Decision gives opponents several days to file appeal
SAN FRANCISCO — The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban ruled Thursday that gay marriages can resume starting Aug. 18.
The decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker means gay and lesbian couples will have to wait six days before they can get married. That gives gay marriage opponents time to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the appeals court fails to act by 5 p.m. local time next Wednesday, then gay marriages can go forward. (click here to read more) The valiant struggle for same-gender loving couples to attain their constitutionally granted rights for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is beautifully and poignantly illustrated in my two books, Love Won't Let Me Be Silent and They Say That I Am Broken.
None of the factors the court weighs in considering a motion to stay favors granting a stay. Accordingly, proponents' motion for a stay is DENIED. Doc #705. The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment forthwith. That judgment shall be STAYED until August 18, 2010 at 5 PM PDT, at which time defendants and all persons under their control or supervision shall cease to apply or enforce Proposition 8.
Judge overturns Calif. Gay Marriage Ban
By LISA LEFF and PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writers Lisa Leff And Paul Elias, Associated Press Writers —
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge overturned California's gay-marriage ban Wednesday in a landmark case that could eventually force the U.S. Supreme Court to confront the question of whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed.
The ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker touched off a celebration outside the courthouse. Gay couples waved rainbow and American flags and erupted with cheers in the city that has long been a magnet for gays.
Shelly Bailes embraced her wife Ellen Pontac as Bailes held a sign reading, "Life Feels Different When You're Married."
In New York City, about 150 people gathered in front of a lower Manhattan courthouse. They carried signs saying "Our Love Wins" as organizers read portions of the ruling.
Walker made his decision in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.
The ruling "vindicates the rights of a minority of our citizens to be treated with decency and respect and equality in our system," said former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who delivered the closing argument at trial for opponents of the ban.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also praised the ruling as an important step toward equality and freedom.
Protect Marriage, the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored the ban, said it would immediately appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"In America, we should uphold and respect the right of people to make policy changes through the democratic process, especially changes that do nothing more than uphold the definition of marriage that has existed since the founding of this country and beyond," said Jim Campbell, a lawyer on the defense team.
Despite the favorable ruling for same-sex couples, gay marriage will not be allowed to resume immediately.
Judge Walker said he wants to decide whether his order should be suspended while the proponents of the ban pursue their appeal. He ordered both sides to submit written arguments by Friday on the issue.
The appeal would go first to the 9th Circuit then to the U.S. Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.
California voters passed the ban as Proposition 8 in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.
Supporters argued the ban was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.
Walker, however, found it violated the Constitution's due process and equal protection clauses while failing "to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license."
"Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples," the judge wrote in his 136-page ruling.
He also said proponents offered little evidence that they were motivated by anything other than animus toward gays — beginning with their campaign to pass the ban, which included claims of wanting to protect children from learning about same-sex marriage in school.
"Proposition 8 played on the a fear that exposure to homosexuality would turn children into homosexuals and that parents should dread having children who are not heterosexual," Walker wrote.
Walker heard 13 days of testimony and arguments since January during the first trial in federal court to examine if states can prohibit gays from getting married.
The plaintiffs presented 18 witnesses. Academic experts testified about topics ranging from the fitness of gay parents and religious views on homosexuality to the historical meaning of marriage and the political influence of the gay rights movement.
Olson teamed up with David Boies to argue the case, bringing together the two litigators best known for representing George W. Bush and Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election.
Defense lawyers called just two witnesses, claiming they did not need to present expert testimony because U.S. Supreme Court precedent was on their side. The attorneys also said gay marriage was an experiment with unknown social consequences that should be left to voters to accept or reject.
Former U.S. Justice Department lawyer Charles Cooper, who represented the religious and conservative groups that sponsored the ban, said cultures around the world, previous courts and Congress all accepted the "common sense belief that children do best when they are raised by their own mother and father."
In an unusual move, the original defendants, California Attorney General Jerry Brown and Schwarzenegger, refused to support Proposition 8 in court.
That left the work of defending the law to Protect Marriage, the group that successfully sponsored the ballot measure that passed with 52 percent of the vote after the most expensive political campaign on a social issue in U.S. history.
Currently, same-sex couples can only legally wed in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C.
The ruling puts Walker at the forefront of the gay marriage debate and marks the latest in a long line of high-profile legal decisions for the longtime federal judge.
He was appointed by Ronald Reagan, but his nomination was held up for two years in part because of opposition from gay rights activists. As a lawyer, he helped the U.S. Olympic Committee sue a gay ex-Olympian who had created an athletic competition called the Gay Olympics.
