U.S. National News
- Democratic leaders said they plan to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) in next year’s defense authorization bill.
- The American Medical Association (AMA) passed a resolution calling for full repeal of DADT, saying that it “clearly has a negative impact on military healthcare, military medical providers, and our troops.”
- A new study by researchers from the RAND Corporation and the University of Florida, published in the journal Armed Forces and Society, surveyed military personnel who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan “and found that having a gay or lesbian colleague in their unit had no significant impact on their unit’s cohesion or readiness.”
- Looking forward to next week, there will be committee markups for the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act (benefits for domestic partners of federal employees) and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), as well as a confirmation hearing for retired Marine general Clifford Stanley as undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness, a key post for any repeal of DADT. (Not to mention the likelihood of the postponed marriage equality vote in the New York State Senate.)
- Marriage equality is in play around the country, and Lisa Keen gives us a state-by-state overview.
U.S. State News
- Connecticut celebrated one year of marriage equality this week. Fully half of the same-sex couples who wed in Connecticut were from other states or other countries&mdsah;mostly New York, but also South Dakota, Mississippi, Russia, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Israel, among other places.
- New Jersey State Sen. Paul Sarlo said he would not bring up the state’s marriage equality bill in the Judiciary Committee unless enough votes exist to pass it on to the full Senate. That could mean the bill won’t come up for a full vote before pro-equality Gov. Jon Corzine is succeeded by anti-equality Chris Christie.
- Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri first vetoed a bill giving domestic partners the right to make funeral decisions for each other, then, after meeting with Queer Action of Rhode Island, said he is open to supporting a domestic-partnership law that bestows many if not all of the rights of marriage.
- The Fort Worth, Texas City Council voted to expand its anti-discrimination ordinance to include transgender people.
- The LDS Church has endorsed Salt Lake City ordinances banning job and housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Why, given the church’s normally anti-LGBT stance? Bil at Bilerico says sources told him that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney warned LDS leaders that they “are concerned over a recent spate of negative publicity over the church’s support of Prop 8.”
- As I mentioned in my last LGBT Parenting Roundup, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has threatened to stop taking city money and providing charitable services such as homeless shelters, adoption and medical care unless the D.C. Council changes the pending marriage equality bill. Although the church would not be required to perform weddings for same-sex couples, it would have to follow laws such as extending employee benefits to same-sex married couples. The smartest thing I’ve heard said about this? Lawyer and D.C. resident Nancy Polikoff writes, “For more than 30 years it has been unlawful to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and marital status in the provision of services in the District of Columbia. Catholic Charities operates in a discriminatory manner because no one has challenged them.” It’s also wise to keep in mind, as Ameriqueer reminds us, that some Catholics stand with us for equality.
Around the World
- A judge in Buenos Aires, Argentina has given a gay couple permission to marry, which would make them the first same-sex couple in Latin America to do so. Since 2002, the city has permitted same-sex couples to have civil unions.
- Indian election authorities said that intersex and transsexual people will have the choice to tick “O” for “Other” when indicating their gender in voter forms.