Same-sex marriage bill strikes out in California Assembly News
Same-sex marriage bill strikes out in California Assembly

[JURIST] A same-sex marriage bill [text] introduced in the California Assembly [JURIST report] appears to be dead after coming up four votes short of approval on its third go-round Thursday, making it likely that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not get a bill on the subject this year. Bill sponsor Assemblyman Mark Leno complained afterwards that gay and lesbian couples were being treated as "second-class citizens". The general issue meanwhile heads to the California Supreme Court, after state Attorney General Bill Lockyer earlier this week appealed [JURIST report] a state Superior Court ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The San Francisco Chronicle has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.