Tag Archives: feds

GOP Rep. Randy Forbes (VA) has introduced legislation which would require all federal documents to use only the words “mother” and “father” when describing parents. Forbes’ bill is meant to directly counter a recent compromise by Clinton’s State Department, which last month added the words “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” to passport applications. When we last heard from Forbes, he …

Yesterday the White House Media Office issued a special report on homeless LGBT youth. The report was created by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and spotlights the work being done by NYC’s Ali Forney Center as well as the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit. The Ali Forney Center comments via press release: This follows upon recent events over …

More than half of the nation’s AIDS patients who are on waiting lists to get medications are in Florida. Last week Sen. Bill Nelson wrote both the president and Florida Gov. Rick “Medicare Fraud” Scott, warning of a catastrophic public health crisis over the lack of ADAP funding. In the below clip, South Florida AIDS activist Mark S. King lays …

Gay rights attorney and former San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg has been appointed by the president to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Achtenberg co-founded the National Center for Lesbian Rights and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1990. In 1993, she became the first openly gay or lesbian person to be confirmed for a federal …

A federal judge in California has ruled that state employees may sue the federal government for excluding their partners from a long-term health care program. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland denied an Obama administration request to dismiss the suit Tuesday and signaled that she is likely to overturn provisions of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which denies …

The Department of Justice yesterday filed its defense of the overturn of Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act, which was ruled unconstitutional last July in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States. A quote from the government’s brief comes via Chris Geidner at Metro Weekly: DOMA is supported by rationales that constitute a sufficient …

Newly released data from the federal government show a slight decrease in life expectancy for residents of the United States. According to the report, West Virginia is the worst state for mortality, with a death rate there that is almost 1.5 times greater than Hawaii, where people are living the longest. Data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics …

The CIA has launched a new task force to investigate WikiLeaks. The group will scour the released documents to survey damage caused by the disclosures. One of the most embarrassing revelations was that the US state department had drawn up a list of information it would like on key UN figures – it later emerged the CIA had asked for …

The New York Times reports on the latest advice from the feds on what to do in the event of a nuclear bomb. Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building …

Responding to a new Surgeon General report that even one cigarette could spur fatal heart attacks in some people, the American Family Association hate group says that it’s time that the government issues similar warnings about gay sex. Because that first cock you suck can be the one that kills you. What the surgeon general did not say but should …

Following up on today’s press release denouncing a new federal rule allowing the partners of LGBT patients to visit them in hospitals, the American Family Association took their objections to their national radio show, which is broadcast on over 200 stations nationwide.

“Certainly there are Catholic hospitals and Baptist hospitals that recognize homosexual behavior as sinful behavior and they do not want to take part in affirming homosexual sin under the strong arm of the government.” – Liberty Counsel spokesbigot Matt Barber, objecting to new federal rules which stipulate that any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding must allow LGBT patients …

The FDA has proposed changing the warnings on cigarettes to include photos of dead bodies and gruesomely emaciated cancer patients. U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said a new “comprehensive tobacco control strategy” would include not only these graphic photos but bold statements such as “Smoking Will Kill You.” “Today, FDA takes a crucial step toward reducing the tremendous toll …

A federal labor agency has ruled that social media postings are protected speech that employers cannot use against staffers. In what labor officials and lawyers view as a ground-breaking case involving workers and social media, the National Labor Relations Board has accused a company of illegally firing an employee after she criticized her supervisor on her Facebook page. This is …

Tomorrow the Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) will launch a DOMA lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of a Connecticut lesbian couple. Earlier this year, GLAD won a similar suit in Massachusetts in a ruling that the Obama administration is appealing. The New York Times reports: Joanne Pedersen tried to add her spouse to her federal health …

“He has, via unconstitutional executive fiat, unilaterally and arbitrarily disregarded the federal Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, which states that the federal government only recognizes legitimate marriage as between one man and one woman. After November 2, it’s my hope that some gutsy legislators in Congress will begin to look at this and other legally dubious actions by …

Attorney General Eric Holder says that even if California voters legalize marijuana via Proposition 19, the federal government will continue to prosecute pot cases there. On Friday, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama administration would “vigorously enforce” federal drug laws against people who sell, distribute or grow marijuana for recreational use. Holder sent a letter to nine …

In reference to the post several below this one, the Office Of Personnel Management has issued this statement: “Stories claiming that the federal government offers pet insurance to federal employees, and juxtaposing that benefit with the fact that the federal government cannot under current law provide health insurance benefits to federal employees’ domestic partners are grossly inaccurate. While Aetna is …

All my listservs are blowing up this afternoon with the news that while LGBT federal employees may not purchase health insurance for their partners (thanks to DOMA), they can buy health insurance for their pets. Members of the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan received the below ad today.HRC’s Joe Solmonese goes off via press release: “Current law puts federal workers’ …