June 14 the LGBT community in Shanghai will come together to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The eight-day event will be host to the usual assorted revelry, shirtlessness and tight Lycra short shorts. But amid the festivities, a note of seriousness will underscore what many see as an accomplishment in and of itself. “A week-long string of…
(CNN) — The Brazilian National Council of Justice, which oversees the nation’s judiciary, passed a resolution Tuesday that denies notaries the right to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. In Brazil, notaries officiate marriages and civil unions. Recently, 12 Brazilian states began allowing same-sex couples to marry or convert their civil unions into marriages. However, since…
There are leaders within the LGBT community that are extremely frustrated that President Obama has not issued an executive order eliminating discrimination in employment for our community. Those leaders are extremely shortsighted and do not fully understand the strategy of the Obama administration. First, an executive order can be overturned immediately by the next president…
The state of Minnesota made it a round dozen for marriage equality when it became the twelfth state to pass a marriage equality bill. Minnesota also became the first Midwestern state to do so legislatively as Iowa became a marriage equality state due to a decision by the state Supreme Court. Gov. Mark Dayton has…
(CNN) — A transsexual woman has won on appeal the right to marry her boyfriend, a decision poised to rewrite Hong Kong’s marriage law. The appellant — known only by the initial “W” — is a post-operative male-to-female transsexual who was refused the right to marry because she did not quality as a “woman” under…
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — While same-sex couples across the country fight for the right to marry, others are fighting for the right to divorce. A patchwork of state marriage laws and the federal Defense of Marriage Act has made the process of unraveling a relationship extremely difficult — and expensive. A same-sex couple who marries…
(CNN) — Minnesota’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, putting the Midwestern state in line to become the 12th nationwide to take that step. Rep. Karen Clark of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota sponsored the bill, which passed Thursday night by a vote of 75-59. Supporters celebrated on the steps…
In a move that are some are calling straight out of the Dark Ages, Illiza Sa’aduddin Djama, deputy mayor of Indonesia’s most western province Banda Aceh, has called for the criminalization of homosexuality and a punishment of 100 public lashing for anyone found guilty of engaging in its conduct, reports England’s Pink News. Calling homosexuality…
Usually I focus upon one topic; this week I thought I would change it up and give our readers three small messages. Equality California I had the opportunity to have lunch with John O’Connor, the new executive director of Equality California (EQCA). The organization is having an event in San Diego June 1 at the…
The Senate Judiciary Committee begins consideration of the Gang of 8’s Immigration Reform Bill today. C-SPAN’s coverage should be must-see-TV for an audience of one: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Among the potentially contentious issues facing the committee is the inclusion of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). Under current law, special immigration provisions available…
