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• Dearly beloved, why are we debating this? | Gay marriage is front and center (Leonard Pitts, Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• The Supreme Court ruled for privacy—not for gay marriage | In Lawrence v. Texas, the Court didn't create a new right. It just said it wasn't kidding about an old one (Jonathan Rauch, National Journal)
  
  
• The constitutional defense | If the Supreme Court is going to continue to perform as a standing constitutional convention, then it becomes a conservative warrant to employ constitutional defenses (William F. Buckley Jr.)
  
  
• Oz PM rules out support for gay marriages | Prime Minister John Howard has aligned himself with the Vatican and US President George W Bush in ruling out gay marriages, saying they do nothing to support "survival of the species" (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Priests' messages mixed | No directive from Cardinal Turcotte. Some tackle issue of same-sex unions from pulpit, but others decide to keep silent (The Gazette, Montreal)
  
  
• We need a real debate over gay marriage | Rather, a handful of provincial courts—in Ontario, B.C., and Quebec—have taken liberal positions, and our government is responding by following the path of least resistance (Editorial, The National Post, Canada)
  
  
• Group to tackle gay marriage after break | The Senate will investigate whether new laws should be passed to strengthen the federal definition of marriage as a man-woman union when it returns from its summer recess, a Republican said Friday (Associated Press)
  
  
• 'Reject gay rights move' | An archbishop has called on members of Scottish Parliament to vote against giving homosexual partners the same legal rights as married couples (BBC, audio)
  
  
• Oppose rights Bill, says Archbishop | The Archbishop of Glasgow called on politicians yesterday to vote against a move to give homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples (The Daily Telegraph, London)
  
  
• Uniting Church fears split over decision | Evangelicals in the Uniting Church of Australia are trying to force the church's assembly to reconsider last month's decision to allow gay ministers (The Age, Melbourne)
  
  
• Also: Naracoorte minister to fight gay decision | Naracoorte Uniting Church minister Brian Zeitz says he is staying on to help fight a decision by the church's national assembly to allow the ordination of practising homosexuals (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
  
  

• Don't marry church, state | Several Colorado political leaders, including Gov. Bill Owens, were right to eschew a Vatican directive for Catholic lawmakers to actively oppose same-sex marriages (Editorial, The Denver Post)
  
  

The Catholic Church and Canada's gay marriage laws:

• The Vatican defiant | Criticism was the order of the day on European op-ed pages after the Holy See urged Catholic lawmakers to oppose legalizing gay marriages (Deutsche Welle, Germany)
  
  
• Turning the clock back | The Catholic Church must learn respect (Editorial, The Guardian, London)
  
  
• Expect a Catholic exodus | Catholics, who for historical reasons have largely voted Democrat, will abandon the party in droves (just as social liberals have been, and are, abandoning the Church). (Hugo Gordon, National Post, Canada)
  
  

Sexual ethics:

• Rainbow warriors | The gay-rights movement has seized the nation's attention and agenda. Can it hold them? (The Boston Globe)
  
  

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August (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47