- The student body of Uniformed Services University (USU), the Department of Defense health sciences university, this week voted for an openly gay student council president. Patrick M. High will represent graduate students at the school, who include uniformed armed services’ personnel. (Thanks, Nico.)
- As reported here earlier, the Alabama Democratic Party reinstated out lesbian Patricia Todd as its candidate for the state legislature, putting her in position to become the first out legislator in the state, since no Republican is challenging her.
- The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the November ballot can include a referendum to ban gay marriage and prohibit cities and the state government from offering domestic partner benefits. Governor Janet Napolitano, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and the Arizona Democratic Party all oppose the ban.
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made our day when he signed a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in state operated or funded programs. LGBT citizens around the state are hoping he will now sign the Older Californians Equality and Protection Act, which was approved by the state Senate Thursday. The bill requires the state deliver programs and services for LGBT senior citizens and requires the California Department of Aging to incorporate the needs of LGBT seniors in all of its programs and services.
- A lesbian couple in Indiana won the right to have their daughter’s adoption upheld. The couple had begun fostering the girl through the Morgan County Juvenile Court, which sought to bar them from adoption when it found out they were lesbians. They then applied for, and were granted, adoption through the Marion County Superior Court. Lambda Legal helped them appeal the case, and convinced the state Supreme Court to let stand an Appeals Court ruling in their favor.
- Two candidates for the House of Delegates in Maryland could become the first out, black state legislators.
- Gay and lesbian couples in Washington asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in favor of Washington’s same-sex marriage ban. Jon W. Davidson, Legal Director of Lambda Legal, explains, “Instead of explaining why our clients couldn’t marry, the court told us why marriage is good for different-sex couples. Barring same-sex couples from marriage only hurts same-sex couples and their families — it doesn’t help anyone.”
And a follow-up to one of the international items from last week: The Alberta, Canada legislature killed a proposed bill to protect those who refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings or who speak out or act on their beliefs against gay marriage.
