Illinois marriage equality bill 12 votes short, says House Speaker

But Madigan, a Chicago Democrat who backs the bill, said the legislation is 12 votes short in the chamber. The Chicago Democrat said he's been contacted by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who opposes the idea of gay marriage. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Mar 15, 2013

New Rhode Island poll finds 60 percent support marriage equality

A Brown University poll finds 60 percent of those surveyed support legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island....

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 28, 2013

Illinois House committee votes to advance same-sex marriage bill

The Illinois state House committee has approved a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, sending the measure to the full House for a vote. The Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, was approved by the House Executive Committee moments ago by a vote of 6-5....

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 27, 2013

Poll: Majority of Nevadans support repeal of state's ban on same-sex marriage

The poll, commissioned by the Retail Association of Nevada (RAN), and conducted last week by Public Opinion Strategies of 500 likely voters, found that 54 percent of respondents would favor removing the Protection of Marriage provision from the Nevada Constitution; 43 percent were opposed. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 26, 2013

Poll: Majority of Rhode Islanders support legalizing same-sex marriage

According to the poll, 57 percent of Rhode Islanders believe marriage equality should be allowed in the state, while only 36 present say it should not. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 1, 2013

Poll: Majority of Hawaii voters support legalizing same-sex marriage

According to the survey, 55 percent of voters said they support legalizing same-sex marriage, including 39 percent of voters who "strongly" favor it. Only 36 percent of voters said they opposed legalizing same-sex marriage. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 1, 2013

Arizona lawmaker's bills seek equality for LGBT community

SCR 1004 would have Arizonans vote on whether to repeal a constitutional provision that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. A complementary bill, SB 1165, would repeal a law banning same-sex marriage that takes effect only if voters reverse the constitutional provision on marriage. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Jan 31, 2013

Colo. civil union licenses expected to begin being issued in May

According to a version of the bill posted to the Colorado General Assembly on Wednesday, the legislation, sponsored by out state lawmakers Sens. Pat Steadman and Lucia Guzman and Reps. Mark Ferrandino and Sue Schafer, will take effect sooner than most other new laws that customarily begin each year on Aug. 1. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Jan 15, 2013

Two GOP congressmen announce support for DOMA repeal

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. U.S. Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire on Thursday became the third GOP House member and the second within the past week to support the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would repeal DOMA. Bass' su...

LGBTQ Nation • Jan 3, 2013

Maryland AG: Same-sex marriage licenses can be processed now for New Year's Day weddings

Marriage officials in Maryland can begin processing marriage applications for same-sex couples, allowing them to wed on New Year's Day, according to an opinion by the state's Attorney General. Maryland AG Douglas Gansler released a lengthy opinion Thursday that makes it possible for gay and lesbian couples to apply for and process marriage licenses to facilitate January 1st ceremonies, and still ...

LGBTQ Nation • Dec 4, 2012

DOJ asks Supreme Court to prioritize Windsor's DOMA challenge

The Obama administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make the case of an 83-year-old New York lesbian who had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes its highest priority among the pending lawsuits challenging the Defense of Marriage Act. In an 11-page supplemental brief filed on Friday, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli writes that the case of Windsor v. United States -- which recently led ...

LGBTQ Nation • Oct 30, 2012

Historic U.S. Supreme Court session opens Monday

Perhaps the most historic U.S. Supreme Court session ever for the LGBT community gets underway officially October 1, with a record nine gay-related cases seeking review, all involving same-sex marriage. Two of the nine cases include high-profile landmark decisions in federal appeals courts -one declaring the California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, the other holding the core sectio...

LGBTQ Nation • Oct 1, 2012

Supreme Court: Proposition 8, three other LGBT cases, not on court's list

Legal activists will almost certainly begin speculating now whether the high court is preparing to refuse to hear an appeal to preserve California's same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8. That action could come as early as Monday, October 1, or be pending for weeks. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Sep 26, 2012

Rhode Island governor says primary race 'pivotal' for marriage equality

The independent governor of Rhode Island said Tuesday that an upcoming Democratic primary could be key in determining whether the state will pass same-sex marriage legislation next year. Gov. Lincoln Chafee, a supporter of marriage equality, told the Washington Blade that a victory on Sept. 11 for Laura Pisaturo, a lesbian attorney running for state Senate, would be "pivotal" when asked about hi...

LGBTQ Nation • Sep 7, 2012

Democrats vote to adopt party platform endorsing 'freedom to marry'

The Democratic Party on Tuesday voted to support the freedom to marry as an official plank in the Party's platform, putting the party on record as the first major political party in U.S. history in favor of marriage equality for same-sex couples....

