WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee has approved the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO) S. 1910. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), would provide benefits for same-sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits. These benefits…
WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner has appointed Robert George, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, which, according to the Commission’s chairman, addresses “the challenges of religious extremism, intolerance, and repression throughout the world.” The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has condemned Boehner’s…
WASHINGTON, DC – The White House will honor Elena Chang and Suma Reddy Thursday as two of nine Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders and organizations that are Champions of Change. The two honorees are from the Asian Pride Project (APP) and were chosen as part of the White House Initiative on AAPIs “What’s…
WASHINGTON – The White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities will be held in Arlington, Texas Tuesday, March 20 and will feature remarks by Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. and White House Senior Advisor Valerie B. Jarrett. The conference will be hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement (OPE) and…
WASHINGTON –The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the LGBT-inclusive re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act was introduced in the 112th Congress by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID). The re-authorization bill would make grants available for strengthening and enlarging programs to provide outreach and…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is joining with the Center for Equality in Arkansas and calling on the Northwest Arkansas Times to drop their discriminatory policy of refusing to run the engagement and wedding announcements of same-sex couples. Recently, the paper rejected an announcement submitted by Cody Renegar and Thomas Staed. The newspaper…
A Christian pastor is calling for a national boycott of Starbucks Coffee in wake of the company’s support of same-sex marriage in the state of Washington. Pastor Steven Andrew of USA Christian Ministries called for all Christian Americans to stop their support of the giant coffee chain in an online blog published a day before…
The Washington state Senate passed a same-sex marriage bill Wednesday with a 28-21 vote. Now the measure awaits passage in the Washington House of Representatives. If the measure passes into legislation, Washington will be the seventh state to allow gay and lesbian marriages. Gov. Chris Gregoire has supported the measure and she is expected to…
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is unveiling a special limited-edition red version of their best-selling Love Conquers Hate T-shirt just in time for Valentine’s Day. Launching the special T-shirt the HRC stated on their Web site, “The season of love is upon us. Whether you are LGBT or a straight supporter, there’s never…
If the greatest companies are defined by their employee assets, then Microsoft can be considered the quintessential frontrunner. The megacorporation has joined forces this week with other five other businesses including Nike to support the legalization of gay marriage in Washington state – the hub for all things Microsoft. In a letter addressed to Governor…
