- by David Badash on February 23, 2011 www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today said, “My own belief is that when two people love each other and enter the contract of marriage, the Federal government should honor that,” and then announced her intention to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages, into the Senate. This comes just hours after Attorney General Eric Holder announced President Obama believes DOMA to be unconstitutional and they have agreed to not defend the fifteen-year old law in court.

In a statement, Senator Feinstein announced, “As a Member of the Judiciary Committee, it is my intention to introduce legislation that will once and for all repeal the Defense of Marriage Act,” adding, “I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It was the wrong law then; it is the wrong law now; and it should be repealed.”

- Brian Beutler, February 23, 2011 www.tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com

Likely Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee mauled President Obama’s decision to halt the Justice Department’s legal defenses of DOMA at a roundtable lunch with reporters on Wednesday. In defense of his position, he claimed a public mandate for the controversial Clinton-era law, and linked same sex marriage to the failure of heterosexual marriages.

“I’m deeply disappointed,” Huckabee said. “They are clearly out of sync with the public.”

Huckabee noted that 33 states have affirmed, via ballot initiatives, that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

“When the voters are so overwhelmingly [supportive of DOMA] what does the president believe he knows that citizens in all these other states don’t,” Huckabee said.

In August 2010, an Associated Press poll found majority support for federal recognition of same-sex marriages, 52-46. That was up dramatically from a year before when respondents opposed gay marriage 46-53.

In October 2010, Pew found a majority still opposed to gay marriage, but support rising quickly.

Nonetheless, Huckabee opposes gay marriage on the grounds that, according to him, it destroys traditional families.

“There is a quantified impact of broken families,” Huckabee said. “[There is a] $300 billion dad deficit in America every year…that’s the amount of money that we spend as taxpayers to pick up the pieces because dads are derelict in their duties.”

- by Matt Comer February 22, 2011 www.goqnotes.com

RALEIGH — Gaston County Sen. James Forrester filed on Tuesday his anti-LGBT constitutional amendment on marriage.

The text of the proposed amendment, which has not yet been filed in the House, would ban any recognition of any “domestic legal union” other than a marriage between an opposite-sex couple. If approved by the legislature, the amendment would appear on the November 2012 ballot. Three-fifths of both the House and Senate must approve the amendment before it can appear on the ballot; the governor has no veto authority on amendments.

Read the full story on QNotes…

- www.joemygod.blogspot.com February 23, 2011

Possibly really super major news breaking on the Washington Post via openly gay reporter Jonathan Capehart:
A well-placed and trusted source tells me that, any minute now, Attorney General Eric Holder will issue a statement announcing that it will no longer defend so-called Defense of Marriage Act lawsuits in court. The source believes DOJ had come to the conclusion that heightened scrutiny would apply, and that these cases cannot be defended in court. A 530d letter has been sent to Congress informing it that, if it wants to defend the statute, it is free to do so. A case is pending now that has a filing deadline of March 11.
Stand by!

UPDATE: It’s TRUE, but limited to Section 3 of DOMA. Still this is fucking MAJOR. Here is an excerpt from Holder’s statement.
After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President’s determination.

Consequently, the Department will not defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA as applied to same-sex married couples in the two cases filed in the Second Circuit. We will, however, remain parties to the cases and continue to represent the interests of the United States throughout the litigation. I have informed Members of Congress of this decision, so Members who wish to defend the statute may pursue that option. The Department will also work closely with the courts to ensure that Congress has a full and fair opportunity to participate in pending litigation.

Furthermore, pursuant to the President ’ s instructions, and upon further notification to Congress, I will instruct Department attorneys to advise courts in other pending DOMA litigation of the President’s and my conclusions that a heightened standard should apply, that Section 3 is unconstitutional under that standard and that the Department will cease defense of Section 3.
Analysis and reactions to come!

- By LISA LEFF February 23, 2011 www.msnbc.msn.com

SAN FRANCISCO — When Gina Duncan decided to undergo the medical treatment that would make her a woman, she had plenty to fear. The reactions of her children, her professional colleagues and friends. How her body would respond to hours on the operating table. If, at the end of it, she would look female enough so strangers wouldn’t gawk.

What the Orlando mortgage banker didn’t have to be anxious about was how she would pay for two of her surgeries. Her employer of 10 years, Wells Fargo, included breast augmentation and genital reconstruction as coverable expenses under its employee health plan. Duncan was told the San Francisco-based bank already had had 16 other employees transition to new genders and assigned a benefits specialist to walk her through the process.

“They had a template in place, and it was surprisingly supporting and mentally encouraging,” said Duncan, 55, who four years later still works for Wells Fargo. “So much of what I’d heard involved people who ended up losing their job, losing their family, losing their friends, becoming destitute.”

