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 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.
Posted in A closer look
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.”
Posted in A closer look
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.
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By Lisa Keen on May 10, 2011
Former U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker recently told a small group of reporters that it would be a “very slippery slope” to say that a judge’s “sexuality” should prevent him or her from handling a case such as the trial against Proposition 8. Many legal activists—gay and straight—agree. In fact, the lead attorney for the Yes on 8 coalition that is defending California’s ban on same-sex couples marrying agrees.
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By Lisa Keen on May 3, 2011
The new Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco has asked former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker to come back to court. In an April 28 order, Judge James Ware instructed Walker to appear in court to answer why he should not be required to return to the court videotapes he made of the Proposition 8 trial proceedings last year.
But there will be another matter on the agenda at the June 13 hearing: a motion from Yes on 8 Proponents asking Ware to vacate Walker’s decision last August that the same-sex marriage ban violates the federal constitution.
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By Lisa Keen on April 13, 2011
There was a lot of talk during the final days of the federal budget negotiations that House Republican leaders were trying to insert policy amendments about “social issues” into the budget. And since the White House and Republicans struck a deal April 8 on the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, there has been a lot of talk that President Obama gave up too much to Republicans.
As Congress votes this week on a final budget bill to complete funding for the fiscal year that ends September 30, both LGBT people and people focused on helping fight HIV can breathe a sigh of relief. There are no social issue riders seeking some policy concession to put LGBT people at a disadvantage. And it appears there are no dramatic cuts in HIV funding.
But both groups suffered scrapes and bruises in the budget battle.
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By Lisa Keen on April 3, 2011
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday, April 1, that it was making new recommendations for future action to “improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.”
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By Lisa Keen on March 2, 2011
Political decisions are a lot like oceanic earthquakes. First, there’s the quake, and then there’s the wave. Nobody can tell just how significant the wave is until it reaches land and, sometimes, the wave has greater impact than the earthquake; sometimes, it’s just a swell.
So it is with the decision by the Obama Department of Justice to call the Defense of Marriage Act–or DOMA–unconstitutional.
Posted in A closer look
By Dana Rudolph on March 1, 2011
On the long list of hopes that LGBT advocates put together at the beginning of the Obama administration was the idea that the president should issue an executive order requiring the federal government enter into contracts only with companies that have non-discrimination policies protecting employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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By Lisa Keen on February 24, 2011
Did Democrats squander an opportunity to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) last year? Should they even bother to re-introduce the bill this year? And does a bill like ENDA, focused only on workplace discrimination, still make sense?
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By Dana Rudolph on February 8, 2011
A film about two lesbian moms, The Kids Are All Right, is an Oscar contender this month. ABC’s Modern Family, which features two gay dads, won last year’s Best Comedy Emmy. But a series of court cases in the past two months shows that the right of lesbian and gay people to be recognized as parents is still very much open to challenge–and one legal expert says the challenges will increase.
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By Lisa Keen on January 24, 2011
The state of any union, including the union of LGBT people within the United States, is relative.
First, it depends on to whom you are comparing the union. Comparing the United States to China would favor China if you’re looking at budget surpluses, but if you’re examining the environment for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, the United States is far and away the better state in which to live.
Posted in A closer look
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
Rhode Island marriage bill clears final hurdle with all Republicans