In the News

"The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Tuesday ruled in favor of a transgender woman who was fired from her General Assembly job after disclosing she was going to make the transition from man to woman.

"The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means Vandy Beth Glenn is one step closer to getting her job back as an editor and proofreader of legislation. Glenn was fired in October 2007.

"Two Baltimore County Police officers who were denied health benefits for their same-sex spouses have won their cases before an arbitrator, the first disputes of this kind to be decided in the department...

"Backed by their union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4, and Lambda Legal, a national gay-rights advocacy group with headquarters in New York City, the two women made their arguments to the arbitrator first in writing, then in oral arguments in Towson in September of this year."

"Backers of same-sex marriage predicted they would end up victorious despite a California Supreme Court decision Thursday that the sponsors of Proposition 8 and other ballot measures are entitled to defend them in court.

"A judge will hear oral arguments today in the case of two mothers who sued the state to list both names on their child’s birth certificate.

"Heather Lynn Martin Gartner, 39, and Melissa McCoy Gartner, 41, of Des Moines have said the state’s decision to list only Heather as a parent deprives their daughter, Mackenzie, of the protections and benefits of two legal parents being present from birth.

"A Superior Court judge let a lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in New Jersey proceed, but she sharply pared down the number of allegations in the case against the state.

"If the law creating civil unions does not give same-sex couples the same protections as married heterosexual couples, it has to be examined as to whether it is constitutional, Mercer County Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg said during a hearing in Trenton this afternoon.