News

Gay rights supporters rallied at the Minnesota state capital in St. Paul this week in a show of support for same-sex marriage. One of the state’s most high-profile gay rights group gathered spiritual leaders and activists in the Capitol rotunda Thursday. OutFront Minnesota, is pushing a bill in the Legislature that would make laws regulating […]

State Representative Gordon Fox this week became the first openly gay lawmaker elected Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. The Democrat from Providence was overwhelmingly elected with 51 votes in the House, with the other 19 votes going to two other candidates. Democrats nominated him during an earlier closed-door caucus. Fox, 48, announced […]

New Hampshire state Rep. Nancy Elliott wants to repeal same-sex marriage because “we’re talking about taking the penis of a man and putting it in the rectum of another man and wriggling it around in excrement. And you have to think, would I allow that to be done to me?” And to the other lawmakers […]

A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in West Virginia will not be moving forward, according to chairwoman of the WV House Constitutional Revision Committee. 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 […]

A Chinese contestant will take part in the Mr. Gay World pageant to be held in Oslo this weekend despite Beijing’s attempts to prevent him doing so, an organizer has told AFP. Last month, Beijing police blocked China’s first gay pageant just one hour before the event was to begin, telling the organizers they did […]

The San Francisco school board voted Tuesday night to fund a substantial increase in instruction and services related to gay and lesbian issues. The school district, facing layoffs and massive program cuts, unanimously agreed that the estimated $120,000 annual price tag was worth it to support for gay and lesbian students — children who are […]

Lt. Dan Choi, who was discharged from the military for revealing he is gay under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, is back in uniform. Last year, an Army National Guard committee had recommended that Choi […]

Two Democrats and all 62 Republicans in the Iowa state legislature failed Tuesday in their bid to bring up a resolution that would set up a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The first attempt came shortly before nine o’clock in the Senate. All 18 Republicans, and one Democrat, signed a document […]

Two Iowa state legislators have introduced a bill that would remove protections for gay, lesbian and transgender students from an anti-bullying law passed in 2007. Republican Reps. Jason Schultz and Matt Windschitl want to remove protection to lesbians, gay and transgender students from the Safe Schools Law, in and effort to reverse the Iowa’s Supreme […]

New Jersey’s largest gay rights group is suspending donations to political parties after feeling spurned by Democratic lawmakers who did not pass a gay marriage bill. In a statement released Monday, Garden State Equality said it will now contribute only to individual candidates and pro-LGBT non-party organizations: Sending a bold signal that no political party […]

An instructor at Fresno City College is under fire over his alleged teachings about homosexuality. The American Civil Liberties Union charged Monday that instructor Bradley Lopez is wrongly presenting religious-based and anti-gay views as fact in an introductory health class, and demanded the campus ensure health-science classes teach unbiased and medically accurate information. According to […]

Three candidates running for Rhode Island governor have promised to sign a gay marriage bill should it reach their desk if they are elected. Attorney General Patrick Lynch and General Treasurer Frank Caprio, both Democrats, and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, have been invited by Marriage Equality Rhode Island to make their pledge public […]

A legislative push to overturn the Iowa Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage is likely to begin Monday, according to the state’s largest gay-rights organization. According to The Iowa Independent: After numerous meetings at the Capitol Thursday, Brad Clark, campaign director for One Iowa, told The Iowa Independent that he expects Republican lawmakers in the […]

The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay. According to the San Francisco Chronicle […]

Gay artists Tom Goss and Matt Alber were in D.C. this week, preparing for their upcoming joint tour when they wrote “This Is Who We Are,” an anthem against the U.S. military’s failed policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. miltary. From The New Gay, […]

Not surprising, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics — for the third time — rejected the latest referendum petition on the issue of same-sex marriage, ruling on Thursday that a ballot measure on the issue will not be allowed. The board has consistently ruled that such a measure would violate the city’s Human Rights […]

Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, whose opposition to allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military helped lead to adoption of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation 17 years ago, said this week he now believes the policy should be repealed. “Attitudes and circumstances have changed,” Powell said. “It’s been a […]

President Barack Obama on Thursday sharply criticized the proposed anti-gay laws in Uganda that has drawn international condemnation for its severely penalties for homosexual behavior. “We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the […]

U.S. lawmakers this week introduced resolutions in both the House and Senate, condemning an anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda’s parliament, calling it an attack on human rights and an obstacle to battling HIV/AIDS. The Ugandan bill, dubbed the “Kill the Gays” bill, would execute people for being gay if they have HIV/AIDS or were convicted of […]

Members of a Maryland House Judiciary committee on Wednesday shot down a bill that would prohibit Maryland from recognizing gay marriages validated by other states or countries. 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, […]