Category Archives: Issues

Gay issues continue to dominate as Senate committee recommends Kagan’s nomination

Both “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and same-sex marriage continued to be a prominent focus of the confirmation proceedings for Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday recommended the confirmation.

ENDA prospects apparently gone

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is not on the agenda for Senate floor action for the next few weeks, prior to the August 9 recess. The Senate will take up work on as many as nine matters during the next

DADT trial opens to little notice

While most people who are concerned about eliminating the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law are focused on a bill in Congress and a survey by the Pentagon, there is important action elsewhere—in a federal district court in Riverside, California.

Two giant blows against DOMA

In an enormous victory for same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Boston Thursday, July 8, ruled—in two separate lawsuits—that a critical part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

Federal Judge Rules Part of DOMA Unconstitutional

In an enormous victory for same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Boston today ruled, in two separate cases, that a critical part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

Kagan: ‘vigorously defended’ DADT

Never before in the history of Supreme Court confirmation hearings have gay issues played such a prominent role.

Kagan acknowledges she’s “generally progressive”

One message Republicans tried to hammer away at this week, in an effort to derail Elena Kagan’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, must have struck many LGBT viewers of her confirmation hearing as deeply ironic.

Appointment of Byrd replacement bodes well for DADT repeal

The immediate replacement for U.S. Senator Robert Byrd will most likely be chosen by the governor, not by a special election—and that is good news for the chances of repealing "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."

Could victory in court mean loss in public support?

An informal survey by the Washington Post published June 18 asked a tiny number of well-placed experts—six—to say what they think will happen if federal Judge Vaughn Walker overturns California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Two of the six pointed to

Kagan — Gays are constituency, not priority

It’s been clear since Elena Kagan was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court that her confirmation hearing would be unusually focused on things gay. First, there were the complaints that she barred military recruiters from Harvard Law School while she was