Facebook blames a bug for the disappearance of posts about same-sex marriage

Some recent cases of news articles about same-sex marriage disappearing from the newspaper page on Facebook appear to have been caused by a bug and not a policy violation, the social network said.

Several regional daily newspapers, such as The Mercury serving Pottstown, Pennsylvania, started seeing in late July that stories covering developments on the issue of same-sex marriage were mysteriously disappearing from their pages on Facebook. A post Friday at the website for the Poynter Institute, a journalism education and training center, called attention to the issue.

"In all likelihood this was a bug and not a policy violation," a Facebook spokeswoman said Friday, referring specifically to The Mercury's issues. If it had been a policy violation, the page administrators would have received a notification of the article removals, which they did not, Facebook said.

The circumstances surrounding some of the posts' disappearances are a bit odd. At The Mercury, for instance, online editor Eileen Faust noticed the trend when a local county began issuing licenses to same-sex couples on July 24. Roughly five to six articles disappeared from Facebook after they were posted, she said, but no stories covering other topics disappeared in a similar way.

The articles that disappeared covered news dng with both support and opposition to same-sex marriage, she said.

The paper has not experienced any major issues with articles disappearing since then, but that may only be because The Mercury has not been posting as many articles on same-sex marriage, Faust said.

"We're going to keep an eye on this," she added in an interview.

The Mercury's posts on same-sex marriage have since been restored to the paper's page on Facebook, the social network said.

Other regional newspaper companies, such as 21st Century Media papers in the Philadelphia region and papers owned by the Los Angeles News Group, have also noticed that their stories on same-sex marriage have disappeared from their Facebook pages, The Mercury reported in its coverage of the issue.

21st Century Media and the Los Angeles News Group could not be immediately reached to comment.

Though The Mercury paper's issues were probably caused by a bug or some kind of glitch, Facebook said, the issue did arise just before the company announced an aggressive new strategy to better detect controversial content on its site that may be violent, graphic or sexual in nature.

Facebook has a complicated way for classifying what is offensive content and what is not. In terms of graphic content, "We understand that graphic imagery is a regular component of current events, but must balance the needs of a diverse community," the site says in its community standards.

The Mercury's Faust said she would like to have a more direct contact at Facebook to communicate with when issues occur. "We can't easily connect or get a response from them," she said.

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Same-Sex Marriage Law Could Mean Wedding Bells for Straight Hollywood Couples

Wedding bells may be ringing for more than just gay Hollywood in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Prop 8, legalizing same-sex marriage in the state of California.

Kristen Bell marked the occasion by asking her fiancé (and father of her baby girl) Dax Shepard to finally tie the knot after four years of betrothal.

STORY: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban: Hollywood Reacts

"@daxshepard1 will you marry me? Xo," wrote Bell, to which her future husband replied, "F--- yes!!!"

See, Bell and Shepard said that they wouldn't make their union official until their gay friends could do the same.

"Once it's official and everybody stops appealing it the minute before it passes, we'll get married," the House of Lies star said on Larry King Now in August 2012.

But the future Mr. and Mrs. Shepard are hardly alone. They join several other straight Hollywood couples -- and singles -- who have made similar pacts.

In 2006, longtime partners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made clear that they would not tie the knot until all couples could, with the actor telling Esquire that "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able." And while Pitt did put a ring on it in 2012, the duo has yet to make it down the aisle.

Q&A: What the Supreme Court's Prop 8 Ruling Means for California

Sarah Silverman made her stance known via Twitter back in 2010, slamming those straight couples who wed prior to marriage equality.

"Just a suggestion: Boycott marriage until it's legal 4 everyone," she wrote. "If u marry in this climate u are against equal rights."

Charlize Theron has said that she opposes the institution of marriage as a whole, but expressed disdain for the government dictating that decision for others.

"It's a divine right, and when government starts to tell us who can love and what is good love… I do have a problem with that," she told Piers Morgan in 2011. "I do have a problem with the fact that our government hasn't stepped up enough to make this federal, to make [gay marriage] legal."

Jason Mraz popped the question to Tristan Prettyman in 2010, but told Us Weekly that they weren't quite ready to follow through.

"The wedding would be nice for our family, our friends, our community -- our moms especially -- and so it puts us in the fight. We can't get married until [gay] marriage is legal and equal… I think giving people the right to marry will be a huge movement in civil rights," he said. However, the duo has since called off their engagement.

