News (USA)

Salt Lake has its first openly gay city council member, reports KTVX-TV. On Monday afternoon, Stan Penfold (pictured) took the oath of office, in both a historic and emotional day. Penfold told ABC 4: “I was a little surprised I got kind of choked up. I wasn’t planning on that.” But the tears were mixed […]

The United States has lifted a 22-year immigration ban which has stopped anyone with HIV/AIDS from entering the country. The BBC reports: President Obama said the ban was not compatible with US plans to be a leader in the fight against the disease. The new rules come into force on Monday and the U.S. plans […]

The City of Houston officially has a new mayor as of Saturday. Annise Parker was sworn in as Mayor of Houston in a private ceremony at City Hall, making Houston the largest U.S. city to ever have an openly gay individual serve as mayor. With her hand on her grandparents’ bible, held by her partner, […]

Monroe County Prosecutors have officially charged 25-year-old Michael Griffin in the murder of an Indiana University professor. A neighbor found the body of 53-year-old Don Belton in his Bloomington home on December 28, reports WYHR-TV. When the judge asked Michael Griffin how he pleads to the charge of murder, he responded, “not guilty,” even though, […]

A bill to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey was left in limbo this week when the state Assembly speaker tossed it back to the Senate on Thursday, while supporters and opponents watch time run out for it to become law. Speaker Joseph Roberts said he would call a vote on the measure only if […]

There will be no vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage during the 2010 legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal has told The Iowa Independent. Republicans may try to force a vote on an amendment, the Democrat from Council Bluffs said, but he will not allow any bill banning same-sex marriage to come […]

Gay and lesbian couples rushed to marry in New Hampshire on Friday when at the stroke of midnight it became the fifth U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, reversing some setbacks for the polarizing national movement.

The lesbian sister of Proposition 8 mastermind Frank Schubert has announced her candidacy for Sacramento County Superior Court judge, according to the Bay Area Reporter. At her campaign Web site, Anne Marie Schubert, a deputy district attorney for Sacramento County, promotes herself as a law and order and victim’s rights candidate with several endorsements from […]

New Hampshire’s LGBTQ community is preparing for a different type of New Year’s celebration tonight, where in just a few hours many same-sex couples plan to exchange vows on the steps of the State House in Concord. At 12:01 a.m. Friday morning, New Hampshire becomes the fifth U.S. state to legalize gay marriage. While gays […]

On January 1, three new pieces of legislation expanding rights and resources for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will go into effect in California, reports Equality California. Among the new laws, each sponsored by Equality California, include a bill that recognizes the marriage of thousands of same-sex couples regardless of when or […]

Proposition 8 supporters this week urged a federal judge to reject a proposal to televise the upcoming trial challenging to California’s ban on same-sex marriage. In a filing with U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who will preside over the case on the law’s constitutionality, Proposition 8 sponsors said that TV coverage of the trial could […]

Police are investigating the murder of Anthony J. Perkins, a 29-year-old gay man who was found shot to death inside his car early Sunday morning in the District of Columbia. Reports DC Agenda: A police statement says the car had steam billowing from its engine when officers responded to reports of the sound of gunfire. […]

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Explorers youth program will end its nearly 50-year relationship with the Boys Scouts of America, citing the organization’s policy that discriminates against gays violates the city’s non-discrimination policy, reports KCBS-TV. The Police Commission voted two months ago to end its relationship with the Scouts effective January 1, 2010, because of […]

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, the front-runner in the Republican primary election for U.S. Senate, finds himself the object of an unusual attack ad from one of his lesser-known opponents, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Andy Martin, who has run for numerous elective offices over the last three decades in Illinois, Florida and Connecticut, taped a commercial […]

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) announced Monday that the Senate has confirmed openly gay Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief Sharon Lubinski to be the district of Minnesota’s U.S. Marshal. Earlier this year, Klobuchar recommended Lubinski to President Obama, who formally nominated her for the post in October. “Sharon Lubinksi will be an excellent U.S. Marshal. It […]

Gay marriage opponents are organizing efforts in Iowa to pressure lawmakers into taking action on a constitutional ban of gay marriage. The Iowa family policy council group ACTION is planning a rally at the state house on January 12 when Democratic Gov. Chet Culver delivers his Condition of the State address to a joint session […]

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, widely regarded as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, seems to be clarifying past positions, lest he be mistaken for supporting LGBTQ rights. In a recent interview with Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, Pawlenty expresses his regret for having voted in favor of a 1993 state bill, the first of its kind […]

Opponents of gay marriage foes have taken to the streets in the nation’ capital, literally, to protest recent approval of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia. Ads began appearing this week on the city’s transit system, emblazoned on the sides of Metro buses, calling for a ballot measure to allow D.C. residents to vote […]

Fort Lauderdale attorney and radio host Norm Kent plans to launch a new weekly newspaper geared toward South Florida’s LGBTQ community. The new print and online publication, the South Florida Gay News.com will be published on Mondays, with more than twelve thousand copies slated for distribution in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Nicknamed SFGN, […]

East Point has become the second city in Fulton County, Georgia, — and one of several statewide — to adopt protections for its gay and transgender employees. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The local law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, approved by the City Council earlier this week, is almost an afterthought […]