BOSTON – Seventy businesses and organizations have filed a brief in federal court highlighting the harms to American companies caused by the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The amicus curiae brief – signed by a wide diversity of corporations from tech giants Microsoft and Google to consumer brands Nike and Starbucks – supports the…
The Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) was considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and in response, the Defense of Marriage Act would be repealed in addition to amending current law to guarantee that the federal government recognize any married couple as legally valid in the state where the marriage was entered – even if…
House Republicans are dumping more and more money into their fight to uphold DOMA, but the Senate Judiciary Committee is pressing ahead with the Respect for Marriage Act – historic legislation that would repeal DOMA once and for all. DOMA deprives same-sex couples of over 1,100 federal rights, benefits, and responsibilities of marriage. It’s not…
A group called the “Commitment Campaign” is urging LGBT activists and allies to shift the focus of gay marriage away from equality and toward the value of commitment. According to USA Today, “advocates have long made the case that legalizing marriage for gays and lesbians is a matter of equality, but those who frame the…
Well it has happened again. Another starlet, I use that term loosely, has filed for divorce from her husband after a 72-day marriage. In 2004, pop starlet Britney Spears married in Las Vegas and filed for divorce 55 hours later. Later that year, Spears married Kevin Federline which also ended in divorce. Why does this…
Seventy major organizations including Google, Microsoft, Xerox, Time Warner Cable, New Balance, Aetna, Levi Strauss & Co., and more have banded together to file and amicus brief in Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders’ (GLAD) DOMA Challenge in the suit of Gill v. Office of Personnel Management. The historical brief illuminates the negative impact that…
WASHINGTON – The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has announced Nov. 3 as the date to begin debate on legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Leahy announced earlier this month his intention to schedule committee consideration of the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would repeal DOMA….
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is under fire after a group of married gay military personnel, the Servicemembers Defense Legal Network (SLDN), filed a lawsuit Thursday against the United States government. The lawsuit was filed in Boston at the U.S. District Court where the main argument presents a violation of constitutional rights for same-sex…
Last week, Janet Napolitano on behalf of U.S. Homeland Security announced high-priority deportation cases will supersede immigration cases which are less-pressing, such as those within a same-sex relationship or within LGBT families. Now, binational couple Alex Benshimol and Doug Gentry will remain safely in the United States after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced the closure…
Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont recently fulfilled a promise made during his gubernatorial campaign to officiate over the wedding of a local lesbian couple. According to the Associated Press, Shumlin presided over the marriage of Michele “Mitch” Beck, 55, and Ann Beck, 56, in a small ceremony held at his Montpelier office. The democratic governor,…
