Weekly Political Roundup

• President Obama issued a memo directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that same-sex partners have the same visitation rights as other immediate family members. HHS should “Initiate appropriate rulemaking . . . to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors.” The memo also says that hospitals should “guarantee that all patients’ advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients’ representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients’ care.” It’s a start.
• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said the language of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) had been finalized and “We’re going to get the bill voted on this spring.”
• The House Ethics Committee has drafted rules that would define same-sex married couples as “spouses” for the purposes of the annual Congressional financial disclosure forms completed by members of Congress and Congressional staff. While some on the right are having their usual tizzy, a spokesperson for HRC points out that this would create obligations without full equality.
• Three gay couples have filed a federal lawsuit against California’s public pension fund and the IRS, in an attempt to make long-term care insurance available to the same-sex spouses of state government workers.
• Craig Lowe was elected mayor of Gainesville, Florida—the first openly gay mayor of any north Florida city. The small margin of the win, however, requires a recount under Florida law.
• Missoula, Montana became the first city in the state to adopt an ordinance that protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Around the world:

• Argentina suffered a case of matrimonial ups and downs this week. First, Norma Castillo and Ramona Arevalo, both 67, celebrated the first-ever lesbian wedding in the country. Then a Tierra del Fuego court annulled the first-ever marriage of two men in the country, which had occurred last December. Now, two legislative commissions have called for full congressional debate of a marriage equality bill.
• Iceland, the first country in the world to have an out LGBT head of state—lesbian mom Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir—may also have marriage equality by June. Of course, right now, Iceland is spewing volcanic ash all over Europe and parts of the island are being evacuated, so it’s anyone’s guess whether nuptial trips to Reykjavik will be a good idea. All I can say is thank heavens it wasn’t locusts. Then the right-wing would really have a field day.
• Italy’s Constitutional Court rejected legal recognition of the marriages of same-sex couples.
• Gay rights activists in Turkey protested against Aliye Kavaf, the minister for women and family, who said that homosexuality was “a disease.”