Last night Oxford, Miss. unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents – including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Oxford joins two other Mississippi cities – Starkville and Hattiesburg – which both passed similar resolutions earlier this year. Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin issued…
Today Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced he will not appeal a judge’s order to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states or jurisdictions. Instead, Governor Steve Beshear will hire outside counsel to appeal the ruling. Last month U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn II ruled that Kentucky ’s marriage amendment violates the constitutional…
Today the Fairness for All Marylanders Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit, passed the full Senate after last week having been voted out of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. “It is critical that the Maryland legislature gets to the unfinished business of…
WASHINGTON – A new poll out this week from the New York Times and CBS News shows that 40 percent of Republicans support marriage equality, further indication that Americans are moving steadily in one direction on the issue. Less than two years ago, just 24 percent of Republicans said they thought it should be legal…
Today Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a recently-passed bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community on the basis of religious freedom. This morning, HRC delivered 65,000 petition signatures to Gov. Brewer calling on her to veto the bill. The so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act…
WASHINGTON – With mounting opposition to Arizona’s so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called on other states considering such measures to abandon their own “license to discriminate” bills. In addition to Arizona, similar bills have been introduced in Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon (proposed ballot measure), South Dakota and…
WASHINGTON – Following the Senate passage of Arizona’s so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin released the following statement: “Religious groups have a long established first amendment ability to operate according to their own beliefs. However, when individuals or businesses go out into the commercial market, they must abide by legal…
Last night, Hattiesburg, Miss. unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents – including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Hattiesburg is the second Mississippi municipality to pass such a resolution in the past month, with the city of Starkville taking similar action last month. Human Rights…
Kentucky has become the latest state to have its ban on marriage equality ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, and the case will soon join others based in Utah, Nevada, Ohio and Oklahoma at the appellate level. U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn II ruled that Kentucky ’s marriage amendment violates the constitutional principal…
In an announcement, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has said that his office will join the growing consensus of opinion in arguing that the state ban on marriage for lesbian and gay couples should be overturned. There are two cases in federal court challenging the Commonwealth’s marriage amendment and Herring is urging the courts to rule…
