News (USA)

As state lawmakers prepare to vote on a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, support has come in from coalitions of LGBT rights organizations, voters, hundreds of local clergy, President Obama — and now — from ABC’s Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the Illinois General Assembly to vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in his home state.

On Sept. 21, 2012, the U.S. military marked the first anniversary of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and 2012 saw lesbian, gay and bisexual service members openly participating in proud military traditions, national events and LGBT pride celebrations.

PORTLAND, Maine — Same-sex couples in Maine began exchanging wedding vows shortly after midnight on Saturday as the state’s new marriage equality law took effect. Maine becomes the eighth U.S. state to legalize marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

In just hours, the city clerk’s office in Portland, Maine, will begin issuing the state’s first marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as Maine becomes the first state to legalize marriage equality by a popular vote of its citizens.

BALTIMORE, Md. — An openly gay East Baltimore resident who was severely beaten Christmas night told police investigators that he believed that he was attacked because he is gay.

Just as there are “no round triangles,” there are “no gay marriages.” So says David E. Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, the anti-gay organization working to defeat efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois.

ST. MARY’S COUNTY, Md. — The Chief Clerk of the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County, Md., said Thursday that some deputy clerks were opposed to the state’s new law legalizing same-sex marriage, based on their religious convictions and will no longer officiate at wedding ceremonies.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday nominated State Sen. Andrew J. McDonald to the state’s Supreme Court. If confirmed by the legislature, he would become the first openly gay justice of the state Supreme Court.

Two Republican members of the U.S. House have announced their support for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.