Massachusetts' highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, was expected to hear arguments for and against gay marriage March 3—a landmark decision is expected by summer. The Boston Globe called it 'the most politically charged matrimonial issue since the state lifted the ban on interracial marriage more than 150 years ago: whether to legalize marriage between same-sex partners.' Seven same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses and were denied.
New Mexico will likely be the next state to pass statewide protections for GLB citizens, according to the Albuquerque Tribune. After 10 years of debate, the state house and senate heartily passed the bill that's expected to be signed by Gov. Bill Richardson when it reaches his desk.
One of the defendants in the Gwen Araujo murder case pleaded guilty last week. The San Jose Mercury News reports that Jaron Nabors changed his plea to guilty as part of a plea bargain. Nabors described a 'Soprano-like plan' that started days before the actual murder. Nabors will receive 11 years in jail instead of the minimum of 25 years he would have received if convicted of first-degree murder.
While Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack tries to use his bargaining power to enact statewide protections for GLBT people, Iowa state Sen. Kenneth Veenstra used his power as chairman of the human resources committee to introduce legislation to ban gay adoptions and foster parenting, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
If passed, a Hawaii bill will extend the state's hate crimes bill to include gender identity or expression. The law passed in 2001 extends sentences involving crimes based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or national origin.
In addition to a proposed same-sex marriage law, Montana legislators also introduced a bill that would require insurance companies offering group healthcare plans to provide benefits for domestic partners, according to AP. Debate over the bill erupted into a fight over the morality of homosexuality. The Montana university system has fought successfully to avoid offering such benefits.
The New Hampshire Human Rights Commission will vote this week on the nomination of a so-called 'anti-gay' former Republican state representative, reports the Concord Monitor. Republican Gov. Craig Benson nominated Gary Daniels to the Commission. Daniels opposed the bill, signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, which created the commission on which Daniels now hopes to serve. Critics of the current governor say this is a signal that the governor hopes to roll back civil rights.
Republicans in Minnesota agreed to not completely kill benefits for gay and lesbian state employees. According to AP, House Speaker Steve Sviggum agreed to allow state employees to take paid time off for the death or illness of 'a regular member of the employee's immediate household.' Sviggum stalled the signing of state union employee contracts until he successfully removed health insurance benefits for domestic partners.
After mostly religious critics of Nashville's anti-discrimination bill made their stance known, a new, 'tamer' bill was introduced, according to The Tennessean. The former bill would have provided protections against employment discrimination to the city's GLBT residents. The Southern Baptist Convention threatened to cancel their planned 2005 conference in the city if the bill passed. The new bill, which would protect only city employees, was scheduled for its first vote yesterday.
Even though the city of Cincinnati's charter prohibits passing any law that protects GLBT citizens, a city police officer won a discrimination lawsuit last week and was awarded $320,000 by a jury. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Philecia Barnes' attorney successfully argued that the woman, born a man, was unfairly demoted because of her gender reassignment. Barnes now argues that the charter amendment banning GLBT protections will cause her to continue to experience discrimination. If the judge agrees, the city's anti-gay law may be on shaky ground.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is sticking to its guns and passing on some donations, AP reports. The BSA has severed ties from the Johnson County, Ia., United Way because of the agency's anti-discrimination policy. The policy requires funded groups to not discriminate based on race, religion, color, sex, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or age. The local BSA will still receive funds specifically ear-marked for the group by donors and has maintained its relationship with the United Way of East-Central Iowa that donates about $240,000 per year to the BSA.
In Brief: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he'll march in both the anti-gay St. Patrick's Day parade as well as the gay-friendly alternative Queens parade. ... A gay group in Cleveland will attempt to push a ballot initiative that would create a city-sponsored domestic-partnership registry. ... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Miami expected to hear arguments this week challenging Florida's ban on gay adoptions.
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