Lambda Legal, which won the 2006 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that said same-sex couples must have the same rights as married couples, is calling on the state's legislature to amend its civil unions law in order to provide full marriage equality, according to 365gay.com . "Civil unions label same-sex couples as different and inferior and no amount of tinkering with the rules and benefits can erase that stain of inequality," Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart wrote in a letter to the legislature and Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
A group of conservative religious leaders recently formed a corporation in hopes of creating a shareholder revolt against Microsoft because of its support of gay rights, reported 365gay.com . The group, AGN Financial, is led by Rev. Ken Hutcherson of Washington. The group just launched a campaign in hopes of getting enough Microsoft shares donated to it in order to vote at the company's next annual meeting.
The man who filed a federal lawsuit claiming that he failed the Massachusetts bar exam because he refused to answer a gay marriage question has apologized, according to the Associated Press. Stephen Dunne apologized in a letter that was published in Boston's weekly LGBT newspaper, Bay Windows, calling his lawsuit "misguided." He dismissed the suit in October.
An anti-gay marriage group recently emerged in Vermont, launching a Web-based campaign to counter the commission appointed by the state charged with analyzing whether or not marriage rights should be granted to same-sex couples. The group is called the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council, reported The Advocate. The state-appointed panel will release its findings to lawmakers in April.
The focus of Philadelphia's Equality Forum 2008 will be "Gays and Lesbians in the Muslim World," according to organizers of the annual event. International journalist Michael Loungo, Iranian Queer Organization founder Arsham Parsi and Irshad Manji, among others, will be present for various events. Equality Forum 2008 will be held April 28 to May 4. See www.equalityforum.com for more information.
The Human Rights Campaign released the 2008 "Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality." This year, 195 major U.S. companies, an unprecedented number, made the list for scoring 100 percent on HRC Foundation's Corporate Equality Index. Last year, 138 made the cut. See the complete list at www.hrc.org/placestowork.
The New York Times recently reported that rates of new infection of HIV have been on the rise among New York City's young gay men. The state health department's recent statistics show that while new infection rates are falling on most communities, young gay men of all demographics aren't following that trend. According to Gaywired.com, researchers attribute the rise in rates to drug use and other factors.
In a joint release, Equality California ( EQCA ) , the Gay-Straight Alliance Network ( GSA Network ) , Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights ( NCLR ) and the Transgender Law Center ( TLC ) responded to the failure of a signature drive to overturn the California Student Civil Rights Act, SB 777, which went into effect Jan. 1. Opponents of the measure needed 433,000 signatures, and collected only 350,000. NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter said that " [ t ] he opponents of SB 777 failed to gather enough signatures because the vast majority of Californians strongly support safety and equality."
Theresa Sparks, the transgender head of the San Francisco Police Commission, has returned the Equality Award she received from the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) in 2004, according to the Bay Area Reporter. Sparks returned the award during a Jan. 5 meeting between HRC President Joe Solmonese and members of the local trans community, saying that the honor "no longer symbolized equality for" her.
