Obama Extending Federal Benefits to Gay Partners

Ellen DeGeneres calls Constance McMillen a leader for gay rights

(NEWSER) - Ellen DeGeneres honored the Mississippi teen who stood up for her right to take a same-sex partner to the prom on her show today, presenting her with a $30,000 college scholarship check. DeGeneres hailed Constance McMillen as part of a new generation of leaders in gay rights. The school district canceled the prom rather than let McMillen attend. "I admire you so much," DeGeneres told the 18-year-old. "When I was your age I never would have had the strength to do what you are doing." More»

Outrageous characters may be hurting the cause

(NEWSER) - There was a time when homosexuality on TV helped the public become more accepting of gays and lesbians, but that time may be over. As the small screen fills with characters like Glee’s Kurt, “the sensitive gay boy who really wants to be a girl,” and a plethora of “gorgeous, curvy” lesbians, gay rights regarding marriage and the military are experiencing setbacks, writes Ramin Setoodeh in Newsweek. More»

(NEWSER) - Wanda Sykes has been tapped to roast Barack Obama at this year’s White House Correspondents' Dinner on May 9. The lesbian comic will likely skewer the President’s anti-gay-marriage stance, but she has some skeletons of her own, the Los Angeles Times reports. After hearing about the engagement, “I made sure my taxes were paid,” she said. More»

Charles Krauthammer: If it's a civil right, how can he let states deny it?

(NEWSER) - Charles Krauthammer sees a "howling contradiction" in President Obama's new position on gay marriage. It's one thing to have "empathy" for the cause, he writes in the Washington Post , to feel badly for gay friends and acquaintances who can't legally marry. It's quite another to call it the next logical step in the civil rights battle, as the president did. If gay marriage is, in fact, a civil right, how can Obama abide any state denying it? More»

67% say announcement was made for political reasons

(NEWSER) - Most voters are OK with President Obama's stand on gay marriage but they're pretty skeptical about the reason for the "evolution," the latest New York Times / CBS poll finds. Some 67%—including a majority of independents and almost half of Democrats—believe Obama made the announcement "mostly for political reasons," while only 24% believe he came out in favor of gay marriage "mostly because he thinks it is right." Echoing an earlier Gallup poll , the new poll found that some 60% of voters say the announcement won't affect how they vote. More»