same-sex marriages

Cindy Hensley McCain — the wife of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and chairwoman of the Hensley & Co. beer distribution company — is slated to appear in a play next month at the Herberger Theater in Phoenix that supports same-sex marriage.
Some other notable Arizona political, media and business names are also in the play “8” which deals with same-sex marriage and prohibitions in Arizona, California and other states. The play gets its name from California’s Proposition 8 gay marriage ban.
John McCain opposes laws allowing gay marriage, while his wife has been a vocal supporter of same-sex marriages. Read more »

Gay and lesbian couples are paying as much as $6,000 more at tax time than their heterosexual counterparts because the government disallows them from filing together on federal tax returns, a joint study between CNN Money and H&R Block has found. Read more »

Hearing a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows federal benefits to go only to heterosexual married couples, the Supreme Court appeared skeptical of the statute and indicated that it might strike down a section of the 1996 law.

At issue in Wednesday’s oral argument was the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, passed by overwhelming margins in both houses of Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton.

A section of the law, in effect, bars federal agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages, even in the states where they are legal.

After the oral arguments, NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reported that there seemed to be the five votes on the court that would be needed to invalidate the law. Read more »

Gene Barfield and his partner, Tim LaCroix, celebrated their 30th anniversary by getting married.

The two met when they were both serving in the Navy, and last week, the military veterans became the first same-sex couple to be legally married by a tribe in Michigan.

The pair exchanged vows on a cold but sunny morning at the government headquarters of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.

LaCroix is a citizen of the LTBB, a federally recognized Native American tribe.

Earlier this month, the LTBB tribal council voted to recognize same-sex unions as long as at least one member of the couple was a citizen of the tribe. LaCroix and Barfield were married the same morning that the tribal chairman signed the legislation into law. Read more »