LGBTQ Nation • Sep 5, 2012

Washington advises Catholic diocese that anti-gay marriage collection is illegal

The state of Washington has advised the Catholic diocese in Yakima, Wash., that its plans to conduct a special collection to benefit the campaign to defeat the state's marriage equality law is illegal under the state's campaign finance laws....

LGBTQ Nation • Aug 30, 2012

New York City latest to call on Supreme Court to overturn DOMA

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and lesbian New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have joined the growing choir of individuals calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. On Thursday, attorneys representing the City of New York -- as well as Bloomberg and Quinn in their official capacities -- filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the justices to tak...

LGBTQ Nation • Jul 30, 2012

Roman Catholic Church of Scotland declares 'war on gay marriage'

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the most senior Catholic in the United Kingdom has declared "war on gay marriage," pledging to spend another £100,000 in its campaign against equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Scotland....

LGBTQ Nation • Jul 9, 2012

California ethics panel to investigate National Organization for Marriage

In his sworn complaint of May 17, Karger alleged that NOM did not report over $340,000 that it raised to pass Proposition 8 four years ago. California joins the state of Maine which is in its third year of its investigation of NOM, the leading anti-gay marriage organization in the country. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Jun 7, 2012

Brief challenges laws discriminating against gay and lesbian veterans

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday for Veterans Claims arguing that laws denying gay and lesbian veterans the spousal benefits they have earned, and which Congress has determined are necessary to support their families, "serve[] only to discriminate against gay and lesbian veterans" and "must be struck down as unconstitutional." ...

LGBTQ Nation • Apr 30, 2012

Colorado gay rights group donates to Republican lawmakers who voted for civil unions

One Colorado, the group leading the lobbying effort for civil unions here, has repeatedly pledged to support any lawmaker -- Republican or Democrat -- who supports relationship recognition legislation. This week, campaign finance reports show the group has made good on its promise. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 5, 2012

Scotland likely to legalize same-sex marriage 'by the end of 2013'

Scotland is likely to have full marriage equality by the end of 2013 at the latest, Tim Hopkins, Director of the Equality Network, told LGBTQ Nation at a reception in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday evening. ...

LGBTQ Nation • Feb 2, 2012

More twists and turns as Colorado legislature wrestles with civil unions

When the Colorado Civil Union Act of 2012 is introduced on the first day the General Assembly convenes, it will start a journey for the LGBT community -- and for politicos, alike -- that no one is quite sure where it will end up. So many factors and actors are in play at this point that everyone involved should be prepared for more ups and downs than a roller coaster ride at Elitch Gardens....

LGBTQ Nation • Jan 6, 2012

Nebraska teenage politico responsible for gay marriage initiative

One year after filing the initiative petition to end the same-sex marriage prohibition in the state of Nebraska, Chris Dyer, 18, is more dedicated than ever in reaching the required 112,877 signatures to place the Constitutional amendment repeal onto the 2012 ballot....

LGBTQ Nation • Nov 30, 2011

Congressman calls for hearing to address rising cost of DOMA defense

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, on Tuesday sent a letter to the Subcommittee's Chairman -- Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) -- asking for the hearing "to shine light" on the GOP effort to defend the "constitutionally-questionable Defense of Marriage Act." ...

LGBTQ Nation • Oct 20, 2011

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network plans lawsuit over military benefits

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said it will file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), seeking military benefits for legally married same-sex couples that are currently available to their heterosexual counterparts....

LGBTQ Nation • Oct 20, 2011

Obama addresses annual HRC dinner; calls for repeal of DOMA, rebukes GOP candidates (Video)

President Barack Obama on Saturday evening delivered the keynote address to a gathering of more than 3,000 LGBT rights advocates at the Human Rights Campaign's 15th Annual HRC National Dinner, and called for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and issued a sharp rebuke to GOP presidential hopefuls for not supporting gay troops....

LGBTQ Nation • Oct 2, 2011

Boehner's DOMA defense contains junk science, bad sources

Diamond's complaint is detrimental to this pursuit. But I think I have found another potentially huge problem. There is a portion of Clement's documentation which bears much scrutiny. It is the section called "Plaintiff Misstates the Science on Same-Sex Parenting" and it is a huge mess....

LGBTQ Nation • Aug 25, 2011

Gay man, transgender woman marry in first LGBT wedding in Cuba

Same-sex marriage is illegal in Cuba, however the government has recently permitted marriage between transgendered individuals who have changed their sex and wish to marry someone of the opposite sex. Although Triepa, previously Alexis, is now a woman, the couple consider their union a gay marriage....

LGBTQ Nation • Aug 15, 2011