By Lisa Keen on July 14, 2010
While most people who are concerned about eliminating the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law are focused on a bill in Congress and a survey by the Pentagon, there is important action elsewhere—in a federal district court in Riverside, California.
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on July 8, 2010
In an enormous victory for same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Boston Thursday, July 8, ruled—in two separate lawsuits—that a critical part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on July 8, 2010
In an enormous victory for same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Boston today ruled, in two separate cases, that a critical part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on June 16, 2010
There were so many people trying to get in to watch the final day of the landmark trial challenging California’s same-sex marriage ban, the court staff had to set up an additional overflow room for observers.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on June 16, 2010
Conservative attorney Ted Olson relied heavily this morning on comparisons between the current ban on same-sex marriage and the ban that existed in the 1960’s on interracial marriage.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on June 9, 2010
The federal judge presiding over the highly publicized Proposition 8 trial distributed to attorneys on both sides of the controversy a list of 39 questions he’d like them to address during closing arguments June 16. It’s the kind of list, said one veteran gay legal scholar, that promises his decision will likely be a “blockbuster in its scope.”
Posted in A Closer Look, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, U.S. Circuit Courts
By Lisa Keen on May 27, 2010
For the second time in three weeks, a federal judge in Boston heard arguments in a lawsuit that asks the court to strike down a significant part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on May 7, 2010
Gay legal activists feel they got a good hearing from U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro May 6, in the first federal district court hearing to examine the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on April 29, 2010
No on 8 groups turned over CDs of “highly confidential” material to attorneys for the Yes on 8 coalition this week, ending a months-long effort to fight a court order to do so.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on April 22, 2010
A sidelines skirmish over document production in the Proposition 8 lawsuit rages on this month, forcing the continued delay of closing arguments and, ultimately, a decision on the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage. And Ted Olson, the well-known conservative attorney leading the litigation against the ban, accused the ACLU and Yes on 8 proponents of “delaying the progress” of the trial.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News, News Briefs
By Lisa Keen on April 21, 2010
In what may be a legal first, a national gay legal group has filed suit against a national gay sports group for discriminating based on sexual orientation—against straights and bisexuals.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on April 13, 2010
A 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed the appeal of two groups opposing Proposition 8 in which the groups sought to stop a district court order that they turn over documents to Yes on 8 groups.
The three-judge panel said it lacks jurisdiction at this point to review U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s order that the groups—which are not a party to the Perry v. Schwarzenegger lawsuit.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News, News Briefs
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 February 10, 2010
With no named sources and a “no comment” from the judge, the San Francisco Chronicle this week reported that it is an “open secret” in San Francisco that the federal judge presiding over the Proposition 8 trial “is himself gay.”
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Chuck Colbert on February 5, 2010
A ruling this week by the U.S. Tax Court held that a Massachusetts woman should be permitted to deduct the medical costs associated with her transition (male to female) for the purposes of filing federal income tax returns—a ruling that could have significant implications for transgender people.
Posted in Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News
By Lisa Keen on January 31, 2010
The fact that Therese Stewart didn’t get much publicity during the landmark federal court trial challenging Proposition 8 isn’t really a surprise: Lesbians do tend to be invisible.
Posted in Ballot Measures, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Dana Rudolph on January 30, 2010
Star witnesses for both sides in the recent Proposition 8 trial agreed on one thing: Children of same-sex parents benefit from having two parents who are happily married to each other.
Posted in A Closer Look, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on January 27, 2010
There is nothing like turning an opponent’s own words against him to both rile his emotions and destroy his position, and that was the work of attorney David Boies Wednesday morning.
Posted in Ballot Measures, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on January 27, 2010
In the waning hours of the historic trial challenging the constitutionality of a state ban on same-sex marriage, the federal courtroom in San Francisco felt a little like a boxing arena.
Posted in Ballot Measures, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
Gay issues continue to dominate as Senate committee recommends Kagan’s nomination
ENDA prospects apparently gone
Movement to ban gay adoption: sacrificing the well-being of children