The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve legislation that would repeal a travel and immigration ban on those who are HIV positive.- A new study shows that the California Supreme Court wields an influence far beyond the Golden State’s borders, when one counts up the number of times the decisions of state high courts were followed in other states. Interesting implications for its upcoming marriage equality ruling.
- The University of Hawaii says it will create accommodation for same-sex couples just as for married couples. University officials say the change was in progress when Lambda Legal filed a discrimination suit last week.
- The chances are slim for marriage equality in Maryland this year, say many LGBT activists. Maryland senators have, however, begun debate on a measure to allow same-sex couples to make medical decisions for each other.
- New York’s new (as of March 17) governor, David Patterson, has a record of support for the LGBT community, says the Advocate. Others say Governor Eliot Spitzer’s fall could undermine a likely Democratic takeover of the State Senate, and weaken the chance of passing a marriage-equality bill.
- Bills were introduced in both houses of the Ohio legislature that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression in employment, housing and public accommodations. Gov. Ted Strickland has said he will sign the final legislation.
- Ellen takes on Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern, and makes more lesbian jokes than I’ve ever heard on her show.
- In the ongoing custody case between former partners Lisa and Janet Miller-Jenkins, the Vermont Supreme Court heard Lisa Miller-Jenkins’ reappeal. She is asking that Janet Miller-Jenkins not be given custody of the child born while they were together, saying that their Vermont civil union is not valid in Virginia, where Lisa moved after they separated. Lisa, who says she is no longer a lesbian, is backed by the ultra-conservative Liberty Counsel.
- The governor of Washington, Christine Gregoire, signed into law an expanded set of rights for domestic partners.
Around the world:
- The Legislative Assembly of Victoria, Australia passed legislation that will allow same- and opposite couples to register their relationships and gain some of the rights of married couples.
- In a move that would make Sappho proud, OLKE, a lesbian organization in Greece said it has discovered that a 1982 law legalizing weddings in civil ceremonies refers only to participating “persons.” A lesbian couple now plans to wed in an Athens suburb next week. OLKE says it will sue municipalities that refuse to marry same-sex couples.
- The Norwegian government proposed a new marriage law that would give same-sex couples the same rights as opposite-sex ones, including church weddings, adoption and assisted pregnancies. The legislation would replace a 1993 law that gives same-sex couples the right to enter civil unions, but does not allow them to have church weddings or be considered as adoptive parents.
- The U.K. Interior Minister said the government would postpone the deportation of a gay Iranian teenager, and it should reconsider his appeal for asylum.