What’s going on with the ban on openly gay servicemembers? Don’t ask. On Thursday, results from the upcoming Pentagon report on the impact of a repeal leaked to the Washington Post. The good news is that the ban could be repealed “with only minimal and isolated incidents of risk to the current war efforts.” Then on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from the Log Cabin Republicans to halt enforcement of the ban while a federal appeals court considers the matter.- The number of federal lawsuits challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) jumped from three to five this week as the ACLU and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) each filed cases. The GLAD lawsuit is similar to an earlier GLAD case in which a Massachusetts Federal District Court found Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional. The new case was filed on behalf of married same-sex couples in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The ACLU case was filed on behalf of Edie Windsor, following the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer. They had been a couple for 44 years and were married in Canada in 2007. When Spyer died, the federal government taxed Edie’s inheritance from her as though they were strangers.
- Despite brief rumors to the contrary this week, it seems the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will not get a vote in this session of Congress.
- A source in President Obama’s boyhood town of Jakarta, Indonesia told the New York Times the future president had a gay male nanny as a child.
- Might Illinois see civil unions before Christmas? They’ll have to hurry if they’re going to beat Hawaii, which is also poised to pass such a bill, with Democratic majorities in both houses and a pro-LGBT governor-elect. And much as Illinois has many things to commend it, I’m afraid the Aloha state will blow them out of the water when it comes to romantic ceremony locations.
- Now that Republicans in North Carolina have a solid majority in the legislature, conservatives are hoping they can pass a state constitutional amendment to ban marriage of same-sex couples. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast without such a ban.
Around the world:
- The Colombia Constitutional Court rejected a lawsuit that would have legalized marriage for same-sex couples.
- A bill is being considered in Ireland that would give civil partners—once they become legal in January—equal treatment in Ireland’s immigration laws. Currently, non-EU same-sex partners of Irish or EU nationals may apply for permission to remain in the state on the basis of their relationship.
- Mexico’s House of Representatives voted to extend social security and medical benefits to same-sex couples. The Senate has yet to vote on the measure.