6/3/2010

"In a significant move for same-sex couples, the Internal Revenue Service has decided to recognize California's community property law and treat the income earned by California registered domestic partners as community property income for federal income tax purposes.

In response to the move by the Obama Administration to offer benefits to the partners of gay federal employees, Lambda Legal issued the following statement on behalf of Jennifer C. Pizer, Marriage Project Director.

5/26/2010

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a clear message on the White House's plan to change the military's 'don’t ask, don't tell' policy: Don't wait.

"...'I think it's a fairly elegant solution,' said Kevin Cathcart of Lambda Legal. 'It looks like it could pass, which I was not so sure about with the broader, original repeal.'

5/24/2010

"Madison Smith has two mothers - or at least two women willing to hire a small army of lawyers to establish or slap down maternity claims.

"...Camilla Taylor, a senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for gays, said Ohio law recognizes the parental rights of people who have no biological relationship with a child.

"'A disturbing number of biological parents are asking the high court or intermediate courts in Ohio to revisit laws that protect children and the rights of nonbiological parents in Ohio,' Taylor said."

In response to the recent compromise to repeal the military's policy on gay service members known as "Don't Ask Don't Tell," Lambda Legal released the following statement by Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director.

At a press conference today, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, the sponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act, announced his support of including same-sex couples and their families in the comprehensive immigration reform bill.

5/14/2010

"A same-sex couple married in Des Moines last year has filed a lawsuit against two state health department officials, after the department refused to name both women on their daughter's birth certificate.

"Heather Lynn Martin Gartner, 38, and Melissa McCoy Gartner, 39, filed the Polk County lawsuit last week on behalf of their second child, who was born in September.

5/11/2010

"A Macomb County Circuit Court judge is to decide whether to dismiss a bioterrorism charge against an HIV-positive man accused of biting his neighbor during an October brawl.

"...Allen was charged by the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office with unlawful possession or use of a harmful device under a 2004 Michigan antiterrorism law passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"...Both representatives of the ACLU and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund argued that the charge was a misuse of the statute."

5/10/2010

"Gay legal activists are applauding President Obama’s second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court: Solicitor General Elena Kagan. But it could hardly be described as a standing ovation.

"...Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Executive Director Kevin Cathcart called Kagan 'a strong position' in opposing the military's ban on gays but noted that [the] Obama administration has also 'taken legal positions on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the so-called 'Defense of Marriage Act' with which we strongly disagree.'

In response to the nomination of Elena Kagan, Solicitor General of the United States, to the U.S. Supreme Court, Lambda Legal's Executive Director, Kevin Cathcart, made the following statement.