Author Archives: Tony Infanti

The Attorney General of Virginia has sent a letter to the state’s public colleges and universities opining that the addition of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” to their nondiscrimination policies is invalid and advising them to “take appropriate actions” to … Continue reading →

The Washington Post is reporting that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is going to undertake a national study of LGBT housing discrimination. The federal Fair Housing Act does not currently prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination; however, … Continue reading →

A gay Oklahoma college student’s application for a vanity license plate that reads “IM GAY” was rejected by the Oklahoma Tax Commission last year, and that rejection was upheld by three tax commissioners after an administrative hearing. The student, Keith … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Adar v. Smith. This case concerns Louisiana’s refusal to issue an amended birth certificate to an out-of-state same-sex couple who adopted a child born in Louisiana. The State of Louisiana had lost … Continue reading →

Check out this video over at the New York Times. It’s both uplifting and a bit depressing, especially at the very end. -Tony Infanti

A recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle begins with this paragraph: The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. … Continue reading →

The Washington Post reported the other day on a flier that was recently sent home with many high school students’ report cards in Montgomery County, Maryland: Some Montgomery County high schools passed out fliers this week from an organization that … Continue reading →

The Tax Court has finally issued a long-awaited opinion in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner (here).  The majority concluded that O’Donnabhain’s hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery constituted deductible medical expenses, but denied a deduction for the her breast augmentation surgery due to … Continue reading →

Inside Higher Ed is  reporting that Syracuse University has plans to be the first academic employer (and one of only a handful of employers more generally) to gross up its lesbian and gay employees’ pay to cover a portion of … Continue reading →

When a lesbian or gay man ended a straight relationship in Pennsylvania, the case law regarding the award of custody of any children of the relationship had for decades been overtly hostile to the lesbian or gay man. In Constant … Continue reading →

For an interesting observation and an even more interesting back story on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision not to allow the Prop. 8 trial to be broadcast, see Linda Greenhouse’s post on the Opinionator blog over at the New York … Continue reading →

In a cross-posting yesterday, Katherine Franke raised the question of whether same-sex marriage will really help to dismantle stereotypes and transform marriage. For years now, I have counted myself in the camp that answers this question yes. My answer to … Continue reading →

The National LGBT Bar Association is looking for LGBT law student groups that are interested in signing on to its amicus brief in Christian Legal Society Chapter v. Martinez, which is the case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding … Continue reading →

The federal trial regarding the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 is set to begin tomorrow. The district court judge who will be presiding over the trial has decided to have the trial broadcast live at several other federal courthouses and … Continue reading →

The New Jersey Senate just voted down a bill that would have extended the right to marry to same-sex couples. The vote was 20 against and 14 in favor of the bill, with several of the forty senators apparently choosing … Continue reading →

For the socially conscious LGBT shopper, the Human Rights Campaign has now released its “Buy4Equality” app for the iPhone. Before you buy a company’s product, you can now check how the company fares on HRC’s corporate equality index. Companies are … Continue reading →

Last week, the highest courts of Montana and Missouri issued rather different decisions in the ongoing debate over LGBT parenting. The Montana Supreme Court held that the partner of an adoptive mother of two children was entitled to parental rights … Continue reading →

With so much focus on the bill protecting religious liberty, it seems that little attention has been paid to the actual bill  extending the right to marry to same-sex couples in New Hampshire. That bill enshrines differing marriageable ages for … Continue reading →

Today, Maine’s governor signed into law a bill extending the right to marry to same-sex couples. (From a quick look at the Maine Constitution, art. IV, pt. 3, § 16, it appears that the law will not go into effect … Continue reading →

In an earlier post, I blogged about a California Court of Appeals decision that held that a religious high school was not a “business establishment” and, therefore, not subject to the state’s nondiscrimination law. In effect, this allowed the high … Continue reading →

Tomorrow is the 13th annual Day of Silence, a day when students remain silent to draw attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying, and harassment in schools. There was a highly disturbing story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today in advance of the … Continue reading →

The Washington House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that will afford registered domestic partners all of the rights and obligations afforded to married couples. The bill passed the state’s Senate earlier this year, and the governor has indicated that … Continue reading →

New Yorkers have apparently been engaging in self-flagellation following the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples, putting “flyover” country ahead of New York in the vanguard of advancing LGBT rights. Now a Democratic … Continue reading →

News flash: The Vermont legislature today overrode Governor Douglas’s veto by a wide margin in the state senate and with just enough votes in the state house. This now makes Vermont the fourth state to recognize same-sex marriages (joining Massachusetts, … Continue reading →

Aside from the unanimity of the opinion, for me, the most interesting part of the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in Varnum v. Brien yesterday is its forthright discussion of religious opposition to same-sex marriage and the role that it plays … Continue reading →

By a wide margin, Sweden legalized same-sex marriage today. Gender neutral marriage licenses will be issued beginning May 1. Sweden is now added to a list of countries recognizing same-sex marriages that includes the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Canada, Spain, and … Continue reading →

Bad news on two fronts in the battle for legal recognition of same-sex relationships today. First, a bill that would allow same-sex couples in Hawaii to enter into civil unions died in that state’s senate. Second, the governor of Vermont … Continue reading →

Intern in Education & Public Affairs at Lambda Legal 120 Wall Street, National Headquarters, New York Lambda Legal’s Education and Public Affairs Department seeks college and high school students for Summer 2009 semester internships in our New York City national … Continue reading →

The ACLU’s challenge to the ban on adoption and foster parenting by cohabiting unmarried couples, which was approved by Arkansas voters last November, survived a motion to dismiss this week. As with similar bans in Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, and North … Continue reading →

With all of the focus on the AIG bonuses, an important bit of news might have escaped attention today. The Obama administration once again has broken with the Bush administration. This time, by signing on to the UN Statement on … Continue reading →

The oral argument for the Prop. 8 lawsuit before the California Supreme Court is set for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (Pacific Time). For those interested in watching the arguments, they will be webcast live here. They are apparently expecting … Continue reading →

Today, House Bill 300 was introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature. It would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. I have reproduced below the press release from the Value All Families Coalition about the bill: … Continue reading →

Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) filed a lawsuit today challenging the constitutionality of a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The suit challenges only the provision in DOMA that denies recognition to same-sex marriages for … Continue reading →

The California Supreme Court has now set the date for oral arguments in Strauss v. Horton, which is the suit concerning the validity of Prop. 8. Argument will be held on the morning of March 5. The court further indicated … Continue reading →

In a “narrow” ruling that is really quite expansive in scope, the California Court of Appeal for the 4th District ruled last week that a private religious high school was not covered by the state’s public accommodation law. As a … Continue reading →

In an earlier post  following the November election, I noted how a Utah LGBT rights organization saw the potential for a silver lining in the LDS church’s support for Prop. 8. The organization, Equality Utah, planned a multipronged legislative agenda … Continue reading →

In a blow to hypocrisy, a federal judge has rejected the attempt by Prop. 8 supporters to shield the names of those who donated in support of the measure from release to the public. I refer to this as a … Continue reading →

Following up on Ann’s post from yesterday, I came across this story on advocate.com that provides a link to an interactive map of the pro-Prop. 8 donors. If you take the map out far enough, you can see the non-California … Continue reading →