The big news this week is the LGBT community’s reaction to President Obama’s grant of limited benefits to partners of federal employees. Here’s my take on it. The Washington Blade has more analysis.
The news comes on the heels of Obama’s decision to defend a Department of Justice filing that supports DOMA. On that case, see Lisa Keen’s coverage in the Bay Area Reporter, in which she gets into the legal nitty-gritty. On the upcoming DOMA case filed by GLAD, see Wendy Kaminer’s piece in The Atlantic. The DOJ is expected to file a brief in the latter case by June 29. The fun has only just begun, it seems.
- The State Department will consider same-sex couples’ marriage licenses, if valid in their state of origin, as sufficient evidence for a name change on a passport.
- The White House said it was seeking ways to include marriages, unions, and partnerships of same-sex couples in 2010 Census data. The Wall Street Journal reports, “The administration has directed the Census Bureau to determine changes needed in tabulation software to allow for same-sex marriage data to be released early in 2011 with other detailed demographic information from the decennial count.”
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says she supports the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and will be among the original co-sponsors of the bill when it’s introduced.
- Diego Sanchez, a transgender senior policy adviser to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said Frank plans to introduce a revised version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) next week that will include protections based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation.
- A Fresno, California hospital denied a lesbian access to her partner who collapsed from an epileptic seizure after the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality march to protest Prop 8. The couple had advance health care directives and powers of attorney.
- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Ronald E. Albers to a judgeship on the San Francisco County Superior Court, believed to be the first time he has named an openly gay person as a judge.
- Indiana Equality has publicly called the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) “a new form of segregation,” and will not support it. Instead, the group says it will only accept full inclusion in the federal civil rights code.
- LGBT activists in New York are hopeful the state’s new Republican majority leader will allow a marriage equality bill to come up for a vote this month.
- The Washington, D.C. Board of Elections ruled that a public referendum cannot be held on legislation recognizing marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions. D.C. law prohibits any referendum that authorizes discrimination or has the effect of authorizing discrimination under the Human Rights Act.
- In related news, a D.C. Superior Court judge said she will look into whether she has the authority to delay enactment of the District’s marriage-recognition law.
- The Wisconsin State Senate approved limited domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples, including hospital visitation and Family Medical Leave to care of a partner. Gov. Jim Doyle (D) is expected to sign this into law, making Wisconsin the first state with a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality and civil unions to provide domestic partnerships for same-sex couples, and the first state in the Midwest to enact protections legislatively. Go cheeseheads! (I can say that; I used to live there.)
Around the world:
- While not exactly a news item, Lisa Pryor’s piece on marriage equality in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald is both hysterical and spot on.
- Shanghai, China, hosted the nation’s first Pride festival.
- The Gibraltar parliament defeated a bill aimed at equalizing the age of consent for gay and straight men.
- Two women married in India, though not legally. It seems as though their families have come around to supporting them, although some members of their community do not.
- The Indian city of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, will hold its first Rainbow Parade on June 28th. Sex between men remains illegal in the country.
- Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused his opponents of “officially recognising thieves, homosexuals and scumbags” in exchange for their votes, despite previously saying gays do not exist in his country.
- The U.K. group the Taxpayers’ Alliance says that a booklet of tax advice for LGBT people published by HM Revenue and Customs is unnecessary. It covers topic such as tax allowances and inheritance tax thresholds for those in civil partnerships and guidance to trans people on claiming pensions under their new or old gender.