Tag Archives: LGBT rights

NEW YORK: State Prison System To Grant Conjugal Visits For Married Gay Inmates

The New York state Department of Corrections announced yesterday that gay inmates who are legally married or in civil union partnerships will be granted conjugal visits with their spouses. Fewer than one-third of New York’s 67 prisons allow such visits for anyone and gay inmates applying for a visit must be housed in one of those facilities. Cutler said the …

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Sodomy Map

Despite Lawrence Vs. Texas, laws specifically against gay sex remain on the books in four states. Ten other states continue to outlaw all acts of sodomy. Last month the GOP blocked an attempt to delete such a law in Montana. (Via – Matt Yglesias)

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INDIA: Supreme Court Defers On 2009 Ruling Decriminalizing Homosexuality

In 2009 the New Delhi High Court issued a landmark ruling decriminalizing homosexuality. That judgment prompted religious and political groups to petition the Indian Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. Today the Supreme Court deferred their decision until “after summer vacations.” Senior BJP leader B P Singhal, who had approached the High Court opposing legalisation of gay sex, has challenged …

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VIDEO: House DOMA Hearing

Over at Wonk Room, our pal Zack Ford has compiled some of the testimony from last week’s House DOMA hearing. Ford quotes Maggie Gallagher’s usual nonsense: If, in fact, marriage, as a public and legal institution…is oriented towards protecting children by increasing the likelihood they have a mother and father, then same-sex couples do not fit, and conversely, if same-sex …

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MSNBC On CA’s Gay Education Bill

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Rep. Jerrold Nadler At DOMA Hearing

Rep Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) opened this morning’s DOMA hearing with a blistering denouncement of the entire issue. (Via – Good As You)

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AUDIO: Delaware Passes Civil Unions

Listen to the gallery erupt after the vote is announced.

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DELAWARE: Civil Unions Pass House!

Tonight the Delaware House passed its civil unions bill by a vote of 26-15. The bill passed last week in the state Senate and is now expected to be signed by Gov. Jack Markell, after which it will go into effect on January 1st, 2012. The Human rights Campaign notes via press release: SB 30 will allow same-sex couples to …

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ENDA Reintroduced In U.S. Senate

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act will be reintroduced in the Senate today. U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, announced that they introduced the fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit most employers across the country from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers. The bill, known as ENDA, would make …

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Lawrence O’Donnell On NOM’s Defector

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LOUISIANA: Federal Appeals Court Denies Gay Dads On Birth Certificate Request

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to allow two gay dads to have their names placed on the Louisiana birth certificate of their adopted son. That right is automatically granted to married couples, but Louisiana does not allow unmarried couples to adopt and does not allow gay people to marry. Chief Judge Edith Jones wrote for a nine-member …

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UAFA To Be Reintroduced In House

The Uniting American Families Act will be reintroduced in the U.S. House this Thursday by Rep. Jerrold Nadler and several other Democrats. Via press release from Nadler’s office: On Thursday, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, and Representatives John …

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MARYLAND: Gender Identity Bill Dies

Following a vicious campaign of lies by anti-gay Christianist groups, Maryland’s gender identity anti-discrimination bill has died in the state Senate. Julie Bolcer reports at the Advocate: Maryland senators voted on Monday to recommit the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination to the judicial proceedings committee, effectively killing any prospects for the bill to pass this session, which ends at midnight. Shortly before …

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Uruguay Poised To Approve Gay Marriage

Uruguay’s Parliament appears ready to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill is being driven by the country’s ruling coalition, the Frente Amplio which has a majority in both houses – giving it an excellent chance of succeeding. The bill’s author, Frente Amplio MP, Sebastián Sabini, told the newspaper, “We do not focus so much on the issue of gay marriage but …

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BREAKING: Major Defection At NOM, Top Organizer Now Supports Gay Marriage

Jeremy Hooper has a big scoop over at Good As You today, where he exclusively reports that a top organizer at NOM has announced that he now supports marriage equality. Louis Marinelli, known to some of us the virulently nasty moderator of NOM’s Facebook page and the organizer of last year’s laughably unattended national bus tour, tells Hooper all about …

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Quote Of The Day – Jerry Cox

“What this ruling does is it puts the rights of adults and their preferences ahead of what’s best for children, and that’s a sad thing and a bad day for the foster and adoptive children of Arkansas. The court simply ignored the will of the people, took matters into their own hands and looked at the people and said, ‘What …

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HomoQuotable – Kerry Eleveld

“President Barack Obama has just announced his 2012 bid for re-election and the inevitable push for LGBT support – donor, voter, and activist – has begun. To be sure, many LGBT Americans would much rather see Barack Obama still gracing the Oval Office come January of 2013 than a Republican. And so, many of us are faced with a familiar …

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DELAWARE: Civil Unions Passes Senate

The Delaware Senate just approved its civil unions bill! Washington Blade reports: The Delaware Senate on Thursday passed a bill to legalize civil unions in the state by a 13-6 vote. Eleven votes were needed to pass it. The approval came after the Senate defeated two hostile amendments, including one that would have forced a state referendum on the issue. …

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Montana State GOP Rep Celebrates: Gays Can’t Act Gay In Public In My State

Montana GOP state Rep. Bill Peterson claims that since the state legislature blocked a recent move to decriminalize homosexuality, there are happily still two laws which he can use to persecute gay people. According to Peterson, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, there are at least two prosecutable offenses—felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 …

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ARKANSAS: State Supreme Court Blocks Move To Ban Gay Adoption

Something to brighten your day: The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld a decision to strike down a state law barring gay couples and other unmarried people living together from serving as adoptive or foster parents. The state’s high court wrote in an opinion Thursday that the law burdens the privacy of unmarried couples who live together. A state judge struck …

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