06.02.09
Senate to convene first-ever hearing on gay immigration equality
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold the first-ever Congressional hearing on obstacles faced by lesbian and gay couples under U.S. immigration law.
05.28.09
ExxonMobil continues fight against LGBT worker rights
Shareholders at the world’s largest oil company continue to reject a proposal to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the company’s official equal employment opportunity policy.
The latest attempt was made Wednesday at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Dallas by two large shareholders - the New York City Comptroller and New York City Pension Funds, and by the LGBT rights group Human rights Campaign.
“ExxonMobil continues to have the dubious distinction of being the only Fortune 50 company that refuses to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination policy, and is stuck in the ever-shrinking minority of businesses that don’t offer domestic partner benefits,” said Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Joe Solmonese.
“It is irresponsible for ExxonMobil to ignore overwhelming shareholder support and not to join the majority of companies that provide equal protections and benefits to all families.”
Over the past decade, proposals to add gender identity and sexual orientation protections have been voted down. This year, 39.3 percent of shares were voted in favor of the policy, compared to 8.2 percent in 2000.
Shareholder support for the proposal has slowly increased each year it has been filed. In 2007, it was supported by 37.7 percent of shares voted; in 2006, it was supported by 34.6 percent of shares voted; and in 2005, it was supported by 29.4 percent.
ExxonMobil is the only company in America to have had a written non discrimination clause that included gays and to have rescinded it.
LGBT workers had been included in employment policies at Mobil. In December 1999 when Mobil merged with Exxon and under Exxon’s direction, the policy was abandoned. At the same time, it closed Mobil’s domestic partner benefits program to any more employees.
Twenty-four members of Congress, and thousands of stockholders and consumers, wrote to ExxonMobil Chairman Lee R. Raymond in December 1999 to protest the policy reversals. In January 2000, stockholders and activists protested at a company facility in Houston, causing the facility to close for the day. Current Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson has maintained the same position on ExxonMobil’s policies.
A total of 423 – 85 percent – of Fortune 500 companies include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies and 176 – more than 35 percent – include gender identity, including ExxonMobil competitors BP Corp., Chevron Corp., Dow Chemical, DuPont and Shell Oil.
“While the rest of corporate America recognizes and respects the diversity of their workforce, ExxonMobil continues to resist the most basic protections that should be afforded to all Americans,” said Solmonese.
05.27.09
Legal battle over gay-marriage reignites Two noted attorneys who represented opposite sides in the Bush vs. Gore election battle nine years ago have joined forces to challenge Proposition 8
Two noted attorneys who represented opposite sides in the Bush vs. Gore election battle nine years ago have joined forces to challenge Proposition 8 in the federal courts, now that the California Supreme Court has upheld the voter-approved ban on gay marriage in California.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who represented George W. Bush in the historic election case, and David Boies, who represented then-Vice President Al Gore, filed a preliminary injunction in federal court Wednesday morning that calls for an injunction restoring marriage rights for gays in California until the legal battle over Prop. 8 is concluded.
The broader suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that Prop. 8 creates a class of “second-class citizens” and thereby violates the U.S. Constitution, according to the plaintiffs.
“This unequal treatment of gays and lesbians denies them the basic liberties and equal protection under the law that are guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment,” the suit states.
Olson and Boies are suing on behalf of two same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses due to Prop. 8. By filing in U.S. District Court, observers say, they hope to ultimately force the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been deeply divided on the issue.
The two attorneys are serving as co-counsels on the case, a project of the American Foundation for Equal Rights. On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court upheld the proposition, the state’s bitterly contested voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, by a 6-to-1 vote. But the California court also ruled that same-sex marriages performed during an interim period last year before the measure was enforced are valid.
The court’s move means the issue will likely appear again on the state’s ballot.
Other states like Iowa, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont have legalized same-sex marriages. New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey have similar moves under consideration.
05.26.09
California court lets gay marriage ban stand
California’s supreme court backed a ban on gay marriage on Tuesday, ruling that a voter-approved proposition defining marriage as between a man and a woman could stand in the trend-setting state.
The court, which last year opened the way for same-sex unions, said the roughly 18,000 marriages that took place before the November ban could stand.
The ban spurred nationwide protests, and the court’s decision is unlikely to be the last move in what is seen as a battleground state in U.S. culture wars.
05.25.09
Proposition 8 Ruling Coming Tuesday
The California Supreme Court will issue its long-awaited decision on the validity of the state’s same-sex marriage ban on Tuesday, May 26.
