Vatican Responds To Gay Marriage Gains in U.S.

Catholic Church pledging to fight erosion of heterosexual marriage

The Vatican doesn’t like what happened for gays and lesbians in the U.S. on Election Day last week – voters approved same sex marriage rights in Maryland, Maine and Washington state. On Saturday, Vatican officials used media to speak out against attempts to “erase” the prominence of heterosexual marriage. "It is clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union," Father Federico Lombardi said in a Vatican Radio editorial. He went on to ask: “Why not contemplate also freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry?" There are 77.7 million registered U.S. Catholics. Last Tuesday’s gay marriage wins marked the first time marriage rights for LGBT individuals were achieved through popular vote. (Reuters)

[ALSO READ: Gay Community Has Best Election Night Ever]

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Gay Community Has Best Election Night Ever

LGBT community wins big on marriage equality, gets first openly gay U.S. Senator

While Americans were sending their first African American president, Barack Obama, back to the White House for four more years, voters in four states were delivering a huge victory to gay and lesbians couples who want the right to legally tie the knot.

As of Wednesday morning, same sex marriage was legally sanctioned by voters in Maine and Maryland, and voters were narrowly approving it in Washington state. Minnesota voters rejected a ballot measure that would have imposed a ban on such unions, although couples there still do not have the right to wed.

Gay rights advocacy groups were heralding the historic news, thought not so long ago to be highly improbable through the electoral process, while also reelecting Obama, who is the first sitting U.S. president to endorse gay marriage.

“Years from now we’ll remember this election day as the most important and most historic, in the history of the LGBT movement,” Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a video statement recorded Tuesday night.

HRC, a prominent American gay and lesbian civil rights group, spent two years raising $20 million and mobilizing its largest ever marriage equality campaign.

“We have won a landslide victory for equality at the ballot box,” Griffin declared.

Herndon Graddick, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, gave some of the credit to President Obama.

Zumba Sex Ring Client Names Released In Maine Investigation

Men in small town scandal could include lawyers, police and other community leaders

Police in a seaside community in Maine on Monday released the first round of names of more than 100 men accused of having paid for sex with a 29-year-old Zumba fitness instructor, who is charged with running a brothel in her dance studio. The release of 21 names came after a lawyer failed to convince local authorities to withhold them, out of fear their “ruin people’s lives.” Fitness instructor Alexis Wright was charged this month with engaging in prostitution, in which she kept detailed records and made an estimated $150,000 over 18 months. The town of Kennebunk, which boasts a modest 10,000 population, has been all abuzz about the release of the names. "She was so young," said local resident Alison Ackley, who participated in Wrights class a few times. "She had a lot going for her. It's a shame she was hanging out with these older men and getting money from them." (Associated Press)

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Polls: Same Sex Marriage Gaining Support In Battleground States

Over half of voters in highly contested states favor legalizing same-sex marriage

A slim majority of Florida, Ohio and Virginia voters say they support legalizing gay marriage, according to a September polls by the Washington Post. In Florida, 54 percent of voters think it should be legal. In Ohio, 52 think the same. That’s a significant increase from eight years ago, when attitudes against marriage equality were more widespread, the poll finds. The growing support in the battleground starts suggest huge wins for LGBT rights activists may be on the horizon. On Election Day, voters in Maryland, Maine and Washington state will be asked whether they want to legalize same-sex nuptials in their state. In Minnesota, voters will be asked if they want to ban gay marriage. (Washington Post)

[ALSO READ: Black Church Leaders Choose Voting Rights Over Gay Marriage Rift]

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