This morning, the Senate confirmed three federal judges. On the one hand, they are not unique; like all of the President’s judges and judicial nominees, they have the necessary intellect, experience, integrity, and temperament. But they are special in that each of them is a trailblazer on their courts: Judge Darrin Gayles, confirmed to the…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) today released new public opinion research that conclusively demonstrates strong public support for federal non-discrimination workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers. A national survey of 1,200 registered voters conducted June 6-10, 2014 by TargetPoint Consulting found that 63 percent of those surveyed favor a…
Friday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced it was removing the exclusion of transition-related health services for Federal Employee Health Benefits plans (FEHB). The announcement is a crucial step toward ensuring that medically necessary healthcare is available to every federal worker, regardless of their gender identity. This announcement is also consistent with an increasing…
TORONTO – As Toronto prepares for its role as the first North American municipality to host World Pride, City Council today called on the federal government to help fund the development of the world’s first LGBT-led sport hub, spearheaded by The 519 Church Street Community Centre. A motion put forward by Councillor Pam McConnell and…
NEW YORK — The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) joined as plaintiff in a pending Federal District Court lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban. Among the suit’s charges is that North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage restricts the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion and therefore violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment…
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…
National same-sex marriage opponent and the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) poster child Maggie Gallagher sounded a defeatist note in her latest blog entry entitled, “Cooper, Mozilla, Firefox,” reports Carolyn Lochhead, the Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. She writes, “Maggie Gallagher, a founder and former president of the National Organization for Marriage, a…
The last few weeks have not been a great time for race relations in America. While many non-whites are familiar with the subtle racism that permeates American society every day, the current conversation is about overt racist statements that are simply intolerable. Why am I writing about this? Simply, the LGBT community is no different…
WASHINGTON – This morning, President Obama will sign two executive actions aimed at eliminating sex discrimination in federal contracting. Movement on these critically important orders, intended to support a push for Congress to pass the Pay Check Fairness Act, underscores the need for President Obama to offer protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)…
As the national spotlight on marriage grows ever brighter and polling continues to show Americans moving inexorably in the direction of supporting equality for same-sex couples, appeals on two cases challenging state constitutional marriage bans will be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver this month. On Thursday, April…
