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Meet Sam Putnam of Portland, he plays high school football and baseball, and is the pride and joy of his mother, Jennifer and her partner, Michelle. For Sam, it’s pretty basic — this is his family and he wants them to be valued and treated equally in Maine. See related posts: Maine gay marriage on […]

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri is defending his decision to speak at a fundraiser for a Massachusetts group that considers homosexuality “destructive” and “an unhealthy practice.” Carcieri said on WPRO Radio on Wednesday that he agreed at the request of a friend to be the keynote speaker at a fund raising banquet for Massachusetts Family […]

Same-sex couples in Vermont began exchanging vows at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday morning, taking advantage of the state’s new marriage equality law. Bill Slimback and Bob Sullivan (pictured) were among the the first same-sex couples to legally marry under the new law that took effect at 12 a.m. September 1. Slimback and Sullivan […]

The Anoka-Hennepin School District reported that two teachers who repeatedly mocked a student they believed was gay are on leave, a district official said Tuesday. Diane Cleveland and Walter Filson were placed on leave within the past week, said Ginny Karbowski, director of career and technical education for the Secondary Technical Education Program (STEP), where […]

Washington state’s Referendum 71, which will give voters a chance to overturn the new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partnership law, has moved a step closer to being on the November ballot. The secretary of state’s office ruled Monday that the referendum had 121,486 valid voter signatures, nearly a thousand more than needed to make […]

Vermont’s gay marriage law is set to go into effect on Tuesday, September 1st, and supporters of same-sex marriage already are gearing up for what promises to be an emotional week. But officials are not expecting a rush to the altar. The landscape has changed since 2000, when lawmakers passed the civil union legislation, making […]

A Dallas County jury handed down a 75 year prison sentence Thursday for Bobby Singleton (pictured, on left) for brutally beating and robbing Jimmy Lee Dean (pictured, on right) in what prosecutors say was an anti-gay attack. The jury found Singleton guilty as charged Wednesday of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by five to […]

The names and addresses of donors to Referendum 71 will not be exempt from public disclosure, the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission ruled Thursday, while another group moved to block the measure entirely. The request to remove the names was made earlier this month by Protect Marriage Washington, the group backing Referendum 71, which seeks […]

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced today it has fired the two agents, and their supervisor, who took part in the June raid of a Fort Worth gay bar that resulted in a clash between patrons and law enforcement officials, and leaving one man hospitalized with a serious head injuries. The Commission said agent Christopher […]

In his most definitive comments yet on gay rights, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he doesn’t believe sexual orientation should be a protected class in the way that race, gender and religion are. “I don’t think we should discriminate against people,” Herbert said during his first news conference since becoming governor two weeks ago. […]

Slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, will be among the newest inductees to the California Hall of Fame. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver unveiled the list of 2009 inductees earlier this week, saying the 13 men and women “embody California’s innovative […]

The Florida state court of appeals began hearing arguments Wednesday on last year’s ruling that struck down the state’s ban on gay adoption. The state is appealing a Miami-Dade County judge’s November 2008 ruling that the state law that bans gay adoptions is unconstitutional. The ruling came in the case of Martin Gill, who along […]

A California-based gay rights group has filed a complaint with the Maine Ethics Commission alleging that groups trying to overturn Maine’s gay marriage law are engaging in “money laundering.” Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, has filed a nine-page complaint, alleging that several groups targeting repeal of the law are engaging in practices to […]

The cities of El Paso, Texas, and Reno, Nev., voted this week in favor of extending health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of city employees, including gay and lesbian couples.

The Anchorage Assembly has less than two weeks left to override the mayor’s veto of the gay rights ordinance, but the first opportunity to do so came and went Tuesday night, as the assembly took no action. The ordinance’s author, Patrick Flynn, says the Assembly would have to start all over if it wants to […]

The National Organization for Marriage, which was active in getting Proposition 8 approved by voters in California, launched a campaign Monday to re-ban gay marriage in Iowa. The NOM is appealing for donations to run advertisements on behalf of political candidates who oppose same-sex marriage, and is throwing much of its support behind Republican Stephen […]

Elections officials say they’ve now verified more than 100,000 signatures for Referendum 71, an attempt to overturn Washington’s new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partner law. The totals as of Monday evening are: 103,898 checked, 91,716 accepted and 12,182 rejected. The overall error rate is 11.72 percent. In order to make the November statewide ballot, […]

A federal judge in Southern California has dismissed the lawsuit that created a public rift between President Barack Obama and gay supporters. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter (pictured) ruled the case — the first of several pending challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act — must be refiled in federal court. Carter said […]

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is proposing a new city ordinance that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The public discussion draft is based on a July report by the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission that provides “factual confirmation of the harms caused by discriminatory practices.” The ordinance would […]

The Nevada secretary of state’s office will take applications starting Monday from both gay and straight couples who want to take advantage of Nevada’s new domestic partners law.