"A gay couple who wanted both their names to appear on the birth certificate of the Louisiana child they adopted in New York have lost their latest round in federal court.

"...An attorney for the gay rights group Lamda Legal said the complex 72-page decision would have to be analyzed before a decision would be made on whether to appeal.

"Judge Jacques L. Wiener Jr., wrote the dissent, joined by four others. Saying New York recognizes both men as parents, Wiener wrote, 'I have searched the Constitution in vain for a Half Faith and Credit Clause.'"

(New Orleans, April 13, 2011) — Late today the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed two prior court rulings and denied an accurate birth certificate to a Louisiana born 5 year old boy who was adopted at birth by a gay couple in New York.

"A lawsuit filed last year on behalf of six gay couples alleging the state failed to provide equal rights to gays and lesbians short of marriage has been withdrawn, attorneys said yesterday.

"The action was no longer needed after Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law a bill legalizing civil unions in Hawaii, gay rights advocacy group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii said in a news release....

These are frustrating, tantalizing days for many of the same-sex couples who seized the chance to marry in recent years.

(Little Rock, AR, April 7, 2011) - Today, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that struck down Act 1, an Arkansas law banning cohabiting unmarried couples living together from adopting or fostering children.

As millions of Americans prepare their taxes, now is the perfect time to sit down and plan for your life and financial future as well. LGBT people face unique challenges when dealing with issues we all must face, from wills to health care proxies. Downloading Take the Power: Tools for Life and Financial Planning is a great way to start to get organized.

The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was cause for celebration. But DADT is not dead yet. It left a trail of damage that repeal, even when fully enacted, won't necessarily address. In addition to the fact that the government has not completed all the steps necessary to make DADT history—meaning the policy is still in effect—14,000 service members were robbed of their livelihoods and those still serving face uncertainty about their status. Many who were issued "other than honorable" discharges left service with a taint on their reputations. Even those with "honorable" discharges often lost the ability to maintain privacy about their sexual orientation, because discharge paperwork continues to indicate to future employers that they are "unable to re-enlist" because of DADT.

As you're clearly painfully aware, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is depriving thousands of legally married same-sex couples the rights and benefits that the federal government provides to different-sex couples. Indeed, the federal General Account Office has estimated that there are 1,138 federal laws that treat individuals differently based on whether they are married or not. But unfortunately, undoing this discriminatory piece of legislation will take some time.

(Washington, April 5, 2011) - A majority of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults who answered a national online survey believe that staff of long-term care facilities would discriminate against an LGBT elder who was open about his or her sexual orientation, and more than half believe that staff or other residents would abuse or neglect an LGBT elder.

(Los Angeles, April 4, 2011) — Lambda Legal, Knights Out, OutServe, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Anti-Defamation League today filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals urging it to uphold a lower court ruling that declared "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) unconstitutional. The brief was filed in support of a case originally filed in 2004 by the Log Cabin Republicans.