The U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted 15-12 to advance the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913), aka the Matthew Shepard Act. The bill now goes up for a full House floor vote, which could happen next week. John Berry was officially sworn in as director of the Office of Personnel […]
The news keeps getting better: The Washington, D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Like Vermont. And Iowa. And Massachusetts. And Connecticut. The Washington Post reports that the Council will likely take a final vote on the legislation next month. Congress must then approve—meaning the outcome is far from certain.
Bay Windows has more on GLAD’s DOMA challenge, the likely response from the Obama administration, and reactions from the LGBT community around the country. In two separate rulings, the federal appeals court in California said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the benefits program for federal
Saturday’s Hartford Courant reports: Concerned that the state’s new same-sex marriage law would infringe on religious liberties, the Connecticut Catholic Conference today proposed some broad exemptions which it believes are necessary to protect those rights. The law does not require Catholic priests—or any other clergy member—to preside over same-sex weddings. However, the church is seeking
Among the first same-sex couples to marry in Connecticut were lesbian moms Peg Oliveira and Jen Vickery. The New York Times reports “Ms. Oliveira proposed in the aisles of IKEA.” How lesbian is that? The couple wed today outside City Hall in New Haven with their three-month-old daughter, Willow, and several friends. No word on
It’s ironic. Voters in the Constitution State last week rejected the possibility of a Constitutional Convention that could have banned marriage of same-sex couples, even as three other states enshrined discrimination in their constitutions. No, maybe it’s not ironic. Maybe it means Connecticut citizens are more aware of what a constitution is—fundamental rights and governing
The Connecticut Supreme Court today ruled that “same sex couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry.” GLAD has links to some of the news coverage of this historic event. Also check out this video of the lead plaintiffs, Beth Kerrigan and Jody Mock, reacting to the news. Have tissues handy. The Council of Europe
The Connecticut Supreme Court just ruled in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples: Our conventional understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection. Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are
(First, just a note to say that I didn’t post my usual Weekly Political Roundup last Friday because I thought the HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum was enough politics to hold us for a while. I’ll incorporate outstanding items from last week into this Friday’s update.) Presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who missed Thursday’s HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum because
Some good, some bad, and some ugly this week: The federal First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on March 7 in Cook v. Gates (formerly Cook v. Rumsfeld [Ha! -Ed.]), a constitutional challenge to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on LGB service members. Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also
