The effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will likely come next year as an amendment to the Defense Department spending bill, rather than through a standalone bill, according to gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), reports the Washington Blade. Frank said in an interview with the Blade that repealing the 1993 law barring gays from […]

Update: 11/30/09 – Judge puts Latin America’s first gay wedding on hold. An Argentine judge has granted a gay couple permission to get married, setting a precedent that could pave the way for the Catholic country to become the first in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage, reports Reuters. Friday’s ruling by Buenos Aires Judge […]

The gay Catholic group Dignity USA is urging the D.C. City Council to reject a demand by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington that it amend a pending same-sex marriage bill to allow its charitable arm to discriminate against gay employees, the Washington Blade reports. Dignity weighed in on the brewing controversy over the city’s pending […]

Memphis Police have arrested the second suspect accused of vandalizing the Gay & Lesbian Community Center and assaulting an officer. Wesley Huggins, 22, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with vandalism, setting fire to personal property or land, and assault. Huggins and 23-year old Ross Burton were seen by officers attempting to set fire […]

PROVIDENCE — Two days after vetoing a bill giving domestic partners the right to make funeral decisions for each other, a conciliatory Governor Don Carcieri told a gay-rights activist group he is open to supporting a domestic-partnership law that bestows many if not all of the rights of marriage, without the right to marry, the […]

Updated 11/17/09. Added: Interview with CNN. A 10-year-old Arkansas boy named Will Phillips has decided that he cannot in good conscience pledge allegiance to the flag as long as the country for which it stands refuses legal equality to its LGBT citizens. The West Fork School District fifth grade student clashed with a substitute teacher […]

The fight over proposed same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia heated up Wednesday as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said that if the law passed, the church will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church […]

FORT WORTH — The City Council voted 6-3 late Tuesday to expand its anti-discrimination ordinance to include transgender people, capping a marathon debate over a series of gay-rights proposals that were forwarded after a controversial inspection of a gay bar, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A majority of council members spoke in favor of the […]

Memphis Police arrested 23-year-old Ross Burton early Wednesday morning after he attempted to burn the gay pride flag at the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center, reports the Memphis Flyer. Plainclothes officers observed Burton and another man — who fled the scene and remains at large — attempting to set fire to the rope that […]

In a rare move, the LDS Church announced Tuesday night its support of Salt Lake City’s proposed ordinances protecting gay and transgender people from discrimination in housing and employment, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Hours later, the City Council approved the measures unanimously. “The church supports these ordinances,” said spokesman Michael Otterson, “because they are […]

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — An opponent of same-sex marriage, Governor Don Carcieri has vetoed a bill giving domestic partners the right to claim the bodies of — and make funeral arrangements for — their loved ones, reports the Nashua Telegraph. The socially conservative Republican said the proposed protection represents a “disturbing trend” of the incremental […]

D.C. lawmakers have moved forward with a proposed same-sex marriage bill. On Tuesday, city council members from the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary approved the bill 4-1, and it now goes to the full council. The committee held two public hearings on the bill after it was introduced in early October and heard […]

The State Senate delayed a highly anticipated vote on same-sex marriage on Tuesday, putting off the issue indefinitely as gay rights supporters continued to lobby for additional votes, reports The New York Times. Republicans and Democrats said that as of Tuesday afternoon, the measure was still several votes short of the 32 necessary for approval. […]

RUSSELLVILLE, Alabama — Cynthia Stewart, a 17-year-old junior at Tharptown High School in northern Alabama, is a member of her school’s prom planning committee and had personally raised over $200 for the prom. But if she shows up to the prom, it may be canceled for everyone. The reason: Cynthia is an out lesbian. When […]

D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) released Monday a revised draft of the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital, removing language that would have phased out city registration of new domestic partnerships, the Washington Blade reports. Mendelson, who chairs the Council committee that has jurisdiction over the bill, also broadened the […]

The nation’s largest doctors’ group has agreed to join efforts to repeal the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, Associated Press reports: The American Medical Association says the ‘don’t ask, don’t-tell’ law creates an ethical dilemma for gay service members and the doctors who treat them. The AMA also voted to declare that gay marriage […]

Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi visited Oprah Monday for their first interview as a married couple. “This is the smartest, kindest, most wonderful woman that you’ll ever, ever know,” Ellen gushed as she introduced her wife. Speaking just a week following the defeat of Maine’s gay marriage law, Degeneres commented on why same-sex marriage […]

New York Governor David Paterson has asked the state legislature to vote Tuesday on a bill that would allow same-sex marriage, calling it “an issue that touches on the very core of our citizenship.” In a rare midyear address to a joint session of the Legislature, Paterson singled out his gay marriage proposal in a […]

Fighting back tears, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn urged the New York state Senate Monday to “stand up” and pass the same-sex marriage bill to prove “all New York families are equal,” the Daily News reports. Quinn, the first gay person to lead the City Council, struggled several times to control her emotions as she […]

The Kansas City Chiefs released controversy-plagued running back Larry Johnson on Monday, the day he was scheduled to come back from his two-week suspension. On his Twitter account two weeks ago, Johnson questioned Chiefs coach Todd Haley’s competence, insulted followers and used a gay slur. He repeated the gay slur the next day to reporters […]