LaVar Christensen

Christensen (R-District 48) has reintroduced a bill he tried to pass in 2006 which prohibits same-sex couples from making contractual agreements, such as wills and financial arrangements.

The bill, known in 2006 as HB 304, but now as HB 182, slides in under the generic title “Voiding Transactions Against Public Policy,” and declares “an arrangement, agreement, or transaction that is illegal or against public policy to be void and unenforceable.”

In a 2007 report, the Utah Law Review, commenting on HB 304, wrote:

Representative Christensen is the same legislator who introduced the Utah marriage amendment, the basis for this discussion. Christensen explained the purpose of the bill was to reduce to statute a common law practice which has been around for a century.

He said the main purpose of the bill was to outlaw contracts based on drugs and gambling. However, Christensen’s consistent agenda to curb the expansion of rights to unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples had many worried about Christensen’s intention.

Terry Kogan, Professor of Lawat the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, spoke against the bill during the session. He stated, “[Christensen] may be trying to undermine the ability of same-sex couples to protect their financial and other interests.”

HB 182′s language is virtually word-for word from the narrowly-defeated 2006 measure, and if passed, would strip even more rights away from the same-sex couples who depend on contractual arrangements, as Utah denies them any of the inherent protections afforded to heterosexual couples.

Same-sex couples in Utah have so few protections in Utah, and must rely on creating legal contracts to protect loved ones in the event of each other’s death.

Christensen’s bill would leave surviving same-sex partners at the mercy of their deceased partner’s family.

The new law will require training for most public school employees on how to spot bullying and mandate that all districts form “school safety teams” to review complaints.

It will also require school Superintendents to report incidents of bullying to the state Board of Education or face disciplinary action. Students who bully, harass or intimidate other students could be suspended or expelled.

The measure, passed by New Jersey lawmakers last November, fills gaps in the state’s first anti-bullying law, passed in 2002, that encouraged school districts to set up anti-bullying programs but did not mandate it.

“This is one of the great civil rights laws in New Jersey history, and to have a fairly conservative Republican governor sign it sends a resounding signal to other states,” said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality.

The bill has been in the works for some time but gained attention after the high-profile suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death after his roommate allegedly streamed a romantic encounter between him and another man online.

The law goes into effect at the start of the next school year, and applies to public schools; portions of the new law apply to public colleges as well.

The bill would require training for most public school employees on how to spot bullying and mandate that all districts form “school safety teams” to review complaints, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

Superintendents would have to report incidents of bullying to the state Board of Education, which would grade schools and districts on their efforts to combat it.

The measure fills gaps in the state’s first anti-bullying law, passed in 2002, that encouraged school districts to set up anti-bullying programs but did not mandate it.

“Some districts have done an impressive job in answering that call. Others have not,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.

Public colleges and universities would also be required to include a policy on bullying in its code of conduct.

The “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” applies to schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, strengthens New Jersey’s cyberbullying law, applies to bullying off school grounds that carries into schools. It is the first anti-bullying law in the U.S. to set firm statewide deadlines for incidents of bullying to be reported, investigated and resolved.

The bill has been in the works for some time but gained attention after the high-profile suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death after his roommate allegedly streamed a romantic encounter between him and another man online.

The incident helped persuade lawmakers to act with “lightning speed,” sponsors said Monday after the bill easily cleared both houses of the state Legislature.

The bill passed 30-0 in the Senate and 71-1 in the Assembly (Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll was the only no vote).

The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Christie — the Republican governor has not said whether he would sign the bill, but he spoke out against bullying after Clementi’s death.

Delegate Barbara Fleischauer (D), said there is already a law in West Virgina that permits marriage only between a man and a woman, so there is no need to discuss an amendment to ban gay marriage.

“A number of states throughout the country have recognized homosexual marriage and we think we need a safeguard to keep that from happening here and we think the people of West Virginia want that safeguard, so there’s a frustration out there, and we think it should be brought to the House and debated,” said Minority Leader Tim Armstead (R).