But not every star in favor of marriage-for-all has stuck to their guns. Natalie Portman, Howard Stern and Jodie Sweetin have all, at one time or another, said they'd swear off the nuptials until same-sex couples had the same rights.

Their statuses: Married, married and separated (from her third husband), respectively.

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Goldman Sachs flies rainbow flag for same-sex ruling

A rainbow flag flies outside Goldman Sachs' Wall Street headquarters.

"We strongly support the Court's affirmation today of marriage equality," the firm tweeted within hours of the ruling.

Goldman (GS, Fortune 500) is one of many Wall Street firms to publicly promote workplace inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. It also joined hundreds of companies -- including Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) -- that had filed a brief with the Supreme Court in opposition to DOMA.

"Today's decisions help define who we are as a people, whether or not we are part of the group directly affected," CEO Lloyd Blankfein said through the company's Twitter account Wednesday.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) also cheered the court's ruling, noting in a company statement that it promotes a work environment where "diversity is embraced" and "differences are valued and respected," while the CEO of credit rating firm Moody's called the ruling "a significant step forward in ensuring workplace equality."

Related: Which states allow same-sex marriage?

Meanwhile, Google showed its support through a hidden "easter egg" on its site that displayed a rainbow flag around the search box whenever anyone typed the search term "gay" or "marriage equality" in honor of Gay Pride Month.

Fellow tech giants, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), released statements in support. "Today's decision turns the page on a law that made it more difficult for us to treat all of our employees, regardless of sexual orientation, equally," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel said in a statement.

 

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who publicly told off an investor who complained about the company's support for gay marriage, was not available for comment Wednesday. But company spokesperson Danny Cowan said the company, which has offered benefits for domestic partners -- including same-sex partners -- for more than two decades, was pleased by the ruling.

"Equality and inclusion are core values of our company," he said. "We always put our people first and will continue to advocate for equality and inclusion."

Related: Financial impact of same-sex marriage ruling

Retailers, such as Ben & Jerry's, Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) and Marc by Marc Jacobs, also used social media to show support. Travel site Orbitz (OWW) tweeted about a contest to "celebrate DOMA's defeat" that offered flights to places that support marriage equality as prizes, while Kenneth Cole announced a giveaway of the company's "Equalitees" shirts through its Instagram account in honor of the "history-making decision."

"Thrilled about today's #SCOTUS ruling in favor of marriage equality, an issue we've been supporting since 1995," the company said on its Facebook page.

Related: Same-sex ruling: 'A huge relief'

The rush of corporate support comes in stark contrast to 2008, when California's Proposition 8 was on the ballot and only a handful of companies publicly supported marriage equality, said Deena Fidas, deputy director of the Human Right Campaign's workplace project

"Corporate advocacy for marriage equality seemed to be a bright red line that many did not want to cross," she said. "It's absolutely incredible that in such a short period of time we've seen this."

Twitter: @sajilpl

Same-sex marriage ruling: Financial impact

In a 5-4 ruling, the court ruled that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it denies married same-sex couples the same benefits that heterosexual couples receive.

The court ruled that DOMA singled out same-sex marriage and treated same-sex couples "as living in marriages less respected than others."

Married same-sex couples in a dozen states and the District of Columbia will now be eligible for more than 1,000 spousal benefits previously off limits under DOMA. And the court's other decision on Wednesday, striking down California's Prop 8, paves the way for same-sex marriages to resume in that state.

Income tax: Same-sex couples will now be able to file their federal income taxes jointly. For many couples -- especially those where one person earns significantly more than the other -- merging incomes for tax purposes will result in big savings.

Janet and Janet Emery-Black, who married in California in 2008, estimate they could save more than $10,000 a year in income tax by filing jointly. Because one is retired and the other works full-time, combining incomes would put them in a much lower tax bracket.

Related: Same-sex ruling: 'A huge relief'

The Emery-Blacks are also hoping to take advantage of a protective refund claim by amending their taxes for the past three tax years to get back some of the extra income tax they paid as a result of DOMA.

The couple has already amended their 2009 tax returns and they plan to file protective refund claims for 2010 and 2011. If the IRS approves those claims they expect to receive a total of more than $30,000 in refunds for the last three years.

