In the News

"A man may get to argue in court that the Atlanta Police Department rejected his application to join the force only because he has HIV.

"'How can we not remand this' back to the federal trial court? Judge J.L. Edmondson of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday after hearing from attorneys for less than 45 minutes.

"...Roe’s attorney, Scott Schoettes, said the city's decision was made based only on the one blood test and there was no follow-up to determine whether Roe’s HIV status did, in fact, pose a danger to the public.

"ATLANTA — A panel of federal judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of the Atlanta police department’s decision to reject a job application from an HIV-infected man.

"The 40-year-old man sued the city in 2010, claiming he was denied a police officer job solely because he has the virus. Atlanta attorneys argued there are other officers on the force with HIV and the police department has no blanket policy disqualifying candidates with the virus. Gay rights groups and police agencies are closely following the case.

"Lambda Legal staff attorney Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, who worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to ensure that American officials understood that Burr is the rightful adoptive father of the boys, said the case marks the first time that the Constitutional Court will consider the rights of single gay parents. A separate case involving a lesbian couple in Medellín seeking a second-parent adoption for the biological child of one of the women is currently pending before the court.

"A Polk County district court judge ruled today that the spouse in a same-sex marriage should be listed on their child's birth certificate without going through adoption proceedings.

"The health department in 2009 had refused to list Gartner on the birth certificate until she had adopted the child.

..."Camilla Taylor, the Gartners' attorney, had argued that the state lists married men on birth certificates, even when it's impossible for them to be the biological father."

John G. Lawrence, whose bedroom encounter with the police in Texas led to one of the gay rights movement’s signal triumphs, the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, died at his home in Houston on Nov. 20, his partner said on Friday. He was 68.

"The Department of Justice sent one of its top lawyers to federal court in San Francisco today to argue that the Defense of Marriage Act's federal definition of marriage unconstitutionally limits Karen Golinski's ability to secure health insurance for her wife...

"Assistant Attorney General Tony West, the head of the civil division of DOJ, appeared in court to argue DOJ's position. Lambda Legal's Tara Borelli and Morrison & Foerster's Rita Lin represented Golinski...

"On Friday in San Francisco, the Justice Department will make its first court appearance in a lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act since the Obama administration declared in February that the 1996 law is unconstitutional.