Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual winter board meeting. Candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani declined invitations because of scheduling conflicts. Clinton said “I am proud to stand by your side. I want you to know that just as you have always had an open door to my Senate office, you will always have an open door to the White House.” Some have criticized Clinton for not publicizing this speech as she has her appearances elsewhere.- Arkansas Senator Shawn Womack (R) filed a bill to reinstate a state ban on gay foster parents. Last year, the state Supreme Court upheld a circuit court ruling that threw out a similar ban.
- As California legislators consider three LGBT-rights bills, including one to legalize same-sex marriage, the San Jose Mercury News has published a handy list of Governor Schwarzenegger’s record on other LGBT-rights bills.
- A new poll shows that opposition to same-sex marriage has declined in California over the past 20 years, mostly because younger people tend to be supportive, not because people are changing their minds.
- A Colorado House committee approved a bill that would give the right to adopt to a second unmarried adult, including a same- or opposite-sex partner or a relative seeking to help a single parent. There was no opposing testimony.
- An Indiana hate-crimes bill, opposed by conservative groups because it included protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, died in committee after a legislator attached an amendment that would have made the law apply to a fetus.
- A measure to ban universities and government entities in Kentucky from offering domestic-partner health benefits failed by one vote in the state House Health and Welfare Committee.
- The New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on a proposed bill to create “spousal unions” for same-sex couples. Both supporters and opponents attended. The House is also considering a bill for full marriage rights. Representative Jim Splaine, who introduced both bills, says spousal unions are “somewhere between civil unions and same-sex marriage, since they call partners ‘spouses.'”
I think this splintering of union/partnership terminology from state to state only underscores the need for full, commonly understood marriage rights. (To confuse matters further, Bob Clegg, a NH state senator, has introduced legislation so any two adults of either gender could enter into a “contractual cohabitation” agreement and gain the legal benefits of marriage. Now that’s romantic: “Darling, would you contractually cohabitate with me?”)
- Two Republican members of the New Jersey Assembly are leading a push to put an amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters.
- Thousands of evangelical Christians in North Carolina rallied in support of a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Senate leader Marc Basnight and House Speaker Joe Hackney, both Democrats, said North Carolina law already bans same-sex marriages, and there is thus no need to embed a ban in the constitution.
- Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. delayed his decision on a bill that would give high schools the ability to block LGBT support groups. While not explicitly targeting LGBT groups, the bill would let schools ban organizations that threatened the “moral well-being” of students.
- The Utah legislature also ended its session without considering a bill to repeal the state’s anti-sodomy law. The U. S. Supreme Court found such laws unconstitutional in 2003, but as long as the Utah law is on the books, police must still enforce it. Accused persons could face arrest and trial before the arrest is declared invalid.
Around the world:
- The move by the Mexican state of Coahuila to give same-sex couples property and inheritance rights has brought LGBT rights onto the national agenda, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. The Economist further surveys LGBT rights in Latin America.
- Last week, I mentioned a proposed Nigerian law banning same-sex marriage. The New York Times has an editorial condemning the legislation, calling it “a far-reaching assault on basic rights of association, assembly and expression.” They also note that it has “the full and enthusiastic support of the leader of Nigeria’s powerful Anglican church.”
- Rachel O’Brien, a top aide to U. K. Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly has resigned, reportedly because of her Catholic boss’ conservative views on LGBT rights. O’Brien, however, claims she left for personal reasons.