Israeli justice minister to promote inheritance law for same-sex partners

Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is planning to promote an amendment to the Inheritance Law that would allow same-sex partners to be each others’ heirs when the Knesset reconvenes for its summer session May 11, reports GayAsiaNews.com. “Love is love, and a family is a family, and it’s inconceivable that the law allows for institutional…

Read More

New Report shows Utah to gain financially with legalization of same-sex marriage

A new report from the Williams Institute, a progressive think tank on the campus of UCLA, shows that Utah stands to gain significant financial advantage, increase tourism and create jobs if it were, in fact, to legalize same-sex marriage. The authors, E.G. Fitzgerald, Christy Mallory and M.V. Lee Badgett, have released a report entitled “Estimating…

Read More

Marriage equality in Taiwan lacks force of law despite social acceptance

TAIWAN — Despite  growing social acceptance of marriage between same-sex couples, equality in Taiwan remains largely a dream because of a lack of legal recognition reports gayasianews.com In the past, same-sex relations were taboo but recent studies show attitudes are changing, said a taipeitimes.com report citing last year’s poll conducted by Academia Sinica showing 52 percent…

Read More

New IRS video helps same-sex couples (VIDEO)

English http://youtu.be/G1pAihAyKuA Spanish http://youtu.be/YzkojkYAveg WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service released a new YouTube video designed to provide useful tax tips to married same-sex couples. The video is the latest addition to an online  library featuring short IRS instructional videos covering  more than 100 topics ranging from tips for victims of identity theft to taking…

Read More

VA Home Loan Centers offers VA-backed mortgages to veterans married to same-sex partners

One of the major areas of change facing San Diego-based VA Home Loan Centers and other agencies responsible for administering the VA Home Loan Guarantee to veterans is the question of same-sex marriage. Under federal law, veterans and their spouses are eligible to apply jointly for mortgages backed by the Veterans Administration, whereas unmarried couples…

Read More

Virginia attorney general ends defense of state’s marriage ban

In an announcement, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has said that his office will join the growing consensus of opinion in arguing that the state ban on marriage for lesbian and gay couples should be overturned.  There are two cases in federal court challenging the Commonwealth’s marriage amendment and Herring is urging the courts to rule…

Read More

Lawsuit filed for marriage equality in Florida

Today, six same-sex couples and Equality Florida Institute are filing a lawsuit in Florida state court in Miami seeking the freedom to marry. The lawsuit argues that Florida’s laws barring same-sex couples from marriage violate the United States Constitution by denying them the legal protections and equal dignity that having the freedom to marry provides….

Read More

Long Beach hotel offers on-site officiants for walk-in weddings

Newly ordained staff at Long Beach’s Hotel Maya are set to officiate walk-in wedding ceremonies at the hotel amid the lush landscape and tropical gardens of a romantic waterfront setting. Hotel Maya’s all-new walk-in wedding package is a fast and easy choice for couples recently engaged from the holidays, long-term couples benefiting from same-sex marriage…

Read More

Same-sex couples break marriage records in Utah; state to appeal ruling to U.S. Supreme Court

The number of marriages in the state of Utah have broken all records since a federal judge overturned Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage a week ago. According to a report in  The Salt Lake Tribune, as of close of business Thursday, more than 1,225 marriage licenses had been issued in Utah since last Friday and…

Read More