(CNN) — The Illinois Senate will vote Thursday — Valentine’s Day — on whether to legalize same-sex marriage. Because Democrats have supermajority control of the General Assembly, the measure is expected to be approved. After the Senate vote, the measure would be considered by the House. Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has indicated he would…
(CNN) — Same-sex marriage in France came one step closer to legality Tuesday, as lawmakers in the lower house of parliament approved a controversial bill that would extend the right to marry and adopt to same-sex couples. The measure was voted through in the National Assembly by 329 in favor to 229 against, with 10…
Today, Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano issued the following statement with regard to the extension of benefits to military same-sex partners: “Today I directed U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp to implement the extension of benefits for same-sex domestic partners of Coast Guard Service members in accordance with today’s announcement by the Department…
TYROL, Austria – Chretien van der Leest and Edwin Veldt are Dutch citizens living in Tyrol, Austria where they run holiday homes. When the Netherlands legalized marriage for same-sex couples in 2001, the couple married. However in Austria, based on a decree by the Austrian minister of the interior van der Leest and Veldt’s marriage…
WASHINGTON – Today Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta has announced that the Department of Defense will be extending additional benefits to same-sex partners of servicemembers. Panetta also stated that while the Defense of Marriage Act still remains law the Department faced legal limitations in regard to extending full benefits. Panetta’s statement follows: “Seventeen months ago, the…
(CNN) — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Tuesday he hopes immigration rights for same-sex couples “doesn’t become a central issue” in the ongoing debate, referring to it as a “landmine” that could thwart attempts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform package. In a wide-ranging interview with BuzzFeed that streamed live online, the junior senator from…
LONDON (CNN) — UK lawmakers are to vote on a bill to introduce same-sex marriage Tuesday, an issue that has prompted widespread rebellion within Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party. Three top party members appealed to Conservative MPs to get behind the controversial legislation in a letter published in the Telegraph newspaper Tuesday. The letter,…
All Out, a new organization building the global movement for LGBT equality, has launched a campaign to get European Union countries to recognize that same-sex families are families, regardless of the country they’re in. From the All Out campaign: For thousands of children in the European Union, crossing borders can mean they’re on their own. The reason is simple: when moving between one country to another,…
PARIS – Days before the French government are due to debate a proposal that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt children in France, more than 100,000 took to the streets of Paris in support of the measure. Guillaume Bonnet of All Out, an LGBT rights pressure group, told the Washington Blade from Paris…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign today highlighted a new milestone in the march toward full marriage equality: the fall of the empire opposed to same-sex marriage. Widespread losses, sagging poll numbers, and poor investments make it difficult to see how national groups like the so-called National Organization for Marriage remain viable. “The mission of…
