House passes defense authorization report, including hate crimes
From an HRC press release:
(Washington) The U.S. House of Representatives passed the conference report for the FY 2010 Defense Authorization bill by a vote of 281 to 146, bringing critical hate crimes protections closer to becoming law than ever before.
Earlier this week, the House voted down a last-ditch effort to …
Tags: Defense Authorization Bill, Hate Crimes, House Of Representatives, Hrc, Last Ditch Effort, Press Release, VoteHouse Democrats muzzle GOP on sensitive issues
(Washington) In their zeal to protect their members from politically hazardous votes on issues such as gay marriage and gun control, Democrats running the House of Representatives are taking extraordinary steps to muzzle Republicans in this summer’s debates on spending bills.
On Thursday, for example, Republicans had hoped to force debates …
Tags: Debates, gay marriage, Gop, Gun Control, House Democrats, House Of Representatives, marriage, Muzzle, Republicans, Running, Sensitive Issues, ZealAnti-bullying bill passed by North Carolina House
(North Carolina) An anti-bullying bill was passed in a 58-57 vote Tuesday by the North Carolina House of Representatives. The bill protects students on the basis of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The bill requires that incidents of bullying be reported by students, teachers, and volunteers. The details …
Tags: Bullying, Disability, Gender Identity, House Of Representatives, North Carolina, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Volunteers, VoteLowenstein: Hate Crimes bill to move in Senate this week
[caption id=”attachment_8040″ align=”alignleft” width=”200″ caption=”Judy Shepard, advocating for hate crimes legislation”][/caption]
An anonymous Democratic Party source told the Washington Blade that hate crimes legislation will likely go to a vote before Wednesday in the Senate. The legislation, which the House of Representatives passed earlier this year, will be attached to a …
Tags: Democratic Party, Hate Crimes Bill, Hate Crimes Legislation, House Of Representatives, Judy Shepard, Lowenstein, Party Source, Senate, Vote, Washington BladeGay Marriage Bill Stalls In New Hampshire
The New Hampshire House of Representatives, by a 188-186 vote, put the brakes on gay marriage, voting down legislation that would have permitted gay couples to marry while protecting the religious liberties of clergy.
The state’s governor, threatening a veto if the gay marriage legislation did not contain such protections, urged lawmakers to add an amendment to the legislation. The state’s Senate approved of the language, but the House rejected it.
The House, however, voted 207-168 to ask the Senate to negotiate a compromise.
At this point, lawmakers will meet to hash out some of the differences in the bill. A vote on the “compromise” bill could come as early as June 3.
“I think the headline is the House pushes the pause button, which is something very different than a reverse button,” openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson told New Hampshire television station WMUR.
Supporters of gay marriage argued the vote, while a setback, is not the end of the road for gay marriage in New Hampshire. They point to a strong 173-202 vote that rejected a measure that would kill the gay marriage bill.
Rather, New Hampshire lawmakers, particularly state Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a gay Republican from Manchester, said Democrat Gov. John Lynch was bullying lawmakers into passing a new bill. Prior to Wednesday’s vote, the New Hampshire Legislature had passed a bill legalizing gay marriage. See
Philadelphia Bulletin
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/gay-marriage-…
Oregon urges passage of federal hate bill
(Salem, Oregon) The Oregon State House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
The 59-0 vote also condemned the recent brutal beating of two gay men at a Seaside, Ore. beach. The two …
Tags: Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention, gay men, Hate Crimes, House Of Representatives, Law Enforcement, Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Matthew Shepard, Oregon State, Salem Oregon, Salem State, State House, State Representatives, United States Congress, VoteSHOCK: New Hampshire lawmakers reject gay-marriage bill
New Hampshire lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have made the state the sixth in the United States to authorize gay marriage.
The state’s Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted down the bill in a 188-186 vote, hours after its Senate approved the legislation 14-10 along party lines. An earlier version of the bill passed the lower chamber on March 26.
The legislature had been asked to approve language that would give legal protections, including the right to decline to marry same-sex couples, to clergy and others affiliated with religious organizations.
That wording was added by Governor John Lynch, a Democrat who promised to sign the bill if those changes were made.
The House vote against the governor’s amendment means the bill will be sent to a committee that will try to resolve the differences between the two chambers. It remains unclear how the governor would respond to any changes to his wording.
See New Hampshire lawmakers reject gay-marriage bill Reuters * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/chock-new-ham…
How low will the GOP Go? They Accuse Dems Of Using Hate Crime Bill To Protect Pedophiles (VIDEO)
The new, new thing in criticizing Hate Crimes legislation is to pretend that the Democrats have gone and given a whole bunch of special considerations or legal protections to pedophiles. That’s the case that Representative Peter Steve King made to a suppliant Sean Hannity yesterday:
HANNITY: We’re running out of time. Is it safe to say that Democrats were willing to protect pedophiles but not offer the same protection to servicemen and women? Is that an accurate statement?
KING: Sean, it is a matter of congressional record. Absolutely true — beyond any doubt whatsoever. The recorded votes are there to prove just what you’ve said. They — and on top of that, [Rep.] Alcee Hastings [D] from Florida, that spoke on the rules debate, and he read a list of about 30 different paraphilias — proclivities, I call them — including pedophiles, necrophilia, and a number of things that I wouldn’t say on this program or any other. And he said I think all philias whatsoever should be protected by this law. That means every perversion that you can imagine would be special protected status under the Democrats’ bill that passed off the — floor of the House of Representatives.
OK, in the first place, Representative King needs to get his head examined, brusquely, by some sort of pneumatic hammer. Ryan Grim made note of Alcee Hastings’ little bit of Congressional theater, which was done to demonstrate that “every perversion that you can imagine” WOULD NOT BE PROTECTED BY THE HATE CRIMES ACT.
See Democrats Accused Of Using Hate Crime Bill To Protect Pedophiles (VIDEO)
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-low-will-…
Bigoted GOP Rep blames ABC News For Calling Matt’s Death a “Hoax”
For the second night in a row, Countdown’s Keith Olbermann has blasted North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx as the Worst Person in the World.
Last night she won for saying on the floor of the house:
“We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay,” Foxx said during debate. “The bill was named for him, the hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
Shepard died several days after he was found tied to a remote fence in Wyoming, severely beaten and robbed of $20. Prosecutors said he was lured from a bar by two men, including one whose defense attorney said reacted violently after Shepard made a sexual advance.
Tonight Keith told Foxx to “apologize sincerely” To MAtt’s Mom - who was sitting in the gallery of the house when Fox spoke - or resign her seat in the US House of Representatives.
Who knew such bigotry as Foxx’s was alive and well in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina?
Check out the video here.
* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/bigoted-gop-r…
Maine Senate Backs Same-Sex Marriage
BOSTON — Maine could be the next New England state to embrace same-sex marriage after the State Senate voted Thursday to legalize the practice.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 20 to 15 for a bill that would allow gay couples to marry starting later this year. The measure appears to have even broader support in the House of Representatives, which will take it up on Tuesday.
Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, used to oppose same-sex marriage. But since the bill was introduced in January, he has said he is keeping an open mind.
“He said at the beginning of this process that he was going to listen to debate on the question,” said David Farmer, Mr. Baldacci’s spokesman, “and make his final decision once the bill reaches his desk.”
The vote was the latest victory for gay rights groups in New England, which are campaigning to get same-sex marriage approved in all six of the region’s states by 2012. Massachusetts and Connecticut already allow same-sex marriage, and the Vermont Legislature approved it last month.
See Maine Senate Backs Same-Sex Marriage New York Times
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/04/maine-senate-…
