Category: News
Photo credit Photo by Casa Rosada ( [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Griffin: Pope Francis Presses “Reset Button” on LGBT Issues
In a wide-ranging interview released in a publication of the Jesuit order, Pope Francis expanded dramatically on his recent comments that “if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge”—making clear that he intended that tolerant message to apply to all lesbian and gay people, not just priests and members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.
Photo credit Photo By Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany (qe07 (9)) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act Introduced in U.S. House and Senate
While the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and guidance from the Office of Personnel Management have made clear that federal workers’ same-sex spouses are now eligible for benefits, there are still federal employees who cannot access marriage and thus continue to be denied critical health, retirement and other benefits for their families.
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HRC Hires Brad Clark to Develop New Strategies to Achieve Full Equality
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) last Friday announced Brad Clark, currently the executive director of One Colorado, will join the organisation to create and lead new strategies that will allow HRC to bridge the gap between states that have made great strides toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, and those that have barely any protections for the LGBT community.
Photo credit Photo By Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany (qe07 (9)) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Military Same-Sex Spouses Eligible for Benefits Today
Today the same-sex spouses of military service members become eligible to receive a range of federal benefits, thanks to a Department of Defense policy change that was announced last month implementing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
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Federal Appeals Court Upholds SB 1172 Protecting California’s Youth
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld California SB 1172 which prohibits dangerous and disproved efforts designed to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender expression that have proven to inflict great emotional harm.
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Bayard Rustin to be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
The White House today announced Bayard Rustin, the late civil and human rights advocate will be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.