First, the story that should be making the most headlines next week: A New Jersey Senate committee will consider a marriage equality proposal on Monday. The proposal could be posted for a full senate vote later in the week. Steven Goldstein, the indefatigable chair of Garden State Equality, has been doing a heroic job of […]
Many of you followed last spring’s story about the uproar by some conservatives when the Alameda, California school board decided to adopt an LGBT-inclusive safe-schools curriculum. Now comes a new ruling stating that because the diversity curriculum doesn’t constitute health education, parents cannot opt their children out of it. Finally, a glimmer of understanding that
Did suburban swing voters—Maine soccer moms—cost us marriage equality in Maine? Political blogger Matthew Gagnon (who leans right, but not too far) thinks so, and his argument makes some sense. While the analysis is still coming in from Maine, it’s also worth noting that sixty-four percent of voters with children under 18 voted for California’s
U.S. National News The White House has issued a statement of President Barack Obama’s position on marriage equality referenda in Maine and Washington. The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which would extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, flew through its Senate hearing.The similar bill House bill has already passed out of committee.
Bunches of news this week. I’m saving parenting/youth-related stuff for a separate roundup early next week. This week was busy with the extra Banned Books Week content. Stay tuned! An article written by an Air Force colonel in Joint Force Quarterly, which is published for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concludes that
Protect Maine Equality has responded to Stand for Marriage Maine’s Prop 8 copycat ad I posted about last week. They now have two new ads out, one that directly addresses the allegations raised by the right-wing ad. In my previous post, I cautioned the Maine equality group against responding in the same way the No
The House Education and Labor Committee heard testimony on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). Openly gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) were among those who testified, as did Vandy Beth Glenn, who had been fired from her Georgia state legislative job when she announce she was transitioning. A coalition of grassroots groups
“Stand for Marriage Maine” has just released “Everything to Do With Schools,” the latest TV ad in their campaign to revoke marriage equality. Some of you may recognize the name from an ad used during the Prop 8 campaign. As Jeremy at Good As You has pointed out, not just the name is the same—the
“Homosexual marriage [could be] taught in schools whether parents like it or not.” Sound familiar? The ultra-right used the argument to drum up support for Prop 8. Now, Stand for Marriage Maine is busting out the same drivel in support of that state’s Referendum 1, which would overturn marriage equality there. (You can see a
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division hired Matt Nosanchuk, a former Senate staffer and advisor to Barack Obama’s campaign, as a senior counselor who will serve as a representative to the LGBT community. Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) voted to lift its ban on noncelibate lesbian and gay pastors and to
