-Portugal’s new Prime Minister places marriage equality on his list of priorities.
-The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission plans a rally to try to provoke arrests under the new hate crimes law.
-The New York State Senate promises to vote on marriage equality before the end of the year.
-Rhode Island Governor Carcieri vetoes a bill that would have allowed domestic partners to make funeral arrangements for a deceased partner.
-Salt Lake City passes an anti-discrimination ordinance with the support of the Mormon church.
-Support for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell continues to decline among military personnel.
-Dan Savage speaks on the definition of marriage.
-RI Gov. Carcieri backpedals and suggests that he might support civil unions for gay couples.
-The Catholic Church threatens to stop providing social services in Washington, DC if the city legalizes same-sex marriage.
The truth is probably the Catholic Church can’t provide the services because they are using up all their money trying to defeat gay marriage and to pay off all the pedophile lawsuits. In Maine, for example, the RCC raised millions of dollars (a lot of it came from the St. Louis, MO diocese by the way) to defeat marriage equality while at the same time they closed down several parishes. The bishops, though, suffered no financial loss as they still enjoy living like kings in mansion-like housing. (You can Google all this info I’m giving as I know I am not quoting directly from sources.)
That the poor in DC should suffer because of the RCC’s bitter hatred toward the LGBT community is the most anti-Christian act a Christian religious institution can do. The bishops of the RCC in the U.S. have turned their brand of Christianity into a mockery and have shamed those of us who still consider ourselves followers of Christ.
FYI, Carcieri didn’t really backpedal.
His second statement is consistent with his statements upon issuing the veto, when he said the legislature should put domestic partnership up for a public vote.
But first, he knows that conservative Catholic voters might reject domestic partnership, and second and more important, a referendum can’t happen until the current speaker of the house exits — by which time Carcieri also will be gone due to term limits.
So Carcieri has simply vetoed funeral rights and washed his hands of any need to honestly address domestic partnership. He can go right on attending ex-Christian Right banquets and picnics, and talk about family values to people with high divorce, remarriage, and unwed-pregnancy rates.