Keen News Service
A national poll released Wednesday indicates that the general publics support to allowing same-sex couples to marry has gone from 32 percent in 2003.
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MISSISSIPPI MUDSLIDE: The Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act has not been amended to the satisfaction of the Mississippi Gulf Coast LGBT community center. Group leader Jeff White said Wednesday he thought the bill had been adequately stripped of its anti-gay language in a House subcommittee action, but by Thursday, he said further research has revealed Òit is clear that the language has not been changed and we are still going forth with the protest of the bill.Ó The House Judiciary Committee is set to take up the bill today or Tuesday.
CLOUDS HOVER OVER BOSTON PARADE: It has been almost 20 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a private group that organizes an annual St. PatrickÕs Day Parade down the streets of Boston could exclude an Irish gay contingent. The court, in Hurley v. GLIB, held that the Allied War Veterans CouncilÕs First Amendment right to freedom of speech trumped a Massachusetts law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in public accommodations. But a lot has happened since 1995 and the LGBT communityÕs political clout has prompted the cityÕs new mayor, Marty Walsh, to try and convince parade organizers to let a gay contingent in. So far, the group has agreed but only if gays donÕt wear t-shirts or carry signs that identify themselves as gay.
RELIGIOUS SUPPORT FOR SS MARRIAGE: A national poll released Wednesday indicates that the general publicÕs support to allowing same-sex couples to marry has gone from 32 percent in 2003 (before Massachusetts started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples) to 53 percent in 2013. The survey found the most support for same-sex marriage among Jews (83 percent) and people unaffiliated with a specific religion (73 percent), and it found the least support among white evangelical Protestants (27 percent) and black Protestants (35 percent). Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed said religious groups are alienating young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues. In general, the survey found 5.1 percent of the survey group self-identified as LGBT. The telephone poll, carried out by the Princeton Survey Research Associates for the Public Religion Research Institute, surveyed 4,509 adults throughout the U.S. between November 12 and December 18 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.7 percent.
STATE RELEASES REPORT http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper ON CIVIL The State Department on Friday released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013.
