By Dana Rudolph on January 18, 2012
Pro-active efforts got underway this month to establish marriage equality in at least three more states. After a 2011 that saw marriage equality become reality in the most populous state yet and the Obama administration issuing a major statement against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 2012 could do even better.
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By Lisa Keen on January 6, 2012
Significant events are crowding the calendar for 2012, and each promises considerable drama and suspense for the LGBT community. Here are the ten most important to keep an eye on:
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By Lisa Keen on December 28, 2011
Few in the GOP field could rival President Obama with their records on LGBT issues, and yet, the outcome of the Republican presidential race riveted the attention of LGBT people in 2012. Many of the contenders were notoriously anti-gay. They were often asked about, or were inclined to share, their positions on gay-related issues. And, historically, no matter how much better the Democratic candidate has been than the Republican one, about 25 to 30 percent of LGBT voters vote for the Republican presidential candidate.
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By Lisa Keen on December 8, 2011
There was some drama in the courtroom as attorneys litigating Proposition 8 in a San Francisco federal appeals court Thursday took their last swings.
The normally staid somewhat flustered Charles Cooper, lead attorney for the Yes on 8 team, delivered an unusually passionate plea in his final minutes before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel.
Cooper was trying to convince the panel to vacate the landmark ruling by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker –a ruling in which Walker declared California’s ban on same-sex marriage to be in violation of the federal constitution. According to Cooper, Walker should have revealed to attorneys and the public that he had been in a relationship with a man for ten years and given attorneys a chance to challenge his fitness to preside over the case.
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By Lisa Keen on November 30, 2011
Something changed for U.S. Rep. Barney Frank between February and November of this year. In February, he announced he would seek re-election in 2012, to a 17th term in office. And on Monday, November 28, he announced this current term would be his last.
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By Lisa Keen on November 2, 2011
Many people read late last month that Republican leaders in the U.S. House authorized tripling the attorney fees for an outside legal team “to litigate the constitutionality of Section III” of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Far fewer likely read Footnote Number 3 in that legal team’s September 22 brief. That footnote indicated that the legal team, led by former Solicitor General Paul Clement, plans to defend DOMA “only with respect to its constitutionality under equal protection.”
Given that a federal district court judge struck down DOMA both on equal protection grounds and Tenth Amendment state sovereignty, one might argue that House Republican leaders have agreed to triple the spending for half the work.
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By Lisa Keen on October 25, 2011
It was one of only four questions posed to each Republican presidential hopeful Saturday (October 22) at a conservative forum in Des Moines: “What, specifically, would you do to prevent abortion-on-demand and protect traditional marriage?”
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By Dana Rudolph on October 12, 2011
Openly gay men face “significant” hiring discrimination in several parts of the country, but there are wide differences from state to state. That’s the finding of a new, large-scale study—a study that also found that employers in areas where antidiscrimination laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation are less likely to discriminate. Additionally, the study found that employers are more likely to discriminate when job descriptions emphasize “stereotypically male heterosexual traits.”
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By Lisa Keen on September 20, 2011
U.S. Justice Antonin Scalia has already conceded that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, according to one constitutional scholar. And the U.S. Supreme Court is “very likely” to invalidate the federal Defense of Marriage Act once it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, says another, generally conservative, expert.
These are just two of the conclusions from more than a dozen constitutional law jurists who participated in a recent two-week long discussion of what most consider an inevitable case before the nation’s highest court.
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By Lisa Keen on September 15, 2011
In a request that seems more like political theatre than political combat, the House Armed Services Committee sent a plea to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta asking that repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell be delayed.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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By Lisa Keen on July 17, 2011
U.S. Census data released Thursday (July 14) shows a 40 percent jump in the number of same-sex couples in New York State between 2000 and 2010. And having released data now from a total of 18 states, the Census data indicates that the number of same-sex couples nationwide jumped 47 percent between 2000 and 2010.
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By Lisa Keen on June 26, 2011
The number of same-sex couples identifying themselves on the U.S. Census grew by 36 percent in California between 2000 and 2010, according to Census data analysis released Thursday by the Williams Institute. And, with the release of data available now for seven states, the total number of same-sex couples for 2010 already exceeds the total reported nationwide in 1990.
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By Lisa Keen on June 21, 2011
U.S. Census 2010 data on same-sex couples has begun trickling out and, if the first two states are any measure, there are dramatically more same-sex couples in the United States than previously counted.
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By Lisa Keen on June 14, 2011
The seven Republican presidential candidates showed some differences on gay-related issues in their first high-profile debate Monday night–with some surprises.
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By Lisa Keen on May 27, 2011
The headlines and leads of news stories about U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Friday, May 27, used words like “Frank admits” in relaying a story that the most senior openly gay member of Congress “used his influence” as a member of a House finance committee to “land a job at Fannie Mae” in 1991 for his then-lover Herb Moses.
Posted in A closer look
Children with LGB parents: youthful perspectives on marriage
Federal appeals panel rules Prop 8 videos stay under seal
GOP gays and Florida back Romney
New HUD rule called ‘truly historic’
Religious bias cases at high court