By Dana Rudolph on March 1, 2011
Marriage equality in Maryland looks set to take one of two paths–and neither is likely to enable same-sex couples to marry in the Free State for many months to come.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on February 23, 2011
The Obama administration made a blockbuster announcement Wednesday, saying it has concluded that one part of the Defense of Marriage Act will not be able to pass constitutional muster in the 2nd Circuit and that DOJ would not defend that part of the law in two pending cases in that circuit.
Posted in Federal Courts, Issues, Law, Lawsuits, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, White House
By Dana Rudolph on February 23, 2011
Marriage equality and legal recognition for same-sex relationships took a few big steps forward this past week—in Maryland, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. But they took a few steps backward, too—in Indiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on February 21, 2011
The Dept. of Health and Human Services said it “strongly supports” regulations which protect the rights of health care providers from being “compelled to perform or assist in an abortion.” But what it did not say was of greater interest to the LGBT community.
Posted in Federal Courts, Health, Issues, Law, News, Politics, White House
By Dana Rudolph on February 7, 2011
Marriage equality in Maryland got a boost in the past week from two prominent politicians, but a winter storm delayed a marriage equality hearing in Rhode Island. Elsewhere, conditions were variable.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Dana Rudolph on January 31, 2011
Two New Hampshire legislators have introduced bills to repeal the state’s marriage equality law, even though Republican leaders said such a repeal is not a party priority in 2011. And several other states saw legislative moves toward or away from equality in the past week.
Posted in Issues, Marriage/Relationships, News, Politics, State Politics
By Lisa Keen on January 28, 2011
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) announced January 27 that he will not be a candidate for president in 2012. He came out on top of a straw poll conducted at an ultra-conservative Values Voters Summit last September.
Posted in Campaigns, Politics, Presidential 2012
By Lisa Keen on January 26, 2011
President Obama on January 26 appointed two prominent gays to important positions in his administration and nominated an openly gay attorney to a judgeship for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Posted in Appointees, Federal Courts, Issues, Law, News, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on January 25, 2011
Tuesday 10:15pm EDT edition – President Obama once again brought up the issue of gays in the military during his annual State of the Union address.
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics, White House
By Dana Rudolph on January 20, 2011
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced proposed new regulations intended to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in its core housing programs–programs that impact 4.4 million units of housing in the country.
Posted in Congress, Issues, Misc, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on January 11, 2011
The 112th Congress went barreling into all-out partisan warfare, as expected, in its opening week, and then the unexpected took over. A man gunned down a member of Congress in broad daylight.
Posted in Congress, News, Politics
By Chuck Colbert on January 3, 2011
In an important win for LGBT people and U.S. international diplomacy, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to restore a reference to “sexual orientation” in a resolution against the killing of vulnerable minority groups—a reference that had been removed only a month earlier.
Posted in International, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on December 31, 2010
If past is prologue, 2011 should turn out to be a fairly decent one for the LGBT community. It’s not that everything turned out so rosy for the community in 2010, but the gains registered more powerfully than the losses.
Posted in Politics
By Lisa Keen on December 23, 2010
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum as President Obama’s nominee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Posted in Appointees, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on December 22, 2010
Following a dramatic and eloquent speech, President Obama Wednesday morning signed the legislation that will launch the repeal of a 17-year-old law that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military.
Posted in Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics, White House
By Lisa Keen on December 18, 2010
The U.S. Senate approved a bill Saturday, December 18, to repeal the 17-year-old law banning openly gay people from serving in the military. The roll call vote on the measure, which came to the Senate Wednesday from the House, was 65 to 31.
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on December 15, 2010
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday afternoon to approve a measure to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the second time this year the House approved such a measure.
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, News, Politics
By Dana Rudolph on December 14, 2010
Three weeks before the end of a session of Congress may seem an odd time to introduce any new bills, much less one dealing with always-contentious LGBT civil rights. But three representatives introduced a bill 12/8 that would better protect LGBT people from discrimination in housing.
Posted in Congress, Issues, Misc, National Politics, News, Politics
By Lisa Keen on December 9, 2010
Thu. Dec. 9 – 4:10 p.m.—The Senate has just rejected an attempt to bring the defense authorization bill to the floor, effectively killing the prospects for repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell this year, and likely for years to come. The vote was 57 to 40.
Posted in Congress, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Issues, National Politics, News, Politics
Minnesota: Where the push for a marriage license began
Immigration bill advances without provisions for same-sex couples
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