Morning Sweep (plus E&J news round-up)

Equality & Justice Day news:

Great photos in the Times-Union coverage of the rally. Alan Lubin from NYSUT is quoted and Senator George Winner is called out for not receiving constituents (seems to be an unfortunate trend). Also featured in a separate story is a "level of support" meter on the marriage issue for the Governor, the Assembly and the State Senate.

The New York Times highlights Joe Bruno's unsurprising response to the marriage issue and also mentions the large turnout at the rally.

Gannett reporter Dan Weissner covered the rally and his article was localized for the Ithaca, Poughkeepsie, Binghamton, Westchester and Rochester papers.

Broadcast coverage of the day was also significant, including great segments from Capital News 9, Channel 13 NBC and NY1.

Very significantly, Liz Benjamin put it out there that Speaker Silver will be conferencing the marriage bill in the Assembly in the coming few weeks. This was confirmed by Fred Dicker in the NY Post today.

And a very special shout-out to Jeremy over at Good As You, who brilliantly smacks down the daily lies put out by the anti-gay movement: thank you for helping get the word out on this incredibly important day of activism!

Today's sweep:

The Connecticut Supreme Court's chief justice will not hear the case challenging the ban on same-sex marriage because of her ties to an amicus brief filed by Lambda Legal.

New Paltz Mayor Jason West, who once boldly allowed for gay marriages to be performed in the small Hudson Valley town, lost his reelection bid to a man who is likely to be as progressive on civil rights issues.

Oregon's state House passed a domestic partnership bill yesterday, which essentially assures that it will be law as Governor Ted Kulongoski has pledged to sign the bill.

The federal Hate Crimes bill will be considered by the House today. If you haven't yet urged your U.S. Rep to support the bill, you can do it here.

Isaiah Washington is going to tape a public service announcement for GLSEN and GLAAD. Now, I'm all for redemption, but isn't this kind of like Mel Gibson doing a PSA for the Anti-Defamation League?