by Erik Olvera | May 30, 2014
(Washington D.C., May 30, 2014)—On June 6, 2014, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will hold the first in a series of summits focusing on the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in rural communities across the country. The event, co-hosted by the LGBTQ Law Center and the True Colors Fund, will take place in Greensboro, NC at North Carolina A&T University. This event launches the start of the...
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by Kate Kendell, Esq. | May 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
I was sad all day yesterday. It was only in the moment of hearing the news of Dr. Maya Angelou’s death that I realized how much her living had meant to me. I never met Dr. Angelou, but like so many of us, when we heard this news, I felt like I had lost a beloved sister, aunt, neighbor, or mentor. I was 13 when I read “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” I was in 8th grade in Ogden, Utah. I was white and Mormon in my overwhelmingly white and Mormon public school. I had nothing in...
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by Christine Keeves | May 20, 2014
(Boise, ID, May 20, 2014)—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered expedited review of a federal district court’s decision that overturned Idaho’s ban on marriage equality. At the same time, the court put the lower court’s decision on hold until the appeal is completed. On May 13, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale ordered the State of Idaho to allow same-sex couples to marry and to recognize the marriages of couples who married in other states. The next...
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by Erik Olvera | May 18, 2014
(San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2014)—More than 1,500 people from across the country attended the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ 2014 Anniversary Celebration today in San Francisco to celebrate victories in the movement for LGBTQ equality and to honor those who have become role models through their unfailing commitment to justice. “The Anniversary Celebration leaves everyone inspired and recommits each of us to the work we have ahead to bring justice and dignity to every member of our...
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by Kate Kendell, Esq. | May 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
The column was not exactly as advertised. This week, I finally got around to reading the blog posted on May 1 by ardent same-sex marriage foe Maggie Gallagher. A number of sources had described the blog variously as her abandoning the fight or conceding failure, noting this passage: “Hiding or pretending is not going to help us, now. We have to face the truth. And we have to find the love at its heart. And we will have to do new things, not simply do what failed, over and over again, harder.”...
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by Erik Olvera | May 16, 2014
(San Francisco, CA, May 16, 2014)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) applauds the California Public Employees’ Retirement System—known as CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the nation—for divesting from Russian companies that are directly supporting the torture and abuse of LGBTQ youth in Russia. In March, NCLR and Equality California (EQCA) launched an online petition calling on CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the nation, to divest from mail.ru and MegaFon,...
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by Erik Olvera | May 15, 2014
(Boise, ID, May 15, 2014)—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit temporarily put on hold a federal district court’s decision that overturned Idaho’s ban on marriage equality. On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale ordered the State of Idaho to allow same-sex couples to marry and to recognize the marriages of couples who married in other states. Idaho Governor Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden on Wednesday appealed that decision to the Ninth...
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by danmahoney | May 14, 2014
On May 14, 2014, Gildas Dousset, a student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, filed an appeal in state court seeking recognition of his marriage to his husband. The appeal argued that Florida’s laws barring recognition of the valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples violate the United States Constitution. Dousset and his spouse legally married in Massachusetts in 2013 and lived together in Fort Lauderdale. When Dousset sought in-state tuition at Florida Atlantic...
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by Erik Olvera | May 14, 2014
(West Palm Beach, FL, May 14, 2014)—Today, Gildas Dousset, a student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, filed an appeal in state court seeking recognition of his marriage to his husband. The appeal, filed in the Fourth District Court of Appeals, argues that Florida’s laws barring recognition of valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples violate the United States Constitution. Dousset and his spouse legally married in Massachusetts in 2013 and live together in Fort...
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by Arcelia Hurtado | May 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
Later this week, I’m traveling to my home state of Texas, inspired in part by a report detailing the harsh realities facing Latinas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley: Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Salud Nuestro Texas: The Fight for Women’s Reproductive Health in the Rio Grande Valley. Written by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, the report details the shocking human rights abuses suffered daily by women in the Rio Grande Valley. From...
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