The republican minority is hoping to force a debate on the issue by requesting that the amendment be removed from the committee and taken directly to the house floor.

The bill’s supporters say the constitutional ban is necessary to prevent the state Supreme Court from overturning the law in the future.

Without discussion or debate, the committee soundly defeated the Same Sex Marriages – Foreign Jurisdictions – Invalidity Act (House Bill 90) by a vote of 12-8.

The bill, if approved, would have invalidated marriages between same-sex couples entered into in another state or in a foreign country, and would have declared “marriages between individuals of the same sex are against the public policy of the State.”

The bill’s sponsor, Emmett C. Burns, a Baltimore County Democrat and minister, had proposed that the state, which does not allow same-sex unions, pass a law explicitly declaring that such marriages are illegal, even when performed in another state.

The same committee has rejected similar measures introduced in other years. Its vote prevents the bill from going to the House floor for debate.

According to
The Iowa Independent:

The legislation, Senate Joint Resolution 2001, would amend the state’s constitution to say “marriage between one man and one woman shall be the only legal union valid or recognized in this state.”

In order to amend the constitution, the legislature must pass the resolution in two separate General Assemblies. The measure would then go to a public vote. If advocates of a same-sex marriage ban are unsuccessful in 2010, it would likely be 2014 at the earliest before the public would weigh in.

The resolution was sponsored by all 18 Republican members of the Iowa Senate. There are 32 Democrats.

The Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last April in a unanimous decision. During the closing weeks of the 2009 General Assembly, Republicans attempted numerous procedural moves to force a vote on a constitutional ban on gay marriage, all of which were thwarted by Democrats.

Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal said there will be no vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage during this legislative session.

“I will not write discrimination into the constitution of the State of Iowa,” Gronstal said. “I’m going to block that at every opportunity. There will be no vote on the constitutional amendment.”

Among the new laws, each sponsored by Equality California, include a bill that recognizes the marriage of thousands of same-sex couples regardless of when or where they were married, a bill increasing services to LGBT survivors of domestic violence and a third recognizing the contributions of slain civil rights leader Harvey Milk.

The Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act, introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), holds that same-sex couples married in any state or nation anytime before the passage of Proposition 8 must be recognized as married spouses in California, regardless of whether they married in California or in another state or nation.

In addition, the new statute also confirms that same-sex couples married outside of California after November 5, 2008, must be given all of the rights, protections and responsibilities of married spouses under California law, with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.”

“This vital bill will provide much needed protections for same-sex couples who have legally married out of state, or will in the future, and who deserve to be treated like any other married couple,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California.

“This bill will allow same-sex couples to get married in other states and countries and ensure they are treated equally under the law when they return to California. Ultimately, however, restoring the freedom to marry is the only way to ensure that all Californians receive the dignity and respect that come with marriage,” said Kors.

Also becoming state law is the LGBT Domestic Violence Programs Expansion Bill, which was authored by Speaker-Elect Assemblymember John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).

The bill expands access for LGBT service providers to a state fund within the California Emergency Management Agency, which supports LGBT-specific domestic violence programs across the state. The fund, originally established as part of another EQCA-sponsored bill in 2006, is subsidized by a $23 fee on domestic partner registrations.

The new bill would also allow for more than four organizations to apply for programmatic funding each fiscal cycle and eliminates the requirement for providers to offer shelter – impediments to many smaller LGBT organizations that inadvertently keep several California communities from providing any services for LGBT survivors of domestic violence.

Harvey Milk Day, which will be celebrated on May 22, 2010, marks the first time in the nation’s history that a state will officially recognize and celebrate the contributions of an openly LGBT person with an annual “day of special significance.” The bill was also introduced by Senator Leno.

“We are grateful to the LGBT Caucus, our allied lawmakers, and the Governor for making these landmark measures the law in California, as these bills will dramatically improve the lives of LGBT Californians and their families,” Kors said. “We look forward to the year ahead and to advancing our mission of achieving true and full equality for LGBT Californians.”

Click for more information about EQCA’s legislation.

