Author Archives: Lisa Keen

2015: Triumphs and tribulations

There were some rain clouds --Houston, Kim Davis, the Catholic Church, and GOP candidates. But the political weather was mostly sunny: the Boy Scouts evolved, Jenner transitioned, Irish voters approved, the EEOC included, and the Supreme Court axed.

‘Sexual orientation is not a message,’ GLAD tells court in religion case

A new case is underway in the ongoing and escalating conflict between laws protecting religious freedom and laws prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination. And this one has the potential to either strengthen or cripple laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual

LGBT victories in Utah and Indiana but gay-baiting tactics in SC and NY

Two-thirds of openly LGBT candidates Tuesday won election or re-election, including to become the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City.

Houston rejects non-discrimination law; HRC predicts ‘tough battles ahead’

Sixty-one percent of Houston voters cast their ballots against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance Tuesday. Mayor Annise Parker said opponents of the ordinance ran a “calculated campaign of lies designed to demonize a little understood minority.” But opponents said it

Prop 1: Houston bracing for another bloody ballot fight Tuesday

Houston, the fourth most populous city in the nation, is an old, bloody battleground for gays, something that has only intensified since it thrice elected lesbian Democrat Annise Parker as its mayor. But even as voters prepare to elect Parker’s

Ben Carson: “constitution protects everybody,” except in marriage

The Republican presidential field’s current frontrunner Ben Carson said Wednesday night he is not a homophobe and believes “our constitution protects everybody regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Then Comes Marriage: A rare glimpse into conflict civil rights attorneys are loath to acknowledge

A new book provides a rare glimpse into something LGBT civil rights attorneys are loathe to talk about: How much they bicker behind-the-scenes. And the personal journey Roberta Kaplan lays to bare –evolving from a painfully

GOP field: Moderates polling downward, while hostile conservatives holding on

The third Republican presidential debate is Wednesday, October 28, and here's a look at what's been learned about the candidates on LGBT issues since the second debate.

Biden won’t enter race for Democratic nomination

With the announcement Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden will not seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, LGBT voters are now spared a tough choice: Support the man who is credited with playing a pivotal role in putting

Democratic debate: A stark contrast to GOP debate’s open hostility

Although it was the first debate among Democratic presidential hopefuls, Tuesday’s debate on CNN was most notable to LGBT viewers in how the candidates differed from their Republican counterparts. There was no talk of defending the right of Christian business