Weekly Political Roundup

• “Capitol Hill sources” say the Matthew Shepard Act, an LGBT-inclusive hate crimes bill, will remain stalled in the Senate until at least September. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated, however, that she expects the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to come to the House floor for a vote in September.
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reminded us of the thin line between anti-harassment measures and censorship. They told the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that an anti-harassment school policy for protecting LGBT students impeded the free-speech rights of religious students who wanted to express opposing views on same-sex attraction. The policy had, interestingly, been implemented in the settlement of an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of several high-school students whose school prevented them from forming a gay-straight alliance (GSA). The ACLU is now telling the court it is possible for the school to craft an anti-harassment policy that also protects students’ right to free speech.
• Activists in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, held a rally to protest the homophobic remarks made by Mayor Jim Naugle. Among other things, Naugle had called on the city to spend $250,000 on a robotic toilet he claims will solve the “problem of homosexual sex in public restrooms.”
• In Massachusetts, transgender woman Rhiannon O’Donnabhain began the tax-court trial in which she is suing the IRS for denying her an income-tax deduction related to the medical costs of her treatment for gender-identity disorder (GID), including sex-reassignment surgery. GLAD notes “this case goes beyond Rhiannon as an individual. Having a court consider the experience of one trans woman has been an important opportunity to show the pervasive discrimination that transgender people face every day.”
• The Michigan Supreme Court threw out a case challenging the Ann Arbor school district’s provision of benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees, saying the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to challenge the board. A separate case is considering whether the benefits are constitutional. Michigan’s constitution defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman and forbids anything else from being recognized as a marriage “or similar union for any purpose.”
• Same-sex couples residing in New Mexico may now legally marry in Massachusetts, since their home state does not explicitly forbid same-sex couples from marrying.
• The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the state’s domestic violence laws apply to unmarried couples and do not conflict with its ban on same-sex marriage.
• The Vermont Legislature has formed a special commission to investigate whether Vermonters think the state’s civil union laws should be upgraded to full marriage equality for same-sex couples.
• The Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative organization from California, has asked a Washington State court to throw out Seattle’s policy of providing equal benefits to employees married by governments that license same-sex marriages. The group claims it violates the state’s ban on same-sex marriages.

Around the world:

• The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to give consultative status to two LGBT groups, the Coalition gaie et lesbienne du Québec and the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL). This means the NGOs can attend UN meetings and contribute to a variety of UN functions.
• A new study found that 65 percent of the Flemish think it is a good thing that same-sex couples can marry, up from 33 percent in 2003.
• Two Ugandan lesbians are suing their government for trespassing, theft of property, illegal arrest, and inhuman and degrading treatment. It is the first public hearing in Uganda on the rights of LGBT citizens. (Thanks, PageOneQ.)
• A Roman Catholic adoption charity in the U.K. will close in response to new laws requiring all adoption agencies to accept same-sex couples as possible parents. Catholic Care currently places 20 children with new families every year.
• On a happier note, the LGBT community and its allies in the U.K. are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality this week. Turing’s column in Pinknews.co.uk calls for Britons not only to celebrate their evolution into a more just society, but also to shoulder the responsibility of working for positive change elsewhere in the world.