A previous bill that would have allowed domestic partnerships was defeated earlier this year following a lengthy debate earlier.

Gov. Bill Richardson has said that during the next session he will try again to get such a bill passed.

The bill proposing a constitutional amendment was filed by Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, seeks to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

This is not the first time legislation aimed at banning gay marriage has been brought up in New Mexico’s legislature.

Previous bills by Sharer in 2009, and Rep. Nora Espinoza, R-Roswell in 2008 both died in committee.

Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis

Speaking to an international conference of gay politicians in San Francisco, U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., said they expect a domestic partner benefits bill to come up for a vote by the end of the year. The bill would provide for health coverage for same-sex partners of gay federal workers.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban workplace bias based on sexual orientation and gender discrimination, is expected to reach the floor early in 2010, according to Baldwin and Polis.

The lawmakers said they are also confident that the House will include in the annual military spending bill next year a provision to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that bans gays from serving in the U.S. military.

All the measures face a harder time in the Senate following the death of longtime ally Sen. Edward Kennedy, but Baldwin and Polis said they remained optimistic.

Office of Personnel Management director John Berry, the Obama administration’s highest ranking gay appointee, told the conference that the president strongly supports the trio of gay rights measures.

More from the Associated Press.

Obama made the announcement as he signed the fourth reauthorization of the federal program named for Ryan White, an Indiana boy who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. The program, started in 1990, provides funds for HIV-related care.

Obama said that lifting the ban is a “step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment. It’s a step that will keep families together, and it’s a step that will save lives.”

“We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic — yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country,” he said. “If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it,” he said.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act authorizes a 5 percent annual increase in federal support over the next four years. Funding under the law is scheduled to rise from more than $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 to nearly $3 billion in fiscal year 2013.

The measure passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives last week. Similar legislation first passed almost 20 years ago and was reauthorized in 1996, 2000 and 2006.

The process to end the travel ban was started last year by Congress and the Bush administration. The president said his administration will finish it by publishing the final rules on Monday to eliminate the ban. The ban is expected to be lifted early next year.

In the years since, Congress has tried and failed to expand federal hate crimes laws to include violence based on sexual and gender orientation. But yesterday, that changed.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed hate crime legislation that extends civil rights protections to people based on sexual orientation, saying the nation would be a place where “we’re all free to live and love as we see fit.”

The law expands federal hate crimes to include those committed against people because of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It also loosens limits on when federal law enforcement can intervene and prosecute crimes.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was named for Shepard and James Byrd Jr., a black Texas man dragged to his death in a racially motivated killing the same year as the attack on Shepard.

In the signing ceremony in the White House, Obama said that the gay rights protections represented “long-awaited change” that would protect people who are victimized because of “who they love, or who they are.”

“You understand that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones but break spirits, not only to inflict harm but to instill fear,” the President added.

Attorney General Eric Holder called the expanded hate crimes legislation – in his words – the next great civil rights bill. He said the new law will enable the Justice Department to assist local and state prosecutors, who handle most hate crimes. Holder said it also gives federal government the ability to press cases when local authorities do not.

Civil rights groups and their Democratic backers on Capitol Hill have tried for a decade to expand the hate crimes law, but fell short because of a lack of coordination between the House and Senate, or opposition from President George W. Bush.

This time, the bill got through when Democrats attached it to a must-pass $680 billion defense measure over the protests of Republicans.

President Obama intends to sign into law Wednesday a long-sought hate crimes protection measure as part of a major defense bill, according to an administration source.

The president plans to pen his name to the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill, which includes a provision known as the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The measure would make illegal hate crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories, and would allow the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of such crimes.

The legislation has languished in Congress for 12 years, and with strong support this congressional session, lawmakers put the finishing touches on the bill this month.

The House on Oct. 8 voted in favor of the defense conference report with the hate crimes measure, 281-146, and the Senate on Thursday approved the same report, 68-29.

The defense bill includes a hate crimes provision because in July the Senate amended its version of the legislation to include such a measure.