The list of top cities for same-sex couples as a portion of the population does not include that traditional gay mecca, according to new census data. In fact, the city, which ranked third in 1990 and 11th in 2000, plummeted to No. 28 in 2010. And West Hollywood, once No. 1, has dropped out of the top five.

The Census Bureau data, finalized this week and analyzed by Gary Gates, a demographer at the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, gives the clearest picture to date of same-sex couples in America. In absolute numbers, they jumped by half in the past decade, to 901,997.

Most surprising is how far same-sex couples have dispersed, moving from traditional enclaves and safe havens into farther-flung areas of the country.

Consider, for example, the upstarts on the list: Pleasant Ridge, Mich., a suburb of Detroit; New Hope, Pa.; and this beach town in southern Delaware. All three have been popular destinations for gay people locally but had never ranked in the top 10.

The No. 1-ranked town is Provincetown, Mass., at the tip of Cape Cod.

The reordering reflects a growing influence of baby boomers, who became adults in the 1960s and 1970s, when the social stigma was starting to ease, and are more willing than previous generations to stand up and be counted, Mr. Gates said.

Now that generation, arguably the first in history with such a large contingent that is out, is beginning to retire, and its life transition is showing up in the data, with older cities as the new popular choices.

“As the baby boomer generation ages into retirement,” Mr. Gates said, “we see its impact really strongly in the geography.”

The pattern was in evidence in Rehoboth Beach, a family resort town of 1,300, which was fourth on the list of same-sex couples per capita and did not figure in the top 10 rankings in 1990 or 2000.

“The change was pretty dramatic,” said Rick McReynolds, 58, a resident. “It used to be all these boys,” but now, he said, the gay population in town is older and has less of a singles scene.

But people who used to party here, like Bob Moore, a retired communications professor from Pennsylvania, have since returned with their partners to live. Mr. Moore, who came out in his 40s, after two children and a divorce, said he and his partner were looking for a place that was gay friendly, but not an exclusive enclave.

“We liked the fact that it was gay without being the Castro” neighborhood of San Francisco, said Mr. Moore, 59, who was sitting with his partner, Steve Ortleib, in Rigby’s Bar and Grill on Tuesday night.

He said they had visited four top retirement destinations for same-sex couples — two in California and two in Florida — before settling on Rehoboth.

In interviews in San Francisco on Tuesday, several gay people said the city attracted people who did not always want to become part of a couple. The census does not ask about sexual orientation.

“You settle down in small towns because there is not much to choose from,” said Nick Meinzer, 41, a hairstylist who works on Castro Street. “In urban areas we wait longer to settle down. I’ve been single for two years. They’re not counting those of us who are single.”

Of the top cities like Pleasant Ridge, Mr. Meinzer said: “I’ve never even heard of those places. You’d think if they were so great you’d have heard of them.”

Dennis Ziebell, 61, the owner of Orphan Andy’s, a Castro neighborhood diner he opened 35 years ago, said he did not believe the count was accurate. “Take another survey, that’s all I can say,” he said. “I’ve been in a relationship for 36 years and nobody from the census asked me about it.”

Last year was the third time the Census Bureau counted same-sex couples. The count included people of the same sex in the same household who said they were spouses or unmarried partners (spouses were not included in 1990). Mr. Gates calculated how many same-sex couples there were for every 1,000 households within towns and cities across the country.

Same-Sex Couples Since 1990

Baldwin, brother of Alec, Daniel and Billy, is a born again Christian, with a history of drug and alcohol addiction.

During the interview Baldwin is asked how he’d react if one of his daughters became a lesbian, and the other a stripper.

“Jesus or no Jesus, if my kid started working in a strip club, I’d beat her ass,” he says, in a very un-Christian-like fashion. “Now, the other question is interesting and culturally relevant. I have two or three very dear friends who are homosexual and they know I’m born again and we have an understanding that we’re just not going there…”

The journalist writes: “For the next 20 minutes, we have an intense discussion – argument, really – during which Stephen reveals that he’s all for gay men who, through their faith, reject their homosexuality and get married: ‘To turn away from that lifestyle is astonishing.’ Yes, Stephen, it is. And he’s definitely not for gay marriage.”

When the journalist asks about gay marriage, he says: “I believe that the family unit has fundamentally been the most positive thing for society and I don’t believe that any minority has the right to create changes that impact on the majority. That’s really the only issue for me.”

In the past Baldwin has said that gay marriage is not in line with God’s word, and that homosexuality is not normal and should be kept out of the public education system.

In 2008 Stephen’s brother Alec criticised Stephen’s views in an interview with The Advocate, saying: “Well, in the modern political world, people like that – whether or not I’m related to them – only help us raise money. They want to ban gay marriage because those people are incapable of having a biological family – that’s their only argument. You can ban gay marriage, but if you’re going to make it fair, then you have to ban marriage for everybody else who won’t produce children. But they just single out groups of people that they hate.”

Original Source Text:

www.samesame.com.au

The guy obviously is a smooth politician. He refuses to come out and say he supports the ban on gays serving openly in the military, even though his scorecard from the anti-gay Massachusetts Family Institute says otherwise.

As unsurprised as I am by a Republican not supporting LGBT rights and equality, the thing that worries me most about this type of non-commitment to an issue, is that as so many times, using the the “religious right” as an example, those who take a stand against LGBT equality, don’t do it directly, but rather they tend to blame their homophobia and/or bigotry on a higher power, or in the case of the religious right, God. Anti-gay people tend to blame their dislike of LGBT’s on things outside of their own character.  They don’t want to label themselves as a “bigot” so they rely on outside influences to pardon their intolerance.  In this case, Brown appears to be saving his “reason” to support maintaining the ban on the higher power of military leaders.

