WASHINGTON – A broad coalition of more than 50 civil rights, labor, progressive, faith, student, health, legal, women’s, and LGBT organizations on Thursday announced support of the Respect for Marriage [...]

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) refusal to grant equal disability benefits to an Army veteran in a same-sex marriage is a violation of the veteran’s constitutional rights, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the law firm of WilmerHale.

Significant events are crowding the calendar for 2012, and each promises considerable drama and suspense for the LGBT community. Here is our special report on the ten most important stories to keep an eye on:

From the repeal of "Don't Ask-Don't Tell," a policy which had banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U. S. military, to winning strategic battles in gaining civil unions and full marriage equality for same-sex couples in several states, victories in a significant series of elective offices across the country, 2011 ended on an upbeat note for the nation's LGBTQ community.

One leading advocate called 2011 an “epic” year for marriage equality. Was it? While only one state -- New York -- enacted full marriage rights for same-sex couples, it was the most populous state to do so. Five other states also moved closer to marriage equality than ever before. Public opinion shifted dramatically towards supporting equality. And the Obama administration announced that it no longer considers a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act constitutional.

"President Obama has long relied on his oratorical gifts to ease him through tricky political situations. But on the emotionally charged issue of gay rights, Mr. Obama has been content recently to let his lieutenants do the talking. And they have said some striking things," reported Mark Landler, Senior White House Correspondent for The New York Times, on Friday.

NEW YORK — Same-sex couples are paying as much as $6,000 a year in additional taxes because the federal government doesn’t recognize gay marriage, according to a new report by CNN.

A new law in Ireland means that New Yorkers now have more rights on the Emerald Isle than they do in their own country. A hospital in Tennessee violates federal guidelines in denying visitation to a lesbian couple. There's a new ad for marriage equality in New Hampshire that epitomizes Yankee thrift. And 20,000 Australian doctors agree: marriage equality is good for your head.

A victory for DOMA repeal in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but now it faces even greater hurdles in the full Senate. An election night victory in Iowa means marriage is safe, for now; but polling in Minnesota shows cause for alarm. Activists raise the stakes in Washington, Maryland, Oregon, and Maine.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to repeal the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act. Now it moves to a Senate that’s hostile to marriage equality — but that’s actually okay. Matt Baume at the American Foundation for Equal Rights has a special episode of Marriage News Watch. Watch here:

A U.S. Senate committee on Thursday voted to advance the Respect for Marriage Act, an historic bill that would fully repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman.

More positive polling in Maine and Washington. Gay couples get a green light to sue over civil unions in New Jersey. A vote on DOMA gets postponed until next week. And marriage equality gets a boost from the National Association of Flight Attendants. This week's Marriage News Watch is here...

BOSTON -- Seventy major U.S. companies, including CBS, Google, Microsoft, Nike and Starbucks, have come together in an "amicus" brief -- commonly referred to as a "friend of the court" brief -- claiming that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is harmful to commerce.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and 132 other Democrats on Thursday joined in the fight to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act in court by filing a legal brief in support of litigation against the anti-gay law.

We're counting down to the next ruling in the Prop 8 case. A Republican-backed bill in New Hampshire would replace marriage with civil unions for everyone -- including siblings. Get ready for a showdown on the Defense of Marriage Act, and things are heating up in Ohio.