February 2010
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By Lisa Keen on February 25, 2010
Just days before Washington, D.C.’s new marriage equality law is set to go into effect, the attorney general of neighboring Maryland issued a long-awaited opinion on whether same-sex marriages validated in other jurisdictions “may be recognized” under Maryland state law.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on February 24, 2010
The battle over equal rights to marriage has dominated much of the news concerning the LGBT civil rights movement for the past 17 years, but there have been gains recently in the battle over gay family rights in general. And in just the past week, there were important developments in two significant courts.
Posted in A closer look, Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on February 23, 2010
A family court judge in Vermont Tuesday issued a warrant for the arrest of former lesbian Lisa Miller who disappeared with the child she once shared with her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins.
Posted in Law, News, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on February 22, 2010
President Obama released a new health care reform bill that he says incorporates work done in the House and Senate and adds ideas from Republican members of Congress. But there’s no inclusion in this new proposed measure of any of the gay-related provisions in the original House bill.
Posted in Health, Issues, News, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on February 15, 2010
In just a couple of months, speculation concerning the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will once again rev up. He’ll turn 90 in April and, last fall when justices typically do, he did not hire a full complement of clerks for the 2010-11 session.
Posted in A closer look, Federal Courts, Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on February 14, 2010
Of 678 federal district court judges in the country, only one has voluntarily identified as being gay?
It is for that reason that there is cause for excitement that President Obama may be on the verge of nominating another.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, News, Nominees
By Lisa Keen on February 10, 2010
With no named sources and a “no comment” from the judge, the San Francisco Chronicle this week reported that it is an “open secret” in San Francisco that the federal judge presiding over the Proposition 8 trial “is himself gay.”
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Chuck Colbert on February 5, 2010
A ruling this week by the U.S. Tax Court held that a Massachusetts woman should be permitted to deduct the medical costs associated with her transition (male to female) for the purposes of filing federal income tax returns—a ruling that could have significant implications for transgender people.
Posted in Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on February 4, 2010
President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 isn’t anywhere near as much as gay and AIDS groups had sought, but the consensus seems to be that modest increases—and in some places no increases, are laudable in the current economy.
Posted in News, Politics, White House
By Chuck Colbert on February 3, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told a Senate committee they have appointed a high-level working group to report on how the military can adapt should Congress choose to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics