All eyes are on San Francisco as leading attorneys have prepare a challenge to proposition in Federal Court:

In part, 2010 will reflect a growing move by same-sex marriage advocates to building support for their civil rights cause outside of the election process.

The federal challenge to California’s ban may be the only conflict in clear sight after a mixed 2009 that saw Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire legalize gay marriage and Washington, D.C., vote for legalization, while there were setbacks in other states that had been expected to follow.

“The focus is very much on this one case,” said Andy Pugno, a California lawyer who successfully defended California’s ban in the state supreme court and is helping in the federal defense as well.

New York state legislators failed to back gay marriage and a New Jersey effort has hit snags and has a few weeks to act before a new governor who opposes such gay unions takes office. Maine voters rejected same-sex marriage by a thin margin similar to the California 2008 ban, which is being contested in the San Francisco federal court.

“We believed that this is something that needs to be vindicated at the federal constitutional level, and I think that that is reinforced by what’s happened in Maine and what did not happen, for example in New Jersey, and what did not happen in New York,” said David Boies, one of the lead lawyers in the federal case.

Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in 2004 and California had a summer of legalization in 2008 before voters banned it.

Trial is set to start January 11 in San Francisco. Boies and co-lead Ted Olson argue that marriage is a U.S. constitutional right too fundamental to limit and that gays and lesbians are a discriminated group that deserve special court protection.

Opposing attorney Charles Cooper says restricting marriage to a man and a woman reflects a reasonable government position that heterosexual couples are best for families. It is not a question of hate, and gays and lesbians have plenty of political power, making special court protection unnecessary.

Read more about the case at Reuters.com.

The Baltimore Sun opines that Maryland should follow the District of Columbia in granting gay and lesbian couples with full marriage equality:

On Tuesday, Washington, D.C.’s city council voted to make the District the sixth place in the nation where gay couples can legally marry. By voting to permit same-sex marriages in the District between people from anywhere in the country, the council struck a historic blow for equal rights that has drawn the attention of supporters and opponents both locally and nationally.

Although D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has indicated he will sign the measure, it still faces several hurdles before it can become law. Congress could block the council’s decision during the 30-day review period mandated under the District’s home rule charter, and opponents still hope to mount a challenge at the ballot box by forcing the city to put the issue up for referendum.

Given that both houses of the Democrat-controlled Congress currently have their plates full dealing with health-care reform and other matters, it seems unlikely either will divert much time or energy to meddle in the District’s affairs. And the District’s own human rights ordinance in general prohibits referendums that potentially violate the rights of individuals based on their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Thus, it appears that the issue of gay marriage has now arrived at Maryland’s doorstep, and that increases the urgency for Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler to issue an opinion on whether the state is permitted to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

The District already has such a law, and it seems reasonable to expect that many gay couples in Maryland may now choose to get married there, even though they maintain their residences in this state. Recognizing those unions would afford gay couples the same legal protections regarding health care, inheritance, sick leave to care for a partner and other domestic arrangements enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

Maryland’s law specifying that marriage is between a man and a woman survived a test in the Court of Appeals, and efforts to legalize gay marriage through the legislature have been unsuccessful. But Gov. Martin O’Malley has said he would like to be able to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal but is waiting to hear from the attorney general about whether doing so would be legal.

BBC News reports that  British Prime Minister is pushing for civl partnerships for gay and lesbian couples across the entire European Union:

The prime minister said Britain was negotiating deals with France and Spain but wanted to “go further than that”.

He told [Altitude Magazine] it was important to show “respect for gay people was due” in “Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe”.

But he predicted it would take “many years” for this to happen.

Campaigners have been pushing for people who have undergone a civil partnership to be granted the same legal status and rights they enjoy in the UK in every other EU country.

A lack of legal recognition can affect issues such as immigration and pension rights.

Read more at BBC News.

The Associated Press reports that Portugal is poised to become the sixth European nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed:

The law is almost certain to pass, as the center-left Socialist government has the support of all left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties oppose the measure.

The proposal changes Portuguese law to remove references to marriage being between two people of different sexes, Cabinet Minister Pedro Silva Pereira told a news conference Thursday, adding the government will send its proposal to lawmakers for a debate, probably in January.

If approved by Parliament, the proposed law goes to Portugal’s conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who can ratify or veto it. A veto can be overturned by Parliament.

If there is no presidential veto, the first gay marriage ceremonies could take place in April — a month before Pope Benedict XVI is due on a four-day official visit.

Gay marriage is currently permitted in five European countries — Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.

In Portugal, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, previous efforts to introduce gay marriage have run into strong resistance from religious groups and conservative lawmakers.

Learn more about the Portugal’s proposed gay marriage law at EuroNews.net.

As the New Jersey legislature prepares to take up a full marriage equality law it is important to recognize the broad levels of support from Catholics:

Catholics, 46 percent of all respondents, generally support same-sex marriage and 53 percent believe that if the Legislature approves a gay marriage bill, it should be accepted. They do not see the issue as one of the most important facing the state – 46 percent say the issue is “not at all important.”

“As with several social issues, many Catholics support a more liberal public policy than does the Church itself,” said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and professor of political science at Rutgers University. “Given that Catholics comprise the largest religious group in the state, this makes a difference in overall support for gay marriage in New Jersey, especially since a majority of Protestants – many of whom are Evangelicals – oppose the bill.”

Click here to read more about support and opposition by different faith communities in New Jersy.