Author Archives: Lisa Keen

Manning protest interrupts Obama fundraiser

They didn’t get a lot of publicity, but a small group of women at an Obama fundraiser in San Francisco staged a brief protest in support of Bradley Manning Thursday—through song.

House hired gun goes to work on DOMA; HRC attacks

The U.S. House has obligated itself to pay more than $500,000 for outside attorneys to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal courts. And the House has chosen a firm which clearly prides itself on including LGBT lawyers among

4th issue erupts in Prop 8 case

The court battle over Proposition 8 has escalated yet another step—now over a First Amendment issue. Two days after attorneys for proponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage filed a motion seeking to have a videotape of the landmark Proposition 8

Yes on 8 wants videos out of circulation

Proponents of California’s Proposition 8 alleged in a court brief Wednesday, April 13, that former U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker “defied” a U.S. Supreme Court decision in February when he showed a college audience a video clip from

House hearing contentious on DOJ-DOMA decision

Democrats came out swinging Friday, April 15, during a House subcommittee hearing on the Department of Justice announcement that it would curtail its defense of the federal ban on recognition of same-sex marriages.

Pro-LGBT bills outnumber hostile ones but little movement expected

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) re-introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to the Senate on Wednesday, and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) each re-introduced a bill Thursday to help bi-national LGBT couples. These latest measures

Budget battle: LGBT and HIV programs escape the axe

There was a lot of talk during the final days of the federal budget negotiations that House Republican leaders were trying to insert policy amendments about "social issues" into the budget. And since the White House and Republicans struck a

Senate committee advances one gay court nominee

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, April 7, voted unanimously by voice vote to recommend to the full Senate the nomination of openly gay attorney Paul Oetken to a seat on the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.

LGBTs comprise 3.5 percent of U.S. adult population

Remember this number: 9 million. And this percentage: 3.5. The former is the current best estimate of the number of adults in the U.S. who identify as LGBT; the latter is the percentage that number represents within the total number

Prop 8 trial judge acknowledges he’s gay

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who last August declared California’s same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, acknowledged to a small group of reporters Wednesday, April 6, that he is gay.