DES MOINES -- A Polk County, Iowa judge on Wednesday ruled that the Iowa Department of Public Health must issue a new birth certificate in the names of a lesbian couple who are the parents of a now 2-year-old girl.

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.

HONOLULU -- Lambda Legal on Monday filed a discrimination lawsuit in the First Circuit Court of Hawaii on behalf of a lesbian couple rejected by a commercial business establishment, the Aloha Bed & Breakfast, because of the owner’s personal anti-gay beliefs.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the state of Arizona must continue to provide health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners of state workers, blocking enforcement of a 2009 law that eliminated the coverage.

Lambda Legal on Thursday filed a discrimination lawsuit against a Sizzler Restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, on behalf a woman who was targeted because "she did not conform to the stereotypes of how a woman should look," according to the complaint.

Lambda Legal on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York.

Seven gay and lesbian couples have joined with LGBT advocacy groups Garden State Equality and Lambda Legal on Wednesday in filing suit against the state of New Jersey demanding their partnerships be recognized as marriages, not as civil unions.

Supporters of California’s Proposition 8 were back in court on Monday, seeking to have the ruling voided because the federal judge that presided over the case is gay, and did not disclose he was in a long-term, same-sex relationship.

At least two prominent LGBT legal and advocacy groups are re-considering their association with the Washington D.C. law firm that has been retained by the U.S. House GOP leadership to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court.

Attorneys representing the State of Arizona are due to appear in the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals today to defend a decision by the Arizona legislature that stripped partners of same-sex couples, domestic partners and their children from receiving [...]

Much attention has been paid to the landmark challenge to California’s ban on same-sex marriage that another very important case regarding gay couples has gone almost unnoticed. This latter case will be heard before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday.

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act on Wednesday, establishing legal protections for same-sex couples across the state.

A group of same-sex couples are suing the state of Hawaii, alleging violations of constitutional rights in the wake of Governor Linda Lingle's veto of civil unions bill that would have given same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Gay couples who sued New Jersey in 2002 for the right to marry are taking their case back to the State Supreme Court. Lambda Legal filed a motion Thursday on [...]

New Jersey gays rights advocates, with the help of New York-based Lambda Legal, are going back to the New Jersey Supreme Court in order to fight for the right to [...]