Weekly Political Update

• Legislators renamed a federal hate-crimes bill after Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, slain in 1998 because he was gay. Supporters feel that adding a name and a face to the bill, which adds protections for hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, will help its chances for success. (Thanks, PageOneQ.)
• The Associated Press ran a profile of Representative Patricia Todd, Alabama’s first openly LGBT elected official.
• A California Assembly committee voted in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will veto it, as he did a similar bill in 2005, if it reaches his desk.
• A federal judge in California ruled that a gay couple can proceed with a lawsuit against an Arizona-based Internet adoption service. The couple claim that Adoption.com refused to let them list their prospective-parent profiles because they are gay.
• The Colorado Senate approved a bill that will allow second-parent adoptions for same-sex couples. Governor Bill Ritter has said he will sign it.
• The Connecticut Judiciary Committee voted 27-15 for a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, then, if it passes, to the Senate. Finally, Governor Jodi Rell must sign it, but she remains opposed to the measure.
• In an appalling ruling, a Superior Court judge in Wilkinson County, Georgia refused to grant the adoption of a girl to her foster mother because “the child will have a long-term exposure to the homosexual parent’s lifestyle.” He also found the woman and her attorney in criminal contempt for not following his order to transfer custody of the child to DFCS, and sentenced them to 10 days in jail, or five days plus a $500 fine. They are appealing his decision. If that isn’t bad enough, he also said the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Georgia prohibits adoptions by same-sex couples. (Thanks to Peter’s Cross Station.)
• The Kansas Attorney General said the state’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage does not prevent municipalities from setting up same-sex domestic partner registries. The mayor-elect of Lawrence has said she will propose such a registry for her city.
• The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill requiring health insurance companies to include domestic partners and children up to the age of 25 in their policies, if an employer requests that they do so.
• Three of Massachusetts’ top political leaders said they support repealing a 1913 law that was first used to ban interracial marriages by out-of-state couples and later by then-Governor Mitt Romney to ban marriages of out-of-state same-sex couples. Citing the law’s “smelly origins,” Governor Deval Patrick said he will sign repeal legislation if it reaches his desk.
• The New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 for a bill to permit same-sex civil unions. It now goes to the full Senate. The House passed the bill last week.
• The New York Times explores in depth the reasons New Jersey civil unions still fall short of marriages. Among other examples, they note the case of a man who works in New Jersey for a Massachusetts company. Although Massachusetts permits same-sex marriage, they do not do so for out-of-state couples. The company says that because he and his partner are not spouses under Massachusetts law, it does not have to provide health insurance for his partner. Under pressure, the company is now reconsidering.
• An Oregon House panel approved a bill that would give same-sex couples marriage-like benefits. It also approved a bill that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations.
• The Washington State Legislature approved legislation allowing same-sex couples to register as domestic partners. The bill has already passed the Senate, and Governor Chris Gregoire has said she will sign it.

Around the world:

• The Dutch Supreme Court ordered the island of Aruba to recognize same-sex marriages from the Netherlands.
• The New South Wales, Australia Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (GLRL) has expressed concerns that new federal plans to “harmonize” surrogacy laws across the country could be a threat to the parenting rights of gay men. (Thanks, PageOneQ.)
• A court in Latvia ruled that the decision to ban a gay pride march in 2006 was illegal.