Some good, some bad, and some ugly this week:
- The federal First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on March 7 in Cook v. Gates (formerly Cook v. Rumsfeld [Ha! -Ed.]), a constitutional challenge to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on LGB service members. Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also called publicly for an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
- Two Democratic leaders of the Connecticut General Assembly’s judiciary committee will introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage. Governor M. Jodi Rell has said she will veto it.
- Legislators in Florida introduced a bill to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation or familial status.
- In Hawaii, legislators introduced a bill to legalize civil unions with “the legal benefits of marriage” for same-sex couples. I can see lots of ceremony-honeymoon package deals on the horizon.
- The Indiana state Senate Judiciary Committee passed a joint resolution to amend the state Constitution and define marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.” To become law, the proposed amendment must be confirmed by a second General Assembly and then by a majority of voters.
- Lambda Legal will submit papers to the Iowa state court on behalf of six same-sex couples, arguing that they need the protections and security of marriage. Faith leaders and religious groups in the state are filing an amicus brief in support of marriage equality, as is the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of Iowa law professors and historians.
- Legislation to protect Iowa students from bullying on the basis of race, disability and sexuality passed the state Senate and now goes to the House. The bill would require schools to report harassment incidents to the state and indicate the school’s response.
- The Massachusetts group Voteonmarriage.org, fighting to put a proposed state amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2008 ballot, raised more than $370,000 in 2006, more than twice its haul in 2005, and spent $389,000. LGBT-advocacy group MassEquality spent $1 million lobbying against the amendment last year. The measure is still advancing. Time for us to spend smarter, methinks.
- A Republican legislator in New Hampshire said he will introduce a civil union bill, giving the legal benefits of marriage to any two adults who do not wish to marry. And because “civil unions” and “domestic partnerships” aren’t confusing enough, a Democratic state legislator is working on a bill for “domestic unions.” Meanwhile, a House committee is debating a ban on same-sex marriage.
- The Wyoming Senate passed a bill denying recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states. The bill now goes to the state House.
Around the world:
- The Australian government will introduce legislation that says foreign children adopted by same-sex couples will not be recognized as having two parents. [Insert appalled “where’s the benefit to the children in denying one parent rights and responsibilities?” rant.]
- Canada will now consider same-sex couples married outside of Canada as legal spouses for immigration purposes.
- The coalition government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi is at odds with itself over new proposals to grant same-sex couples certain civil rights.
- U. K. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that Catholic adoption agencies will not be able to opt-out of the Sexual Orientation Regulations, and so cannot discriminate against same-sex couples in adoption placements.