05.10.09
Gay voters express frustration with pace of change under Obama
Gay and lesbian activists on a national level have been expressing angst over the glacial progress they’ve achieved since Barack Obama became president, and the Democratic National Chairman got a taste of that Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaking at a “listening” event at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Fort Lauderdale, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was asked why Obama hasn’t changed the military’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy that bars openly gay members of the armed forces.
“I don’t know,” Kaine responded. “While I don’t know the timing, I do know this is a matter under very serious discussion at the White House.”
Linda Jain, vice president of the Dolphin Democrats gay and lesbian political club, counts herself among the activists who are concerned about the pace of change under Obama.
While gay marriage gets lots of attention, Jain said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are concerned about hate crimes, immigration, adoption and the military’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy.
“We have a lot of issues that are critical to our safety as LGBT people,” she said. “He can fix these things. The LGBT community worked tirelessly for Obama, particularly here in South Florida, and we believe in him and what he can do, and there needs to be a willingness to do it.”
“He [Obama] is strongly in support of civil unions and recognition of same-sex couples,” Kaine said.
“The momentum is there and Obama is behind the tide, and we’re afraid that he’s going to put us under the bus as the Clintons did,” he said
Gay voters express frustration with pace of change under Obama
Gay and lesbian activists on a national level have been expressing angst over the glacial progress they’ve achieved since Barack Obama became president, and the Democratic National Chairman got a taste of that Friday in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaking at a “listening” event at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Fort Lauderdale, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was asked why Obama hasn’t changed the military’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy that bars openly gay members of the armed forces.
“I don’t know,” Kaine responded. “While I don’t know the timing, I do know this is a matter under very serious discussion at the White House.”
Linda Jain, vice president of the Dolphin Democrats gay and lesbian political club, counts herself among the activists who are concerned about the pace of change under Obama.
While gay marriage gets lots of attention, Jain said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are concerned about hate crimes, immigration, adoption and the military’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy.
“We have a lot of issues that are critical to our safety as LGBT people,” she said. “He can fix these things. The LGBT community worked tirelessly for Obama, particularly here in South Florida, and we believe in him and what he can do, and there needs to be a willingness to do it.”
“He [Obama] is strongly in support of civil unions and recognition of same-sex couples,” Kaine said.
“The momentum is there and Obama is behind the tide, and we’re afraid that he’s going to put us under the bus as the Clintons did,” he said.
05.07.09
Maine Approves Gay Marriage, N.H. Close
In a banner day for advocates of same-sex marriage in New England, Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed a freshly passed bill Wednesday allowing gay marriage and was followed closely by the New Hampshire Legislature. If New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signs the bill or lets it become law without his signature, his state would become the sixth overall to allow gay marriage and the fifth in New England. Rhode Island would be the region’s only holdout.
05.06.09
Maine Governor Signs Bill Allowing Gay Marriage
Maine’s governor has signed a bill making the state the fifth to allow gay marriage.
Gov. John Baldacci signed the legislation shortly after the Maine legislature passed it Wednesday.
New Hampshire legislators are also poised to send a gay marriage bill to their governor. He has not indicated whether he’ll sign it.
If gay marriage becomes law in New Hampshire, Rhode Island would be the sole holdout in New England.
Iowa is the only state outside the region to allow the practice. California briefly allowed it before voters banned it
04.30.09
Could Adam Lambert be first gay “American Idol”?
Adam Lambert wears eyeliner and diamond stud earrings, sings like a dream and has won a rare standing ovation from tough-minded judge Simon Cowell.
With three weeks to go before the “American Idol” final, Lambert, 27, is favored to win the No. 1 U.S. television talent show and become, possibly, the first gay or bisexual singer to be handed the “Idol” title by millions of Americans.
Lambert, praised by “Idol” judges for taking risks with songs like Cher’s “Believe”, has never publicly confirmed his sexual preference, nor has he denied speculation about being gay — a striking contrast to 2003 runner-up Clay Aiken.
When photos showing him kissing other men and dressed in drag circulated on the Internet last month, Lambert said simply: “I have nothing to hide. I am who I am.”
Lambert ended in the bottom two for the first time on Wednesday night, but viewers have so far shown little sign of caring about his ambiguous sexual orientation.
An army of “Glambert” fans cheer him on, vote for him weekly and have made him the favorite to win.
“Some people are saying, wouldn’t it be amazing that in the same year that the first African-American president took office in the U.S., we also elected the first gay and/or bisexual ‘American Idol’,” said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York.
“I don’t think that’s comparable. Rather than being surprised, I am thinking ‘Wow, have we really got this far without having one yet?’”