The second round of hearings on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) got underway in the House. Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, calls it “a watershed moment.”- It’s bad enough when no Republican candidates support marriage equality or gays and lesbians in the military. It’s worse when one doesn’t even know what “LGBT” stands for, as was the case with Senator John McCain at a forum at Concord High School in New Hampshire.
- Arkansas’s attorney general will reject a proposed initiative aimed at stopping same-sex and other unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children.
- The California state legislature approved a bill giving full marriage equality to same-sex couples. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to veto the bill as he did when a similar one passed in 2005.
- The San Diego City Council refused to sign an amicus brief with Los Angeles, San Jose, Long Beach and Oakland, asking the California Supreme Court to overturn a ban on same-sex marriages.
- The San Jose Mercury News brings us a roundup of LGBT matters in the 2007 California legislative session, including marriage equality, various civil rights measures, and the successful first-ever appropriation for aid to LGBT victims of domestic violence.
- LGBT activists in Connecticut are hopeful a bill adding gender identity to non-discrimination statutes will pass in the next session, even though it died in the state House in June. (Thanks to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund Smartbrief.)
- Idaho Senator Larry Craig is still in the news, with his resignation up in the air and the criminal records of his children casting doubt on their defense of their father and his values. For a lighter take on the matter, check out “Larry! The Musical!” at Gawker. (Thanks to Visible Vote ’08.)
- Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order banning discrimination against LGBT state employees.
- In Maryland, three groups filed papers in Montgomery Circuit Court to try and stop a new health education curriculum that includes sexual orientation as a classroom topic for eighth and 10th graders. The county Board of Education had rejected an appeal from the same groups earlier this year.
- The battle between a Methodist group and the LGBT community in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, continues. The church group, which owns all the land in the town, received a tax break after promising to open all its facilities to the public. It refuses to allow same-sex couples to hold ceremonies on them, however. (The New York Times also covered the issue.)
- Election officials in Oregon are investigating claims that groups calling for a referendum on domestic partnerships and sexual-orientation anti-discrimination laws are improperly telling contributors they can qualify for a political tax credit.
- Two MTF transgender people were kicked out of a men’s bathroom at a downtown mall in Seattle. The two plan to file discrimination complaints with both the city and the state, in the first challenge to the state’s anti-discrimination laws, which now protect gender identity. (Thanks to PageOneQ.com.)
Around the world:
- An Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has said that a German man is entitled to a pension payment from his deceased partner’s policy. The German Theatre Pension Institution rejected his claim, saying they only make such payments to spouses and not registered partners. The plaintiff awaits a final judgment in the case, but as Pinknews.co.uk reports, “An Advocate General’s opinion is not binding but is normally accepted by the judges.”
- Canada will release its first census count of same-sex married couples next week, but many in the LGBT community are disappointed that same-sex couples must list their relationship as “Other” rather than “Spouse,” “Husband,” or “Wife.” Census officials said the latter two are not commonly used in the gay community, and the first was “too confusing for participants.” I’m not sure where the confusion is. “Spouse” seems like a good choice for both same- and opposite-sex couples.
- As proof that there is a big difference between the U.K. and the U.S., Britain’s Conservative Party has begun advertising on LGBT news site PinkNews.co.uk. Conservative Party leader David Cameron reiterated his support for same-sex civil partnerships and LGBT rights.