National
N.C. Legislature sends marriage amendment to voters
Measure will appear on ballot in May 2012
The North Carolina Legislature gave its final approval on Tuesday to an amendment that would make a ban on same-sex marriage part of the state constitution — sending the measure to the ballot in May 2012.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina State Senate passed the amendment by a vote of 30-16. The State House on Monday approved the measure by 75-42. A three-fifths vote was required in each chamber for passage.
Language in the measure moves the ballot date for the amendment from November 2012 to May 2012 — at the same time as the Republican presidential primary is taking place in the state. A majority vote among the electorate is required to make the amendment part of the state constitution.
Alex Miller, interim executive for Equality North Carolina, said the battle in the Legislature may be lost, but “the fight goes on.”
“While the proponents of this harmful, divisive, shameful legislation may have succeeded in throwing up a temporary barrier against the inevitable tide of acceptance and equality, our struggle continues and the campaign to defeat this amendment at the ballot box begins today,” Miller said.
State law in North Carolina already prohibits same-sex marriage, but the measure would make the ban part of the state constitution. If approved by voters, the State Legislature would be unable to legalize same-sex marriage and state courts wouldn’t be able rule in favor of same-sex marriage if the statutory ban were challenged in court.
The measure states that opposite-sex marriage is the “only domestic legal union” in North Carolina, although the amendment allows certain contractual rights between “private parties.” Opponents of this amendment say this language is unclear and could also prohibit civil unions or domestic partnerships in North Carolina.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, spoke out against the amendment and its potential to harm same-sex couples.
“At a time when all North Carolina families are worrying about job losses and cuts in education, it is unconscionable that the legislature add additional stress to a segment of those families,” Solmonese said. “Neighbors are no longer willing to be pitted against one another over these issues. When ballots are cast in May 2012, we are confident North Carolinians will not be persuaded to limit the rights of their friends and family to such a degree.”
The measure is one of two marriage amendments that some voters are set to face in 2012. The Minnesota electorate will also vote on an amendment banning same-sex marriage in November 2012.
Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry, called the legislative approval amendment in North Carolina “a tremendous blow to loving, committed same-sex couples” in the state.
“To try to preempt the conversations taking place across North Carolina about same-sex couples and why marriage matters by cementing discrimination into the constitution is unfair and wrong,” Solomon said. “And politically scheming to put such a cruel and discriminatory measure on a low-turnout Republican presidential primary ballot is a sham designed to circumvent the majority of North Carolina voters, who polls say, oppose this amendment and the injury it will inflict not just on families, but the state.”
Matt Comer of GOQnotes has a report on the debate that ensued in the Senate prior to the approval of the amendment.
According to GOQnotes, primary sponsor Sen. James Forrester said the amendment was intended to defend the “an institution in our society based upon the complementary male and female loin.”
“Moms and dads are not interchangeable,” Forrester was quoted as saying. “Two dads don’t make a mom. Two moms don’t make a dad. Children need both a father and a mother.”
Sen. Martin Nesbitt, who represents Asheville in the Senate, reportedly took aim at Forrester for previous comments made in a Gaston Gazette article. Forrester was quoted saying Asheville is “a cesspool of sin.”
“I’ve served with Sen. Forrester since he got here and I’ve always considered him a gentleman and a scholar,” Nesbitt was quoted as saying. “I appreciate my service with him and he drags this bill up and the next thing I’m reading is that he’s declared my community a cesspool of sin. I tell you what, mountain people are getting a little tired of people sitting down here throwing darts at them.”
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free
Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.
The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.
An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.
They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.
Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.
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