Walker is a Republican. He said he joined the party while at Stanford University during the Vietnam War protests, and spent two years clerking for a judge appointed by Richard Nixon.
AP Writer Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report
White House Releases National HIV/AIDS Strategy
The President speaks about the just released National HIV/AIDS Strategy and his commitment to focusing the public's attention on ending the domestic HIV epidemic.
Argentina
The First in Latin America to Legalize Same Sex Marriage
July 8, 2010 06:55 PM
U.S. government scientists have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered.
HIV research is undergoing a renaissance that could lead to new ways to develop vaccines against the AIDS virus and other viral diseases.
In the latest development, U.S. government scientists say they have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIVstrains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered. They are now deploying the technique used to find those antibodies to identify antibodies to influenza viruses.
Mark Schoofs discusses a significant step toward an AIDS vaccine, U.S. government scientists have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered.
The HIV antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American gay man, known in the scientific literature as Donor 45, whose body made the antibodies naturally. The trick for scientists now is to develop a vaccine or other methods to make anyone's body produce them as well. That effort "will require work," said Gary Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who was a leader of the research. "We're going to be at this for a while" before any benefit is seen in the clinic, he said.
The research was published Thursday (July 8, 2010) in two papers in the online edition of the journal Science, 10 days before the opening of a large International AIDS Conference in Vienna, where prevention science is expected to take center stage. More than 33 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2008, and about 2.7 million contracted the virus that year, according to United Nations estimates.
Vaccines, which are believed to work by activating the body's ability to produce antibodies, eliminated or curtailed smallpox, polio and other feared viral diseases, so they have been the holy grail of AIDS research. By MARK SCHOOFS -- Source: The Wall Street Journal Health
A GLOBAL AUTHOR'S RESPONSE TO A BREAKTHROUGH IN AIDS RESEARCH This is very encouraging news!!! For many years, I have felt (as a HIV ADVOCATE) that the primary scientific focus of the pharmaceutical industries was unfair and purposely misdirected, in the respect that too much attention had been given to creating medications that prolong the lives of individuals infected with the virus rather than curing them. And if the truth be told, it has been more advantageous for pharmaceutical companies to maintain millions on medications, consequentially padding and enriching their bank accounts, while doing so. This is why they have been appropriately referred to as "Big Pharma!" I am, however; elated to see that we are finally back on the right track! I realize that all industries desire to prosper and be successful, but we must never succumb to the temptation to extract billions from the helpless multitudes because there are no watchdogs or effective oversight agencies in place.
Moreover, it is for our own safety and best interests that we continue to scrutinize and monitor the motives of these powerful pharmaceutical giants. The elimination and eradication of the AIDS virus should and must be our medical moral imperative. Furthermore, without any doubt, our total focus and goal should and must always be, to decisively and completely cure humanity from this horrific pandemic which has claimed the lives of multiple millions, destroyed heaven knows how many families, and wreaked financial havoc on a weakened global economy, already teetering on the brink of financial collapse.
More black churches respond to HIV/AIDS by Joseph Erbentraut Friday, June 18, 2010
Though progress has been made, resistance remains for some black clergy considering a more active stance on HIV and other LGBT-associated issues. Many advocates point to this reluctance as major contributing factor to the stigma HIV/AIDS continues to hold for many people of color.
Terry Angel Mason, a Los Angeles-based AIDS activist and author, said, while encouraged, he hoped more black clergy would "practice what they preach" in supporting LGBT people.
"I see many churches say they want to help reach 'these people' but when they really get into the trenches, they still get hung up by the whole 'gay' ideology, that the virus is a gay epidemic," said Mason. "But the reason we are facing this epidemic today is because we refused to believe we had gay folks in the church in the first place. There are thousands of us. What is it with the African American church not wanting to deal with life as it is?" Mason asked. "They have refused to embrace advocacy. It has killed us and it is killing us." (Read entire article by clicking here or on photo above)
Many people would rather not know their status because they fear that somehow life as they know it will end! The thought of having to battle a life-threatening illness scares the hell out of them, and they foolishly think that not knowing whether they have or have not been exposed to the virus will somehow protect them. But what they don't know is that knowing can actually save their life and the lives of all they are intimate with as well! HIV does not ever need to mature to full-blown AIDS; but if ignored, it surely will!
"I see many churches say they want to help reach 'these people' but when they really get into the trenches, they still get hung up by the whole 'gay' ideology, that the virus is a gay epidemic," said Mason. "But the reason we are facing this epidemic today is because we refused to believe we had gay folks in the church in the first place. There are thousands of us. What is it with the African American church not wanting to deal with life as it is?" Mason asked. "They have refused to embrace advocacy. It has killed us and it is killing us." 
