U.S. National News The National Equality March is taking place this weekend, and the biggest news to come out of it so far is President Obama’s upcoming speech at the HRC dinner tomorrow night. HuffPo has lined up a panel of bloggers to tell us what they think Obama should say. My favorite piece so […]
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
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced a bill seeking to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The bill is co-sponsored by openly gay Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI.) and Jared Polis (D-CO), but not by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) , who says we should first focus on other LGBT rights bills: the Matthew Shepard
Next Tuesday, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Jared Polis (D-CO) will introduce legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Lisa Keen has a nice summary of all the LGBT-related bills poised for action in Congress. A new report from the Congressional Research Service Supreme Court says it is unclear whether
(There’s been a lot of parenting-related news this week, which I’m putting into a roundup for Monday. Stay tuned. Below is more general news.) The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) this week touched people of all orientations and identities. For many in the LGBT community, his death meant the loss of a long-time advocate
Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the progressive conference Netroots Nation. Blogger Lane Hudson confronted him on DADT and DOMA. Hudson explains why. The Anchorage Assembly approved an ordinance that bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, credit, public accommodations, and housing. It includes exemptions for churches and other
President Obama named 16 recipients for this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. They include tennis and women’s rights legend Billie Jean King and LGBT-rights pioneer Harvey Milk, and very many other worthy people. I’m a bit disappointed not to see Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on the list, but maybe next
Confused by the bevy of marriage-related lawsuits now in play? Lisa Keen at Bay Windows breaks it all down in a multi-part series. (Parts I and II are out; Part III will be next week.) Chris Geidner does a similar breakdown for federal hate crimes legislation. Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed the Defense Department authorization
Yee hah. Another huge week in LGBT political news. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the constitutionality of Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The suit claims that DOMA “unfairly excludes more than 16,000 Massachusetts married same-sex couples and their families from critically important rights
Federal news dominated this week: The Senate Judiciary committee held a hearing on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Attorney General Eric Holder gave a statement in support. There is some buzz that the Act will be attached to the Defense Authorization bill, which happened to a previous version of the bill and helped
