By Lisa Keen on March 30, 2012
North Carolina will vote on a proposed marriage ban May 8, when they go to the polls for the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. And a recent survey indicates that most are likely to approve a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. But that survey also shows that two-thirds of those people don’t really understand what they’re voting for.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 29, 2012
Lesbian attorney Karen Golinski can now get health coverage for her spouse, but no other federal employee can so Lambda Legal’s lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act in the Ninth Circuit continues.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 29, 2012
A political ad on the airwaves in Anchorage, Alaska, claims that a day care center would be forced to hire a “transvestite who wants to work with toddlers” if the city approves an amendment to its human rights law to prohibit discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and “transgender identity.”
Another ad claims that a local fitness gym would have to “open the women’s locker room to anyone who claims a female identity.” It depicts that person as a hairy balding man with a ponytail taking off his swimsuit in the locker room while nearby women scream and cover themselves in apparent shock.
Both ads, done in the form of cartoons, depict the beneficiaries of the proposed new law as burly men hiding behind women’s clothing. They are a new twist on old themes for opponents of civil rights protections for transgender people. But they are the weapons unleashed on Anchorage television to defeat Proposition 5, a ballot measure up for vote on Tuesday, April 3.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 28, 2012
Tuesday’s landmark oral argument in a case testing the constitutionality of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act had some very interesting moments—such as when the chief justice seemed to support the notion that if a person doesn’t have kids he or she should not have to help pay for taking care of kids. It’s the kind of argument some in the LGBT community have made in years past when complaining about paying local taxes to support schools even though many gay people don’t have children.
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on March 27, 2012
One of the biggest lawsuits against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is back in court next week, and for the first time for any DOMA challenge, it is at the federal appeals level.
Posted in Federal Courts, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships
By Lisa Keen on March 21, 2012
In a dramatic surprise and major victory for supporters of marriage equality for same-sex couples, the Republican-dominated New Hampshire House voted Wednesday (March 21) not to repeal the state’s two-year-old marriage equality law. The vote was 102 to 133.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 21, 2012
A robo-called aimed at attacking Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney over his positions–and alleged positions–on gay civil rights apparently had little effect in Illinois’ primary Tuesday. Romney won the primary with ease and racked up the lion’s share of its delegates.
Posted in Election 2012, Presidential 2012
By Lisa Keen on March 20, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to grant review for a second attempt to challenge school non-discrimination policies by saying they violate the free exercise of religion. But the conflict between the First Amendment and laws prohibiting discrimination is far from over, and at least one school has relaxed its policy rather than go to court in its defense.
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on March 19, 2012
Openly gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger is celebrating a victory of sorts. He got more votes in the Puerto Rico primary than did Rep. Ron Paul.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 16, 2012
A jury in New Jersey has found Rutgers student Dharun Ravi guilty of a hate crime against his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, for using a web cam to spy on Clementi’s intimate encounters with another man. The jury also found Ravi guilty of a number of other charges, including invasion of privacy and witness tampering. [...]
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 15, 2012
The U.S. Senate today (March 15) approved the nomination of the first openly gay federal judge for California, Michael Fitzgerald of Los Angeles. The vote was 91 to 6, with three senators not voting, making Fitzgerald the fifth openly gay federal judge currently on the bench in the country.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 14, 2012
There was no surprise in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary results: The field’s most conservative candidate, Rick Santorum, won primaries in two of the nation’s most conservative states. The candidate with the most stated support of Republican gays, Mitt Romney, tied for second with Newt Gingrich in Alabama and was a point behind him in Mississippi.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 14, 2012
In a first of its kind case, a federal judge in Philadelphia Monday (March 12) heard arguments on whether the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) precludes a private company from recognizing a same-sex marriage when it comes to the distribution of an employee’s survivor benefits.
Posted in Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, U.S. District Courts
By Lisa Keen on March 14, 2012
The New Hampshire House of Representatives is expected to vote today (March 14) on a sort of flea flicker bill aimed at having the legislature repeal marriage equality by asking voters to express support for civil unions.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 7, 2012
Their positions on same-sex marriage haven’t changed, and Super Tuesday voting showed that the tightly packed nature of the four-man Republican presidential race has not changed either—except, perhaps, for a surprise comment Tuesday night by former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin that she might be interested in joining the fray.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 6, 2012
The National Center for Lesbian Rights joined with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education Tuesday in an agreement with a Minnesota school district to take steps to prevent harassment of students who do not conform to gender stereotypes.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 2, 2012
The next president of the nation’s largest LGBT political group will be Chad Griffin, a California activist who has made a name for himself by initiating and orchestrating one of the most important legal challenges in LGBT history.
Posted in Misc
By Lisa Keen on March 1, 2012
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum’s campaign appears to have begun to self-destruct from the candidate’s increasingly harsh rhetoric and statements on social issues.
Posted in Election 2012, Presidential 2012
Ginsburg on Roe: Is it a signal she’d curb a decision on marriage?
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
President praises pro athlete Jason Collins for courage to come out
Rhode Island marriage bill clears final hurdle with all Republicans