February 11, 2015
Issue 1568
New Catholic bishop 12 counties follow Alabama’s accepts science on trans chief justice over legal cliff don’t want to see judges people but not for LGBs “Imake the same mistakes that I think were made in this state 50 years ago [fighting racial integration], where you have state officials not abiding by federal orders. The legacy always hangs over us until we show that we’re beyond it.”
OBSERVER STAFF BURLINGTON, Vt. -Bishop Christopher Coyne, Vermont’s new arbiter of things Roman, may have established a new paradigm right off the bat: The science on transgendered people is A-OK, but the science on LGB people is still heretical. “There’s more and more evidence coming forward that a lot of this is biological . . . that transgender people are really struggling with the idea of gender identity . . . and that’s through no fault of their own. And so there’s no fault to be made, actually. This is who they are. . . . Everyone is God’s creatures. And I would invite
Inside POLL: Half of young people don’t believe gender is binary Page 15 Boehner: House GOP hopes to stay out of U.S. Supreme Court marriage fight Page 6
Thank you Mary for comparing drag queens to blackface Page 3
Spraying Native kids with beer, invective: 57 counts of child abuse . . . for starters Page 4
Is that a crack in the ice? Well . . . um . . . yes! Page 13
Russian homophobe may return ‘joke’ on lesbian couple Page 6
-- Judge Steven L. Reed of Montgomery County, Ala. OBSERVER STAFF Only 13 states don’t recognize marriage equality. A remedy may be forthcoming when the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue later this year.
Why evidence from the
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- It’s almost too delicious to believe: wingnut Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court yelling about activist judges while himself being the most blatantly activist judge in modern memory!
marriages were scheduled to begin across the state, only nine of Alabama’s 67 counties followed U.S. District Judge Callie Granade’s order to begin issuing licenses.
Continued on page 12
Monday, when same-sex
(Rural Crenshaw County --
Bishop Christopher Coyne
anyone to come to the table,” Coyne said.
Alabama minister arrested for offering to perform samesex wedding PRATTVILLE, Ala. -- A minister was charged with misdemeanor orderly conduct Tuesday after she offered to perform a same-sex marriage at the Autauga County probate judge's office, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. Anne Susan Diprizio of Prattville was held on $1,000 bond after refusing to leave the office where Courtney Cannon and Morgan Plunkett had been issued a license. Diprizio had offered to perform the marriage on the spot but was handcuffed and led across the street to a jail.
Autauga County is basically rural but lies across the Alabama River from Montgomery, the state capital.
Twelve counties followed Moore’s order to continue Continued on page 7
Bill aims to allow AZ elected officials to conceal more from the public By R.D. Smith GUEST COLUMNIST PHOENIX -- A bill introduced last week would allow Arizona elected officials exactly what we all think they need: more ability to keep the voters in the dark about what they’re doing. Reportedly, the big push for this is coming from new Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, who previously served in the state House of Representatives. In between stints in the Continued on page 7
The Queen thinks same-sex marriage is wonderful, Stephen Fry claims
The judge's office staff stopped performing any weddings Friday, but claimed it was because of the office's work load. Same-sex marriage licenses began Monday in those counties that are obeying a federal judge's order. It remained unclear whether the judge had any authority to stop a member of the public from performing a wedding in the lobby.
with Luverne as the county seat -- was ready to issue samesex licenses but none were requested.)
LONDON – Monday, PinkNews reported that “QI” host Stephen Fry – who recently married comedian Elliot Spencer – recounted a story about the monarch on “The Jonathan Ross Show.”
The queen gave Royal Assent to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in July 2013, paving the way for marriages to finally begin last March.
time, she put it down and said ‘Well, who’d have thought 62 years ago when I came to the throne, I’d be signing something like this? Isn’t it wonderful?’”
Fry said, “It was only last summer that Her Majesty The Queen gave the Royal Assent.
Fry continued, “I am so proud to live in the country where [acceptance] seems to be the absolute majority view.”
“I don’t know whether this is true, but there’s an Italian saying -- if it’s not true, it’s well founded. “When the queen signed the Royal Assent for the equal marriages act, allowing gay people to marry for the first
The queen – who maintains political neutrality – has never publicly remarked about samesex marriage, and did not mention the first weddings in her Christmas broadcast last year.