Category Archives: News Briefs
Reid: ‘Sit down and shut up’
The U.S. Senate’s first and only openly gay member was presiding over the august body August 1 when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the unprecedented tact of telling his colleagues to “sit down and shut up.”
Grassley grills DOJ nominee on paper
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee had nothing to ask openly gay Justice nominee Stuart Delery during his confirmation hearing last month. And the Committee voted to advance his nomination to the full Senate July 11. But ranking minority member
Starkest of contrasts: Bush and Lawrence, Obama and Windsor
The Obama administration’s reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court rulings striking down DOMA and Proposition 8 provides a stark contrast to that of the predecessor administration. The Bush administration took no action to determine to what extent the Lawrence ruling
After the fireworks: Arizona pushed back, New Jersey steps forward
After the fireworks surrounding its landmark rulings on two cases involving same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court quietly dispensed with nine other DOMA-related petitions last week, denying their requests for review. And the high court's decision on DOMA has enabled
Supreme Court history: TBA tomorrow
The U.S. Supreme Court is saving the two high-profile marriage case decisions for the last day of its session –Wednesday, June 26. The court released three opinions today, including a blockbuster ruling that a key provision of the Voting
Obama: Two more ambassadors
President Obama on Friday (June 21) nominated two more openly gay men to serve as ambassadors. As was speculated about for weeks in the press, the president nominated his former Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry to serve as
Supreme Court: No decision today
The Supreme Court did not issue its decisions in the marriage cases regarding Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) laws. The two marriage decisions are apparently the most anticipated –at least by the 20,000 to 40,000 visitors
No Supreme Court decision today
The Supreme Court issued four decisions today on cases argued in April, including a big one concerning patents, but no opinion still on the March-argued cases involving marriage. All four cases were unanimous decisions. The next date for issuing opinions
Supreme Court watch: Eyes on Thursday
The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue a ruling Monday (June 10) in the two cases involving marriage for same-sex couples. The next date set for the release of decisions is Thursday, June 13, at 10 a.m. EDT. To be among
Illinois house balks on marriage
With the Illinois House just minutes away from adjournment, the openly gay sponsor of a marriage equality bill announced that he would not bring the legislation to the floor. The reason, he said, was that some colleagues asked for more
