August 2011
You are browsing the archive for August 2011.
By Lisa Keen on August 29, 2011
The Human Rights Campaign announced in a press release Saturday, August 27, that its president, Joe Solmonese, “will not renew his contract, which expires March 31, 2012.”
Posted in News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on August 28, 2011
The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage announced Friday, August 26, that Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has signed its pledge to vigorously oppose marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Posted in Campaigns, Election 2012, News, Politics, Presidential 2012
By Lisa Keen on August 25, 2011
Even before the August 29 hearing takes place on whether to release to the public videotapes of the landmark trial challenging California’s same-sex marriage ban–Proposition 8–there has already been decision to prohibit the recording of the hearing on whether to release the trial videotapes.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Dana Rudolph on August 24, 2011
Anti-LGBT bullying took the national stage last fall after the highly publicized suicides of several teens bullied for being gay or perceived to be. The relentless bullying, many believe, may have been one of the contributing factors in their decisions to attempt suicide, and their deaths led to an surge of anti-bullying awareness campaigns and media coverage.
But will LGBT students entering school this fall be any safer after a year of heightened awareness about the issue? Two LGBT leaders are doubtful, although they acknowledge some positive changes.
Posted in A closer look
By Chuck Colbert on August 23, 2011
A lesbian’s surviving spouse is fighting her parents in two different courts. In probate court in Illinois, they are fighting over her will. In a federal court in Pennsylvania, they are trying to influence a judge’s determination of who should receive the benefits of her profit-sharing plan.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits
By Lisa Keen on August 21, 2011
There is a new gayest place in the United States–at least when it comes to number of same-sex couples: Provincetown, Massachusetts. And a new gayest state: the District of Columbia.
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on August 20, 2011
Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced Friday (August 19) that he will not seek the seat being vacated by Senator Herb Kohl, removing what has been considered the only real obstacle to a run by Rep. Tammy Baldwin.
Posted in News Briefs
By Dana Rudolph on August 18, 2011
Opponents of equal rights for LGBT people have been using “bathroom scare” tactics for some years now to try and stop bills that would prohibit discrimination against transgender people, but fears about who can use public restrooms have a long history in the struggle for civil rights.
Posted in Issues, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on August 17, 2011
The ACLU on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against a public school district in Missouri which blocks school computers from access to LGBT supportive organizations, such as Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the ACLU charges that the school district’s web-filtering violates the First Amendment rights of its students.
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on August 15, 2011
The Republican presidential campaign field took another big lurch to the right over the weekend, welcoming its newest and most dogmatic competitor, weeding out an early entry, and giving a boost to its most anti-gay voices.
Posted in Campaigns, Election 2012, News, Politics, Presidential 2012
By Lisa Keen on August 12, 2011
There were several head-turning zingers, and combative attacks on fellow candidates in Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, but overall, the forum delivered a hard push to the right-wing on same-sex marriage and a stony silence for equality.
Posted in Campaigns, News, Politics, Presidential 2012
By Dana Rudolph on August 11, 2011
A right-wing group in Massachusetts has launched a new ad campaign using an old scare tactic–the fear of sexual predators in public bathrooms. The aim is not to shore up security in public restrooms. It’s to destroy a bill to prohibit discrimination against people based on their gender identity.
Posted in Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on August 10, 2011
Openly gay presidential candidate Fred Karger will once again be left out of a nationally televised debate among Republican presidential hopefuls–this time, in Iowa on Thursday night.
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on August 9, 2011
Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has found an anti-same-sex marriage pledge he can sign: from the National Organization for Marriage.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on August 9, 2011
With only 35 states and Puerto Rico counted, the 2010 Census has already topped the 2000 Census count of same-sex couples in all 50 states.
Posted in Census, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on August 3, 2011
The LGBT movement is making progress, but it’s being seriously outspent by opponents and still has “a long way” to go to reach equality. That’s the conclusion of an in-depth analysis by an independent think tank devoted to studying how best to marshal the LGBT movement’s resources to “speed advancement of equality for LGBT people.”
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on August 2, 2011
The U.S. Senate gave final Congressional approval Tuesday to a bill raising the nation’s current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by $2 trillion, but it’s a bill that calls for $2 trillion in federal spending cuts that worry LGBT and AIDS organizations.
Posted in Congress, News, Politics
Loud clash over same-sex marriage: Where personal and political meet
White House threatens veto as House omits LGBTs in two bills
House GOP shoot down effort to insert LGBT protections in VAWA
NC approves constitutional ban: 61 to 39
Iowa justices explain why they didn’t campaign to retain seats