Author Archives: Tony Infanti

President-elect Obama’s inaugural committee has asked Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay person to be ordained an Episcopal bishop, to deliver the invocation at the inaugural’s opening ceremony on Sunday, January 18. The opening ceremony will be held at … Continue reading →

Last week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court decision in Monson v. Rochester Athletic Club,  2009 Minn. App. LEXIS 1,  that the Rochester Athletic Club (RAC) did not violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act’s prohibition against discrimination … Continue reading →

Though New York Governor Paterson’s order requiring state agencies to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages has overshadowed this earlier action, Westchester County executive Andrew Spano did issue an order in June 2006 requiring all county agencies under his control to recognize … Continue reading →

Freedom to Marry, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Let California Ring, and Marriage for All have released a new report  that examines the polls on Prop. 8 to tease out the demographics of those who voted “yes” and … Continue reading →

On Friday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed his brief in the pending lawsuit concerning the validity of Proposition 8. (For prior posts on Prop. 8, see here, here, and here.) In a surprise move, the Attorney General came out … Continue reading →

For the first time, a declaration on LGBT rights was read in the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. (The New York Times  story can be found here.) The declaration, which won the support of 66 countries and was read by … Continue reading →

I’ve now seen a couple of different reports (here and now here) about how same-sex couples who legally change their names on their marriage certificates are unable to get the State Department to recognize that name change on the couple’s … Continue reading →

The California Supreme Court has issued an order  in which it refused to stay the implementation of Prop. 8, but has directed the parties to brief and argue the following issues relating to Prop. 8: “(1) Is Proposition 8 invalid … Continue reading →

Since the passage of California’s Proposition 8, there have been protests  across California. I received an e-mail yesterday from a former student about planned protests across the country. Yet, the brunt of the anger at the passage of this ban … Continue reading →

The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights have filed a suit challenging the validity of recently passed California Proposition 8. They have asked for enforcement of the ban on same-sex marriages to be stayed pending the … Continue reading →

I spent most of the day yesterday (as soon as I got out of class early in the morning!) doing election protection work here in my home state of Pennsylvania. I was so thrilled to be just a little part … Continue reading →

An interesting book-end to this post from the other day, which links to a discussion of why the rate of same-sex marriage in Canada is so low, is a story in today’s New York Times. The story quotes a new … Continue reading →

With the tenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death approaching, the University of Wyoming’s president and Matthew’s parents dedicated a bench on the campus to Matthew’s memory. The plaque on the bench reads: “Matthew Wayne Shepard, December 1, 1976 – October … Continue reading →

In granting an adoption by a gay man of a foster child that he and his partner had been caring for for years, a trial judge in Key West recently struck down Florida’s ban on adoption by lesbians and gay … Continue reading →

This. And, by the way, we lesbians and gay men don’t “deal with” our homosexuality, as Focus on the Family asserts. We “deal with” the prejudice of others. -Tony Infanti

An initiative that would prohibit individuals cohabiting outside of marriage from adopting or serving as foster parents has qualified for the Arkansas ballot this November. More from Jurist here. A bit of background: In 1999, the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency … Continue reading →

It is being reported that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has decided  to allow an executive order issued by former Governor Kathleen Blanco that prohibited discrimination against state employees because of their sexual orientation to lapse. Apparently, Jindal feels that federal … Continue reading →

There is quite a debate in the blogosphere about boycotting AALS events next January at the Manchester Grand Hyatt because the owner of that hotel has donated money in support of Proposition 8, which would add a ban on same-sex … Continue reading →

Supporters of  Proposition 8, which would amend the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage and overturn the California Supreme Court’s decision in In re Marriage Cases, have filed suit against Attorney General Jerry Brown. They object to Brown’s change in … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the Massachusetts House passed a bill to repeal the 1913 law that prevented most same-sex couples who live outside Massachusetts from traveling there to marry. There had been some speculation that this bill might stall in the House because … Continue reading →