Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 83, will be the first same-sex couple to have a legal wedding in California. The couple, who have been together for over five decades, were also the first to wed when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began marrying couples in 2004—marriages that were then revoked by the state. The
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled today that the state must enforce a Vermont court order awarding child-visitation rights to Janet Jenkins, a non-biological lesbian mom locked in a custody battle with her former partner, Lisa Miller. The Court rejected Miller’s claim that Virginia law and a state constitutional amendment against same-sex unions (including ones from
Posting this a tad early this week; I’ll catch late Friday news next week. Happy weekend! Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Barney Frank (D-MA) announced the formation of the bipartisan House of Representatives LGBT Equality Caucus, with the goal of promoting LGBT equality. One of the architect’s of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Senator Sam Nunn,
[Updated with new information: 4:05 p.m.] Love your Tivo? Then tell them to stop working with with ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family (FOF). Yes, that’s right: FOF has partnered with Tivo to bring FOF members special offers. FOF is also holding a Father’s Day “SuperDad” essay contest (http://www.family.org/fathersday/) with Tivo boxes and service as
The ACLU launched Get Busy, Get Equal, a toolkit building and protecting the rights of LGBT people. ExxonMobil shareholders voted down a resolution to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the company’s non-discrimination statement. Before Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, Mobil had provided these protections to gay employees and benefits to their same-sex
New York Gov. David A. Paterson has told all state agencies that marriages of same-sex couples from other jurisdictions “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.” He failed, however, in his attempt to make all couples wearing Red Sox paraphernalia don pinstripes before being recognized, after a strongly worded memo
(Reposting this in honor of Memorial Day. Originally published in Bay Windows, January 10, 2008) Five-year-old William and three-year-old Ryan are the children of decorated U.S. Army officer Cheryl Parker. Like other children of service members, they have dealt with cross-country moves and months without their mother while she was deployed in Iraq. Unlike the
Just in time for Memorial Day, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district court decision in the case of an Air Force major discharged for being a lesbian. It ruled “the government may only ‘intrude upon the personal and private lives of homosexuals’ to ‘advance an important governmental interest,’ such as maintaining troop
MP’s in the U.K. today defeated a proposed addition to the Government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have required fertility clinics to consider a child’s “need for a father” before providing services to lesbians and single women. Clinics are required to consider the “welfare of the [potential] child”, but the new bill says
