriend to prom, and Ricky Martin declared himself a “fortunate homosexual man.”
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | April 06, 2010

Corporate love

Think how much simpler life would be
Here’s a modest proposal for resolving the problems associated with marriage: Abolish it.
By AL DIAMON | April 02, 2010

Unmaking a bad federal law

Justice for Some
It's been a depressing stretch for supporters of marriage equality.
By ADAM REILLY | November 24, 2009

Fair Share?

Extending Benefits to Domestic Partners
On September 10, Boston City Councilor David Scondras wrote a letter to the city’s group-health-insurance director. “We have a non-discrimination policy in this city which includes people who are gay and lesbian,” wrote the city’s first openly gay city councilor.
By NEIL MILLER | November 19, 2009

Marrying into history

One woman's wait — and drive — for equality
remember the day Vermont legalized Civil Unions for same-sex couples. I was in college at the time and I remember thinking out loud that I could move there and get "Civil Union-ed" someday. It didn't sound the same as my previous dreams of getting "Married."
By JILL BARKLEY | August 04, 2009

Cheney's latest crime

Plus, Coakley's welcome move against DOMA
As if there were any doubt, the latest CIA scandal once again reminds the nation that whatever former vice-president Dick Cheney touched turned to slime.
By EDITORIAL | July 15, 2009

Play-by-play

On the front lines at the gay-marriage hearing
On the front lines at the gay-marriage hearing
By DEIRDRE FULTON + EMILY PARKHURST | April 30, 2009

Queer eye for the Hawkeyes

Gay marriage takes first steps in Iowa
This past Monday, as Iowa prepared to officially issue marriage licenses to gay applicants, both law-enforcement and state gay groups prepared for vocal, even violent opposition in America's heartland.
By BEN FORNELL | April 29, 2009

Courthouse marriage

The gay-rights movement took a chance on fighting for the right to wed. It's finally paying off.
While political analysts understandably regard elections and politicians as the key forces of social change, nongovernmental forces are the ones that most often actually influence and transform our culture.
By STEVEN STARK | April 21, 2009

Equal rites?

Why has Rhode Island lagged behind the rest of New England on same-sex marriage legislation?
New England has made a pretty good case, in recent years, for America's capital of queer.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 08, 2009

Death by handgun

A public-health crisis; plus, gay marriage advances
A couple of weeks ago, David S. Bernstein wrote about the growing "state sovereignty" movement backed by anti-government conspiracy theorists and gun-rights extremists, and touted on the syndicated radio show and Web site of deranged agitator Alex Jones.
By EDITORIAL | April 08, 2009

Text of the same-sex marriage bill

Key sections from "An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom"
The full official legislative summary of the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and key excerpt.
By JEFF INGLIS | March 25, 2009

Same-sex marriage

Fighting for a basic civil right without repeating other states' mistakes
From the podium at EqualityMaine's 25th anniversary dinner last Saturday night, former state senator Ethan Strimling posed a question to the 630 people in attendance: If gay marriage were allowed in Maine, how many of you would tie the knot?
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 25, 2009

Separate is not equal

Many state benefits, and federal ones, too, are tied specifically to 'marriage'
Many people think civil unions might be a workable compromise. But after nine years in Vermont, there's evidence that enough is wrong with them to convince that state's Senate to back a civil-marriage proposal.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 25, 2009

Devotion to unholy creed

Al Daimon insists he ain't a right-wing jerk. Really.
Some of my readers have a warped view of my political bent.
By AL DIAMON | March 11, 2009

Legislature will take up gay marriage this session

Equal rights
Maine lawmakers are certain to debate gay marriage in 2009, with competing marriage-related bills slated to be filed with the Legislature this week.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 14, 2009

The gays can not be stopped!

DOMA Demo
The national LGBT equality group Join the Impact hopes to galvanize sympathizers across the country to demonstrate in their home towns on Saturday, January 10, in protest of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | December 30, 2008

Gay marriage debate comes to Maine

Civil rights
Even as same-sex marriage supporters across the country reel from the Election Day approval of California's Proposition 8 — which changed that state's constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman — they are optimistic about bringing gay marriage to Maine, possibly in the upcoming legislative session.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | December 17, 2008

A gay day off

Striking Out
A day without gays sounds like a Christian Right wet-dream come true, but it's actually the idea behind a 24-hour nationwide strike and economic boycott in support of gay marriage for all Americans.
By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | December 09, 2008

California’s shame

Equal marriage rights suffers a setback, but there is hope. Plus, young voters.
The politics of division as practiced by lame-duck president George W. Bush at the connivance of his onetime Svengali Karl Rove are not dead.
By EDITORIAL | November 24, 2008

A step forward

Why the Connecticut Supreme Court got it right. Plus, ominous noises from the right wing.
The nation’s understandable preoccupation with the unfolding economic crisis has overshadowed a significant victory in the battle for same-sex marriage: the Connecticut Supreme Court, on October 10, ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
By EDITORIAL | October 22, 2008

Saving Marriage

Dramatic moments of the gay-and-lesbian struggle that escaped our newspapers
Roth and Henning, dedicated partisans, were everywhere with their cameras in those historic years 2003–2006.
By GERALD PEARY | October 15, 2008

The gulf of Maine

Senator Collins votes the Bush line 77 percent of the time; her challenger, Representative Allen, weighs in at 18 percent. Will these numbers decide November’s election?
With a massively unpopular Republican president leaving office, this year’s Senate election is a contest based on a candidate’s alignment with Bush.
By JEFF INGLIS | October 09, 2008

ReJoyce!

Love in Bloom at BC
Trust Boston’s socially conscious Catholic academics to connect the dots between James Joyce’s once-banned 1922 mega-novel Ulysses and (among other things) gay marriage.
By NEELY STEINBERG | June 11, 2008

Skipping gaily down the aisle

The ultimate gay-celebrity wedding planner
Enough about political justice; bring on the celebrity weddings!
By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | June 04, 2008

California matters

Massachusetts may have had gay marriage first, but California changes everything. Are Obama and Clinton listening?
For four years, and 10,000 same-sex nuptials, Massachusetts has had a monopoly on gay marriage in the United States.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 21, 2008

So to speak

Letters to the Bostone editor, May 2, 2008
The article attacking House Speaker Sal DiMasi by David S. Bernstein was offensive character assassination based on ethnic stereotyping and cute political correctness.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | April 30, 2008

Everybody has the right to be wrong

Politics and other mistakes
The late political columnist Davis Rawson once infuriated then-Speaker of the House John Martin to the point that Maine’s most powerful politician told reporters, “Davis Rawson is a drunk and a has-been.”
By AL DIAMON | April 16, 2008

Cash carousel

Many things changed this year on Beacon Hill, but not the power of the almighty dollar
Even though the dollar has taken an international whupping of late, there remains at least one place where the love of the greenback remains strong: Beacon Hill.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 30, 2008