Legislation introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate by Republican Gordon Smith of Oregon and Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut would extend health and other benefits to the same-sex partners of gay and lesbian federal workers. “This bill is very affordable, but more important, it is the right thing to do,” Lieberman said in a statement. [...]
The Hong Kong government lost an appeal Wednesday of a High Court ruling against a law that says men younger than 21 who engage in sodomy should be jailed for life. A panel of three Court of Appeal judges upheld the original decision issued by the lower court in August 2005, the court’s ruling said. [...]
Gay rights activists in Jerusalem, after a long series of setbacks, received permission Monday to hold their annual pride parade November 10 in the holy city, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported, while a right-wing leader vowed a “holy war” to “thwart” the event. Police, civic authorities, and Jerusalem Open House reached an agreement after [...]
CNN anchor Thomas Roberts acknowledged that he is gay while speaking at the annual convention for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in Miami last weekend. According to Boston-based journalist Johnny Diaz, Roberts was speaking on a panel when he made the announcement, saying it was the “biggest step” he had taken to really [...]
Even in her final pro match, Martina Navratilova was eager to get going. “Anytime, darling,” she told the chair umpire before he signaled for play to start. A month shy of her 50th birthday, Navratilova closed out her competitive career Saturday night in fitting fashion: a mixed doubles championship at the U.S. Open for her [...]
A bill passed by California lawmakers would have prohibited the use of language in school textbooks that is discriminatory toward gays, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to sign it. Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that the state’s education laws already prevent discrimination and that the bill “would not strengthen this important area of legal protection from bias [...]
A new book from the authors of a previous tome about the life and work of President Bush’s political adviser Karl Rove claims Rove’s stepfather was gay, The [Austin] American-Statesman reports. In The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power, James Moore and Wayne Slater dedicate two chapters to the touchier side [...]
By now, most have heard of the passing of Steve Irwin at the age of 44. Best known by the moniker ‘The Crocodile Hunter’; Irwin was not just a lover of snakes and reptiles. He was a lover of nature and all of wildlife’s inhabitants. From the jungle birds to the desert snakes and, alas, [...]
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger added to his mixed record on gay rights by signing a bill Tuesday protecting gay and transgender people from discrimination in state programs.