Other couples won't be helped by filing jointly, however. Kevin O'Leary and Brian Esser, from New York City, will actually end up owing roughly $5,000 more in income tax per year because they bring in similar salaries.

Gift tax: Same-sex couples will also be exempt from gift tax when transferring assets to each other. Under DOMA, any gift between same-sex spouses of more than $14,000 began adding up to a lifetime limit of $5.25 million -- after which a 40% tax was assessed. Opposite-sex couples have never been subject to that tax.

Joshua Hatfield Charles and Dixon Charles, from Rockville, Md., were married five years ago. They paid more than $8,000 for attorneys and accountants to help avoid a huge gift tax for transferring assets to each other. If DOMA hadn't been overturned, they estimate they would have spent another $7,000 to $9,000 on legal fees and taxes.

Same-sex couples who divorce can also be subject to the federal gift tax when dividing assets.

Related: Which states allow same-sex marriage?

Health insurance: Some couples also pay extra income tax on the medical benefits one partner receives through the other's health insurance plan.

The Emery-Blacks, for example, will save at least $1,000 in income tax per year by not paying tax on these spousal benefits.

Meanwhile, many federal employees will likely be granted spousal benefits like partner health insurance.

For Joanne Pedersen, a retired federal employee from Connecticut, the ruling could mean that her retirement plan will finally extend health benefits to her wife, Ann Meitzen. It would be a big boost: Meitzen suffers from lung illnesses and spends half of her monthly Social Security benefits on medical expenses.

"Financially we're not doing great," said Pedersen, now 59. "We were looking forward to a nice retirement where we would both be doing well, but that's not happening."

Death benefits: Same-sex couples will now be eligible for the same federal tax treatment and Social Security benefits as opposite-sex couples in the event that one spouse passes away.

This means a surviving spouse will be eligible for Social Security survivors benefits and will be exempt from the 40% federal estate tax on assets exceeding $5.25 million.

Related: The high cost of same-sex divorce

What the decision doesn't do: While many of the specifics of the Supreme Court's ruling are still fuzzy, it appears that couples must be married at a state level for all of these federal benefits to apply -- meaning domestic partnerships and civil unions don't qualify, Young said.

It's also unclear whether federal benefits will apply to same-sex couples who marry in a state where same-sex marriage is legal but move to a state where it's not recognized.

Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 12 states and Washington, D.C., while seven states grant domestic partnerships and civil unions.

"[The Supreme Court is saying,] 'Yes, you can have these benefits, but up it's up to each state whether they are even going to recognize these couples in the first place,'" said Kyle Young, a financial advisor and vice president for Wells Fargo Advisors. "It's still going to leave us in the position where there's [still] a patchwork of marriage equality."

Twitter: @sajilpl

Supreme Court Will Rule on Same-Sex Marriage on Wednesday

Same-sex marriage supporters outside the Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has announced that the remaining opinions of the current term will be released on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST. As a result, two eagerly awaited rulings on same-sex marriage will be delivered tomorrow.

In a week that has seen the high court direct lower courts to exercise more scrutiny toward affirmative action programs, strike down an important provision of the Voting Rights Act and toughen the standards by which labor lawsuits are brought, the justices' opinions on the constitutionality of restrictions on gay marriage have been left until the final day.

In March, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two same-sex-marriage cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry challenges the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that enacted changes to the state's constitution to say that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." United States v. Windsor considers the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

STORY: Supreme Court Bans Patenting of Breast Cancer Gene Publicized by Angelina Jolie

Based on who has and hasn't delivered opinions thus far this term, it's speculated by some legal commentators that Justice Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy are most likely to be writing the majority opinions in the marriage cases.

The suspense and buildup to the final day will make for another early morning in California, where citizens await the fate of Prop 8.

It will also give the cable news networks a chance to lead into Supreme Court coverage. Today, MSNBC was the first to break in with news of the rulings.

The blow to the section of the Voting Rights Act that dealt with subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance, thus making it tougher to enforce the 1960s civil rights law, is a leading story for most of the major news outlets today.

STORY: Supreme Court's Defense of Marriage Act Hearing: What Hollywood Is Saying

President Obama released a statement saying he was "deeply disappointed" with the Court's decision in the Voting Rights Act case.

