- The Colorado State Senate voted to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. The measure must pass one more Senate vote before going to the House.
- One of the motivating factors in the Connecticut Judiciary Committee’s passage of a bill in support of full marriage rights for same-sex couples (see last week’s update) was the impassioned testimony by out Representative Beth Bye. Bay Windows reports on her speech.
- Two Illinois legislators made mocking comments about sex changes while debating a bill to simplify the process of getting a new birth certificate after transitioning genders outside the U.S.
- New Hampshire Governor John Lynch said Thursday he will sign legislation to establish same-sex civil unions New Hampshire. The Senate has yet to approve the legislation, but Lynch believes they will pass it.
- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said he did not include the legalization of same-sex marriage in his list of priorities for the remainder of the 2007 legislative session because he is “focusing on politics as the art of the possible.” While he supports same-sex marriage, he believes he could not make it happen in the next nine-and-a-half weeks.
- The Oregon Senate gave final approval to a measure banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The bill now goes to the governor, who has said he will sign it. The Oregon House also approved a bill giving legal rights to same-sex couples who register with the state. The bill now goes to the Senate, and, if passed, to the governor, who has said he will approve this one as well.
- Two city firefighters and a 911 dispatcher have filed a complaint against Bellevue, Washington, saying the city has violated their rights by denying their same-sex partners health coverage and other benefits. Lambda Legal is working with the three plaintiffs.
- In Madison, Wisconsin, the mayor and half the city council added a protest statement to their oath of office. The oath requires them to uphold the state constitution, but the protesters said the state ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions “besmirches our constitution.”
Around the world:
- An explosive device that exploded near Jerusalem may have been the work of ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting a gay pride march. Security forces at the scene say they have found leaflets there that call for the cancellation of the march.
- The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission will present Nepal’s only LGBT-rights group, the Blue Diamond Society, with the Felipa de Souza Award, in honor of “the courage and impact of grassroots groups and leaders dedicated to improving the human rights of LGBT and other individuals stigmatized and abused because of their sexuality or HIV status.”