By Lisa Keen on May 16, 2013
The LGBT community sees U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a likely vote for equal protection in the two pending major cases involving marriage for same-sex couples.
But various mainstream media outlets recently jostled that confidence by noting that she continues to express the view that the landmark abortion rights decision, Roe v. Wade, went “too far too fast.” If the court’s most veteran supporter of equal rights for women believes Roe moved “too far too fast,” could she be urging an incremental approach to another controversial issue – marriage for same-sex couples?
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By Lisa Keen on May 1, 2013
This is a bad year gone worse for ENDA – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Even though it might pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, the bill will have no realistic chance of passing the Republican-controlled House. Now, on the same day ENDA was re-introduced to this session of Congress, the LGBT legal community has raised objections.
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By Lisa Keen on April 24, 2013
In front of an unusually combative U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, former Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe urged members on Monday (April 22) to “fix” the current immigration reform bill by adding language to help LGBT citizens with foreign partners or spouses.
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By Lisa Keen on April 2, 2013
Now that legal activists and experts have had a chance to go back over the U.S. Supreme Court arguments in last week’s two big marriage equality cases, most are predicting victories but only incremental ones.
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By Lisa Keen on March 24, 2013
Part 4: Courtside guide. The avid reader’s guide to who and what to watch for at the Supreme Court on marriage argument days.
The following is the last in a four-part series to prepare readers for what to expect March 26 and 27 when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the marriage equality cases.
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By Lisa Keen on March 20, 2013
When the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to tackle a major legal controversy, such as next week’s marriage equality cases, it typically invites advice from groups and legal experts. These people are not a party to the litigation itself but have an interest in the court’s decision. They are “friends of the court,” offering a little friendly advice on how they think the court should rule.
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By Lisa Keen on March 15, 2013
How strong a position did the Obama administration take in its briefs on the Supreme Court marriage cases—and can it make a difference?
The following is the second in a four-part series to prepare readers for what to expect March 26 and 27 when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the marriage equality cases.
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By Lisa Keen on March 7, 2013
It is hard to overstate the potential impact of the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning marriage for same-sex couples. The primary questions posed by the two cases—Hollingsworth v. Perry involving Proposition 8 and U.S. v. Windsor involving the Defense of Marriage Act—could lead to rulings that dramatically advance the equality of LGBT people under the law.
But the Supreme Court may end up issuing no ruling in either case.
How is that possible?
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By Lisa Keen on March 6, 2013
When Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff, the only people who got hurt were Thelma and Louise. But when Congress drives off the fiscal cliff, everybody’s going to feel the pain—especially those who depend on government-funded programs and organizations that depend on charitable contributions.
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By Lisa Keen on February 22, 2013
There’s a kind of urban myth that most LGBT people live in large urban areas on the west coast and the northeast region of the country and that they’re mostly gay, male, young, and white. But a new study out this month (February 15) begs to amend this perception slightly.
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By Lisa Keen on February 6, 2013
The LGBT community’s position on Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary remains quietly split as Hagel approaches his first key Senate vote, perhaps as early as Thursday, February 6.
No LGBT organization, not even the Human Rights Campaign or OutServe-SLDN, has met with or affirmatively endorsed President Obama’s nominee, and only a few have actively opposed him.
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By Lisa Keen on January 30, 2013
The Senate Committee on Armed Services will hold its first day of Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing Friday, January 31. Many expect his positions on benefits for the families of gay service members and his willingness to update military regulations to reflect the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell may get some scrutiny from both sides of the partisan aisle.
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By Lisa Keen on January 12, 2013
The depth of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s discomfort for things gay became apparent in 1996, ten years after he joined the court.
He had voted against the interests of gays before—allowing the U.S. Olympic Committee to bar Gay Games from calling itself Gay Olympics and allowing the organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Boston to exclude an openly gay contingent.
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By Lisa Keen on January 6, 2013
There was a tiny outcry in December for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to recuse himself from deliberating on the two marriage-related cases before the high court this session. It erupted mostly from liberal political bloggers after Associated Press and some other media reported that Scalia, in a December 10 book tour appearance at Princeton University, discussed past dissents in which he compared homosexuality with such harmful acts as murder, incest, adultery, and cruelty to animals.
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By Lisa Keen on December 12, 2012
Court watchers and the mainstream media are having a field day with what the U.S. Supreme Court did and did not say about same-sex marriage cases during the past week–both raising and lowering expectations for a blockbuster LGBT legal victory or defeat this year.
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By Lisa Keen on December 2, 2012
President Obama nominated Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro November 27 to a federal district court seat in Philadelphia, bringing to eight the number of openly gay people he has nominated for the federal bench.
While Judge Quiñones declined to make any comment to a reporter concerning her nomination, the Human Rights Campaign posted on its website that, if confirmed, Quiñones “would be the first out gay Hispanic woman to serve on the federal bench.”
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By Lisa Keen on November 28, 2012
Was the sweep of victories for same-sex marriage on four state ballots November 6 a reflection of American society’s evolution toward acceptance of gay citizens or a lucky convergence of strong Democratic turnout in Democratic leaning states?
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By Lisa Keen on November 7, 2012
In the November 6 race with the greatest impact on the LGBT community, President Obama secured re-election Tuesday night, winning both the popular and electoral vote majorities.
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By Lisa Keen on November 1, 2012
There are many key votes on the line next Tuesday: The first real prospect for electing an openly gay person to the U.S. Senate, the probability of winning a marriage equality vote in at least one of five states, and the possibility of the partisan majority changing hands in either the House or Senate. Altogether, they make for an edge-of-your-seat, hold-your-breath drama.
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By Lisa Keen on October 11, 2012
Anti-gay activists opposing marriage equality for same-sex couples are counting in fives. They’re distributing videotapes to pastors laying out a five-step plan-of-action for each church. They’re distributing another video offering five reasons voters should defeat marriage equality ballot measures at the polls. And they’ve got their eyes on five votes November 6: four statewide ballot measures and one Iowa Supreme Court justice up for a retention vote. Here’s how things are stacking up:
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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
Rhode Island marriage bill clears final hurdle with all Republicans