Top Stories Today - 11.06.2008

National News:

• Los Angeles Times: Gay Rights Backers File 3 Lawsuits Challenging Prop. 8

11.06.08 09:47 am - LGBT equality groups and advocates, including Lambda Legal, the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the cities of L.A. and S.F., filed three lawsuits asking the Calif. Supreme Court to overturn Prop. 8, arguing that the measure is an illegal constitutional revision.

• Associated Press: Gay Couples Disappointed by Calif. Marriage Ban

11.06.08 09:43 am - Gay couples who were married in Calif. ponder the fate of their unions and express disappointment over Prop. 8’s passage, but not despair. George Takei: “There are going to be heartbreaks, setbacks and sacrifices to be made, but we will soldier on.”

• CNN.com: Los Angeles Stops Issuing Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples

11.06.08 09:12 am - The Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office stopped issuing marriage licenses to gay couples Wednesday night after 99 percent of Calif. voting precincts reported Prop. 8’s passage.

• Los Angeles Times: EDITORIAL: After Prop. 8

11.06.08 08:56 am - The Los Angeles Times writes that “If the election of Barack Obama as president teaches us anything, it is that the road to civil rights is long and rough but eventually leads to the right place,” and that young voters’ opposition to Prop. 8 is “encouraging.”

• Los Angeles Times: OP-ED: Gay Marriage Isn’t Over

11.06.08 08:53 am - John Corvino says that eventually, Prop. 8’s passage “will prove legally unwieldy, or socially inconvenient, or morally embarrassing - probably all of the above - and California will revisit the marriage question.”

• Associated Press: Gay Activists Jarred by California Marriage Defeat

11.06.08 08:39 am - Many gay couples and LGBT equality advocates say they’re surprised and dismayed by Prop. 8 passing in Calif., but that they’ll continue to work towards equality despite the loss.

• The Wall Street Journal: EDITORIAL: Voters and Marriage

11.06.08 08:35 am - The Wall Street Journal claims that the passage of marriage bans in three states “is a warning to the Obama Administration as it bids to seed the federal courts with judicial liberals.”

• Associated Press: Ellen DeGeneres Laments Gay Marriage Ban in Calif.

11.06.08 08:24 am - Ellen DeGeneres said she is “saddened beyond belief” by the fact that Calif. voters approved Prop. 8, and that with the anti-gay amendment’s passage, “we took a giant step away” from equality.

• Associated Press: Hundreds of Prop 8 Protesters Take to L.A. Streets

11.06.08 08:20 am - More than 1,000 protesters rallied against the passage of Calif.’s anti-gay Prop. 8 on the streets of L.A. and West Hollywood Wednesday night.

• The New York Times: California Voters Ban Gay Marriage

11.05.08 09:00 am - Calif.’s anti-gay marriage amendment, Prop. 8, passed with 52 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election after heated, expensive campaigns on both sides of the fight over marriage equality.

• The New York Times: EDITORIAL: Equality’s Winding Path

11.05.08 08:50 am - The New York Times‘ editorial board on states’ marriage bans passing: “Struggles over civil rights never follow a straight trajectory, and the ugly outcome of these ballot fights should not obscure the building momentum for full equality for gay people…”

• The New York Times: Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage

11.05.08 08:27 am - While LGBT equality advocates are lamenting losses in Calif., Ariz., Ark. and Fla., anti-gay groups are calling the passage of ballot measures banning marriage or adoption for gay couples in these states “a great victory.

Regional News:

• San Francisco Chronicle (CA): 2,000 Gather in SF for Same-Sex Marriage Vigil

11.06.08 11:01 am - Over 2,000 marriage equality advocates gathered outside San Francisco’s City Hall last night to rally against Prop. 8’s passage and vow to continue to work for LGBT equality. Kate Kendell: “It is a shameful day and it is a day the state will live to regret.”

• Associated Press (AR): Rural Arkansas Championed Foster, Adoption Ban

11.06.08 10:58 am - Exit polls suggested that evangelical voters and voters from rural sections of Ark. most strongly supported the state’s adoption ban, which passed Tuesday with 56.9 percent of the vote.

• The Salt Lake Tribune (UT): California’s Prop 8: LDS Leader Calls for Healing the Gay-Marriage Rift

11.06.08 10:54 am - Now that Prop. 8 has passed, a leader of the Mormon church claims he would like to both supporters and opponents of the ban to treat each other with “civility, with respect and with love.”

• The New York Times (NY): Celebration, Interrupted: 4 Dissidents Risk Democrats’ Gains in Senate

11.06.08 10:49 am - Four Democrats in the N.Y. State Senate refused to commit to backing Sen. Malcolm A. Smith, a member of their party, for majority leader. Mr. Smith indicated he would allow a vote on marriage for gay couples, but he and other senators said Wed. they would not focus on the issue.

