ENDA activists avoid prison time

Four lesbian activists who earned the nickname “the ENDA 4” for staging a protest – and getting arrested – at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Washington, D.C., office will not face any prison time, a judge ruled Tuesday.

ENDA is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that has been held up in a House committee since last year. The activists want the bill to come to a House vote.

While the charges against the group were dropped, the four women affiliated with the gay advocacy group Get Equal [1] were ordered to stay away from Pelosi’s office for the next six months, according to Metro Weekly [2].

[3]

In addition, the women – Chastity Kirven, Janine Carmona, Michelle Wright and Samantha Ames – are barred from engaging in “disruptive behavior” around the Capitol for the next six months.

Ames and Carmona, who are both D.C. residents, also must perform 60 hours of community service. The other two are exempt from community service because they live outside the District.

Claire Morris Clark, the attorney representing the ENDA 4, told Metro Weekly, “This is a very good outcome.”

[1] http://getequal.org/
[2] http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5054
[3] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/news-rainbow-gay-flag-top.jpg

Marine Corps: Study gay ban but don’t hurt force

(Washington) The Marine Corps commandant said Wednesday that the ability of U.S. troops to fight and win wars must trump other concerns as the nation considers whether to let gays to serve openly in the military.

In testimony before a House committee, Gen. James Conway said he supports a Pentagon assessment …

NH panel recommends against gay marriage repeal

(Concord, NH) A New Hampshire House committee is recommending against repealing the state’s five-week-old gay marriage law.

The Judiciary Committee also voted Tuesday to recommend that the House kill a proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The vote was 12-8 on both measures, led …

3 weeks after gay marriage law, NH takes up repeal

(Concord, NH) Three weeks after the state legalized gay marriage, opponents are asking a House committee to repeal the law and let voters amend the constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The House Judiciary Committee was holding hearings Wednesday on the two measures, which many observers …

House committee passes DP bill

Domestic partnership benefits for federal workers just made it through a key committee.

House committee to hold vote on ENDA

From HRC:

The Human Rights Campaign can now confirm the House Education and Labor Committee will vote on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. on legislation to end the widespread practice of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was noticed moments ago.

The Employment Non-Discrimination …

Illinois civil union bill advances

(Springfield, Illinois) A bill giving gay couples the right to form civil unions in Illinois is moving closer to a vote on the House floor, but time is running out.

The bill was approved by a House committee on Tuesday as the California Supreme Court released its ruling upholding a voter-approved …

House adds same-sex benefits provision for U.S. diplomats to budget proposal

Congress has inserted a provision into the State Department authorization budget that would require the State Department to confer the same benefits to same-sex partners as it does to married couples.

Congressman Howard Berman, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, included the provision in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410) to “end the long-standing practice of excluding the committed partners of Foreign Service officers from the benefits routinely provided to the spouses and children of officers serving abroad.” The provision now must make its way through the budget process, including the conference committee where many-a-well intentioned proposal hits the chopping block. But in this case, it would be hard to imagine that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is lead by Chairman John Kerry and the moderate republic ranking member Richard Lugar, would do anything to strip out this provision.

This would be progress. For too long, gay and lesbian diplomats have had to chose between their families and their service. “I’m happy that efforts to redress these discriminatory policies are being undertaken,” emails Michael Guest a former Foreign Service officer currently affiliated with the Center for Global Equality. “This is all about ensuring the safety, effectiveness and equal workplace conditions for those who serve our country abroad, and for the families who accompany them on those assignments.” Amen!

House adds same-sex benefits provision for U.S. diplomats to budget proposal
UN Dispatch (5/15) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual

Published by

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/house-adds-sa…

House committee takes up hate crimes bill

(Washington) Legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law will be taken up Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee.

It is expected the bill will be marked up and be sent to the full House for a vote, possibly before …