The latest news from local authors
Any day now, the New Mexico Supreme Court may grant same-sex couples the right to get married. At this point, such a ruling may not seem like such a big deal. Prior to last year’s elections, gays and lesbians had a civil right to marry in only six states. Now, they have it in 16. […]
A number of experts in law and state politics have written to emphasize the enormous slog that lies ahead for proponents of marriage equality. As a lawyer who knows a bit about politics I share their concerns. But employing my economics “hat” I wish to offer this encouragement – we have passed the tipping point
The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage is seeing a huge wave of red ink this year. Joe.My.God reports: NOM has published its 2012 tax form and as you can see above, they finished 2012 over $2.7M in the red. Brian Brown took to their blog last night to blast complaints. “NOM fully complies with federal
In 1990, 75 percent of Americans believed homosexual sex was immoral, and gay marriage was illegal in literally every jurisdiction in the world. Not quite 25 years later, a majority of Americans support gay marriage, and among young people support is as high as 70 percent. That is a breathtaking transformation; if you’d told LGBT
A Democratic Representative from Minnesota has introduced a bill in the house to protect benefits for LGBT veterans. Dot429 reports: House Representative Tim Walz has introduced the Protecting the Freedoms and Benefits for All Veterans Act, which could revolutionize the way LGBT veterans and their families are treated as well as the benefits they receive
With marriage equality now coming to Illinois and Hawaii, nearly 40% of the country lives in a marriage equality state. But just how federal and state governments will navigate the still-unsettled reality (and consequences) of marriage equality remains an open question. Although Windsor invalidated Section 3 of DOMA, it left Section 2 in place, which
Five years ago last week, on Election Day 2008, California’s electorate passed Prop 8, marking perhaps the most notable low point in the marriage equality movement as a minority was stripped of a previously recognized constitutional right. As of this week five years ago, only two states – Massachusetts and Connecticut – fully recognized the
The same folks in California that brought you Proposition 8 now claim they have enough signatures to try to repeal a law that gives rights to transgender kids in California schools. LGBTQ Nation reports: A coalition of conservative groups called Privacy for all Students submitted 620,000 signatures to get the initiative on the November 2014 ballot,
An Illinois state representative made a decision any parent would dread in order to press the “yes” button on legislation she had co-sponsored to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. She left the bedside of her gravely ill son. Tuesday afternoon, state Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, a Champaign Democrat, rushed to the state capitol in Springfield to
Now that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act has passed the US Senate, we have a few follow-ups for you. First off, Mormons helped pass ENDA in the Senate. The New York Times reports: Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who at 79 is one of the Senate’s longest-serving members, became the first Republican to signal he would
