John Berry, an openly gay man who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head the Office of Personnel Management, encountered a friendly confirmation hearing Thursday. “It’s obvious that this is a joyous moment for those who are here today,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka, the Democratic senator from Hawaii who presided over the hearing. [...]
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged state legislators to pass a bill legalizing gay marriage, citing increased support for marriage equality in his appeal for lawmakers to “do the right thing.”
Gainesville, Fla.’s Amendment 1 — which, if passed, would have repealed a number of antidiscrimination protections for LGBT residents in the college town — failed at the polls Tuesday. With the majority of precincts reporting, results have the amendment failing with 61% voting no and 39% voting yes. The repeal movement began last year after [...]
President Obama has designated a lesbian attorney, who is also an ordained Episcopal priest, to be the chief judge of the U.S. court of federal claims, the White House announced on Monday. Judge Emily C. Hewitt, 64, currently serves on the court, after being appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1998. [...]
Spain announced that it will send a million condoms to Africa to fight the rampant spread of HIV on the continent. The announcement comes a day after Pope Benedict XVI stated that condoms do not slow the spread of HIV but rather “increase the problem.” On his way to Cameroon, the pope told reporters, “You [...]
The Obama administration will support a United Nations declaration affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are included in international human rights protections — the same declaration Bush opposed.
Microsoft is looking to make amends with gaymers whose “gay” identified Xbox user names were banned by the company’s stringent and, some say discriminatory, terms of use. Even among American corporations that proudly and publicly support the LGBT community, Microsoft has long stood out for its stamina and spirit. Case in point: In 1989, the [...]
Nine years after it played host to a bitter fight over civil unions, Vermont’s Statehouse is again a gay rights battleground. More than 200 same-sex marriage opponents, cheering and wearing buttons that read “Marriage – A Mother & Father for Every Child,” converged Monday on Montpelier as lawmakers began a week’s worth of hearings on [...]
The Tel Aviv family court ruled on Tuesday that an Israeli man and his life partner may legally adopt their adult foster son. The Tel Aviv family court ruled on Tuesday that an Israeli man and his life partner may legally adopt their adult foster son. Uzi Even, an openly gay former Knesset member, and [...]
Same-sex married couples in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and any other state where their unions are recognized, will not be counted as such in the 2010 U.S. Census because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, according to this article. Instead, any same-sex couples who cohabitate will have to list their status as being “unmarried partners,” [...]