News (USA)

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed the controversial anti-discrimination ordinance on Monday, citing negative comments and arguing that there is no need for the measure. City leaders passed the measure that bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in areas of employment, housing and credit by a 7 to 4 vote last […]

The Obama administration declared today that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) discriminates against gays and lesbians, while at the same time Justice Department lawyers moved in federal court to defend the law, and urged a federal judge to throw out a case brought by a gay couple married in California. “The Department of Justice […]

The Mormon church’s aggressive support for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California last year, has turned the Utah-based church into a lightning rod for gay rights activism, including a “nationwide kiss-in” today in more than 50 communities. The event comes after gay couples in Utah and Texas were arrested, cited for trespassing or […]

In what’s shaping up to be a heated race in Iowa’s House District 90, Republican Stephen Burgmeier has received the endorsement of anti-gay rights organization Everyday America. The race between Burgmeier and Democrat Curt Hanson to fill the seat left open when Democratic Rep. John Whitaker accepted President Obama’s appointment to serve as the Iowa […]

One of California’s largest gay rights advocacy groups announced this week it will wait until 2012 to push for an amendment to the state Constitution permitting same-sex marriage, but other organizations with the same agenda insisted they want to bring the issue back to voters in 2010. Leaders of Equality California, which spearheaded the campaign […]

Minnesota’s largest school district, Anoka-Hennepin, has agreed to pay a family $25,000 after two teachers allegedly harassed a boy because of his perceived sexual orientation, according to the Star Tribune. The teachers reportedly harassed the boy and subjected him to classroom jokes, comments and innuendos. The boy’s “fence swings both ways,” teacher Diane Cleveland commented […]

From NPR. The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that they have settled out of court with two Tennessee school districts sued on behalf of local students for blocking classroom access to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Web sites. The lawsuit alleged that Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools violated the rights of […]

A southern Utah newspaper has rejected a gay couple’s wedding announcement, saying its policy is to publish announcements only for marriages legal under Utah law. The Spectrum in St. George initially accepted […]

Tim Hortons, the Canadian based coffee and doughnut house, is distancing itself from an upcoming Rhode Island event designed to “take a stand” against same-sex marriage. Brochures for this Sunday’s “Celebrate Marriage and Family Day“ in Warwick, R.I., listed the popular coffee-and-donut chain as one of its sponsors. The weekend celebration is being put on […]

More than 440 same sex couple applied for Wisconsin’s domestic partnership registry in its first week. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health Services cautions the numbers are incomplete because only 58 out of 72 counties responded to the department’s request for numbers. Dane County had the most with 115 couples. Applicants need to sign […]