News

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts called today for the Food and Drug Administration to lift a “discriminatory” ban on gay men donating blood. Kerry led a group of 18 senators — 17 Democrats and one independent — who sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, urging her to lift the lifetime ban on […]

Rep. Christine Johnson, one of Utah’s two openly gay lawmakers, will step down from her seat in the State House at year’s end, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m not leaving because I’m giving up on the fight in Utah,” the two-term Salt Lake City Democrat said Thursday after announcing she won’t seek re-election. […]

A California lawmaker who has repeatedly voted against gay rights measures since taking office eight years ago, was charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving the gay nightclub, Faces, in midtown Sacramento. The California Highway Patrol pulled over (State) Senator Roy Ashburn at 2:00 a.m. Wednesday after an officer noticed a […]

At least 50 same-sex couples lined up to apply for marriage licenses when city offices opened Wednesday as gay marriage became legal in the nation’s capital.

The Archdiocese of Washington has changed its employee health care policy in the latest fallout from the District’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage. As of Tuesday, Catholic Charities will no longer offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan. Under the District’s […]

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request late today to block the District of Columbia’s gay marriage law from taking effect on Wednesday. Opponents of the law had asked the Supreme Court to step in and issue a temporary delay so they could hold a city-wide referendum on the issue before the law took effect. […]

Opponents of gay marriage have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on the District of Columbia’s new law allowing same-sex couples to wed. The Associated Press reports that court papers filed Monday with Chief Justice John Roberts argue that D.C. residents should be able to vote on the matter. On three prior […]

Marc Delphine, an Oregon financial planner, has filed as a candidate for the U.S. Senate Monday, seeking the Libertarian Party nomination. According to JustOut.com: Delphine is the first openly gay candidate to run for federal office in Oregon’s history. Delphine will formally announce the campaign launch in the State Capitol tomorrow morning, during which he’ll […]

In a historic day for the LGBT community, California’s first openly gay Assembly speaker was sworn in to office in Sacramento early Monday afternoon. Democrat John A. Pérez, a first-term legislator representing parts of downtown L.A. and East Los Angeles, will face as one of his first tasks the challenge of preserving social programs for […]

University of California Davis officials are planning a town hall meeting tonight after anti-gay graffiti was found on campus this weekend, the second possible “hate crime” on campus in the past week. From KOVR-TV: Graphic anti-gay words and phrases were found spray-painted on the campus Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center on Saturday morning, […]

A Boston man was found guilty Friday of murdering a popular hairstylist he met at a gay bar in 2008 and was immediately sent to prison for life without parole. Following six days of deliberations, the jury ruled that Steven Odegard, 42, stabbed Daniel Yakovleff, 20, over a dozen times with a foot-long chef’s knife. […]

Trailing a banner that read “Austin March Against Hate,” hundreds of people walked from a downtown gay bar to City Hall on Saturday to retrace the path of two gay men who were attacked last weekend. Emmanuel Winston and Matthew Morgan said they were walking to a City Hall parking garage from Oilcan Harry’s on […]

City prosecutors in Fort Worth have decided to press ahead with criminal charges against at least two patrons of a gay bar who were arrested during a controversial police raid last summer. Chad Gibson, who received a serious head injury while in custody, and George Armstrong appeared for the first time in Fort Worth Municipal […]

Yesterday marked the deadline for final briefs to be submitted in the federal trial over California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The two sides in the case — two same-sex couples as plaintiffs, and the sponsors of California’s Proposition 8 as defendants — filed their final briefs late Friday shortly before a midnight deadline. Chief U.S. […]

A District of Columbia appeals court Friday unanimously rejected the latest attempt to block the city from legalizing same-sex marriages next month. In the judges’ one-page opinion in the case, the appeals court refused to overturn a Superior Court judge’s decision not to postpone the District’s same-sex marriage from going into effect. The court ruled […]

One of the nation’s biggest banks went into damage control overdrive today after it reportedly froze the bank account of the startup gay social networking site, Fabulis.com, for what it described as “objectionable content” on the company’s blog. According to Fabulis founder Jason Goldberg, he was told by three different Citibank employees that his site […]

Harold Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman and potential U.S. Senate challenger to New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, got a cool reception Wednesday from gay rights advocates who are skeptical of his new found support for gay marriage. Speaking at the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York, Ford was interrupted numerous times by protesters who waved […]

Angered by the defeat last year of a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry, a group of well-financed gay rights advocates has started a political action committee to take aim at state senators who have opposed same-sex marriage. According to The New York Times, the political action committee, Fight Back New York, […]

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler released a long-awaited opinion Wednesday saying that Maryland should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, drawing cheers from gay-rights supporters and igniting immediate debate on a highly contentious issue in an election year. From the Baltimore Sun: With the ruling, state agencies will be required to extend all […]

A beauty queen hopeful vying to become Miss California is making headlines for her hatred of gays, and has the city of Beverly Hills is crying foul over her false representation of the city. According to AP: Beverly Hills Mayor Nancy Krasne said Wednesday she is outraged over a Miss California USA contestant who is […]