12/15/2009

"Gov. David A. Paterson is preparing to issue an executive order that would include transgender people in antidiscrimination policies that govern state agencies.

"The order, which the governor plans to sign on Wednesday, represents the broadest protections ever extended to transgender public employees in New York State.

12/15/2009

"Perhaps the biggest long–term jolt to the Scouts, however, came in the form of a legal victory — the June 2000 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court which said the BSA, as a private organization, had a right to exclude gays from its adult and youth ranks.

12/15/2009

"From the moment they lost a fierce 2008 battle over Proposition 8...activists vowed to take gay marriage back to the ballot. But they have been split over when to try again.

"...In recent days, influential gay-rights advocates like Lambda Legal and the Courage Campaign have said they support a gay-marriage initiative in 2012, arguing that time is necessary to raise support and money.

12/9/2009

"In the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, a flawed CNN poll lead to the widespread conclusion among media elites and activists on both sides of the fight for LGBT rights that the black community is adamantly and uniformly homophobic.

"...The emergence of openly gay black political figures may help shift perceptions of LGBT rights issues in the black community.

12/9/2009

"Supporters on Tuesday celebrated a committee's approval of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, but opponents predicted a victory in the full Senate later this week would add momentum to their efforts around the country.

"As a result, Monday's vote in the state Senate Judiciary Committee in Trenton was a reprieve for proponents, despite the opposition of Democratic Sens. Paul Sarlo of Wood-Ridge and John Girgenti of Hawthorne.

12/2009

Arizona's legislature has stripped lesbian and gay state employees of domestic partner coverage. Staff Attorney Tara Borelli writes about why this is a mean-spirited move against employees' families and why Lambda Legal is suing to restore fair treatment.

11/24/2009

"A federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the city of Atlanta on behalf of 19 patrons searched and detained during the Sept. 10 raid of the Atlanta Eagle gay bar.

"Police Chief Richard Pennington and 48 of his officers, including members of the department's Red Dog unit, also are named in the civil rights suit, which claims violations of federal and state law.

11/24/2009

"A national gay rights group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department on behalf of 19 people who say they were illegally searched and detained during a late-night raid on a crowded gay bar.

"Several nurses at Jackson Memorial Hospital have personally apologized to Janice Langbehn, a lesbian from Washington state who said that a Jackson social worker wouldn't allow her to be with her dying partner in 2007.

"...Langbehn, with Lambda Legal's help, sued the hospital. The case was dismissed without a decision on whether Jackson discriminated against Langbehn because she is gay. The court determined that the hospital had no legal obligation to allow anyone to visit a patient.