NJ senate to vote on marriage soon

A committee hearing is scheduled for Monday and a full senate vote could happen Thursday.

Senate to Hold First-Ever Hearing Addressing Anti-Gay Discrimination in U.S. Immigration Law

June 3rd Judiciary Hearing Will Debate Uniting American Families Act

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its first-ever hearing on The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a bill to end discrimination against lesbian and gay Americans in U.S. immigration law and allow lesbian and gay citizens to sponsor their partners for residency in the United States.

The hearing was scheduled by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the lead Senate sponsor of UAFA. Witnesses will include binational couples who have been separated, or face separation, because of discriminatory U.S. immigration law.

An estimated 36,000 binational couples are affected by U.S. laws prohibiting gay and lesbian Americans from sponsoring their partners for residency. Countless lesbian and gay families, including many with children, are torn apart by U.S. immigration law, or are forced to leave the United States to remain together. While 19 other nations allow lesbian and gay citizens to sponsor their partners, the United States continues to discriminate against tens of thousands of families. As the nation prepares to consider immigration reform, the Judiciary Committee hearing will provide an important opportunity for lawmakers to hear from some of those families.

The session is set for Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 – Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

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Bill Making Identification Change More Accessible for Transgender Persons Passes Key Assembly Committee, Moves One Step Closer to Becoming State Law

Sacramento – The Equal ID Act took one step closer to becoming law today when it passed the State Assembly Judiciary Committee by a 7-3 vote. The bill, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D – Torrance), increases the legal rights and recognition enjoyed by transgender people by clarifying that qualified transgender people born in California can return to the county of their birth to obtain a court order reflecting their correct gender and accompanying name change. The court order is then used to obtain a corrected California birth certificate.

“All Californians deserve legal documentation that accurately reflects who they are,” EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors said. “Once passed, this law will make it easier for transgender people both in California and beyond to obtain accurate identification, apply for jobs, and live their lives as full and equal members of society.”

Until recently, California law only allowed transgender persons to petition the court for an order recognizing a change of gender in the county in which they presently reside. Last month, the Transgender Law Center successfully challenged the residency requirement in the California Court of Appeals. In Somers v. Superior Court, the court held that the residency requirement violated the equal protection rights of California-born transgender people residing out of state. The Equal ID Act is the next step in ensuring that all Californians are able to obtain accurate birth certificates.

“The Equal ID Act would bring the Health and Safety Code up to date with case law,” said Kristina Wertz, Legal Director of the Transgender Law Center. “It would alleviate any confusion and ensure that California-born people residing in other states know that they, too, can be afforded the dignity of a birth certificate that reflects who they truly are.”

The new bill ensures that transgender people born in California know that they can return to the county of their birth to obtain a corrected birth certificate. It also provides greater access to transgender persons living in the state, allowing them for first time to petition the court in their home counties.

“The Equal ID Act would make it clear to others in my situation that they can go back to the counties in which they were born to get a court order changing their gender. It would save people all the trouble I went through finding attorneys and spending nearly four years in the courts,” said Gigi Marie Somers, who testified at this morning’s committee hearing. Ms. Somers, a transgender woman born in California, was unable to obtain a new birth certificate in the state of Kansas, where she now resides. Ms. Somers was the plaintiff in the legal action brought by the Transgender Law Center.

“The rights of Californians should not end at our state’s borders,” Assemblymember Leiu said. “The Equal ID Act makes certain every Californian has the freedom and liberty to be true to his or herself.”

Birth certificates are used as primary source of identification and are often necessary to secure other forms of identification, including social security cards and passports.
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Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org
The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. TLC uses direct legal services, education, community organizing, and advocacy to transform California into a state that recognizes and supports the needs of transgender people and their families. www.transgenderlawcenter.org

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Conn. bill would update law for same-sex marriages

HARTFORD, Conn. — As Connecticut lawmakers consider updating state law to conform with a court ruling that allows same-sex marriages, opponents of gay marriage fear their effort will go too far to promote homosexuality.
The legislators’ work is being spurred by last year’s state Supreme Court decision that concluded same-sex couples have the right to wed in Connecticut. The state’s 2005 civil union law doesn’t give same-sex couples equal status of married heterosexual couples, the court said.
The General Assembly’s judiciary committee is considering a bill that would remove gender references in current state laws and transform same-sex civil unions into legally recognized marriages as of October 2010. The bill was the subject of a committee hearing Friday.
The measure also would strip language from a 1991 state anti-discrimination law that says Connecticut does not condone gay marriage, will not set quotas for hiring gay workers or encourage teaching in school about same-sex lifestyles. Some lawmakers consider the language outdated and unnecessary.
The proposal to delete that language has upset opponents, who think the court ruling could be used to affect social policy in other matters such as school curricula. See Conn. bill would update law for same-sex marriages * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual