By Lisa Keen on March 26, 2010
One of the 41 amendments which the U.S. Senate voted on this week, while passing the companion bill of “fixes” to the landmark health care legislation, was an amendment to allow Washington, D.C. voters to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage. The amendment was defeated 36 to 59, with the newest—and Republican—senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown, joining his party with a yes vote.
Posted in Marriage/Relationships, National Politics, News, News Briefs, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 26, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly said he wants his working group on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to discuss the plan to repeal the policy with service members and their families to get their views. But Gates, on Thursday, began showing some toughness against views within the military that oppose President Obama’s directive that the military dismantle the policy.
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, News, News Briefs
By Dana Rudolph on March 26, 2010
Three U.S. representatives have introduced separate bills in the past week designed to protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing. The flurry of interest comes when more popular LGBT bills are still awaiting critical votes and during an election year fraught with political tugs-of-war.
Posted in Congress, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 25, 2010
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today unveiled the Pentagon’s plan for making enforcement of the current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy “more humane and fair.”
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, News
By Lisa Keen on March 25, 2010
The Senate Judiciary Committee was squaring up for a showdown this week over President Obama’s most controversial judicial nominee to date, but that showdown has been indefinitely delayed, while Republicans use a parliamentary delaying tactic on the companion bill to the health care reform law.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Law, News, Nominees, Politics
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 Chuck Colbert on March 21, 2010
Rep. Tammy Baldwin acknowledged that the pro-gay provisions she sought in the health care reform legislation have not survived. But Baldwin also said that she has counted the votes in the House on two major pro-gay pieces of legislation and believes the votes for passage are there.
Posted in Congress, Health, Issues, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 11, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court continues its unpredictable foray into LGBT-related legal conflicts—this week announcing that it will decide whether a protester has a First Amendment right to use a private funeral service as a staging ground for their hate speech against gays.
Posted in Federal Courts, Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
By Dana Rudolph on March 10, 2010
Same-sex marriage bans may be harmful to the mental health of gay people in those states. That is the conclusion of a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Posted in Health, Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on March 9, 2010
Google “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and you’ll get more than 2 million links. Add the word “repeal” to the search, and you’ll get about half a million. Add the words “this year,” and you’re down to 135,000.
That’s probably a good illustration of how the actual repeal process is going these days: Lots of people are talking about it, but the chances for success this year rely on a lot more things converging just so, and not too much.
Posted in A closer look, Campaigns, Don't Ask Don't Tell, House, Issues, News, Politics, Senate
By Lisa Keen on March 5, 2010
Legislation can be like a train: It runs on a track, makes certain stops along the way, and is often attached to other trains. But, in Congress, the train doesn’t run on time.
Last October, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would likely get a House committee vote in September and a floor vote that fall. Didn’t happen.
Posted in A closer look, Congress, News, Politics
By Chuck Colbert on March 3, 2010
A new law takes effect today in the nation’s capital, granting equal rights in marriage licensing for gay couples. Washington, D.C.’s marriage equality legislation becomes law in spite of a Herculean effort by opponents to block its implementation.
Posted in Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on March 3, 2010
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday evening denied a request to stop Washington, D.C.’s new marriage equality law from going into effect Wednesday, March 3.
Posted in Ballot Measures, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on March 1, 2010
At least one senator has put a secret hold on the confirmation of openly gay law professor Chai Feldblum and four others to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Posted in Congress, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on February 25, 2010
Just days before Washington, D.C.’s new marriage equality law is set to go into effect, the attorney general of neighboring Maryland issued a long-awaited opinion on whether same-sex marriages validated in other jurisdictions “may be recognized” under Maryland state law.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on February 24, 2010
The battle over equal rights to marriage has dominated much of the news concerning the LGBT civil rights movement for the past 17 years, but there have been gains recently in the battle over gay family rights in general. And in just the past week, there were important developments in two significant courts.
Posted in A closer look, Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, State Courts, U.S. Supreme Court
By Lisa Keen on February 23, 2010
A family court judge in Vermont Tuesday issued a warrant for the arrest of former lesbian Lisa Miller who disappeared with the child she once shared with her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins.
Posted in Law, News, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on February 22, 2010
President Obama released a new health care reform bill that he says incorporates work done in the House and Senate and adds ideas from Republican members of Congress. But there’s no inclusion in this new proposed measure of any of the gay-related provisions in the original House bill.
Posted in Health, Issues, News, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on February 15, 2010
In just a couple of months, speculation concerning the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will once again rev up. He’ll turn 90 in April and, last fall when justices typically do, he did not hire a full complement of clerks for the 2010-11 session.
Posted in A closer look, Federal Courts, Law, News, U.S. Supreme Court
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
President praises pro athlete Jason Collins for courage to come out
Rhode Island marriage bill clears final hurdle with all Republicans