(There’s been a lot of parenting-related news this week, which I’m putting into a roundup for Monday. Stay tuned. Below is more general news.)
The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) this week touched people of all orientations and identities. For many in the LGBT community, his death meant the loss of a long-time advocate for our rights. Here are a few of the more noteworthy pieces I’ve seen about his impact on our community:
- HRC, along with the expected adulatory press release, also put out a long list of Kennedy’s accomplishments related to LGBT rights.
- Phil Reese at Bilerico sums them up in more elegant prose.
- Also at Bilerico, Karen Ocamb offers a look back at Kennedy’s life and times and suggests his life might serve as “a parable for America.”
- LGBT newspaper Bay Windows, in Kennedy’s home state of Massachusetts, has put out a special issue on Kennedy, with pieces by Rebecca Haag, president and CEO of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts; independent journalist Lisa Keen; Former HRC director Tim McFeeley (who worked with Kennedy on the first introduction of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA)); co-publisher Sue O’Connell; and Marc Solomon, marriage director for Equality California and previous leader of MassEquality, who writes on “How Ted Delivered Marriage to Massachusetts.” There’s also a compilation of comments from leaders around the state and country on Sen. Kennedy’s passing.
On to other news:
- In the No News news of the week, the Pentagon says it is still reviewing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and has no particular deadline. Let’s hope other U.S. military operations are planned with a little more structure.
- The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), while still not passed, is at least looking promising.
- The Anchorage, Alaska Assembly passed up its first chance to override the mayor’s veto of an LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance.
- A U.S. District Court judge granted a U.S. Department of Justice request to dismiss Smelt v. U.S., a case seeking to overturn California’s Prop 8. The attorney for a couple in the case said the dismissal is “just a technicality” and he will resubmit the lawsuit soon.
- The ultra-conservative National Organization for Marriage launched its “Reclaim Iowa” campaign.
- After four years of marriage equality, Massachusetts still holds the national title as the state with the lowest divorce rate, maintaining a rate about the same as in 1940, based on data from the National Center For Vital Statistics. Destroying traditional marriage? I think not.
- The city of El Paso, Texas, will offer insurance benefits to unmarried same- and opposite-sex partners of city employees. (Thanks, PageOneQ.)
- Nearby, in Houston (to the extent that anything is “nearby” in Texas), the city just might elect out lesbian Annise Parker as mayor.
- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says there is no need for making LGBT people a protected class under the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
- LGBT organization Washington Families Standing Together has filed a lawsuit requesting a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the Secretary of State from certifying Referendum 71. If the Referendum is not certified, the state’s expanded domestic partnership laws would take immediate effect.
- The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission did, however, say that the names and addresses of donors to Referendum 71 will not be exempt from public disclosure.
Around the world:
- An increasing number of New Zealand MP’s are expressing support for changes to laws that currently do not protect transgender people from discrimination and that require gender reassignment surgery before a person’s legal gender identity can be changed.
- A Russian court postponed hearing a complaint from a lesbian couple over a refusal to let them marry. The judge claimed the couple failed to appear in court; the couple says they were 10 minutes late because of traffic, and the court is looking for any excuse to obstruct their case.