Tag Archives: LGBT rights

In a continuance of the march to full LGBT rights for small town and rural Americans, yesterday Grand County, Utah granted housing and employment protections to its gay and transgender residents. The Salt Lake Tribune reports: That means one in four Utahns, living in 10 communities from Moab to Logan, are protected from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or …

Yesterday the president sat down with Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld, who reminded him of his recent comment that his position on same-sex marriage has been evolving. OBAMA: I’m not going to make more news today. The sentiment I expressed then is still where I am—which is, like a lot of people, I’m wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on …

Last month a coalition of Arabic and African nations succeeded in removing a reference to sexual orientation in a United Nations resolution condemning the unjustified executions of minority groups. Today at the urging of the United States, that reference was restored by a vote of 93-55, with 27 abstentions. Boris Dittrich, director of the gay rights program at Human Rights …

In a strange clip featuring images of Lady Gaga, wingnut outfit Citizens United warns that the repeal of DADT is going to bring back the draft. Because so many soldiers will quit rather than serve with homos. Citizens United, of course, is the group whose Supreme Court case resulted in a ruling allowing unlimited donations from corporations to politicians.

In what may be a precedent setting move, North Carolina’s state Supreme Court has voided a second-parent adoption case in which an openly lesbian state legislator had adopted the biological son of her former partner. The case arose at the request of the biological mother, who no longer wants her former partner to have parental rights. The ruling eliminates a …

Media Matters has launched Equality Matters, a new LGBT activism site meant to serve as a “communications war room for gay equality.” It will be run by Richard Socarides, a former domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who has been deeply critical of President Obama’s record on gay rights. A well-known gay journalist, Kerry Eleveld, the Washington correspondent for …

A ruling by a Jerusalem court has cleared the way for Israeli gay couples to adopt each others’ children. “This is a big step for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Israel,” commented lawyer Irit Rosenblum, executive director of New Family, an organization that champions the rights of Israelis to marry and build families outside the traditional system. …

The Senate’s cloture vote on the repeal of DADT may come before noon EST. Watch live here.

(Via – Andrew Sullivan)

Openly gay Colorado state Sen. Pat Steadman plans to introduce a civil unions bill early next year. Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, said he believes the majority of Coloradans support civil unions and oppose gays being treated unfairly. Steadman, who is gay, said he expects his proposal to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, but he’s not sure what kind of reception the …

The White House just issued the below comment on the stand-along DADT repeal bill, which is being debated in the House at this writing. The Administration strongly supports House passage of the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2965, which would repeal the statute underlying “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” after the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the …

“Step-by-step, we have realized that this issue of homosexuality has the same adverse and progressive elements as when we dealt with the race issue 50 years ago, or 40 years ago. So I would say that the country is getting acclimated to a president who might be female, who might, obviously, now, be Black, and who might be as well …

General James Amos, Commandant of the USMC, says the “distraction” of openly gay soldiers will cause more casualties on the battlefield. “When your life hangs on a line, on the intuitive behavior of the young man … who sits to your right and your left, you don’t want anything distracting you,” Amos told reporters at the Pentagon. “I don’t want …

The Baltimore Sun reports that a vote on same-sex marriage will likely be put to the Maryland legislature before the end of the year. In the march toward equal rights for gays and lesbians in Maryland, small things can make a big difference. A couple of Republican state senators were replaced by Democrats, giving the majority party an extra seat …

A new global LGBT rights group called All Out has announced their launch in early 2011. Established by former leaders and founders of some of the world’s most successful movement building organizations, All Out will add global people power to the historic fight for LGBT equality. All Out will rapidly respond to moments of crisis and opportunity, so governments, corporations …

With the backing of Kansas State University, the city commission of the small town of Manhattan, Kansas, known locally as the “Little Apple,” has narrowly approved a sweeping LGBT rights ordinance by a vote of 3-2. The vote was hotly followed across major anti-gay websites as a possible harbinger of the continued march for equality out of the big cities …