Wednesday, March 11, 2026

LGBT Weekly

LGBT Weekly

Headlines

Around the Nation

Attorney General Holder issues report outlining Obama administration’s work to extend federal benefits to same-sex married couples

Steve Lee, Editor03 mins

WASHINGTON—Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday issued a formal report on the yearlong effort by the Justice Department and other federal agencies to implement the decision smoothly across the entire government. “I am pleased to report that agencies across the federal…

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VA provides guidance to same-sex married couples seeking benefits

Steve Lee, Editor04 mins

WASHINGTON — After close consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is providing guidance to same-sex married couples on the benefits and services to which they are entitled under current laws and regulations. “VA worked closely with DOJ to develop guidance to process cases involving same-sex marriages and to…

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NOM’s ‘March for Marriage:’ There is no case for discrimination – SPSSI

Steve Lee, Editor14 mins

With marriage equality sweeping the nation—twelve states have legalized same-sex marriage in the past year alone—today’s March for Marriage on the National Mall seems very much a rearguard action. Sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage, the march attempts to salvage the case against gay marriage by arguing that it causes actual harm to real…

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Patent Office cancels Redskins trademark registration, says name is disparaging

Steve Lee, Editor01 mins

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team’s name “disparaging to Native Americans.” Filed on behalf of five Native Americans this is the second time such a case was filed. A report in The Washington Post stated that federal trademark law does not permit registration of…

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HRC: ExxonMobil lies about its non-discrimination policies in response to Executive Order

Steve Lee, Editor02 mins

WASHINGTON –– Following yesterday’s announcement that President Obama will soon issue an executive order extending essential workplace protections to the employees of federal contractors, all eyes turned to the Exxon Mobil Corporation—a Fortune 100 corporation and one of the nation’s largest federal contractors. ExxonMobil has long resisted instituting non-discrimination protections for LGBT employees, digging in…

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N.C. church leaders and clergy deliver nearly 30,000 signed petitions against state’s discriminatory marriage laws

Steve Lee, Editor02 mins

RALEIGH, N.C. — On what is being termed “Marriage Monday,” North Carolina church leaders and clergy delivered two petitions to the office of State Attorney General Roy Cooper that call on him to cease defending Amendment One and the state’s other discriminatory state marriage laws. The United Church of Christ and other faith groups argue that the State’s marriage…

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Important update on LGBT workplace equality

Steve Lee, Editor01 mins

In an important step for LGBT workplace equality, Valerie Bowman Jarrett, senior advisor to the president and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama administration Tweeted this morning: “Executive action to ban fed contractors from discriminating against #LGBT workers is good for America & for business #WorkplaceEquality“

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New HRC data: American public strongly supports federal non-discrimination protections

Steve Lee, Editor03 mins

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) today released new public opinion research that conclusively demonstrates strong public support for federal non-discrimination workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. A national survey of 1,200 registered voters conducted June 6-10, 2014 by TargetPoint Consulting found that 63 percent of those surveyed favor a…

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Federal employee health plans will no longer exclude transition-related health services

Steve Lee, Editor03 mins

Friday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced it was removing the exclusion of transition-related health services for Federal Employee Health Benefits plans (FEHB).  The announcement is a crucial step toward ensuring that medically necessary healthcare is available to every federal worker, regardless of their gender identity. This announcement is also consistent with an increasing…

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