In his interview with Walters, he states he’s going to leave the decision of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” up to leaders in the field…almost as though he has a blatant disregard for the fact he serves as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard.

My direct impression is Scott Brown, simply put, is a coward, not wanting to admit his stance against LGBT equality and looking for a “reason” to display his homophobia. There’s not a lot of gray area here, either you believe LGBT deserve the right to serve openly in the military or you don’t. Waiting for others to exhale your intolerance shows a lack of character and integrity. My direct impression is that Scott Brown is no different from any other anti-gay Republican politician, seeking others to blame his homophobia on. I think it’s time for Scott Brown to “man-up” and come on out of the anti-gay closet. He needs to go on record as another Republican who hates the gays. He may become a little more respectable if he’s honest.

Original Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Passing easily through Parliament thanks to the majority the governing Socialist party and left-of-centre parties have,  the billwill now go to a parliamentary commission before returning to the Parliament for final approval.

Once this has occurred, the legislation will go to the President who can choose to either sign or veto the legislation. If he does the latter then it would return to Parliament who are able to overturn his decision.

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www.queeried.com

Washington DC - there's hope!

Today, D.C.’s Council made it official and same-sex marriage is now legal in the district by a final vote of 11-2!

The victory for equal rights prompted public witnesses in the Council chambers to cheer and applaud.

The bill, which may be signed into law by D.C.’s mayor as early as tonight, will go before Congress for a review period of 30 legislative days before it becomes law.

Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) stated:

“Today is the final step in a long march toward equality.”

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Gay marriage rights

From the NY Times:

An Argentine couple’s attempt to unite in Latin America’s first gay marriage was thwarted Tuesday when city officials decided to block the wedding because of conflicting judicial rulings.

Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre showed up at the Buenos Aires civil registry office despite a national judge’s ruling late Monday that overturned a city court’s decision to permit them to wed. The first judge ruled again Tuesday that they could wed.

The couple, dressed in black suits, silver ties and a red band symbolizing AIDS awareness, waited for hours in the municipal office as officials debated which judge to obey. They were surrounded by supporters and a swarm of media.

”It’s hard to have to spend this day waiting for a right that should have been ours,” said Freyre, as he fought to hold back tears.

In a twist of events, the final decision fell to Mayor Mauricio Macri, who had originally given the green light to the wedding. Among cheers and chants in what felt like the final seconds of championship game, the lawyers came out to announce the news: The city would not allow the marriage until the Supreme Court has ruled on the case.

Gay rights groups expressed anger at the decision and said they would march to city hall in protest.

Source Text:

www.gayagenda.com

Same-sex Marriage Button

FOR LESBIAN, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Rhode Islanders, the law is a fickle creature.

While the state does not have a “defense of marriage” act on its books, it still does not grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples even though, according to a decision issued by Attorney General Patrick Lynch, marriages performed out-of-state are recognized by Rhode Island. If, however, these out-of-state gay and lesbian married couples wish to get a divorce, the Family Court Act of 1967 defines divorce as an act between a man and a woman.

It was precisely this kind of legal confusion that prevented Mark Goldberg from being able to claim the body of his partner of 17 years, Ron Hanby, after he committed suicide. The couple had a marriage license from the state of Connecticut, but for 32 days, Goldberg was not allowed to claim his partner’s body and carry out his final wishes.

To correct this terrible injustice, a bill was introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly that would have allowed domestic partners to make funeral arrangements for each other. The bill, which passed nearly unanimously, was then vetoed by Gov. Donald Carcieri, who said that it was a “disturbing trend towards redefining marriage.”

Source text:

http://www.gayagenda.com

NY’s Gay Marriage Bill Faces Uncertainty

From NBC New York:

Gay rights advocates have launched a final push to win support of a same-sex marriage bill in New York, as state lawmakers are slated to gather tomorrow to vote on the measure.

Gov. David Paterson has called legislators to Albany for the vote — saying he believes the measure will win enough support to sign into law. But, sources said negotiations are expected to go late into Monday night as Democratic leaders discuss whether to put the bill to a full vote in the Senate without knowing whether it will have enough votes to pass.

The State Assembly passed the bill earlier this year.

Advocates on both sides of the issue lobbied senators over the weekend, but it was still unclear whether the measure could earn the 32 votes needed for approval.

Democrats hold a shaky 32-to-30 majority in the Senate — and the measure does not have full support across the party line.

Those who favor the bill believe now might be the best time to try and push through the measure, as all 212 seats in the Legislature and the governor’s post are up for election in 2010.

Source Text:

http://www.gayagenda.com/2009/11/nys-gay-marriage-bill-faces-uncertainty/

Argentina, oficially gayfriendly

Lawmakers are currently working towards making Argentina the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage. They would become the second country after Canada in the Americas to end marriage discrimination.

A growing number of supporters in Argentine Congress began the debate last Thursday on whether or not to change the law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

If course, and in the U.S., the major opposition comes from Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, who are accusing the government of attempting to destroy marriage and the family as an institution.

Of the 40 million people living in the country, most are Catholic and the church has had a great influence over politics. Until 1994, it was a prerequisite that the president and vice president had to be married and members of the Catholic Church.

In 2002, the nations capital, Buenos Aires, legalized civil unions for LGBT couples, and four other cities followed the lead.

Uruguay is currently the only Latin American country to recognize gay unions.

Source text:

http://www.gayagenda.com/2009/11/dont-cry-for-me-argentina/