The big news this week was unfortunately negative. A federal court in Massachusetts upheld the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on openly gay personnel. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of 12 service members, says it will likely appeal the ruling. About 50 senior religious leaders, including over a […]
This week, we’re reminded that same-sex marriage bans are also emboldening those who would ban any legal recognition of a same-sex relationship, including domestic partnerships, civil unions, and medical coverage. The California Supreme Court refused for the second time to hear an appeal challenging the state’s domestic partner law. Opponents of the law said it
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says all Roman Catholics should support a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. U. S. Senator and rumored presidential candidate Russell Feingold, D-Wis., announced that he supports marriage equality for same-sex couples. A gay male couple have asked a federal appeals court in California to declare
This week’s big story was that the Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court upheld the 1913 law forbidding non-residents to marry in Massachusetts if their home states do not permit them to marry. The law was originally intended to prohibit interracial marriages. Governor Mitt Romney applauded the ruling, saying “We don’t want Massachusetts to become the Las
In New Hampshire, the House voted 207-125 against amending the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. In Ohio, the Cincinnati City Council voted to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in employment, housing and public accommodations. The governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman Jr., has vetoed an anti-gay bill that would
The big news this week was the decision by Catholic Charities of Boston to shut down its adoption services instead of adhering to state laws requiring them to consider same-sex couples as prospective parents. The Massachusetts Department of Social Services gave Catholic Charities approximately $1 million in reimbursements for its adoption-related work in fiscal year
The big LGBT political story this week was the Supreme Court decision that said a college cannot refuse access to military recruiters by claiming the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy conflicts with the school’s antidiscrimination rules. Enough’s been said about the inherent unfairness of DADT that I won’t belabor the point here, except to
In New York, the ACLU filed arguments with the state’s highest court for the second of four potential right-to-marry cases. (I’ll add that given the number of people who commute from New York to New Jersey and vice versa, it will be an administrative nightmare if one state legalizes same-sex marriage and the other doesn’t.
Florida’s Senate tabled a bill that would have granted adoption rights to same-sex couples. A Missouri Circuit Court has granted foster-parenting rights to a lesbian couple. It is unclear whether the state will appeal the ruling. New Jersey’s Supreme Court heard arguments on behalf of couples claiming that denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples
