By: Karen Hu

Trying to legalize Gay marriage has been a continous war for quite a while now. Recently, California has overturned Prop 8 which means it will be on the ballet for people to vote. For those who want gay marriage to be legalized, this overturning on prop 8 is just one step closer to doing so.

Everyone has different opinions on gay marriage. There are a lot of people who do not agree to it, but a good portion of people do agree. I for one, agree to gay marriage. I don't see anything wrong with it and I think it's perfectly fine for a man and man or a woman and woman to get marry. The reason why people get married is because they love each other, so does it matter if it's the same sex or opposite sex? No, I believe it doesn't. As long as they love each other, that's enough and they should be allowed to marry.

16 year old Shawnanis McCune agrees to gay marriage as well. "I believe that love isn't just for male and female, People deserve to love who they want to. Just because you fall for someone who's the same sex as you, It doesn't mean that it's wrong." She believes that everyone deserves to marry whoever they're in love with. McCune also believes there isn't anything "wrong" it same sex marriages. "I think it's wrong, to be called wrong or bad for being who you are."

There are different reasons on why people think that gay marriage is wrong. "Religious reasons mostly. It's something they're not used to. They feel that it'll influence other people into thinking that it's okay, Like their children." said 20 year old Sharon Truong. She feels that marriage is marriage, "I feel the same way about it as straight marriage. It's just marriage."

We're all equal, aren't we? We should all be treated the same. We're all the same in the first place anyway. People act like homosexauls arent people but another species or something. They're still people who have feelings and have a heart. So think about it, Is it really that wrong for homosexuals to get married? Is it really that wrong for two people, of the same sex who love each other, to get marry? 

The New York state Senate defeated a bill Wednesday afternoon that would have legalized same-sex marriage, the New York Times reports. Gay rights advocates had expected the measure to win, but instead, the vote marks the latest impediment to the gay marriage movement. Last month, Maine blocked same-sex marriage through a voter referendum.

The measure, which no Republican senator supported, lost 38 to 24. A similar bill had passed twice in the state Assembly. Also, Gov. David Paterson had said he would sign bill, making New York "the latest state where gay rights advocates have made considerable progress only to see their hopes dashed," says the Times. If the New York measure had passed, New York would have become the sixth state where marriage between same-sex couples is legal or would soon be permitted.

(via The New York Times)

A recent Los Angeles Times/USC poll found that a large portion of voters oppose efforts to place the same-sex marriage issue back on the ballot next year.

Views on same-sex marriage were polarized based on political party, with 66% of Democrat respondents believeing it should be legal and 71% of Republicans thinking it should not. Nonpartisan voters backed same-sex marriage 59%-34%.

Overall, 51% of California voters favored marriage rights for same-sex couples and 43% were opposed to same-sex marriage. Most noteably, almost 60% of Californians did not want to revisit the issue in 2010.

In November of 2008, Californians voted 52% to 48% to limit marriage rights to one man and one woman. Same-sex marriage advocates have been split over whether to push for a new vote next year or wait until 2012, when the presidential election will draw more voters to the polls.

Supporters of gay marriage are also strategizing in other states. On Tuesday, voters in Maine repealed a state measure that had granted marriage rights to same-sex couples.

(via The Los Angeles Times)

[This week's feature spotlight focuses on LGBT issues.]
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I’ve been an outcast since childhood. In school, I was either the skinny kid or the only black kid or the free lunch kid. In 6th grade, there was only one kid as bad off as I was—my friend Bobby. We were on the playground when he said, “I have something to tell you. Please don’t stop being my friend.” He told me he was gay. Me too, Bobby, me too.

Every crazy day, we had to stand up for ourselves and each other. After all, we couldn’t change who we were.

I’m a long way from 6th grade, but I still have the same struggles.

Opponents faced-off today in San Francisco in the hot debate over Gay Marriage. Opponents of Prop. 8 argue that the propostion blocks the rights of a minority population.

In a three-hour plus hearing California Supreme Court justices posed difficult questions for the opponents of the bill. The court has 90 days to make a ruling. [via SF Gate]