National Newsbriefs

Marriage

Black marriage event to be held
The National Black Justice Coalition, Gay Men of African Descent and New York City Councilman Philip Reed will lead a press conference and rally at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2004 on the steps of New York’s City Hall.Ê This will be the first African American event to focus on the issue of same-sex marriage in New York.Ê
The National Black Justice Coalition is an ad hoc coalition of black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered leaders who have come together to fight against discrimination in our communities.
The goal of the organization in 2004 is to build black support for marriage equality and to educate the community on the dangers of the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Law

Boy Scouts discrimination appeal turned away
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused March 8 to hear an appeal from the Boy Scouts over what the organizations claims is discrimination because of its policy against hiring gays.
The case revisited the gay rights fight surrounding the high court’s ruling four years ago that the Boy Scouts have the right to ban openly homosexual scout leaders. This time, the question was whether states may treat the Scouts differently than other organizations because of that policy.
The Scouts asked the justices to hear a case from Connecticut, where officials dropped the group from a list of charities that receive donations through a state employee payroll deduction plan.
The Boy Scouts are pursuing a similar court fight in San Diego, where city officials want to evict the group from a park where the organization runs a youth aquatic center. The Bush administration sided with the Scouts in that case last week.

Religion

Robinson ready to take over as head of diocese
CONCORD, N.H. – More than six months after his confirmation rocked the Episcopal Church, the ninth Bishop of New Hampshire is poised to take control of the diocese March 7 with a knock on the door.
In a ceremony known as investiture, departing Bishop Douglas Theuner will pass his shepherd’s crook to openly-gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson as a symbol of the transition. The two men have shared leadership of the diocese since Robinson was made a bishop in November. Theuner officially retired March 7.
Robinson is the first openly gay man to be elected as a bishop, both in the national Episcopal church and the worldwide Anglican Communion of which it is a part. Several Anglican bishops abroad have said they will no longer associate with the Episcopal Church USA because it approved Robinson’s election.
In the US, a dozen conservative bishops are organizing an alternative network of dioceses and parishes that object to Robinson’s confirmation. They argue that homosexuality violates biblical laws.