United employees show that ‘Diversity Flies with Us’ at LGBT Pride month festivities

CHICAGO — United employees marched through the streets of downtown Denver on Sunday as part of the city’s annual LGBT Pride Festival – one of several parades the airline is participating in across the country to commemorate LGBT Pride Month. Over the next week, United employees will take part in Pride events in four of the airline’s…

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American sanctions hit Uganda’s ‘most vulnerable’ hardest

Uganda warned on Monday that U.S. sanctions slapped on the country over its tough anti-gay laws would harm the “most vulnerable” in the country. Washington last week froze some aid programs, as well as cancelling military air exercises and barring entry to the U.S. for specific Ugandan officials involved in “human rights abuses”, including against the gay…

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U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Supreme Court to rule in favor of the freedom to marry nationwide

NEW YORK – At its annual meeting today in Dallas, the U.S. Conference of Mayors overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on federal courts, including the Supreme Court, to expeditiously bring an end to marriage discrimination against gay couples nationwide. Mayors from states that still ban marriage for same-sex couples, including Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri,…

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HRC’s Project One America releases videos for ‘Summer of Conversations’ (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON D.C.—The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has released three emotional and inspiring videos highlighting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Mississippians, Alabamans, and Arkansans sharing their courageous stories. The video is part of HRC’s Project One America Summer of Conversations story-telling campaign announced earlier this month. “We want people to start a conversation about equality whether on front porches, in…

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Social Security defines policy for same-sex married couples

Social Security has published new instructions that allow the agency to process more claims in which entitlement or eligibility is affected by a same-sex relationship. These instructions come in response to last year’s Supreme Court decision in U.S. vs. Windsor, which found Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. This latest policy development lets…

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

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

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

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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Luxembourg passes marriage equality legislation

The government of Luxembourg has passed legislation that will make it the 19th nation to grant full marriage rights to all of its citizens. Luxembourg’s national parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, approved the bill by a vote of 56 to 4.  In addition to granting full marriage rights to Luxembourg’s LGBT citizens–previously only civil unions…

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