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Hotels turn away Uganda president amid threats to protest Dallas visit
DALLAS — At least two Texas hotels have turned away Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, over planned protests due to his country’s anti-gay laws. The Dallas Voice reports that the Four Seasons Hotel in Irving canceled Museveni’s reservation, and that Marriott’s Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine refused to host Museveni as well.
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Marriage News Watch: Supreme Court to consider cases, Ninth Circuit recap
The number of marriage cases before the Supreme Court keeps climbing, with the Court scheduled to decide which ones to take in just a few weeks. Plus, couples file new briefs in Texas, and appeal last week’s anti-gay ruling from a federal judge in Louisiana. These stories and more in this week’s Marriage News Watch report from Matt Baume at the …
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Study: 24,000 transgender voters could be disenfranchised in November
LOS ANGELES – Ten states’ strict voter ID laws may create substantial barriers to voting and possible disenfranchisement for more than 24,000 transgender voters this November. According to a new study entitled, “The Potential Impact of Voter Identification Laws on Transgender Voters in the 2014 General Election,” authored by the Williams Institute’s …
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Plaintiffs refute Texas AG’s claim that same-sex marriage is bad for kids
AUSTIN, Texas — Lawyers for two same-sex couples challenging Texas’ same-sex marriage ban are refuting state claims the prohibition promotes raising children in “stable, lasting relationships,” arguing in an appeals brief Tuesday that it serves no legitimate state interest. The 88-page filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the ban denies gay…
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GOP lobbyist who wants to ban gays from NFL plans Dallas Cowboys protest
DALLAS — The Republican lobbyist behind the campaign to ban openly gay football players from joining the NFL, says thousands of right-wing Christians will demonstrate Sunday at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to protest the Dallas Cowboys signing Michael Sam to its practice squad.
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AT&T donates to campaign of Texas AG who opposes marriage equality
Dallas-based telecommunications giant AT&T has contributed $75,000 to anti-gay Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott’s campaign for governor. Lone Star QA reports that, according to campaign finance reports obtained by the Texas Ethics Commission, AT&T’s Texas political action committee gave $50,000 to Abbott’s campaign in January, and another $25,000 in June…
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Judge schedules hearing on Houston LGBT ordinance, no vote in November
HOUSTON — A judge in Houston has scheduled a hearing for next January in a challenge over the city’s LGBT-inclusive equal rights ordinance, squashing opponents’ efforts to put the measure on the ballot in November in hopes voters would repeal the law. State District Judge Robert Schaffer on Friday ruled that the ordinance should not be enforced prior to the trial…
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Wife of anti-gay Texas Values president left him for another woman
Just months before becoming president of the anti-gay group Texas Values, Jonathan Saenz’ wife left him for another woman, according to divorce records filed in Hays County, Texas. The revelation could help explain Saenz’s seemingly abrupt transformation from socially conservative lobbyist to homophobic firebrand.
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Texas’ claim of a rational, vested state interest in procreation is a step too far
Attorney General Greg Abbott often makes the point that government should tread lightly in matters of personal liberty. Yet in a legal brief defending Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage, the GOP candidate for governor treads heavily. Abbott is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that found Texas’ voter-approved ban in 2005 on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional….
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Opponents of Houston LGBT ordinance sue city after failed referendum attempt
HOUSTON — Opponents of Houston’s new protections for LGBT residents have sued the city after failing to collect enough votes for a repeal referendum. The Houston Chronicle reports the lawsuit filed late Tuesday contests how signatures were counted for the referendum petition. It claims City Attorney David Feldman illegally verified the signatures.