BALTIMORE – Two Baltimore County police officers who were denied health benefits for their same-sex spouses have won their cases before an arbitrator, the first disputes of this kind to be decided in the department. As reported in the Baltimore Sun, officers Margaret Selby and Juanika Ballard got the word last week that an independent…
NEW YORK– Despite laws in some states that impede the practice, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are adopting children in the United States – at least half of them providing families for boys and girls from foster care and 60 percent adopting transracially, according to the results of an extensive new survey…
NEW YORK – In a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by prominent local politicians and community leaders, The Asian and Pacific Islanders Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), one of New York’s most progressive community health centers, has opened a transgender clinic. The groundbreaking APICHA Transgender Clinic, made possible by a generous three-year grant from the Paul Rapoport Foundation,…
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Legislature has passed the Transgender Equal Rights bill. The bill adds protections to the state’s civil rights laws against discrimination in employment, housing, education and credit based on gender identity or expression and adds gender identity and expression to the state’s hate crimes law. The bill now moves to the governor’s…
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A report to be fully released in December aims to examine discrimination against LGBT people in Anchorage, Alaska. In August 2009, the Anchorage Assembly had passed an ordinance by a vote of 7-4 that would ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity in issues of housing and employment….
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Some 80,000 petitions have been delivered to the Union-Scioto School District calling for a change in bullying policy after last month’s brutal beating of a teen. The 15-year-old teenager was severely beaten in his high school class room for being gay. The attack occurred at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, and…
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – The Joint Commission has released a new field guide on LGBT patient-centered care. The guide, titled Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community, urges U.S. hospitals to create a more welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment for LGBT patients and…
DES MOINES, Iowa – Democrat Liz Mathis has defeated Republican Cindy Golding in the Iowa Senate District 18 special election. Human Rights Campaign (HRC) endorsed Mathis is a pro-equality candidate and her victory means Democrats will retain a 26-24 advantage in the Iowa Senate and be able to turn back controversial legislation from the Republican-dominated…
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing legally married same-sex couples and unjustly deprives them of the concrete protections marriage would bring to them and their families. California governor, Jerry Brown –…
SACRAMENTO – Equality California has announced that it intends to sponsor a bill authored by Assemblymember Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) that will ensure state veterans benefits are not denied to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) veterans discharged from the military solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Sacramento Valley Veterans…
