U.S. National News Democratic leaders said they plan to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) in next year’s defense authorization bill. The American Medical Association (AMA) passed a resolution calling for full repeal of DADT, saying that it “clearly has a negative impact on military healthcare, military medical providers, and our troops.” A new study […]
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
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) signed a bill yesterday that allows same-sex couples to register as domestic partners and thus gain certain rights like hospital visitation and survivor benefits. As an erstwhile Cheesehead, who met my now-spouse while we were both graduate students at UW-Madison, this comes as happy news. Wisconsin is, in fact, the
Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA) introduced the Reuniting Families Act, an immigration bill that includes allowing Americans to sponsor same-sex partners for residency. The Senate version does not include that provision, but the Senate Judiciary Committee this week held hearings on a separate immigration bill, the Uniting American Families Act, that would end discrimination against LGBT
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
Can we compromise on marriage? David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch think so. Pam disagrees. What about you? The Obama administration named Jeffrey S. Crowley, an openly gay man, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy. The U.S. State Department’s annual Human Rights Report condemns Russia, Serbia, and Nigeria, for breaches of human rights for
The United States signed on with a number of other Western countries to a U.N. proposal that would condemn discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The measure failed because many countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as China opposed the proposal. President Obama appointed campaign fundraiser Jeremy Bernard, who is
Publishing this early because of my vacation schedule; I’ll catch late-Friday news next week. The U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on workplace discrimination against transgender people, “the first ever hearing in Congress exclusively on transgender issues.” HRC has coverage here and here and here. Bilerico’s Alex Blaze has
Congressman Joe Sestak, the highest-ranking veteran in Congress, called for a repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told graduating West Point cadets that Congress, and not the military, is responsible for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Some say transgender rights could be the
