As for me, I'm sick of having this particular agenda shoved down our throats:
"Rental car firm apologizes to gay couple" Associated Press, August 07, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE — The company that runs the shuttle service to the Albuquerque airport’s rental-car center is apologizing after a driver allegedly ordered a gay couple to sit in the back of the shuttle bus....
According to a police report, one of the men involved said that they had been holding hands and that the driver ordered them to the back when one of them started to sing.
The city’s Human Rights Office will look into the incident, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The apology comes as the New Mexico Supreme Court considers a case involving an Albuquerque photography business after its owner declined to shoot the commitment ceremony of a lesbian couple.
The couple alleged discrimination. Their attorney argued the business openly advertises its wedding photography services, and as a public business is required to follow the same antidiscrimination laws as any other company.
An attorney for owner Elaine Huguenin said gay marriage is against Huguenin’s religious beliefs, and she was exercising her rights to free speech and artistic freedom.
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"NM county issues same-sex marriage licenses" Associated Press, August 22, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE — A New Mexico county clerk began issuing same-sex marriage licenses on Wednesday in a surprise move that came as several challenges make their way through the courts to determine if gay marriage is legal in the state....
Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins said in a statement that he carefully read New Mexico laws and concluded the state’s marriage statutes are gender neutral and do not expressly prohibit Dona Ana County from issuing marriage licenses to same-gender couples.
Ellins said he had been considering issuing the licenses since June, when New Mexico Attorney General Gary King issued a position paper saying state laws do not allow same-sex marriage....
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Related:
"The Santa Fe County clerk, in New Mexico’s capital, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Friday, a court-ordered move that came two days after a county clerk in southern New Mexico decided on his own to recognize gay marriage."
"An Albuquerque judge has ordered the clerk of New Mexico’s most populous county to join two other counties in issuing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples."
"N.M. ponders gay marriage; Counties ask state high court to rule on issue" by Barry Massey | Associated Press, September 06, 2013
SANTA FE — New Mexico’s 33 counties asked the state’s highest court Thursday to decide whether same-sex marriage is legal in the state and to stop the spread of lawsuits that have forced some county officials to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
The New Mexico Association of Counties and clerks statewide filed a petition seeking clarity in a legal dispute that has changed rapidly in the past two weeks since a southern New Mexico clerk independently began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
Since then, seven other counties followed, some because of court orders in response to lawsuits by same-sex couples.
More than 900 marriage licenses have been granted to gay and lesbian couples in the state, according to the lawsuit.
It remains uncertain whether the state Supreme Court will accept the case.
‘‘The bottom line is we’re looking for a uniform answer,’’ said Steve Kopelman, general counsel for the county group. ‘‘There’s a controversy here. This is not a simple issue legally. But we’re not weighing in on the moral issue. We’re weighing in on the law.’’
State law does not explicitly prohibit or authorize gay marriage. However, the marriage laws — unchanged since 1961 — contain a marriage license application with sections for male and female applications. There also are references to ‘‘husband’’ and ‘‘wife.’’
The current and previous state attorneys general have said the law effectively prohibits gay marriage, although current Attorney General Gary King also has said he believes such a prohibition is unconstitutional.
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"Mayor’s economic pitch: Come to Minn. for wedding" by Don Babwin | Associated Press, September 06, 2013
CHICAGO — Calling their hometown a ‘‘Second City in human rights,’’ the mayor of Minneapolis told Chicago gays and lesbians during a visit Thursday that they should consider holding their marriages in his city rather than continue waiting for Illinois to legalize them.
Appearing in a predominantly gay Chicago neighborhood, Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis said he plans to capitalize on what he sees as a competitive advantage over most other Midwestern states when it comes to gay marriages.
Is there a bathhouse there?
Minnesota recently legalized gay weddings, but the Illinois Legislature adjourned its last session without a final vote.
It’s Rybak’s own twist on a common practice among politicians trying to lure away companies with tax breaks and other promises, and he says he makes no apology for the pitch.
‘‘Have you met Mayor (Rahm) Emanuel?’’ he joked when asked about the famously competitive Chicago mayor. ‘‘He would do it to me every day of the week.’’
Literally.
Rybak stressed he wants Illinois to pass such a law. But in a news conference in which he mixed jokes with a serious message, he said that the longer that state takes to legalize gay marriage, the more money that will flow out of the state and into Minnesota, and all the hotels, caterers, florists, bakers, and others that make money off weddings.
That's why I want it to remain illegal in the rest of the nation. Massachusetts needs the money.
‘‘If I was the mayor of not only Chicago but any city in Illinois I would be really frightened,’’ he said. ‘‘Chicago and all of Illinois stand to lose all of those tourism dollars from people who have a choice.’’
Both Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn, both of whom support legalizing gay marriage, also pointed out the potential for lost tourism dollars when reacting to news that Rybak was coming.
That's all the$e f***ing politicians care about!
Rybak said he hoped that same-sex couples would be swayed by his reminder that Minnesota is so close — six hours by car and a fraction of that by jet.
His campaign aims to cut into the number of gay and lesbian couples who are traveling to Iowa to get married by convincing at least some of them to ‘‘turn left at Wisconsin’’ and come to Minneapolis.
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UPDATE:
"Confidential files turned over for a lawsuit set to go to trial in Minnesota may shed new light on the problem of sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts of America."
"Man’s body found in girlfriend’s freezer in Minn." Star Tribune" August 28, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota woman beat her boyfriend to death, wrapped his body in plastic and duct tape, then hid it in a freezer because he was trying to break up with her, prosecutors said.
Well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Jetaun Wheeler, 29, was charged Monday with second-degree murder in the killing of the 58-year-old man at their Shorewood home around Aug. 1.
I don't like the age difference. It implies psychological issues.
Authorities have not named the victim. According to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County, detectives found the man’s body in a freezer in the garage of a house that the couple had shared in Shorewood, 18 miles west of Twin Cities.
‘‘It was a big trunk freezer, the kind your grandmother had,’’ said Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman.
A friend of the victim told investigators that the victim had called July 31 to say that Wheeler had assaulted him and that he was leaving her and heading back to Chicago, according to the complaint.
The complaint says the freezer was purchased Aug. 5, according to the Star Tribune.
She bought it after she killed him?
Wheeler told investigators looking into the man’s disappearance that he had taken the bus to Chicago, according to court documents. Detectives said when they searched the couple’s house Aug. 21, they found bloody carpet under Wheeler’s mattress. Blood spatter led them to the garage, where they found the body in the freezer.
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That reminds me, time to defrost dinner.
