Weekly Political Update

• A vote on the Matthew Shepard Act, which would extend current hate crimes laws to cover sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical disability, was delayed when the Senate suspended debate on the Defense Authorization bill to which it was attached. HRC reports that a vote on hate crimes may not occur before Congress adjourns for its August recess.
• The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and LOGO will be hosting a debate among Democratic presidential candidates on August 9, hosted by Melissa Etheridge. The initial invitations omitted former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, a longshot, but a supporter of marriage equality; he received one later after pressure from bloggers convinced HRC and LOGO to change their minds. Republican candidates did not respond to HRC regarding a similar debate.
• The American Medical Association amended their non-discrimination policy to include transgender people, addressing issues of discrimination including discriminatory insurance policies.
• A Massachusetts woman is suing the IRS for not allowing her to take a tax deduction for medical expenses related to her gender reassignment surgery. The IRS claims the surgery is cosmetic, not a medical necessity.
• According to the state of New Jersey, 1,359 couples have entered civil unions since they became legal last February. In that time, Garden State Equality received 191 complaints from couples whose employers refuse to recognize their civil unions, a nearly 1 in 7 failure rate. One such employer is UPS, although it does recognize same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. Governor John Corzine has written a letter to the shipping company, urging them to change their policy. Steve Goldstein, head of Garden State Equality, responded in an e-mail to supporters: “Once again, the Governor proves himself to be a compassionate leader and champion of civil rights for all. The problem, however, is that writing to companies won’t solve the epidemic of inequality in New Jersey that the civil unions law has caused. The only way to fix a failed law is actually to fix the law.” He also notes that UPS’ competitors, FedEx and DHL, are among the firms that do not recognize civil unions, either.
• A Circuit Court judge in Multnomah County, Oregon ruled that a non-biological mother should receive automatic legal parental status over her partner’s biological child—that is, without needing to go through adoption procedures. More in my full post on the topic.
• Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri vetoed a bill that would have required health insurers to cover infertility treatments for unmarried people, including lesbian couples who cannot legally marry in the Ocean State. (Rhode Island same-sex couples can marry in Massachusetts, however, because Rhode Island does not explicitly forbid same-sex marriage. Rhode Island will not recognize the marriages, though.)
• The City Council of Redmond, Washington gave initial approval to extending family benefits to employees with same-sex domestic partners. A final vote will occur on August 21. Redmond is, of course, the home of Microsoft. Coincidence that Bill Gates just took a 12.8 percent ownership of LGBT media firm Planet Out? Or was it Lambda Legal’s threat of legal action in support of Redmond Police Lieutenant Betsy Lawrence? You decide.

Around the world:

• The Children’s Aid Society, a public adoption agency in Ottawa, Canada, has been reaching out to Ottawa’s LGBT community to find adoptive homes for more children, with “really fantastic success” according to one lesbian mom and activist.
• Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal decriminalized gay public sodomy, saying the law does not penalize heterosexuals “for the same or comparable conduct.”
• The Supreme Court of Ireland ruled against a lesbian couple and in favor of their sperm donor, saying the couple cannot take their son out of the country, away from his biological father, for more than six weeks. The couple, registered as civil partners in the U.K., had planned to go to Australia, the home country of one of the women, for up to a year. They now face a battle for joint custody.
• On a better note, Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern said his government is “committed” to a new civil partnership law, whereby gay and co-habiting couples can receive the same tax breaks, social welfare benefits, pension schemes and inheritance rights as married couples. Opponents of Ahern’s Fianna Fail party doubt whether he will carry through on this.
• New U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown answered a number of questions about LGBT rights for PinkNews.co.uk, asserting his support for civil partnerships and measures to combat homophobic bullying and workplace discrimination, and “Britain’s commitment to the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality” around the world.
• An NHS fertility clinic in the U.K. wants to offer donor insemination services to healthy single women and lesbian couples who have no medical problems, saying it is discriminatory to refuse services to women who do not have a male partner. Opponents claim this is a misuse of public funds when some people are being denied drugs for serious diseases. The government is also drafting a bill to remove the requirement that clinics consider a child’s need for a father before deciding whether to grant fertility treatment.