In a landmark moment for LGBT rights the Scottish Parliament has passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes to 18. Thirty-four years after Scotland decriminalized homosexuality, this victory comes after heated debates between religious bodies and MSPs (members of the Scottish Parliament) since the first petition was…
WASHINGTON – Today, AT&T became the first major U.S. corporation to make a public statement condemning the anti-LGBT Russian law outlawing “homosexual propaganda.” Since the passage of the law last June, the Russian LGBT community has been targeted with violence, harassment, bomb threats, and limitations on its freedom of speech and assembly. HRC called on…
SAN DIEGO — A new CEO has been selected to serve the Greater San Diego Business Association, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Barbra Blake will take over February 3, 2014 to lead the organization into its 35th anniversary year. Most recently, Blake was the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Rady School of Management…
The White House has announced that openly gay NBA player Jason Collins will be seated in the box with the first lady, Dr. Biden and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president, at tomorrow’s State of the Union Address. While at Stanford, Jason Collins was selected as an All American, named the NCAA’s “Big Man of the…
Today, Toni Atkins was elected the Speaker of the California Assembly – the first open lesbian and only the third woman to hold the position. Atkins, who previously served as Assembly Majority Floor Leader, will soon assume the seat currently occupied by John Perez, who also made history as the first openly gay California Assembly…
Today U.S. District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. His ruling is stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not occur immediately in the state. Two plaintiff couples, Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin and Gay Phillips and Susan Barton, filed their case, Bishop v. Oklahoma, in the U.S. District Court for…
WASHINGTON— Attorney General Eric Holder issued the following statement today on the status of same-sex marriages performed in the state of Utah: “Last June, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision – in United States v. Windsor – holding that Americans in same-sex marriages are entitled to equal protection and equal treatment under the law. …
SAN DIEGO – Mayoral candidates and San Diego City Councilmembers David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer today announced six debates they will participate in leading up to the Feb. 11 special runoff election. The top two finishers in the Nov. 19 primary election announced soon after they would work together to agree upon a half dozen debates. Each debate…
Today the United States Supreme Court issued a stay temporarily suspending the issuance of marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples in Utah. Hundreds of couples have been married since U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled Dec. 20 that the state’s ban on such unions violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process….
World War II British code-breaker Alan Turing, who was subjected to chemical castration for homosexual activity, has been pardoned by the Queen. The royal pardon, under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy, is effective today and comes nearly 60 years after Turing committed suicide. Turing’s code-breaking work is considered by many to have helped change the…
