On December 18 the American Psychoanalytic Association (APA) endorsed Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's Marriage Resolution, which maintains that states should not interfere with couples of the same gender who wish to marry. Marvin Margolis, M.D., Ph.D., president of the APA, expressed his enthusiastic support for the resolution. Ralph Roughton, M.D., chair of the Association's Committee of Issues on Homosexuality added "[A]s psychoanalysts, we are proud to join the many prominent national organizations and individuals which support the efforts for gay and lesbian civil rights in the area of marriage and family, spearheaded by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund." For more information, contact Leon Hoffman, M.D. (American Psychoanalytic Association) at (212) 249-1163.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, PART 2:

On December 19, The Hawaii Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that prevented eight state lawmakers from intervening in the case of Baehr v. Miike, which led to a decision allowing same-sex couples the right to marry. The case itself, which was decided a year ago in favor of three couples seeking the right to marry, is currently on appeal to the same Supreme Court which ruled on the lawmakers' appeal. If the court had found in favor of the state representatives, it might have jeopardized the landmark decision which found that denying marriage licenses to couples of the same sex amounted to unconstitutional gender discrimination. The lawyer representing the eight states, Jay Sekulow, is an attorney with the American Center for Law And Justice, which is closely affiliated with Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition. For more information on the Hawaii case, and on the Marriage Resolution, contact Peg Byron (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) at (212) 809-8585, Ext. 230, 888-987-1984 (pager).

HRC JOINS GLAAD'S "ELLEN" WATCH:

This week the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) began linking GLAAD's "Ellen" Watch, a weekly e-mailed list of the weeks Ellen advertisers, from its own Web page. The ABC sitcom has come under heavy fire from anti-gay groups after its lead character came out as a lesbian. Since then, those groups have been pressuring advertisers not to support diversity and inclusion on network television by refusing to buy advertising on the show. Recently, the anti-gay American Family Association has redistributed "Ellen" Watch to its members, encouraging them to write the advertisers in protest. "HRC's involvement with 'Ellen' Watch will help combat the homophobic and narrow minded efforts of radical religious groups hell bent on derailing Ellen DeGeneres and ABC's efforts to truly reflect the fabric of America," said Liz Tracey, GLAAD Associate Communications Director. For more information, contact Liz Tracey (GLAAD) at (212) 807-1700, or via e-mail at tracey@glaad.org or contact David Smith (HRC Senior Strategist) at (202) 628-4160.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.

To subscribe: contact Don Romesburg at (415) 861-2244 or at romesburg@glaad.org.