Category Archives: Issues

Washington, Oregon, take different paths to marriage

LGBT activists in the neighboring states of Oregon and Washington have reached two different conclusions in the past week about strategies for marriage equality. Those in Washington State will attempt to gain it in 2012, but those in Oregon will

New birth certificate lawsuit in Iowa

A state district court in Iowa heard arguments November 7 in a case to determine whether the child born to a lesbian couple married in that state has the right to have the names of both her parents on her

State marriage polls show language matters

New polls on marriage equality in seven states show mostly positive results for marriage equality advocates--but polls in two of the states indicate that the way the questions are asked can significantly affect the results.

Anti-bullying measures left out of education bill

In a blow to activists seeking to stop anti-gay bullying, two proposals to address bullying in schools were left out of an education reform bill approved by a U.S. Senate committee October 20.

SLDN challenges use of DOMA against gay service members

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund filed suit in a federal district court Thursday (October 27) challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act and its use in denying to gay service members spousal benefits equal to that given to their straight

Nov. 3 set for DOMA repeal vote in committee

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will debate and vote on a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on Wednesday, November 3. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced the scheduling Tuesday, October 25.

Supreme Court refuses couple’s plea

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday (October 11) refused to hear a case that challenged a sort of “back door discrimination” against a gay couple by a Louisiana state official.

Gay nominee politely labeled an ‘activist’ by GOP

A fourth openly gay nominee--one who has been fairly heavily involved in both gay and non-gay legal and political issues and who spent “hundreds of hours” doing pro bono work that led to the elimination of a gay ban on

Census drops couple estimate by 40%

The Census Bureau on Tuesday released a new estimate for the number of same-sex couple households in the United States in 2010, and it is almost 40 percent fewer than it actually counted. But it’s 80 percent higher than the