Two new books – Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War by former Republican Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace by former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta – give insights into Washington’s slow, deliberative but irrevocable move toward ending the discriminatory policy…
In an apparent shock to the executives at Nike, CIO Anthony Watson, 37, resigned after a short ten months. The implications are that Watson was not pleased with gay life in small Portland, Oregon. On his Twitter account on Wednesday night, Watson said: “Thank you for all the enquiries. Today I left Nike for personal…
LOS ANGELES – The Williams Institute, in partnership with Credit Suisse, has released a new, interactive resource exploring the amount of money state economies have to gain by allowing same-sex couples to marry. Based on a series of state-level studies authored by Williams Distinguished Scholar, M.V. Lee Badgett, and other Williams Institute scholars, the resource…
In an interview with USA Today, Wednesday Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James said that the ban on transgender troops is likely to be reassessed and should be lifted. According to the report James apparently is the first secretary of a branch of the armed forces to support the idea of ending the ban…
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has proposed legislation in Congress that would significantly expand civil rights for the LGBT community. According to PortlandTribune.com, Merkley plans on “[introducing] legislation to bar discrimination not only in employment but extending to financial transactions, housing and public accommodations.” Merkley, who was just elected to a second six-year term…
I felt sorry for Councilwoman Sherri Lightner yesterday. What she thought was going to be a triumphant rise to become the first woman City Council president turned into an outpouring of support for Todd Gloria. So much so that Ms. Lightner was visibly shaken and refused to speak to the press. She appeared to tear…
The packed room was clearly with 3rd District Councilmember Todd Gloria for a third term as City Council president Wednesday, but he lost it by one vote and the new president is 1st District Councilmember Sherri Lightner. All four Republican Councilmembers and Lightner voted against Gloria for a third term, causing the motion to re-elect…
The openly gay CEO of clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, has announced he is stepping down. Jeffries has headed the clothing brand for over two decades – and was one of the only openly gay business leaders in the US, reports Pink News. Jeffries will retire immediately as CEO and a member of the board, the …
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Voters in Fayetteville, Ark. Tuesday passed a measure to repeal Ordinance 119, an anti-discrimination city policy, reports Ozarksfirst.com. The now-repealed Civil Rights Administration ordinance was to protect against specific types of discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender identity and several other criteria. It would have also created a municipal civil rights administrator…
WASHINGTON — There are nearly 700,000 people who identify as transgender in the U.S., according to The Williams Institute at UCLA, yet there has not been a handy, accessible tool for the millions of other Americans, all current or prospective trans allies, to know how to engage respectfully with trans people—until now. PFLAG National—the nation’s largest…
