April 2011
You are browsing the archive for April 2011.
By Dana Rudolph on April 27, 2011
Each year, over 100,000 children in the U.S. foster care system are waiting for adoptive homes. And over two million gay and lesbian people are interested in adopting a child. But legislative and court battles are being waged in several states over whether gay and lesbian people should be allowed to adopt.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 26, 2011
Proponents of Proposition 8 filed a motion Monday, April 25, in federal district court, seeking to vacate the August 2010 ruling by Judge Vaughn Walker that the initiative is unconstitutional, citing Walker’s recent disclosure that he is gay.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on April 26, 2011
Less than a week after a law firm signed a contract to represent the U.S. House in defending DOMA in federal court, the law firm began to withdraw from the agreement.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 25, 2011
A man accused of helping former lesbian Lisa Miller leave the United States in violation of a court order that she turn over custody of her daughter to the child’s other mother was arraigned in a federal court in Vermont on Monday, April 25.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 22, 2011
A man accused of helping a former lesbian sneak a child out of the country, violating a court order that the mother turn the child over to her former same-sex partner, was arrested April 18 and will be arraigned in federal court in Vermont on Monday, April 25.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, News
By Lisa Keen on April 21, 2011
They didn’t get a lot of publicity, but a small group of women at an Obama fundraiser in San Francisco staged a brief protest in support of Bradley Manning Thursday—through song.
Posted in News Briefs
By Dana Rudolph on April 20, 2011
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a memo April 6 encouraging child welfare agencies to better serve the needs of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth” in the foster care system.
Posted in Health, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on April 20, 2011
Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez on April 15 re-introduced legislation to address bullying and harassment of LGBT students, among others. “No student should ever be afraid to come to school because they are being intimidated by bullies,” said Rep. Sánchez. “Every student has the right to a safe and comfortable learning environment. Bullying is violent and [...]
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 19, 2011
The U.S. House has obligated itself to pay more than $500,000 for outside attorneys to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal courts. And the House has chosen a firm which clearly prides itself on including LGBT lawyers among its staff.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 18, 2011
The court battle over Proposition 8 has escalated yet another step—now over a First Amendment issue.
Two days after attorneys for proponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage filed a motion seeking to have a videotape of the landmark Proposition 8 trial sequestered from public availability, attorneys for same-sex couples challenging the ban filed a motion seeking the tape’s “immediate release.”
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 17, 2011
Proponents of California’s Proposition 8 alleged in a court brief Wednesday, April 13, that former U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker “defied” a U.S. Supreme Court decision in February when he showed a college audience a video clip from the 2010 landmark trial, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 15, 2011
Democrats came out swinging Friday, April 15, during a House subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice announcement that it would curtail its defense of the federal ban on recognition of same-sex marriages.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on April 14, 2011
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) re-introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to the Senate on Wednesday, and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) each re-introduced a bill Thursday to help bi-national LGBT couples.
These latest measures bring to 15 the number of pro-LGBT bills introduced to the House and Senate thus far in the 112th Congress. The number of bills hostile to LGBT civil rights now totals seven.
Posted in News Briefs
By Dana Rudolph on April 14, 2011
A recent federal court decision–in a case stemming from a conservative response to GLSEN’s Day of Silence–has upheld the right of students to express certain anti-gay sentiments.
Posted in Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, U.S. Circuit Courts
By Dana Rudolph on April 13, 2011
In a case that calls into question the responsibility of states to recognize adoptions granted in other states, a federal circuit court said Louisiana does not have to put the names of two gay fathers on the birth certificate of a Louisiana-born boy whom they adopted in New York.
Posted in Adoption, Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, U.S. Circuit Courts
By Lisa Keen on April 13, 2011
There was a lot of talk during the final days of the federal budget negotiations that House Republican leaders were trying to insert policy amendments about “social issues” into the budget. And since the White House and Republicans struck a deal April 8 on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, there has been a lot of talk that President Obama gave up too much to Republicans.
As Congress votes this week on a final budget bill to complete funding for the fiscal year that ends September 30, both LGBT people and people focused on helping fight HIV can breathe a sigh of relief. There are no social issue riders seeking some policy concession to put LGBT people at a disadvantage. And it appears there are no dramatic cuts in HIV funding.
But both groups suffered scrapes and bruises in the budget battle.
Posted in A closer look
By Dana Rudolph on April 12, 2011
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is launching a national media campaign to promote equal access to housing regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other characteristics.
Posted in Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 11, 2011
The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, April 7, voted unanimously by voice vote to recommend to the full Senate the nomination of openly gay attorney Paul Oetken to a seat on the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 8, 2011
Remember this number: 9 million. And this percentage: 3.5. The former is the current best estimate of the number of adults in the U.S. who identify as LGBT; the latter is the percentage that number represents within the total number of adults in the U.S.
Posted in Demographics, Issues, National Politics, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on April 7, 2011
The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the state’s ban on adoption and foster parenting by any person cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of marriage. The state high court said the law violates “fundamental privacy rights implicit in the Arkansas Constitution.”
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, State Courts
Ginsburg on Roe: Is it a signal she’d curb a decision on marriage?
Immigration bill advances without provisions for same-sex couples
Leahy submits language to help bi-national same-sex couples
Delaware votes for marriage equality; becomes 11th state to make it the law
Rhode Island marriage law signed; Two more states could vote next week