USA Network ad backs gay marriage
Page One Q reports a major television network has backed marriage equality in a recent ad campaign.
The USA Network, whose ads feature the slogan “Characters Welcome,” has launched the campaign in conjunction with a coalition of advocacy organizations, calling on the audience to sign the “Characters Unite Pledge.”
“At USA Network,” the ad states, “we believe life is richer when we see past our differences and appreciate each other for the characters that we are.”
The characters in the 30-second spot ad, widely ranging in age and race, give their reasons for pledging, which include: “I pledge because everybody deserves wedding gifts.”
Lesbian discharged from National Guard
Advocate.com reports a nine-year member of the Kansas Army National Guard was discharged under the military’s ban on gay servicemembers.
Amy Brian was the Kansas Guard’s first discharge under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy after a coworker saw her kiss a woman in a Wal-Mart. The Iraq War veteran was “separated” in January.
“I was not separated because of any type of misconduct but plain and simply because someone else had a problem with my sexuality,” she said.
In July 2008, another gay guardsman warned Brian that someone was targeting her and, the following month, a lieutenant told her she was being investigated for homosexual conduct.
Antigay bill defeated in Wyoming
365gay.com reports legislation to amend the Wyoming constitution to ban same-sex marriage has been defeated in the state legislature.
The Wyoming House voted 35-25 against it, despite massive lobbying by conservative groups. The vote ensures the measure will not appear on the ballot in 2010.
The proposed amendment would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and blocked the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.
Wyoming already has a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, but Republican state Sen. Curt Meier, the amendment’s main sponsor, said the law is not sufficient and could be overturned by the courts. A constitutional amendment would have blocked that.
— Larry Nichols