marriage

Mar 25 2013

U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on Proposition 8

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Southland supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage will focus their attention tomorrow on the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments on Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved measure restricting marriages to unions between a man and a woman.

Proposition 8 was enacted by voters in 2008 but was deemed unconstitutional last year by a federal appeals court panel, which found the initiative was at odds with U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law.

Mar 25 2013

Key questions

The U.S Supreme Court hears arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday about the constitutionality of two laws in the same-sex marriage debate. These are the federal Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA and California’s Proposition 8. The high court’s decision, expected later this year, could have a profound impact on the definition of families in America.
 

Lisa Olivia Fitch  |   OW Contributor
Feb 14 2013

Dealing with male-female relationships

“That we arrived at 50 years together is due as much to luck as to love, and a talent for knowing, when we stumble, where to fall, and how to get up again.”
—Ruby Dee on her lifetime marriage to Ossie Davis
 

May 10 2012

Country remains split on what they believe

President Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday that he supports same-sex marriage was quickly hailed by Southland advocates of gay and lesbian weddings as a historic turning point in the fight for marriage equality.

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
Oct 6 2011

Author: Ralph Richard Banks

The groom can’t help himself.

His smile is ear to ear as he watches his bride slowly make her way down the aisle. He’s so in love with her, and for good reason: it’s their wedding day and she’s lovely, both inside and out, a vision in white. But what color is her skin?

According to Ralph Richard Banks, the odds are that it’s not black. Learn more in his new book “Is Marriage for White People?” (c.2011, Dutton, $25.95 / $30.00, Canada, 289 pages, includes notes).

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.