Tag Archives: feds

Freedom To Marry may have already held its “going out of business” party, but founder Evan Wolfson still has marriage battles to fight. Via the Guardian: US embassies in Europe have invited an instrumental figure in the movement to legalize same-sex marriage to visit three countries where it is not yet legal. Evan Wolfson, founder of marriage equality campaign group …

“Why would Obama suddenly bring the hammer down on homosexual prostitution? Maybe, in the wake of the Ashley Madison hack, he wants to get all the client information from this website in federal custody to protect the identities of his political and social friends who may be customers. Or Obama believes, with homosexuality being the flavor of the year in …

Breaking news from New York City’s NBC affiliate: Federal agents raided the Manhattan headquarters of RentBoy.com as part of a money laundering and state prostitution investigation Tuesday, law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York. Seven people, including a high-ranking executive, were arrested as part of the RentBoy.com raid at the offices on 14th Street and Fifth Avenue, the sources …

If you are living in one of the eleven states that didn’t have same-sex marriage until the Obergefell ruling, the federal government will now retroactively offer Social Security spousal benefits. The Hill reports: Susan Sommer of Lambda Legal said the government’s decision “could right a wrong for hundreds of same-sex spouses” who lived in the 11 states that didn’t recognize …

From the Human Rights Campaign: Four new major American companies have become the latest to endorse the Equality Act, federal legislation that would establish full, federal equality for all LGBT Americans. In doing so, these leading companies – IBM, Oracle, Orbitz, and Symantec – made clear that they believe all LGBT Americans should have the protections from discrimination in federal …

The US Department Of Agriculture and the National Center for Lesbian Rights will hold a Rural Pride event in Jackson, Mississippi on August 14th.   #RuralPride is a series of summits across the country to elevate the voices of LGBT people and families in rural communities, explore how these communities are particularly vulnerable, and discuss proposed and enacted federal policy changes …

But does Zimbabwe even want him? Via Reuters: “What lion?” acting information minister Prisca Mupfumira asked in response to a request for comment about Cecil, who was at that moment topping global news bulletins and generating reams of abuse for his killer on websites in the United States and Europe. The government has still given no formal response, and on …

Today the Equality Act, a comprehensive federal LGBT rights bill, will be introduced in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign has already brought three major corporations on board. Via press release: STATEMENT BY APPLE – “At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. …

Via the Washington Post: Liberty University is not just your average school down the road. The once small Christian college founded in 1971 by the Rev. Jerry Falwell now has the largest student body of any private nonprofit university in the country. With over 70,000 students, the university has become a destination for political candidates seeking the GOP’s more conservative …

“On Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made a remarkably lawless decision: it unilaterally added ‘sexual orientation’ to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, something wholly unjustified by the text, by the history, or by the plain meaning of the statue, hijacking the civil rights movement in a profound new way. Everyone knows the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does …

Jeb Bush spoke to staffers at a San Francisco tech startup yesterday where he declared that workplace and housing discrimination protections for LGBT Americans should be enacted, but on a state-by-state basis. An employee who identified himself to Bush as being gay asked about Bush’s position on legislation to ban discrimination of LGBT Americans. “I don’t think you should be …

“Where will the assault on biblical marriage end? Now liberal politicians in California want to ban the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ from being used in federal law. They say these are ‘gendered terms’ that discriminate against homosexuals. You’re absolutely right they are gendered terms—because marriage was created to be gendered! The One who created marriage defined it as between a …

Via White House press release: As part of the White House Conference on Aging today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance to better serve and help avoid discrimination to LGBT Americans seeking HUD-assisted or HUD-insured housing. The guidance will help clarify the Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender …

“Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Obergefell that every couple has the same right to participate in the institution of marriage, whether the partners are of the same-sex or opposite sexes, I directed Justice Department staff to work with the agencies to ensure that the ruling be given full effect across the federal government. Thanks to their leadership and …

Via USA Today: The Obama administration is unveiling long-awaited new rules that would allow more workers to claim overtime pay. Currently, certain workers who make more than $23,660 cannot claim overtime; the new proposal would raise that threshold to $50,440 per year. “Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve,” President Obama writes …

Via press release: As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on same-sex marriage, Yahoo News presents a new 30-minute documentary, “Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government’s War on Gays,” reported and narrated by chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff. The film explores a dark and little-known chapter in America’s recent political past, when gays and lesbians were barred from working for …

CNN Money reports: On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said a woman will be featured on a redesigned $10 bill in 2020 — the 100th anniversary of the Constitution’s 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. A decision on who the woman will be won’t be made for several months. The last woman on U.S. paper currency …

Via White House press release: Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons Randy Berry will travel to Chile from June 1 – 2, Argentina from June 3 – 4, Uruguay from June 4 – 5, Brazil from June 6 – 9, and the Dominican Republic from June 10 – 11 to discuss the human rights of LGBTI persons …

Via the Washington Blade: The Pentagon is preparing to update its Military Equal Opportunity Policy to include sexual orientation as a protected class and the change could be made final as soon as the end of next month, the Washington Blade has learned. A senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed late Friday the Defense Department is …

The federal government has halted a large clinical trial on early HIV treatment because results already in conclusively show that newly diagnosed patients do best if they start on anti-retroviral therapy immediately. Via the New York Times: The study was stopped more than a year early because preliminary data already showed that those who got treatment immediately were 53 percent …