District of Columbia councilman Phil Mendelson, D-At-Large, recently introduced a bill that would expand the city's domestic partners law by providing an additional package of benefits and obligations for same-sex couples, the Washington Blade reported. The additions would include inheritance rights and a requirement to support a partner after a breakup through payments similar to alimony. The legislation, Bill 16-52, the Domestic Partnership Equality Act of 2005, would provide same- and opposite-sex couples that register with the District government as domestic partners with another seven benefits or obligations that only married couples currently enjoy.
In Kansas, the state House approved an amendment to the state's constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions, placing the measure on the April 5 ballot, PlanetOut reported. The vote was 86-37, three more than the two-thirds majority necessary. The proposed amendment declares that only couples in a traditional marriage of one man and one woman are entitled to the benefits associated with marriage. Last month, the Senate approved the measure.
More than 50 Black clergy and theologians from metro Atlanta published a letter in the Atlanta Daily World calling on African-American churches to be more sympathetic to the political and spiritual struggles faced by the gay and lesbian community, the Southern Voice reported. Alton Pollard III, director of the Black church studies program at Emory University's theological school, wrote the letter, which was addressed to Martin Luther King, Jr.
The White House asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging 'don't ask, don't tell,' according to 365Gay.com . Twelve lesbian and gay veterans are suing in Federal Court in Boston, seeking reinstatement in the Armed Forces. All of them had been discharged under the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ban on gays in the military.
In New York, a judge reinstated criminal charges against New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West, who got in trouble last year for marrying several same-sex couples, CBS/Associated Press reported. Ulster County Court Judge J. Michael Bruhn brought back the charges, saying public officials cannot pick and choose which statutes to obey. He said the case was not about the constitutionality of gay marriage, but if West lived up to his oath of office to uphold the law.
Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a brief in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to try to remove a custody restriction on behalf of a gay father who is barred from living with his partner while raising his 12-year-old son, Proud Parenting reported. Susan Sommer, supervising attorney at Lambda Legal, said that the 'child's world was turned upside down all because a Virginia court issued a knee-jerk anti-gay custody restriction.' Ulf Hedberg and his ex-wife, Virginia residents at the time, separated eight years ago. For the next five and a half years, the child lived with Hedberg and his partner, Blaise Delahoussaye, in a suburban Virginia home the couple purchased together.
While an Indiana Senate committee contemplates adopting a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, Indiana Equality—a coalition of LGBT and women's groups—declared the state's economic health and viability are the most pertinent issues facing families. 'Indiana Equality is greatly disappointed that some members of the Indiana General Assembly have decided to endorse an amendment that would forever write discrimination into the Indiana Constitution,' said Indy Rainbow Chamber of Commerce's Chris Douglas.
A rare and aggressive sexually transmitted disease called lymphogranuloma venereum ( LGV ) was reported by health officials to have been found in two New York men, according to AXcessNews.com . State health officials said that LGV is a type of chlamydia that can cause painful, bloody rectal infections; genital ulcers; and permanent damage to the intestines and genitals. The health department is advising gay men to use condoms and to get check-ups.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is re-defining the phrase 'caught in the middle.' The Boston Globe reported that Bloomberg faced pressure from both sides over gay marriage after saying the city would appeal a court ruling overturning a ban on gay unions even though he supports them. Bloomberg was called a coward by a state senator who supports gay rights while a Catholic foe of gay marriage accused the Democrat-turned-Republican mayor of a lack of principles.
The Georgia House has voted to bar cities from prosecuting private clubs that violate local statutes guaranteeing the rights of same-sex couples, 365Gay.com reported. The legislation is aimed at protecting Druid Hills Golf Club, an exclusive Atlanta country club, that the city is criticizing for refusing to treat the partners of its gay members the same as spouses of married members.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) board leadership, in a statement, announced the creation of The Marriage Project. The new program will be led by Seth Kilbourn, who has designed and implemented HRC's field work across the country. Kilbourn has been at HRC for eight years, and has led the Field Department for the last five.
In Virginia, the House of Delegates overwhelmingly endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The House voted 78-18 for the measure, which would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. A similar proposal already cleared the Senate and so would seem likely to go before voters in November 2006.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dismissed accusations that his decision to allow same-sex marriages motivated conservatives to go to the polls Nov. 2 in crucial battleground states like Ohio, the Associated Press reported. 'That train had already left the station,' he said at an appearance at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
In Michigan, a religious law center and 17 taxpayers are asking the state's Court of Appeals to stop the Ann Arbor Public Schools from providing same-sex benefits. In court papers, they cite the November constitutional amendment known as Proposal 2, which says the union between a man and a woman 'shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.'
In Colorado, two lesbian couples have sued the city of Colorado Springs for revoking their same-sex benefits, the Denver Post reported. The couples claim they were singled out because they are gay and deprived of their right to religious freedom. The women want a judge to reinstate the benefits, which were provided to them in 2002 by the City Council. In April 2003, a new council voted to drop the benefits.
The Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) , in a statement, praised the reintroduction in the Senate of the Early Treatment for HIV Act ( ETHA ) , a measure that would allow states to extend their Medicaid funds to low-income people living with HIV. 'Low-income Americans should not have to be diagnosed with AIDS before they get the drugs that can delay AIDS in the first place,' stated David M. Smith, HRC's Vice President of policy and strategy. ETHA is modeled after the bipartisan Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000.
Gov. Jim Doyle wants domestic-partner benefits for University of Wisconsin employees, according to WRN.com . Doyle wants to offer benefits to same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples, and his proposed budget includes $500,000 for each of the next two years. However, Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau Claire, who chairs the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, said that it does not belong in the budget.
The Board Co-Chairs of the Human Rights Campaign and the HRC Foundation announced the promotion of Winnie Stachelberg from HRC's political director to the newly created position of vice president of its foundation.