U.S. National News The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked up and passed the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which would provide benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. While the above churns through the system, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) concluded that it does not have the legal authority to […]
U.S. National News Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), sponsor of a bill to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) said it wouldn’t be repealed in this Congress and that efforts next year will focus on building support for the issue. A Senate committee approved the nomination of openly lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum as a
Two stories caught my eye today that show the value of making personal connections, even when the barriers between people seem insurmountable. They make a good pair of pieces for weekend reading. One is Steven Goldstein’s piece at Blue Jersey, which I mentioned in my Political Roundup this week. Steven is the chair of Garden
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
. . . but we couldn’t. The New York State Senate failed to pass a marriage equality bill yesterday on a vote of 24-38. Not even close. Never mind that the state has one of the biggest meccas of LGBT life in the country, and is home to the Stonewall Inn, the place where the
Elections As I’m sure you all know, we lost marriage equality in Maine. Everyone is writing about this. A few pieces of note are those of Jeremy at Good As You and Nan Hunter at Bilerico, who look at how the right won against a solid equality campaign; Pam on the “dying hog of homophobia”;
Maine is one of my favorite vacation spots. I’ve gone there ever since I was two and my parents took me camping along the coast. One of my earliest memories is of the moose that came wandering around our cabins one morning. I wrote about Maine before the election, and noted that once again, the
I’m sitting here reloading umpteen browser tabs as election results come in. At the moment, it looks like the Kalamazoon anti-discrimination ordinance has passed, openly gay Steve Kornell has won a seat on the St. Petersburg, Florida, City Council, Maine is still too close to call, and Washington polls have not yet closed. In New
Like many of you, I am anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s election results. My thoughts are especially with my New England neighbors in Maine, but they stretch to Washington state and many places in between. Chris Geidner at Law Dork and Nan Hunter at Hunter of Justice have each compiled great lists of referenda and races to
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
