Category Archives: LGBT Rights

Did anyone notice that Colorado’s new civil union law purports to create a status that is the legal equivalent of marriage–except that parties to a civil union are prohibited from filing a joint state income tax return? (See § 14-15-117.) … Continue reading →

London-based writer Yuvraj Joshi has published Respectable Queerness, 43 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 415 (2012).  Here is the abstract: This Article proposes a new theoretical framework to understand public recognition of gay people and relationships. This framework — called … Continue reading →

Following up on my earlier posts (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas. According to the census, there are 7,004 same-sex couples in Arkansas (or 6.11 … Continue reading →

Following up on my earlier posts (here, here, here, here, here, and here), the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. According to the census, there are 32,469 same-sex couples in Illinois (or 6.7 … Continue reading →

Following up on my earlier post about how the school district in State College, PA (home of Penn State) provided benefits to the domestic partners of its heterosexual, but not its lesbian and gay employees, the school board there has … Continue reading →

Following up on my earlier posts (here, here, here, here, and here), the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. According to the census, there are 3,245 same-sex couples in Idaho (or 5.6 … Continue reading →

Now that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been certified, Vermont Law School has dropped its ban on military recruiters. William Mitchell is also set to drop its own ban on military recruiters. Hat tip: The Advocate. -Tony Infanti

Following up on my earlier posts (here, here, here, and here), the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Kentucky, and Virginia. According to the census, there are 29,844 same-sex couples in Georgia (or … Continue reading →

Following up on my earlier posts (here, here, and here), the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for New York, Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, and Vermont. According to the census, there are 65,303 same-sex couples in New … Continue reading →

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has released its 2010 National Report on Anti-LGBTQ Hate Violence. In 2010, NCAVP documented 27 anti-LGBTQ murders, which is the second highest yearly total ever recorded by the organization. For the highlights of the … Continue reading →

Not so much, according to a 4-3 decision from the Ohio Supreme Court: “Coparenting” is not synonymous with an agreement by the biological parent to permanently relinquish sole custody in favor of shared legal parenting. “Coparenting” can have many different … Continue reading →

UPDATE: The word from Carl is that the Department of Taxation and Finance will permit joint filing by married same-sex couples, without a change in the Tax Law, based on the language in the Marriage Equality Act. Guidance to that effect … Continue reading →

It’s funny, when I was writing my dissertation many years ago, my adviser said to me: “Katherine, you’re really a libertarian when it comes to gender, aren’t you?”  At the time I resisted the moniker, but is “libertarian” worse than … Continue reading →

The Williams Institute has issued another round of their census snapshots. This week: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Nebraska, and North Carolina. And they made my job a lot easier this week by including this table with the snapshots: The female/male ratio … Continue reading →

Two weeks ago, the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional.  The case involved two men who were legally married in California (in that small window of legality back in … Continue reading →

The Rhode Island legislature has passed a civil unions bill and sent it to the state’s governor for his signature. Governor Chafee has indicated that he will sign the bill even though it is opposed by LGBT rights organizations. The opposition … Continue reading →

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced that HHS is going to begin collecting health data on LGBT populations: “Health disparities have persistent and costly affects for minority communities, and the whole country,” Secretary Sebelius said.  “Today we … Continue reading →

I posted last week about an Arkansas newspaper that refused to publish the name of a deceased man’s surviving partner unless they were paid $85 (they print the names of surviving spouses for free). In the post, I criticized GLAAD … Continue reading →

I have written elsewhere about how the costs imposed on same-sex couples to have their relationships recognized can be reconceptualized as a tax on them. The Advocate has another example of such a cost–this one imposed privately but relying on … Continue reading →

Following up on my post last week, the Williams Institute has released snapshot reports from the 2010 census this week for California, Delaware, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. According to the census, there are 125,516 same-sex couples in California (or 9.98 … Continue reading →

I’ve blogged before about employers who “gross up” their LGBT employees to cover the extra taxes that they pay on their domestic partner health insurance coverage. The New York Times has now put together a chart listing the growing number … Continue reading →

From The Advocate: The United Nation’s Human Rights Council has approved for the first time a resolution condemning discrimination and violence against LGBT individuals. In the resolution, passed Friday in Geneva, the council “[expresses] grave concern at acts of violence and … Continue reading →

The Williams Institute has begun releasing snapshot reports from the 2010 census and will continue doing so each week throughout the summer. This week: Hawaii and Alabama. According to the census, there are 4,248 same-sex couples in Hawaii (or 9.33 … Continue reading →

Chief Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ruled that Judge Vaughn Walker need not have recused himself from the Prop. 8 case because he was in a long-term same-sex relationship. Judge … Continue reading →

The Army now has a web site relating to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and its (hopefully imminent) repeal. A few interesting points from the FAQ section: 1. Unrelated to the repeal of DADT, courts have held that consensual sodomy is … Continue reading →

What is going on up in State College, PA (home of Penn State University)? The local school district has a benefits policy that covers spouses (which in PA means only different-sex married couples) and the different-sex domestic partners of its … Continue reading →

The Governor of Nevada has signed a bill banning job discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. The bill takes effect October 1. The Governor has apparently also promised to sign legislation banning discrimination on the basis of … Continue reading →

Yesterday, Tennessee’s Governor signed HB 600 into law. This bill–with the appropriately Orwellian title “Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act”–”effectively reverses an ordinance passed by [Nashville] Metro Council that required contractors with the city to agree to follow Metro’s rules … Continue reading →

In the face of a society that is still deeply divided over LGBT issues, the New York Times has a new Coming Out project. Here is a description of the project from the accompanying story: The New York Times embarked … Continue reading →

Taking a page from the Democratic playbook, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has asked a court to allow his administration to stop defending the state’s domestic partner registry from a constitutional attack. Here is an excerpt from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel … Continue reading →

Starting Jan. 1, 2012. For more on the story, click here. -Tony Infanti