Wisconsin domestic partnerships upheld
The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Circuit Court Judge Daniel Moeser ruled on June 20 that the state’s domestic partner registry does not violate the state constitution’s ban on same-sex marriage. The registry, established in 2009, grants same-sex couples protections such as the right to visit each other in hospitals, make end-of-life decisions and inherit each other’s property.
Chicago attorney Christopher Clark of Lambda Legal, who represented the gay-rights group Fair Wisconsin in the case, said the registry “creates a very limited set of rights for same-sex couples” that is not “substantially similar” to marriage between a man and woman. “This is a far cry from marriage in many significant respects.”
Wisconsin Family Action, the group that brought the suit, plans to appeal the decision.
‘Gay panic’ defense denied
The Michigan Messenger reports that an appeals court refused to accept a “gay panic” defense in the 2009 beating of a man who brought his assailant home from a bar.
A lower court had found defendant Dale Cutler guilty of assault with intent to cause great bodily harm and sentenced him to 11-25 years in prison as a habitual offender.
In the June 16 decision, the 2-1 majority opinion states, “Under the circumstances, even accepting defendant’s testimony that the victim sexually assaulted him and punched him once in the head, defendant cannot assert self-defense because he used excessive force to repel the attack he claims was mounted by the victim.”
Morgan apologizes in Nashville
Advocate.com reports that comedian Tracy Morgan concluded his “apology tour” in Nashville, the scene of his onstage rant, on June 21. After the series of conversations organized by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation with homeless gay teens and the mother of a man killed in a hate crime, Morgan describes his act as a mistake.
He won over Kevin Rogers, the audience member who initially reported the incident, who believed that the apology was “sincere” and that Morgan “spoke from his heart.”
— compiled by Chandlee Taylor