Author Archives: Lisa Keen

Gay nominee politely labeled an ‘activist’ by GOP

A fourth openly gay nominee--one who has been fairly heavily involved in both gay and non-gay legal and political issues and who spent “hundreds of hours” doing pro bono work that led to the elimination of a gay ban on

Obama to HRC: Promises kept and promises to fight for

President Obama dropped by the Human Rights Campaign’s annual national dinner to vow that he will “keep up the fight” to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and to stop bullying against LGBT youth.

Census drops couple estimate by 40%

The Census Bureau on Tuesday released a new estimate for the number of same-sex couple households in the United States in 2010, and it is almost 40 percent fewer than it actually counted. But it’s 80 percent higher than the

Senate to vote soon on court nominee

The full U.S. Senate is expected to take up the nomination of lesbian attorney Allison Nathan sometime on or before October 11, says a staffer for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

DADT repeal booed during GOP debate

The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was driven home before a national television audience Thursday, September 22. That’s when an active duty soldier in Iraq identified himself as being gay and asked Republican presidential hopefuls whether they would, as

Yes on 8 appeals videotape ruling

Attorneys for the proponents of California’s same-sex marriage ban filed notice Thursday, September 22, that they intend to ask a federal appeals court to overturn a recent decision to make public videotapes of the landmark trial.

FY 2012 AIDS budget: up, down, flat

The current fiscal year’s budget was cut to the bone; next year’s will be cut to the marrow, said Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on appropriations for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services,

President to keynote HRC dinner

President Obama has agreed to deliver the keynote address to this year’s annual Human Rights Campaign dinner October 1 in Washington, D.C.

Should the Supreme Court sync a ruling on marriage to public opinion?

U.S. Justice Antonin Scalia has already conceded that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, according to one constitutional scholar. And the U.S. Supreme Court is "very likely" to invalidate the federal Defense of Marriage Act once it reaches the U.S.