Read the rest of this article »

- Lisa Keen, Keen News Service February 23, 2011 www.windycitymediagroup.com

There was relatively little for the LGBT and HIV communities to complain about in the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget released by President Obama Feb. 14. And given the president’s proposed five-year freeze in non-essential domestic spending, there were some sighs of relief.
Not that everything is hunky-dory. There is no increase for the federal government’s program to fight bullying and LGBT youth suicide. Some HIV funding does not keep up with the numbers of people needing help. And there was a significant slash to community development block grants, upon which many LGBT community health centers rely.

And the budget statements released with the proposed dollar figures had a healthy dose of bureaucratic doublespeak. A three-page fact sheet specific to HIV programs says the budget “authorizes HHS to transfer 1 percent of HHS domestic HIV program funding (approximately $60 million) to support cross-cutting collaborations in areas such as increasing linkages to care and developing effective combinations of prevention interventions.”

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- www.joemygod.blogspot.com February 22, 2011

Tea Party-backed Montana GOP Rep. Kristen Hansen has introduced a bill that would overturn all local LGBT rights laws in the state. The bill “limits all local rights ordinances to state-protected classes” of people. Montana House Bill 516. Via Montana Capitol Report, we learn that GOP lawmakers refused to allow opponents of the bill to be heard, even though anti-gay activists were heard from, including one pastor that called for the death penalty for homosexuality.
Opponents of the measure came from across the state to testify. Unfortunately, the Republican majority on the committee attempted to limit testimony on both sides of the issue to ten minutes. Democrats on the committee objected and even presented rules that require the public be able to at least verbally state their opposition to the bill. The Republicans on the committee ignored the rules, and refused to let opponents of the bill testify. In response to the GOP actions, Rep. Diane Sands (D-Missoula) took to reading the names of every opponent (all 50+) of the measure and asked them to stand and be acknowledged. After the hearing, opponents of the measure held their own hearing, next to the statue of Rep. Jeannette Rankin, where they allowed all of the opponents of the measure speak and be heard. During this informal hearing, Sen. Carol Williams and other Democratic lawmakers showed up to show their frustrations with the treatment of these Montanans that simply wanted to be heard.
The above-linked story notes that other recent Montana bills allow cities to form local militias, call for the withdrawal from the United Nations, and allow for the carrying of handguns into banks and churches.

- www.freedomtomarry.org February 22, 2011

Kathy Glass and Carmah Lawler have a good sense of humor about their age – and they say that sense has also helped keep them together for over 30 years. Kathy is 79 and Carmah is 82.

“Kathy has a way of being able to laugh at almost anything – even though at our age there aren’t that many things to laugh about,” says Carmah as the two share a chuckle in their home near Denver.

But they don’t let their age stop them from enjoying life together, which includes plenty of lunching with friends around town and visits to others who live elsewhere.

They both used to be social workers, which is how they met. “Those were the days when you hardly mentioned to anybody that you were gay, even though you suspected that somebody else might be,” says Kathy.

They say it felt very good when they were finally able to be public about their relationship. “We felt like we lived a lie for years,” says Carmah. “It means a great deal to both of us.”

Read the rest of this article »

- www.joemygod.blogspot.com February 22, 2011

Grammy winning reggae star Buju Banton, whose work has been called “murder music” for its calls for the executions of gay men, has been found guilty of three federal counts of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Via the Jamaican Observer:
The artiste was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine, attempted possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence. However he was found not guilty of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offence. The artiste hugged his lawyer David Markus when the verdict was read. Many of the artiste’s supporters left the courtroom crying. He has been detained and has had his bail revoked.
Banton’s supporters and some of the Jamaican press have alleged that the drug charges came out of a conspiracy between the DEA and LGBT activists. The date for his sentencing has not been announced. Last week Banton won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album, stunning activists who last year published full-page music industry ads denouncing his nomination.

- www.gaypolitics.com February 22, 2011

Equality Delaware’s first statewide campaign will be a push to establish legal civil unions for same-sex couples, a goal many think is achievable, according to the Delaware News Journal:

The group, chaired by Wilmington attorney Lisa Goodman, has drafted legislation and found lead sponsors in state Rep. Melanie George, D-Bear, and state Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark. Goodman said the bill would be filed in mid-March.The proposal would apply only to same-sex couples, she said, establishing a parallel relationship to marriage, which would remain limited to opposite-sex couples. Advocates estimated about 700 couples in Delaware might enter civil unions within the first few years after the law took effect.“We believe right now that we have a great confluence of timing,” she said. “Public opinion is strongly in favor of civil unions and we believe we have more than sufficient votes in both houses of the General Assembly to pass a civil union bill.”The group, chaired by Wilmington attorney Lisa Goodman, has drafted legislation and found lead sponsors in state Rep. Melanie George, D-Bear, and state Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark. Goodman said the bill would be filed in mid-March.

The proposal would apply only to same-sex couples, she said, establishing a parallel relationship to marriage, which would remain limited to opposite-sex couples. Advocates estimated about 700 couples in Delaware might enter civil unions within the first few years after the law took effect.

“We believe right now that we have a great confluence of timing,” she said. “Public opinion is strongly in favor of civil unions and we believe we have more than sufficient votes in both houses of the General Assembly to pass a civil union bill.”