News

A federal judge on Friday ordered the reinstatement of a decorated Air Force Reserve flight nurse who was discharged from the military under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that bans openly gay service members. In a judgment hailed by gay rights advocates, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said Major Margaret Witt was “constitutionally” […]

The Obama administration objected this week to immediately ending the military’s ban on openly gay service members, saying that an injunction to stop the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy might harm military readiness in a time of war. In a filing with a federal court in California, the Justice Department on Thursday said that the […]

Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it, according to a new study released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Researchers at the CDC studied 8,153 men who have sex with men in 21 U.S. […]

A court ruling declaring Florida’s ban against gay adoption unconstitutional was upheld Wednesday in a decision by the Third District Court of Appeals in Miami, affirming the controversial adoption of two foster children by a gay Miami couple. The Miami Herald reports: The unanimous 3-0 decision deals a critical blow to Florida’s 33-year-old law banning […]

Closing arguments concluded Tuesday in the case of a lesbian who wants to be reinstated to the Air Force Reserve in Washington state. Former Major Margaret Witt testified on Monday in a trial at the U.S. Courthouse in Tacoma, challenging her discharge from the Air Force Reserve in 2004 under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” […]

Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked efforts to authorize repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members, voting unanimously against advancing the Defense Authorization Bill — legislation that included the provision. The massive, $726 billion defense policy bill would have overturned the 1993 law, known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” only after a Pentagon […]

A majority of Americans support gay marriage, according to an Associated Press poll released this week. In the poll, 52 percent of Americans said yes when asked: “Should the federal government give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same-sex, or not?” That’s an increase of six percentage points from when the question was […]

A new New York State law permits unmarried partners — including gay couples — to jointly adopt a child. Governor David Paterson announced Sunday that he signed the adoption bill, which was effective immediately. The law also substitutes the gender-neutral term “married couple” in the adoption statute for “husband and wife.” According to sponsors, that […]

Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, announced Monday that every Catholic in the state will be mailed a DVD defending marriage as between one man and one woman. It’s the latest effort to “rally the troops” around the Church’s position on the same-sex marriage just six weeks before […]

Pop star Lady Gaga has made a somber plea to U.S. senators to repeal the law barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. In a video released Friday, Lady Gaga calls on the Senate to repeal the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, as well as her fans to get calling their […]