The Colorado State Senate voted to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. The measure must pass one more Senate vote before going to the House. One of the motivating factors in the Connecticut Judiciary Committee’s passage of a bill in support of full marriage rights for same-sex couples (see last week’s update) was the […]
Legislators renamed a federal hate-crimes bill after Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, slain in 1998 because he was gay. Supporters feel that adding a name and a face to the bill, which adds protections for hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, will help its chances for success. (Thanks, PageOneQ.) The Associated Press
Presidential candidate and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd told students in New Hampshire that people debating gay marriage should ask themselves what they would do if their child was gay. He added that if his daughters were lesbians he would want them to have “marriage-like rights” through civil unions. He stopped short of supporting same-sex marriage,
Presidential candidate John McCain learned how important it is to hire good technical help. A staffer didn’t swap out the default images in the MySpace template he was using for the candidate, and didn’t credit the template’s creator. When the designer learned of this, he uploaded new default images to his own server, which were
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced a federal hate-crimes bill that expands the definition of such crimes to include those based on sexual orientation. A similar bill is expected soon in the Senate. The recent gay bashing and death of 72-year-old Andrew Athos in Detroit is a tragic reminder of the need for such a law.
A group of seven high-ranking lesbian and gay military veterans called on Congress to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and demanded that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace apologize for calling LGBT service members “immoral.” The New York Times follows the LGBT blogosphere in highlighting Hillary Clinton and
Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual winter board meeting. Candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani declined invitations because of scheduling conflicts. Clinton said “I am proud to stand by your side. I want you to know that just as you have always
Congressman Marty Meehan (D-MA) re-introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on LGBT personnel. The Huffington Post has a good article by Eric Alva, the first Marine wounded in Iraq, about why he came out and is supporting this legislation. In Largo, Florida, City Manager Steve Stanton
A California state senator introduced a bill to bring property-tax relief to surviving domestic partners who inherited real estate from a partner who died before 2006. An openly gay Illinois state representative introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill is titled the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act” to address concerns that clergy
Anglican leaders ruled yesterday that the American Episcopal Church could welcome gay men and lesbians into the communion, but could not install any more gay or lesbian bishops. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he won’t sign a bill allowing same-sex marriage if the Legislature passes the measure. “The people of California have voted on that
