Since taking office, President Obama and his Administration have made historic strides to expand opportunities and advance equality and justice for all Americans, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Americans. From major legislative achievements to historic court victories to important policy changes, the President has fought to promote the equal rights of all Americans…
The White House announced today that the Obama Administration has endorsed the Equality Act. The White House endorsed legislation Tuesday that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, plunging into the next front in the national battle over LGBT rights, reports The Washington…
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Leading experts in transgender legal concerns, Professors Erin E. Buzuvis and Jennifer L. Levi of Western New England University School of Law Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies filed briefs in support of Virginia high school student Gavin Grimm who sued his school for excluding him from using the boys’ restroom facility…
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch confirmed that married same-sex couples will finally have access to full federal benefits thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision affirming a Constitutional right to nationwide marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges. Now that marriage equality is the law of the land in every state, the Department of…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a historic announcement, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice announced a nearly $4 million partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) to encourage and support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) business owners and entrepreneurs in developing countries. The unprecedented agreement, presented…
In their latest report Media Matters of America reveal that both CNN and MSNBC devoted significant coverage to the Obama administration’s commemoration of World AIDS Day Dec. 2. Fox News, on the other hand, spent less than 20 seconds acknowledging President Obama’s speech outlining significant new efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. On World…
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Obama administration has formally expressed its support of same sex marriage in California. It said in a legal brief on Thursday that gay and lesbian couples there have the same “equal protection” rights to wed, and that voters in the state were wrong to ban it, according to an administration official….
WASHINGTON (CNN) — In a preview of a major constitutional showdown at the Supreme Court over same-sex marriage, the Obama administration said on Friday that a federal law denying financial benefits to legally wed gay and lesbian couples is unconstitutional. The Justice Department filed the first of a series of briefs in a pair of…
The Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidelines for immigration personnel for determining whether a same-sex relationship would “rise to the level of a ‘family relationship.’” Obtained exclusively Tuesday by the Washington Blade, the memorandum from U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) was welcomed by LGBT advocates and lawmakers seeking greater protection for bi-national…
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is issuing new, written guidance that will extend discretionary relief to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses and partners. The new written directive, which was announced in response to a congressional letter spearheaded by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY),…
