Category Archives: LGBT Rights

On Friday, the Hawaii Senate passed a civil unions bill similar to the one that was vetoed by the state’s last governor. The vote was slightly better than the last time around (19-6 rather than 18-7). The bill now goes … Continue reading →

The Pentagon held its briefing earlier today on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The signs are encouraging that repeal will become effective some time this year. Unsurprisingly, NPR was reporting this afternoon that there will be no changes … Continue reading →

Next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is being cosponsored by GOProud, a gay conservative organization (that I will admit I’ve never heard of before). Because GOProud thinks that the question of same-sex marriage should be left to the states, … Continue reading →

I was heartened during the State of the Union speech last night to hear the President imply that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would become effective this year. Now, there are reports that the Pentagon will be issuing … Continue reading →

To follow up on my earlier post and provide some more positive news: Trying again under a new, more receptive governor, a Hawaii Senate committee passed a civil unions bill today. The bill is expected to come up for a … Continue reading →

During the fall election campaign, we were–quite thankfully–spared a lot of the usual “culture war” rhetoric about protecting marriage from some imagined assault by same-sex couples. Instead, the campaigns seemed to focus primarily on the economy and addressing the deficit … Continue reading →

Probably recognizing that further legislative advances in LGBT rights are unlikely in the near term, the Obama administration has taken some further administrative steps toward advancing LGBT rights. At the end of this past week, the Department of Housing and … Continue reading →

Allentown has now joined Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg in offering domestic partner health benefits to the city’s LGBT employees. The city has also extended family and bereavement leave to cover domestic partners. However, the Allentown Morning Call reports that discussions … Continue reading →

An interesting article in the New York Times today focuses on recent data from the Census Bureau  indicating that parenting by same-sex couples is more common in the South than in any other region of the country. (Note that the … Continue reading →

Back in August, I wrote that the Prop 8 case might never get decided by the Supreme Court.  The theory was that by the time the Supreme Court could hear and decide the case, the California voters would vote to … Continue reading →

The Attorney General of Virginia has sent a letter to the state’s public colleges and universities opining that the addition of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” to their nondiscrimination policies is invalid and advising them to “take appropriate actions” to … Continue reading →

The Washington Post is reporting that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is going to undertake a national study of LGBT housing discrimination. The federal Fair Housing Act does not currently prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination; however, … Continue reading →

A gay Oklahoma college student’s application for a vanity license plate that reads “IM GAY” was rejected by the Oklahoma Tax Commission last year, and that rejection was upheld by three tax commissioners after an administrative hearing. The student, Keith … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Adar v. Smith. This case concerns Louisiana’s refusal to issue an amended birth certificate to an out-of-state same-sex couple who adopted a child born in Louisiana. The State of Louisiana had lost … Continue reading →

Check out this video over at the New York Times. It’s both uplifting and a bit depressing, especially at the very end. -Tony Infanti

A recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle begins with this paragraph: The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. … Continue reading →

The Washington Post reported the other day on a flier that was recently sent home with many high school students’ report cards in Montgomery County, Maryland: Some Montgomery County high schools passed out fliers this week from an organization that … Continue reading →

The Tax Court has finally issued a long-awaited opinion in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner (here).  The majority concluded that O’Donnabhain’s hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery constituted deductible medical expenses, but denied a deduction for the her breast augmentation surgery due to … Continue reading →

Inside Higher Ed is  reporting that Syracuse University has plans to be the first academic employer (and one of only a handful of employers more generally) to gross up its lesbian and gay employees’ pay to cover a portion of … Continue reading →

When a lesbian or gay man ended a straight relationship in Pennsylvania, the case law regarding the award of custody of any children of the relationship had for decades been overtly hostile to the lesbian or gay man. In Constant … Continue reading →

For an interesting observation and an even more interesting back story on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision not to allow the Prop. 8 trial to be broadcast, see Linda Greenhouse’s post on the Opinionator blog over at the New York … Continue reading →

In a cross-posting yesterday, Katherine Franke raised the question of whether same-sex marriage will really help to dismantle stereotypes and transform marriage. For years now, I have counted myself in the camp that answers this question yes. My answer to … Continue reading →

The National LGBT Bar Association is looking for LGBT law student groups that are interested in signing on to its amicus brief in Christian Legal Society Chapter v. Martinez, which is the case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding … Continue reading →