WASHINGTON – A Maine enforcement action made public yesterday indicates that the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) may have intentionally violated a variety of state laws in 2009, including not only Maine but also Iowa and New Hampshire campaign finance laws. The revelation is contained in a scathing investigative report by the Maine Commission on Governmental…
Today U.S. District Judge John E. Jones, III ruled that Pennsylvania’s law banning marriage equality is unconstitutional. Pennsylvania becomes the tenth state where a federal judge has struck down a marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court issued their two marriage-related rulings last year. Just yesterday a federal judge in Oregon struck down that state’s…
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in two consolidated marriage cases challenging Oregon’s ban on marriage equality, known as Measure 36. Judge McShane’s is the latest in a string of rulings striking down state laws or constitutional amendments that ban marriage for same-sex couples. The cases were both filed…
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) has announced that it will host a series of regional listening sessions this summer on the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). Mr. Douglas Brooks, ONAP’s newly appointed director, will lead the listening sessions, which will be part of a visit to each community that…
President Barack Obama has nominated Ted Osius as the next ambassador to Vietnam, the White House has announced. If confirmed, Osius, who is openly gay and married to Clayton Bond, an officer with the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, would replace David Shear, who has held the position since 2011. Ted Osius, a career…
WASHINGTON – Last week saw historic movement forward on the issue of marriage equality in America. Over the last seven days, a state circuit judge in Arkansas struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriages, prompting hundreds of couples across the Natural State to wed; a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
CHARLOTTE, N.C., — Defendants in the case, General Synod of the United Church of Christ v. Cooper, filed motions for a 30-day extension of time to respond to the lawsuit today in U.S. District Court in Charlotte. The Attorney General of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, on behalf of himself and all Defendant District Attorneys, specifically…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation has released the inaugural edition of Equality Rising—a brief overview of many of the successes and setbacks of LGBT activists, advocates, and allies around the world in 2013. Released in advance of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17th, this report aims to educate the…
Health care providers should consider advising the use of anti-HIV drugs by uninfected patients who are at substantial risk of infection, according to new clinical guidelines, released by Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, could reduce HIV infection rates. When taken daily as directed, PrEP can reduce the risk of…
Last night, a federal judge ruled that Idaho’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. In her ruling flagwrote, “Idaho’s Marriage Laws withhold from them a profound and personal choice, one that most can take for granted. By doing so, Idaho’s Marriage Laws deny same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of marriage, relegating…