• Los Angeles Times (CA): California Voters All Over the Map on Propositions

11.06.08 10:40 am - Calif. voters’ decisions on various ballot initiatives, including a slight majority approval of Prop. 8, reflect the variety and unpredictability of the political views of the state’s residents.

• Tallahassee Democrat (FL): Gay Community Stunned by Passage of Marriage Amendment in Florida

11.06.08 10:36 am - Many gay people and their allies in Fla. are concerned about the passage of Amendment 2 and its potential ramifications on both gay and straight unions in the state.

• San Francisco Chronicle (CA): Newsom Was Central to Same-Sex Marriage Saga

11.06.08 10:27 am - S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom’s actions and words in support of LGBT equality were used by the Prop. 8 campaign to produce misleading ads about marriage for gay couples. Newsom vows to continue to back LGBT issues throughout his political career.

• The Bakersfield Californian (CA): County Clerk: No More Marriage Licenses Will Be Issued to Same-Sex Couples

11.06.08 10:23 am - Officials in Kern County, Calif., stopped issuing marriage licenses to gay couples after Prop. 8 passed Tuesday, claiming, “A constitutional amendment is supposed to take effect immediately.”

• Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO): Victim’s Father Rails at Court, Media at Killer’s Sentencing

11.06.08 10:17 am - A judge sentenced openly gay Adrian Allen to six years in prison after Allen pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of a man he says threatened him using anti-gay slurs.

• The Modesto Bee (CA): Turlock’s Mayor Calls for Inquiry

11.06.08 10:14 am - The mayor of Turlock, Calif., called for an investigation into automated phone messages voters that urged voters to reject Prop. 8 and claimed to (but reportedly did not) come from the campaign of City Council candidate Mary Jackson.

• The Raleigh News & Observer (NC): Regrets? Some Democrats May Have a Few

11.06.08 10:07 am - Incumbent Democrats in N.C. districts considered Republican-leaning were reelected Tuesday, including Julie Boseman, who is the state legislature’s first openly gay member.

• San Diego Union-Tribune (CA): State’s Wedding Vendors Face Broken Engagements

11.06.08 10:00 am - Tuesday’s slight majority vote to take away marital protections from gay Californians will affect wedding vendors and service providers who enjoyed a boost in business after the state’s marriage ban was lifted.

• The Desert Sun (CA): EDITORIAL: Approval of Prop. 8 Casts a Pall on Election

11.06.08 09:57 am - The Palm Springs Desert Sun’s editorial board write of their disappointment over Prop. 8’s passage, but say, “[W]e believe change is inevitable, and none of us can truly enjoy our civil rights if some of us are lacking the same rights.”

• Ventura County Star (CA): Ex-Fillmore Mayor Cited in Removal of ‘Yes on 8′ Signs

11.06.08 09:50 am - Former Fillmore, Calif., Mayor Mike McMahan was cited on suspicion of misdemeanor petty theft Tuesday in connection with the removal of pro-Prop. 8 signs from property.

• Los Angeles Times (CA): Police, Demonstrators Clash at Prop. 8 Protest

11.05.08 10:44 am - The Los Angeles Police Department issued a citywide tactical alert Wednesday, requiring all available officers to respond to a Hollywood demonstration against Prop. 8. Despite several arrests, the protest was mostly peaceful.

• St. Petersburg Times (FL): Gay Candidate Target of Late Campaign Call

11.04.08 10:33 am - Openly gay Hillsborough County, Fla., Commissioner Brian Blair was the subject of a pro-Amendment 2 recorded campaign call that drew attention to his sexual orientation on the eve of the election.

From the Blogs:

• L.A. Now (Los Angeles Times): One Gay Couple Faces the Post-Prop. 8 Future
• Marc Malkin (E! Online): Ellen DeGeneres on Barack Obama, Prop. 8
• Towleroad: Prop 8 Foes Refusing to Concede
• Queerty: Christian Group Vows To Fight For More Marriage Bans
• 365Gay.com - Withers: Prop 8 and its aftermath
• Good As You: Courtin’ bias: Anti-gay side scoffs at our search for justice
• Towleroad: Did Grey’s Anatomy Go a Gay Too Far for ABC Execs?
• Queerty: Dempsey: ABC Gave Me Script For “Lesbian” Smith’s Firing
• Queerty: “This Is So Not Over,” Promises Boxer On Proposition 8
• 365Gay.com: Protests mark gay marriage rollback
• Towleroad: CNN Exit Polls: 27% of Gays Voted for McCain
• Queerty: Thousands Protest Prop 8 As Lawsuits Filed
• Towleroad: Lance Bass Gets Caught in Sunset Blvd. Crowd of ‘No on 8′ Protestors
• Joe.My.God: Turmoil At WeHo Prop 8 Protests
• Joe.My.God: 5000 Protest Prop 8 At SF City Hall
• Queerty: Gays Need To Grab Ballots, Says Out’s Hicklin