News

HONOLULU — A Hawaii judge has rejected a move to block lawmakers from legalizing gay marriage in a special session, but said he’ll hear the challenge if a law is passed.

WASHINGTON — The White House issued a statement Thursday from President Barack Obama, just moments after the U.S. Senate approved the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), urging House leaders to pass the measure.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. Pat Quinn says he’s planning to sign same-sex marriage legislation on Nov. 20 in Chicago.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois lawmaker says her late son would be proud that she returned to the state capitol to vote for same-sex marriage in his last hours.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a woman who donated an egg to her lesbian partner has parental rights to the child and is ordering a lower court to work out custody, child support and visitation arrangements.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved legislation outlawing workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, demonstrating the nation’s quickly evolving attitude toward gay rights nearly two decades after Congress rejected same-sex marriage.

The Idaho Republican U.S. Senator who voted earlier this week against a federal ban on workplace discrimination against LGBT people, said Tuesday that Idaho cities should be able to maintain their local gay rights ordinances.

HONOLULU — An openly gay lawmaker in Hawaii may have made history Wednesday when she voted against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

BRUSSELS — Refugees facing imprisonment in their home country because they are gay may have grounds to be granted asylum in the European Union, the 28-nation bloc’s top court ruled Thursday.

TYSON’S CORNER, Va. — Virginia’s newly elected Democratic governor said Wednesday that among his first priorities when he takes office is to reinstate an order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT state employees.