NY gov calls for session on gay marriage
(Albany, NY) New York Gov. David Paterson is calling the Legislature back to Albany for a special session to cut the budget and possibly vote on legalizing same-sex marriage.
Paterson wants the Senate to give final legislative approval to same-sex marriage. But there’s no guarantee there are enough votes to carry …
Tags: Albany Ny, Budget, David Paterson, gay marriage, Legalizing Same Sex Marriage, Legislative Approval, marriage, Ny Gov, same sex marriage, Senate, Special Session, Vote, York GovFull story: Congress acts to extend hate crimes to cover gays
(Washington) The House voted Thursday to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation, significantly expanding the hate crimes law enacted in the days after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968.
With expected passage by the Senate, federal prosecutors will for the first time be …
Tags: Congress, Federal Crime, Federal Prosecutors, Gays, Hate Crimes, House Voted Thursday, Luther King Jr, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr, People, Senate, Sexual OrientationObama picks openly gay lawyer for ambassadorship
(Washington) President Barack Obama said Wednesday he planned to nominate an openly gay lawyer as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. If confirmed by the Senate, David Huebner would become the third openly gay ambassador in U.S. history and the first pick by this administration. In a statement …
Tags: barack obama, Gay Ambassador, Huebner, Lawyer, New Zealand, Samoa, Senate, Washington PresidentIL Senate cand. supports marriage
IL Senate cand. supports marriage
Tags: Cand, marriage, SenateUruguay clears way for gay adoptions
(Montevideo, Uruguay) Uruguay is clearing the way for gay couples to adopt children.
The Senate’s final approval Wednesday makes Uruguay the first country in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.
The executive branch now will decide when the law takes effect. The change is supported by …
Tags: Executive Branch, Final Approval, Gay Adoptions, Gay And Lesbian, Gay And Lesbian Couples, Gay Couples, Gay Lesbian, Gay Uruguay, Latin America, Montevideo Uruguay, SenateHate crimes leg passes Senate
The Defense spending bill that contained LGBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation passed 87-7.
Tags: Defense Spending, Hate Crimes Legislation, SenateOz Senate wants to learn about marriage
Oz Senate wants to learn about marriage
Tags: marriage, Oz, SenateGillibrand wins Senate hearing on military policy on gays
New York’s Sen. href=”/topics/Kirsten_Gillibrand”>Kirsten Gillibrand said Monday she had won the commitment of the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold its first hearing this fall on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military.
The announcement is unusual because Gillibrand does not sit on the panel and did not push the issue in the last Congress, when she served on the House Armed Services Committee.
But the agreement by Senate Armed Services chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) capped a campaign Gillibrand has been waging in the last few weeks to scrap or suspend the controversial policy that has led the Pentagon to discharge thousands of gays and lesbians since 1994.
See Gillibrand wins Senate hearing on military policy on gays
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/gillibrand-wi…
A political fight over the rights of same-sex…
A political fight over the rights of same-sex couples is drawing nearer in Washington State.
Backers of Referendum 71, who want to overturn a new state same-sex partnership law, have made an appointment to file signatures with state elections officials Saturday afternoon.
Saturday is the deadline to collect 120,577 valid voter signatures and qualify for the Nov. 3 state ballot.
Protect Marriage Washington is the primary backer of R-71. Gary Randall of the allied Faith and Freedom Network said by e-mail: “We are gathering and counting signatures. I think we are making good progress.”
Protect Marriage has raised just more than $20,000 for a campaign that so far has been waged mostly through churches. Randall said the group is not anti-gay but pro-marriage. The group wants voters to reject Senate Bill 5688, the “everything but marriage” legislation that passed this year and adds about 250 rights of marriage for registered same-sex partners in Washington.
Defenders of the new state law, who call themselves Washington Families Standing Together, say they are ready to defend the third round of rights lawmakers added since creating the partners registry in 2007.
See Washington State braces for battle over same-sex rights
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/political-fig…
Military Gay Discharge Moratorium Bill A Non-Starter
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has decided not to pursue a senate amendment that would pause military discharges based on sexual orientation, gay weekly the Washington Blade reported. Gillibrand, the freshman senator appointed by Governor David Paterson after President Obama tapped Hillary Clinton to head the State Department, signaled last week she would introduce the reform as an amendment to a Defense Department reauthorization bill. The amendment would place an 18-month moratorium on the military gay ban, also known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the law that prescribes discharge for gay and lesbian service members who do not remain celibate or closeted.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/military-gay-…
