News (USA)

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA) unconstitutionally discriminates against married same-sex couples.

The Catholic Church is funneling unprecedented dollar amounts into the four states where marriage equality is on the ballot this fall – Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington – and in many cases, parishioners may not even be aware that their dollars are being used to fund discrimination, according to a new report by the Human Rights Campaign.

COON RAPIDS, Minn. — The Anoka-Hennepin School Board, whose district recently settled two lawsuits alleging that a former policy had contributed to a hostile environment toward LGBT students and those perceived as LGBT, has appointed a member of an anti-gay organization to join the district’s new Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harassment Task Force.

LONDON, Ky. — The federal trial of two men charged in an anti-gay hate crime in Harlan County, Ky., got underway in U.S. District Court Wednesday, the first federal application of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act for charges relating to the victim’s sexual orientation.

AURORA, Ill. — An Illinois school board is considering rescinding a transgender rights policy it adopted Monday after after receiving emails and letters from outraged residents and anti-gay organizations across the state.

The town hall presidential debate on Tuesday night included references to social issues, such as women’s rights, immigration and gun violence but as in the previous debate, there was no explicit mention of LGBT issues.

The House Republican-led panel that has taken up defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court has maxed out the $1.5 million cost cap set to hire private attorneys to advocate for the anti-gay law, according to a report from Democratic lawmakers.

In a new campaign video for President Barack Obama, celebrities Jane Lynch, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Zachary Quinto, Chaz Bono, Wanda Sykes, George Takei, and Billie Jean King speak out about Obama’s LGBT accomplishments.

The outing of University of Texas-Austin students to their parents as a consequence of a little-known Facebook privacy glitch has reignited longstanding concerns over the social network’s treatment of its LGBT users’ private information.

Minnesota Vikings’ punter Chris Kluwe, an outspoken advocate for marriage equality, appears in a new video for Minnesotans United for All Families, the official campaign working to defeat Minnesota’s proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.