Lisa Keen
By Lisa Keen on April 9, 2010
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who turns 90 this month, announced today he will retire from the high court at the end of June. The potential impact of the retirement will be measured once President Obama nominates a replacement who is confirmed by the Senate.
Posted in Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on April 8, 2010
Lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum was sworn in as one of five commissioners on the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC). President Obama nominated Feldblum in September and she was approved along with other EEOC nominees during a Senate committee vote in December. But a Republican senator put Feldblum’s nomination, along with others, on an indefinite hold.
Posted in Congress, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 7, 2010
When Concerned Women of America, the Boy Scouts, and Evangelical Scholars line up on one side of a legal case, one might naturally assume that gay groups are lined up on the other side.
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez is not that case—at least not perfectly.
Posted in Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on April 2, 2010
Just two years ago, Steve Hildebrand was Barack Obama’s openly gay deputy campaign manager, a brain behind one of the most remarkable presidential campaigns in history. And just two weeks ago, he was toying with the idea of a run for Congress. But an article in the April 1 Washington Post suggests his influence is now all but gone.
Posted in National Politics, News, News Briefs, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 29, 2010
Using a constitutional provision known as a “recess appointment,” President Obama on Saturday appointed lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum and three others to positions on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Posted in Congress, Issues, News, Nominees, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on March 26, 2010
One of the 41 amendments which the U.S. Senate voted on this week, while passing the companion bill of “fixes” to the landmark health care legislation, was an amendment to allow Washington, D.C. voters to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage. The amendment was defeated 36 to 59, with the newest—and Republican—senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown, joining his party with a yes vote.
Posted in Marriage/Relationships, National Politics, News, News Briefs, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 26, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly said he wants his working group on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to discuss the plan to repeal the policy with service members and their families to get their views. But Gates, on Thursday, began showing some toughness against views within the military that oppose President Obama’s directive that the military dismantle the policy.
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, News, News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 25, 2010
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today unveiled the Pentagon’s plan for making enforcement of the current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy “more humane and fair.”
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, News
By Lisa Keen on March 25, 2010
The Senate Judiciary Committee was squaring up for a showdown this week over President Obama’s most controversial judicial nominee to date, but that showdown has been indefinitely delayed, while Republicans use a parliamentary delaying tactic on the companion bill to the health care reform law.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Law, News, Nominees, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 24, 2010
A snag in completion of the landmark Proposition 8 trial has now become a full-fledged entanglement. The issue? Whether three groups that are not a party to the Perry v. Schwarzenegger lawsuit can be forced to turn over their own e-mails and memoranda to the defendants in the case.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on March 23, 2010
A lesbian high school senior won a partial victory in a federal court in Mississippi Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson, a Reagan appointee, ruled that senior Constance McMillen, 18, had a First Amendment right to attend her senior prom with the date of her choice and wearing the clothes of her choice.
Posted in Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 23, 2010
The health care reform legislation President Obama signed into law this morning does not include any of the pro-gay provisions sought by the LGBT community. The provisions were not part of a companion bill also passed by the House Sunday night and one that the Senate begins debating today. That companion bill includes “fixes” to the approved legislation. But there is a silver lining: Congress can soon turn to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on March 21, 2010
Retired Marine General John Sheehan told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 18 that he believes the Dutch Army’s willingness to accept gays into the service was the reason the Serb Army was able to carry out its slaughter of Bosnian men and boys of Muslim faith in Srebenica in 2005.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 16, 2010
A “study” in the nation’s capitol is special kind of political capital. It can buy rationale with which to justify a change in policy or it can buy time to stop a change.
President Obama and many in Congress appear ready for change in the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy of excluding gays and, in response, Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates has launched two studies. The question is: Is DOD buying rationale or time?
Posted in A closer look
By Lisa Keen on March 12, 2010
Virginia’s new Republican leadership apparently longs for the days of yore, when gays knew their place—the closet. But this month, they’re longing for the days when their discriminatory proclivities were not so well known.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 12, 2010
Rep. Eric Massa, a first-term member of the House, told reporters March 3 that, because of health reasons, he would not seek re-election this November. But in just a few hours, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer revealed that his staff learned February 8 of allegations that Massa was being accused of misconduct and had ordered him to report himself to the House ethics committee.
Posted in News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on March 11, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court continues its unpredictable foray into LGBT-related legal conflicts—this week announcing that it will decide whether a protester has a First Amendment right to use a private funeral service as a staging ground for their hate speech against gays.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on March 9, 2010
Google “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and you’ll get more than 2 million links. Add the word “repeal” to the search, and you’ll get about half a million. Add the words “this year,” and you’re down to 135,000.
That’s probably a good illustration of how the actual repeal process is going these days: Lots of people are talking about it, but the chances for success this year rely on a lot more things converging just so, and not too much.
Posted in A closer look, Campaigns, Don't Ask Don't Tell, House, Issues, News, Politics, Senate
By Lisa Keen on March 5, 2010
Legislation can be like a train: It runs on a track, makes certain stops along the way, and is often attached to other trains. But, in Congress, the train doesn’t run on time.
Last October, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would likely get a House committee vote in September and a floor vote that fall. Didn’t happen.
Posted in A closer look, Congress, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 3, 2010
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday evening denied a request to stop Washington, D.C.’s new marriage equality law from going into effect Wednesday, March 3.
Posted in Ballot Measures, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, U.S. Supreme Court
Minnesota: Where the push for a marriage license began
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