From the brutal killing of a young gay man in Alabama, to Florida’s ban on gay adoption being upheld in court, to state measures banning gay marriage in four southern states, the Southeast saw many gay rights setbacks during 2004.

JANUARY
Appeals court upholds Fla. gay adoption ban. A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Florida can legally bar “practicing homosexuals” from adopting children. “The state of Florida has made the determination that it is not in the best interest of its displaced children to be adopted by individuals who engage in current, voluntary homosexual activity and we have found nothing in the Constitution that forbids this policy judgment,” Judge Stanley Birch wrote in the panel’s decision.

FEBRUARY
Ky. school gets gay-straight alliance. After a lengthy legal battle, officials in Ashland, Ky., agreed to allow students in a gay-rights group to meet at Boyd County High School. The school board voted to accept a consent decree to settle a lawsuit by the Gay-Straight Alliance. The lawsuit accused the school district of violating students’ constitutional rights by not allowing them to meet at the school.

Gay dad loses, then wins in Ten-nessee. court. The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a temporary restraining order that prevented divorced gay father Joe Hogue from introducing his child to his gay partner. During his divorce, a judge issued a temporary restraining order restricting Hogue from “taking the child around or otherwise exposing the child to his gay lover(s) and/or his gay lifestyle.” Hogue’s ex-wife alleged he violated the order and Hogue was sent to jail for two days. Weeks later, on March 24, the same court reversed its ruling, setting a prec edent that heterosexual and gay parents must be treated equally by judges in child custody or visitation disputes.

MARCH
Texas governor denounces ‘smear campaign.’ Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, denied widespread rumors he and his wife are divorcing over an alleged gay infidelity and that he will resign from office. Perry told reporters that political enemies are responsible for the “smear campaign.”

Episcopal church withholds money over gay bishop. An Episcopal Church in Lexington stopped giving money to the Lexington diocese and the Episcopal Church USA as a means to object to the consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson. Robinson became the bishop of New Hampshire this month and is the church’s first openly gay bishop.

APRIL
N.C. city backs same-sex marriage. The Chapel Hill Town Council voted to ask state legislators to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The council planned to recognize same-sex marriages even though North Carolina does not do so under the state’s DOMA. Town leaders want the option of recognizing legal gay marriages from other states.

MAY
Tennessee county’s proposed gay ban sparks rallies. More than 400 people turned out May 8 for a Rhea County Gay Day celebration prompted by the county commission’s March vote to ban gay men and lesbians and have them arrested for “crimes against nature.” The commission later rescinded the vote. On May 7, an anti-gay rally was held at the Dayton, Tenn., courthouse where a jury in 1925 convicted John Scopes of teaching evolution. In June, the Rhea commissioners opted to specify support of a state ban on gay marriage.

Fla. couples sue to legally wed. Miami attorney Ellis Rubin filed a lawsuit on behalf of three gay male couples and one lesbian couple challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Named as defendants are Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin. Gay activists urged Rubin to postpone challenging the law because of the current anti-gay marriage political climate.

JUNE
Louisiana debates constitutional amendment defining marriage. Louisiana lawmakers approved a ban on gay marriage and civil unions and send the measure to voters. The ballot initiative is overwhelmingly approved on Sept. 18, but Forum for Equality, a gay-rights group, sued because, attorneys argued, the measure addressed two issues — marriage and civil unions — when state law requires constitutional amendments to address only one issue. In October, a state judge threw out the vote, declaring it violated the “single object” rule. The case was argued in the state supreme court in December and a ruling is expected in early 2005.

JULY
County commission asked to block gay foster parents in Georgia. A heterosexual married couple in Calhoun asked the Gordon County Commission to forbid gay adults from becoming foster parents after rumors surfaced that a lesbian couple was taking classes to become a foster family. Commissioners told the couple they have no jurisdiction over foster families. But one commissioner, George Townsend, agreed gay couples should not raise children.

Appeals court won’t reconsider Florida adoption case. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 6-6 to refuse to rehear a challenge to Florida’s ban on gay adoption, upholding the current ban and keeping Florida as the only state with a complete ban on adoption by gays, either as a couple or as single parents.

Gay Alabama teen slain. Scotty Joe Weaver, 18, was found brutally slain and his body burned in Bay Minette, Ala. Prosecutors believe the crime was motivated because of Weaver’s sexual orientation. Charged with the killing are Christopher Ryan Gaines, 20, Gaines’ girlfriend, Nichole Kelsay, 18; and Robert Holly Lofton Porter, 18. Gaines and Kelsay were friends of Weaver, who sometimes appeared in drag at gay bars.

AUGUST
Miami Beach residents win DP benefits. City commissioners in Miami Beach unanimously approved an expansive domestic partnership registry giving couples rights to hospital visitations, health care decisions and emergency medical notification. The registry is opened to Miami Beach residents and visitors, heterosexual couples and gay couples.

SEPTEMBER
Gay marriage ban wins in Arkansas. The ACLU chapter in Arkansas filed a lawsuit in state supreme court questioning the validity of the Nov. 2 ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage. The Arkansas challenge claimed the ballot initiative is misleading to voters. The suit failed, however, and Arkansas voters overwhelmingly approved the state constitutional ban of gay marriage.

OCTOBER
Sandals Resorts rescinds ban on gay couples. Miami-based Sandals Resorts r

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