Tag Archives: LGBT rights

“It is one thing to pass laws that don’t cover groups that haven’t really organized or come into public consciousness yet — of course that is going to happen. But it is something else to deliberately cut out another, more politically vulnerable group that is asking to be included and just as much in need of protection just to get …

Via HRC Back Story comes word that HRC has signed the Leadership Conference On Civil Rights’ letter (PDF) calling for a trans-inclusive ENDA. HRC joins 16 progressive organizations including the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU. October 1, 2007 The Honorable George Miller,Chairman Committee on Education and LaborU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman …

Major national LGBT rights groups are among over 90 progressive organizations calling on Congress NOT to approve the current version of ENDA, which has been stripped of transgender protections. NGLFT: Please call your Congressperson right now. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask to be connected to your representative. When a staffperson answers, say: “Please tell the representative that …

“Gay and lesbian rights are not “special rights” in any way. It isn’t “special” to be free from discrimination – it is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship. The right not to be discriminated against is a common-place claim we can expect to enjoy under our laws and our founding document, the Constitution. That many had to struggle to gain …

Over on AMERICAblog, John Aravosis’ readers are discussing a trans-free ENDA. I brought up the issue yesterday, but I think Aravosis’ talking points are worth taking a look at. Kill ENDA if gender identity is not includedThe main argument here is that we shouldn’t leave a portion of our community behind. We’d never pass ENDA if it only included lesbians …

Facing the sort of blistering scorn evidenced by the above graphic, there is rumor that Democratic leaders may drop trans people from the pending ENDA legislation. From the Washington Blade: House Democratic leaders are strongly considering dropping anti-discrimination protections for transgender persons from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, after an internal Democratic head count on Wednesday found that the …

His retirement mere days away, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, felt emboldened to make a final parting shot at the gays during a defense appropriations hearing after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said he found Pace’s previous comments on gays in the military to be be hurtful and demoralizing. Pace responded, “Are there wonderful Americans who …

Poland’s nascent gay rights movement is gaining steam as activists have filed charges against that country’s former Communist Party. Szymon Niemiec and Jacek Adler made history by formally filing charges against the former Polish Communist Party for human rights crimes against homosexuals in their native Poland. In the year 2000 after the formation of the Third Polish Republic a commission …

From yesterday’s HRC’s Backstory: This afternoon, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), one of the lead sponsors of the Senate hate crimes bill, took to the Senate floor to urge the Senate to pass the hate crimes bill (S. 1105) and for President Bush to sign the legislation into law. Earlier today, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on the …

Gay rights groups were quick to condemn Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim that there are no homosexuals in Iran. HRC’s Joe Solmonese: “Today’s assertions by President Ahmadinejad that there are no homosexuals in Iran would be simply absurd were it not for the fact that international human rights watchers have long documented some of the most horrific acts of persecution …

Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University today at their World Leaders Forum as hundreds of vocal protesters marched outside the venue in a media firestorm. Last week, Ahmandinejad spurred outrage when he requested permission to lay a wreath at Ground Zero. His request was denied. The Iranian dictator’s invitation to speak at Columbia launched a nationwide controversy on …

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Marriage Equality has posted a list of cities across California who are also staging marches and rallies on Tuesday, September 18th. Click here to find your city and where to stage for the demonstration. Tuesday, September 18th (tomorrow), the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center will sponsor a march and rally in support of the recently approved California …

Big news! A New York judged has ruled that the state retirement system must treat all legally married same-sex couples from outside of New York the same as opposite-sex couples, dismissing a challenge from the Arizona-based anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund. The ADF filed suit based on a 2004 decision by then State Comptroller Alan Hevesi to recognize gay couples married …

California legislators have approved a bill called the “Student Civil Rights Act” to protect all California students from harassment and bias in public schools based on their gender identity or sexual orientation. A similar bill was passed last year but vetoed by Gov. Schwartzenegger. Of course, the right-wing is going apoplectic (see graphic), claiming that gay sex will now be …

Via HRC’s Backstory: The Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), H.R. 2015, at 10:30 in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The hearing will take place in two sections. The first will feature the testimony of Congressman Barney Frank …

An Iowa judge struck down that state’s Defense of Marriage Act today, ruling it unconstitutional. Lambda Legal and Iowa’s former counsel general represented six couples denied marriage licenses in 2005, arguing that under equal access and due process guarantees in Iowa’s state constitution, the couples should not have been barred from marrying. The Iowa Civil Liberties Union and others filed …

Equality Forum reports that a whopping 466 of Fortune 500 companies now offer protection to their gay employees. Highest ranked of the holdouts is #2 Exxon Mobil, but you have to go all the way down to #95, Liberty Mutual, to find the next company still witholding protection. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Texas leads the list of states with the most non-compliant …

Human rights activists will gather at the UN’s Dag Hammerskjold Plaza at noon today, marching through the plaza and laying a wreath at the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial. LGBT activists including Brendan Fay and Gilbert Baker are calling on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to ensure the rights of LGBT persons …

Gay activists interrupted the San Francisco appearance of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon yesterday, protesting the United Nations’ refusal to address the plight of LGBT people being murdered, attacked and imprisoned around the world. Led by local activist Michael Petrelis, activists disrupted Ban’s speech to the World Affairs Council of Northern California, chanting, “Break the silence! Talk about gays!” (Photo …

Tonight’s CNN/YouTube debate for the Democratic presidential candidates was fascinating. The format, which involved candidates responding to the YouTube’d video questions from the general public, was unique and effective. I’m betting we see more of these. Here are two clips of the candidates responding to questions about gay marriage and about religion-based discrimation against LGBT people. Chris Johnson has the …