"For nearly 50 years, the Voting Rights Act – enacted and repeatedly renewed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress – has helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans.  Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent," he said.

"As a nation, we’ve made a great deal of progress towards guaranteeing every American the right to vote. But, as the Supreme Court recognized, voting discrimination still exists. And while today’s decision is a setback, it doesn’t represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination. I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls. My Administration will continue to do everything in its power to ensure a fair and equal voting process."

 

Supreme Court Will Rule on Same-Sex Marriage on Wednesday

Same-sex marriage supporters outside the Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has announced that the remaining opinions of the current term will be released on Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST. As a result, two eagerly awaited rulings on same-sex marriage will be delivered tomorrow.

In a week that has seen the high court direct lower courts to exercise more scrutiny toward affirmative action programs, strike down an important provision of the Voting Rights Act and toughen the standards by which labor lawsuits are brought, the justices' opinions on the constitutionality of restrictions on gay marriage have been left until the final day.

In March, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two same-sex-marriage cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry challenges the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that enacted changes to the state's constitution to say that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." United States v. Windsor considers the constitutionality of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

STORY: Supreme Court Bans Patenting of Breast Cancer Gene Publicized by Angelina Jolie

Based on who has and hasn't delivered opinions thus far this term, it's speculated by some legal commentators that Justice Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy are most likely to be writing the majority opinions in the marriage cases.

The suspense and buildup to the final day will make for another early morning in California, where citizens await the fate of Prop 8.

It will also give the cable news networks a chance to lead into Supreme Court coverage. Today, MSNBC was the first to break in with news of the rulings.

The blow to the section of the Voting Rights Act that dealt with subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance, thus making it tougher to enforce the 1960s civil rights law, is a leading story for most of the major news outlets today.

STORY: Supreme Court's Defense of Marriage Act Hearing: What Hollywood Is Saying

President Obama released a statement saying he was "deeply disappointed" with the Court's decision in the Voting Rights Act case.

"For nearly 50 years, the Voting Rights Act – enacted and repeatedly renewed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress – has helped secure the right to vote for millions of Americans.  Today’s decision invalidating one of its core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent," he said.

"As a nation, we’ve made a great deal of progress towards guaranteeing every American the right to vote. But, as the Supreme Court recognized, voting discrimination still exists. And while today’s decision is a setback, it doesn’t represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination. I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls. My Administration will continue to do everything in its power to ensure a fair and equal voting process."

 

Zachary Quinto Hopes Supreme Court's Same-Sex Marriage Rulings are 'a Galvanizing Moment'

Ahead of the Supreme Court's planned rulings on two same-sex marriage cases, Star Trek's Zachary Quinto is cautiously optimistic.

"We'll see what happens," Quinto tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm certainly not going to hazard against it to say what happens, but I hope it's a galvanizing moment, and I'm hopeful that [same-sex marriage] will be supported and we'll continue to move forward."

Quinto added that he believes a change is coming, regardless of Wednesday's Supreme Court decisions.

"I think no matter what happens, it's an unstoppable wave at this point, and I've said that before because I really believe it," he said.

"[Acceptance] might take longer, and it might not happen tomorrow, but it will happen. Whether that means individually, state by state, or by a sweeping decision, that remains to be seen, but I'll still do everything I can to fight for and support it and advocate it, and that's all I can do."

Quinto came out as a gay man ahead of the release of his financial drama Margin Call.

STORY: Supreme Court Will Rule on Same-Sex Marriage on Wednesday

He revealed his sexual orientation after completing an eight-month run in Angels in America and after already speaking out on gay-rights issues.

"As a gay man, [that role] made me feel like there’s still so much work to be done, and there’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed," Quinto said in New York magazine.

STORY: Supreme Court's Defense of Marriage Act Hearing: What Hollywood Is Saying

He later said that violence against gay teenagers compelled him to be honest about his own sexual orientation.

"It became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality," Quinto wrote in a blog post on his website. "Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country. Gay kids need to stop killing themselves because they are made to feel worthless by cruel and relentless bullying. … We are witnessing an enormous shift of collective consciousness throughout the world. We are at the precipice of great transformation within our culture and government. I believe in the power of intention to change the landscape of our society, and it is my intention to live an authentic life of compassion and integrity and action."