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National News
California Court Backs Fertility for Lesbians
The California Supreme Court ruled that doctors cannot refuse to provide fertility treatments to lesbians. The unanimous ruling held that under state antidiscrimination laws, doctors may not single out homosexuals, even for religious reasons. The decision came in a San Diego County case in which two clinic physicians refused to provide fertility treatments to a lesbian on religious grounds, and she did not have the option of being referred to another doctor. The Los Angeles Times reported the court decided that if a doctor does not want gay women to have children, then he or she must not perform fertility procedures for anyone. The San Francisco Chronicle stated that the decision, which came three months after the court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, strengthened rules on discrimination against homosexuals for all businesses.
Rove: Gay Marriage Issue Not as Hot
US President George Bush’s former campaign strategist, Karl Rove, says same-sex marriage won’t be as powerful an issue in this year’s presidential election. He is credited by supporters and blamed by opponents for leveraging the emotional gay marriage issue to spur Republican voter turnout in Bush’s win four years ago. But with the economy in trouble, Rove believes same-sex unions won’t generate the same kind of voter response for likely GOP nominee US Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona), The Los Angeles Times reported. “It has a lower profile, but it will be an issue in people’s minds,” Rove told the newspaper. “The bigger issues will be the economy, terrorism, health care, and energy.” He posits that the same-sex marriage issue in the 2008 election will be part of “complicated algorithms” voters will use to choose between McCain and his probable Democratic opponent, US Senator Barack Obama (Democrat-Illinois). Three states—Florida, California and Arizona—have initiatives banning same-sex marriage on the November ballot. Unlike 2004, analysts assert the issue won’t have much of an impact on the presidential races in those states.
DeGeneres Marries Girlfriend de Rossi
Popular TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres married her girlfriend, actress Portia de Rossi, at their Los Angeles home, the couple’s representative stated. The unidentified representative told People Magazine exclusively that the celebrity couple were married during a ceremony attended by a scant 19 guests. “Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were married tonight in an intimate ceremony at their home in Los Angeles,” the representative said. The couple, who have been dating since 2004, exchanged handwritten vows during the ceremony. DeGeneres announced in May, during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, that she and the former Arrested Development star decided to marry once California legalized gay marriage. People reported the 50-year-old talk show host explained in 2007 that her relationship with the 35-year-old actress has been beneficial to them both. “She’s taught me lessons about myself, and I feel like I’ve taught her,” DeGeneres remarked. “We’ve both changed and grown, and we just feel like, ‘Oh, OK, this is completion.’”
World News
Gays in India Seek British Apology for Law
Gay activists in India want Great Britain to apologize for introducing antisodomy laws that still make homosexuality illegal in its former colony. Organizers planned to call for an apology during their first Gay Pride march recently in Mumbai. It is part of a campaign to abolish Section 377 of the Indian penal code outlawing “unnatural sexual offenses,” The Independent reported. The Indian law, adopted when Britain ruled the country, calls for up to 10 years in prison for engaging in oral or anal sex, according to the newspaper. India has kept the law since gaining its independence in 1947. A draft copy of the apology statement read: “We call on the British government to apologize for the immense suffering that has resulted from their imposition of Section 377. And we call on the Indian government to abandon this abhorrent alien legacy of the Raj that should have left our shores when the British did.”
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
