This Week in Gay News Roundup: 5/24 - 5/30

 Saturday May 30, 2009  | News

Rainbow NewspaperThe week that brought us disappointment over Proposition 8's approval by California courts and hope with a federal challenge featured many other strides in our fight for equality. Here is what happened this week in case you missed anything. For more up-to-the-minute news stories, follow Family Fairness on Twitter.

  • President Obama made his first Supreme Court nomination to fill David Souter's vacant seat. His pick, current Second Circuit judge Sonia Sotomayor, would be the Court's third woman, third non-white, and first hispanic justice. Though her time in the New York District Court and Second Circuit have not revealed her stance on gay issues, legal activists are happy with her nomination. Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commissions, said of a meeting with Sotomayor in 1991, "she was totally interested [in gay civil rights issues] and supportive." Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom to Marry, said, "from everything I know, Judge Sotomayor is an outstanding choice — fair and aware, open and judicious. I believe she has the demonstrated commitment to principles of equal protection and inclusion that defines a good nominee to the Supreme Court." The National LGBT Bar Association and Lambda Legal have also made statements supporting Sotomayor.
  • A Brown University poll revealed that 60% of Rhode Island voters support the right of same-sex couples to marry, and 75% support Civil Unions. Of the six New England states, four have legalized marriage equality with a fifth — New Hampshire — in the process. While Rhode Island legislatures have attempted to pass marriage bills every year since 1997, none have made it to the floor for a full House or Senate vote. Equality advocates are hopeful that such a strong showing of support will encourage lawmakers to more seriously consider a bill.
  • Speaking of New Hampshire, House and Senate negotiators have reached a compromise on the state's marriage bill and will be holding votes on the amendments next week. Governor Lynch, who threatened to veto the last version of the bill unless the changes were made, has indicated his support of the new bill. The legislation added a sentence specifying that religious organizations have exclusive control over their practices with regards to marriage.
  • Two bills, one of which would legalize same-sex marriage while the other would ban it, are circulating for co-sponsors in Pennsylvania. While the outcome of either bill is uncertain, Senator Leach, who intends to introduce the marriage equality legislation, believes that the climate is right for Pennsylvania to follow in the footsteps of other legislatures the recognized the fundamental inequality of marriage exclusion.
  • The White House released a statement reaffirming President Obama's support for efforts repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The statement says "DOMA is a federal law passed by Congress that precludes uniform federal recognition of same-sex relationships, even those recognized as valid under the law of the state. Because the President believes that this is an issue that should be left to the states, he continues to support the legislative repeal of DOMA." While the statement is comforting given Obama's relative silence on issues important to the gay community, it offered no timeline as to when these efforts would begin.
  • The domestic partnership bill in Nevada that won support from the state's House and Senate was vetoed by Governor Jim Gibbons as he promised to do. A statement released by the governor explains that he believes the 2002 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage also extends to domestic partnerships, and that "only the voters should have the right to undo or amend constitutional mandates." He also stated that other private contracts, like a Power of Attorney document or a health care proxy, were already sufficient to give same-sex couples legal rights and that domestic partnerships were unnecessary.

Did I miss anything? Be sure to let me know in the comments. You may also follow Family Fairness on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute news stories.



Have any insight on this topic? Want to ask a question or make a suggestion? Click here to leave a comment.

Related Articles

Discussion

Have a question or comment about this article? Leave me a message.