Politics

Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel has committed to extending partners benefits “permissible under current law” to gay service members as part of attempts to allay concerns among Democratic senators about his potential performance as Pentagon chief. In a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Hagel responds to queries the California Democrat apparently expressed on issues […]

The Log Cabin Republicans took out a full-page ad in The Hill today urging the GOP to support same-sex marriage and oppose DOMA. Reads the text of the ad: Log Cabin Republicans applauds those Republican Members of Congress who have signed on to the Respect for Marriage Act and urges other Republicans to follow their

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney continues to stay mum on whether the Obama administration will participate before the Feb. 28 deadline in pending litigation before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8. Asked on Tuesday by NBC News’ Peter Alexander if the White House would “publicly advocate” against Proposition 8 —

  Standing is like an admission rule at a bar. Before you can even get through the door, you have to fulfill certain basic requirements, like being over 21, appropriately attired, and not already drunk and disorderly. And, in determining whether you meet the requirements, the bouncer looks at evidence: your driver’s license, your general

Eleven LGBT groups on Tuesday called on House Speaker John Boehner to stop wasting money defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. After the Department of Justice announced it would no longer defend the law in court, Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, directed the so-called Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to step in.

Earlier I cited centrist Democratic think tank Third Way’s poll on marriage equality support in Washington, where same-sex marriages just got underway. Well, that report, showing that framing marriage equality as a matter of love, rather than rights wins the fight, is now out. Here’s a telling excerpt about movement among political lines: The victory

America is about to head over a fiscal cliff, but apparently the GOP thinks there’s plenty in the bank to spend on protecting traditional marriage from those heathen homosexuals: House Republicans secretly raised the $1.5 million cap on litigating for DOMA to $2 million. Roll Call first reported Thursday that the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group

Contrary to many people’s expectations, the U.S. Supreme Court did not issue any orders last Friday or today in any of the four challenges to a provision of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case challenging California’s Proposition 8, or in Brewer v. Diaz (Lambda Legal’s case that has

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will endorse gay marriage, sources close to the former first lady have said. According to POLITICO.com, Clinton will join her husband, President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea Clinton, in endorsing marriage equality after she leaves the Obama administration. Her circle has “indicated privately that she feels like … because of

An executive order on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act “as soon as possible” is at the top of list of requests Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin has for President Obama now that the election is over, he indicated in phone calls with reporters, Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner reports: The White House said in April said Obama