The first same-sex marriages have taken place in New Zealand following the successful passage of equal marriage legislation. According to the BBC, 31 couples were marrying today and about 1,000 same-sex couples in Australia planned to travel to the neighboring country to marry. Among the first couples tying the knot were Auckland couple Tash Vitali…
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed into law AB 3371, a bill that will put an end to dangerous and disproved efforts designed to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender expression that have proven to inflict great emotional harm. New Jersey becomes the second state to ban these dangerous practices after California…
WASHINGTON — Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Social Security and Medicare benefits may soon be available to same-sex couples in the District of Columbia and the 13 states recognizing same-sex marriage. June 26, in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional, finding…
NEW YORK — In response to a new national law in Russia prohibiting “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” and fallout from the law’s passage that has brought about an upsurge in violence targeting gays and lesbians, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the United States to impose penalties if the Russian government does not “step backward on this issue…
SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) has completed their review of the Inspector General’s recommendation regarding American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants for Family Health Centers of San Diego. They have determined that all $10.8 million in grant funding was appropriately allocated to allowable…
One of America’s gay rights pioneering leaders, Jose Julio Sarria, passed away quietly in his home in Albuquerque, N.M. this morning at 7:02 a.m. He was 90. Sarria was a proud World War II veteran and the very first openly gay candidate to run for public office in North America. He was a candidate for…
http://youtu.be/OIvz40H_Cq0 Chicago-based company, Groupon released an employee-produced video Friday showcasing their support of marriage equality in Illinois. NBC reports that the company also plans to bus employees to a marriage equality march and rally in the Illinois capital Springfield Oct. 22, designed to help secure passage of the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.
WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), today denounced an anti-transgender op-ed by Russell D. Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The op-ed, which stems from California AB 1266, legislation ensuring transgender students in California’s schools are treated fairly, says being transgender is “a revolt against God’s…
HONOLULU — Members of Hawaii’s Congressional delegation are uniting to express their support for marriage equality in Hawaii. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard released statements of support, each urging Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the state legislature to pass the freedom to marry in Hawaii without delay. “We’re…
There appears to be no shortage of theories on why elected officials oppose same-sex marriage. Case in point? Ana Maria Jiménez Ortiz, an elected congresswoman from the Mexican political party PAN in Puebla argued in public that only couples who can look in each other’s eyes during sex should be eligible for marriage. “A marriage…
