By Lisa Keen on May 16, 2011
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s office is, thus far, silent on whether the openly gay legislator might make a bid for the U.S. Senate. But buzz about that possibility is hot.
Posted in Campaigns, Politics, Senate
By Lisa Keen on May 12, 2011
The full U.S. House Armed Services Committee approved three amendments late Wednesday night that seek to delay implementation of repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and to reiterate Congress’s support for the Defense of Marriage Act.
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on May 6, 2011
Hundreds of thousands of children are in foster care in the United States, while discrimination prevents millions of willing LGBT people from being able to foster or adopt. U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) reintroduced a bill that aims to fix that discrepancy.
Posted in Adoption, Congress, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on May 5, 2011
The openly gay sponsor of a marriage equality bill in Rhode Island has said he would push for civil unions instead. Six states are considering legislation that would ask voters to ban recognition of marriage for same-sex couples. And all this was on the heels of a loss for a marriage equality bill in Maryland. Has the state legislative fight for marriage equality lost momentum?
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on May 4, 2011
Before it left on spring recess, the U.S. House passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2012 that the president called “wrong for America” and that AIDS activists have said would do “irreparable harm.”
Posted in Congress, Health, Issues, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on April 27, 2011
Each year, over 100,000 children in the U.S. foster care system are waiting for adoptive homes. And over two million gay and lesbian people are interested in adopting a child. But legislative and court battles are being waged in several states over whether gay and lesbian people should be allowed to adopt.
Posted in Adoption, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 26, 2011
Proponents of Proposition 8 filed a motion Monday, April 25, in federal district court, seeking to vacate the August 2010 ruling by Judge Vaughn Walker that the initiative is unconstitutional, citing Walker’s recent disclosure that he is gay.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on April 26, 2011
Less than a week after a law firm signed a contract to represent the U.S. House in defending DOMA in federal court, the law firm began to withdraw from the agreement.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 22, 2011
A man accused of helping a former lesbian sneak a child out of the country, violating a court order that the mother turn the child over to her former same-sex partner, was arrested April 18 and will be arraigned in federal court in Vermont on Monday, April 25.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, News
By Dana Rudolph on April 20, 2011
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a memo April 6 encouraging child welfare agencies to better serve the needs of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth” in the foster care system.
Posted in Health, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 19, 2011
The U.S. House has obligated itself to pay more than $500,000 for outside attorneys to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal courts. And the House has chosen a firm which clearly prides itself on including LGBT lawyers among its staff.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 15, 2011
Democrats came out swinging Friday, April 15, during a House subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice announcement that it would curtail its defense of the federal ban on recognition of same-sex marriages.
Posted in Congress, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, White House
By Dana Rudolph on April 14, 2011
A recent federal court decision–in a case stemming from a conservative response to GLSEN’s Day of Silence–has upheld the right of students to express certain anti-gay sentiments.
Posted in Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, U.S. Circuit Courts
By Dana Rudolph on April 13, 2011
In a case that calls into question the responsibility of states to recognize adoptions granted in other states, a federal circuit court said Louisiana does not have to put the names of two gay fathers on the birth certificate of a Louisiana-born boy whom they adopted in New York.
Posted in Adoption, Cases, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, News, U.S. Circuit Courts
By Dana Rudolph on April 12, 2011
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is launching a national media campaign to promote equal access to housing regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, among other characteristics.
Posted in Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on April 8, 2011
Remember this number: 9 million. And this percentage: 3.5. The former is the current best estimate of the number of adults in the U.S. who identify as LGBT; the latter is the percentage that number represents within the total number of adults in the U.S.
Posted in Demographics, Issues, National Politics, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on April 7, 2011
The Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the state’s ban on adoption and foster parenting by any person cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of marriage. The state high court said the law violates “fundamental privacy rights implicit in the Arkansas Constitution.”
Posted in Adoption, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, State Courts
By Lisa Keen on April 1, 2011
Pentagon officials told a House subcommittee Friday that training for implementation of repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has gone “extremely well so far” and that certification to Congress might come by mid-summer.
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on March 31, 2011
Just days after putting the applications for green cards on hold for same-sex married couples, the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced it is back to processing them again–with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in play.
Posted in Federal Courts, Immigration, Issues, Law, Marriage/Relationships, News
By Lisa Keen on March 30, 2011
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Wednesday, March 30, announced he would soon re-introduce the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), characterizing it as “winnable.”
Posted in Congress, ENDA, Issues, News, Politics
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