LGBT
Ruling: Calif. pension fund must offer long-term care coverage to same-sex couples
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In a major case involving gay rights at CalPERS, the nation's largest public pension fund has been ordered to offer its long-term care insurance program to same-sex partners of California workers.
Date: 05/25/2012 | Nation & World
NAACP backs same-sex marriage as civil right
MIAMI -- The NAACP passed a resolution Saturday endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil right and opposing any efforts "to codify discrimination or hatred into the law."
Date: 05/19/2012 | Nation & World
Romney denies targeting classmates for being gay
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney apologized Thursday for "stupid" high school pranks that may have gone too far and moved quickly to stamp out any notion that he bullied schoolmates because they were gay. His swift response reflected the Republican presidential candidate's recognition that his record...
Date: 05/10/2012 | Nation & World
Franklin Graham: Obama is shaking his fist at God
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In another provocative comment aimed at Barack Obama, evangelist Franklin Graham on Thursday accused the president of having "shaken his fist" at God by changing his position on same-sex marriage.
Date: 05/10/2012 | Nation & World
Analysis: President takes big risk in election year
President Barack Obama's endorsement of gay marriage is an election-year boost to his liberal base that comes with some risks.
Date: 05/09/2012 | Nation & World
Calif. may ban gay teen 'conversion'
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A first-of-its-kind ban on a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay people straight is speeding through the California statehouse.
Date: 05/08/2012 | Nation & World
Boy Scouts kick out lesbian den leader (video)
LOS ANGELES -- The Boy Scouts aren't budging. Neither is the Ohio Cub Scout leader forced to resign for being a lesbian.
Date: 04/27/2012 | Nation & World
Federal agency says transgender people protected
WASHINGTON -- The agency that enforces the federal job discrimination laws has for the first time ruled that transgender people are protected from bias in the workplace.
Date: 04/26/2012 | Business
Gay Mormon students at BYU speak out
Students from a strict Mormon college that prohibits homosexual behavior have launched a web video aimed at reassuring other gay and lesbian youth struggling with their faith and sexual orientation.
Date: 04/08/2012 | Nation & World
Sex change bars B.C. beauty queen from pageant
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Beach shots depict her as every inch a curvaceous beauty queen.But 23-year-old Jenna Talackova was born male, and that led the Miss Universe Canada organizers to disqualify her last week as a finalist in the 61st Miss Universe Canada pageant taking place in May.
Date: 03/30/2012 | Nation & World
Anti-bullying teen, 'DWTS,' Gaga get GLAAD award
NEW YORK -- A teenager who's campaigning to make it easier for children to see an upcoming documentary about bullying, the producers of the NBC musical drama "Smash" and Lady Gaga were among the winners of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation media awards announced Saturday.
Date: 03/24/2012 | Nation & World
Monroe gay-rights group to discuss same-sex marriage
MONROE -- The idea came to Holly Teige when she was attending a summer parade in Carnation last year.The Monroe woman saw a float made by the small town's lesbian and gay community group."If Carnation had a group, then Monroe should certainly have one," Teige, 37, said.
Date: 03/16/2012 | Local News
Signature gathering set to begin for Referendum 74
Those wanting to repeal the state's new same-sex marriage law can start signing petitions Thursday in hopes of putting the question before voters in November.
Date: 03/14/2012 | The Petri Dish
Sheriff, Republican candidate confirms he is gay
FLORENCE, Ariz. -- A sheriff seeking the GOP nomination for an Arizona congressional seat was forced to confirm he is gay Saturday and resigned from presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's Arizona committee amid allegations of misconduct made by a man with whom he previously had a relationship.
Date: 02/19/2012 | Nation & World
Gregoire: Santorum visit won't overshadow same-sex marriage law
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum won't be stopping by to see Gov. Chris Gregoire in his pass through the Capitol this afternoon.
Date: 02/13/2012 | The Petri Dish
Same-sex marriage bill to be signed Monday
A bill legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples will be signed into law Monday morning, the governor's office announced this afternoon.
Date: 02/09/2012 | The Petri Dish
Today's House vote on same-sex marriage, and what happens next
Today should be the day the state Legislature finishes work on a bill to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.
Date: 02/08/2012 | The Petri Dish
A Valentine's Day signing of gay marriage law?
Thousands of gay and lesbian couples could receive a Valentine's Day present from Gov. Chris Gregoire - the ability to get married legally.It's a possibility given the last few steps in the process for a bill to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.
Date: 02/03/2012 | The Petri Dish
Shin discusses vote against same-sex marriage
For weeks, Democratic state Sen. Paull Shin of Edmonds kept silent about how he might vote on the bill legalizing marriage for same-sex couples.
Date: 02/03/2012 | The Petri Dish
Big step for gay marriage
Senate approves bill 28-21; it may become law by next week
Date: 02/01/2012 | Local News
Same sex marriage vote - the reactions
Below is a sample of the statements issued tonight before, during and after the debate. Gov. Chris Gregoire, who watched the proceedings in the wings on the Democratic side:
Date: 02/01/2012 | The Petri Dish
Senate plans dinnertime debate on same-sex marriage bill
State senators are planning to meet at 6 p.m. to debate and vote on a bill to legalize marriage for gay and lesbian couples.
Date: 02/01/2012 | The Petri Dish
Same-sex marriage bill in line for Senate vote
As expected, the state Senate Rules Committee agreed today to send a bill legalizing same-sex marriage to the floor for a vote as early as Wednesday.
Date: 01/31/2012 | The Petri Dish
Sno-GLOBE Equality Alliance film festival Sunday in Everett
The Sno-GLOBE Equality Alliance will showcase three films in its inaugural film festival. The films look at the lives of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people, sharing their stories.
Date: 01/27/2012 | Entertainment
Rep. Barney Frank to marry his longtime partner
WASHINGTON — Retiring Rep. Barney Frank, a gay pioneer in Congress, said Thursday that he will marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready.Frank spokesman Harry Gural said the liberal Massachusetts Democrat's wedding will be in his home state, but that no date had been set.
Date: 01/26/2012 | Nation & World
If gay marriage is on the ballot, McKenna is a No and Inslee is a Yes
Republican Rob McKenna, who polls show is currently leading the race for governor, is making clear this week he will vote against legalizing gay marriage if the issue reaches the ballot in November.
Date: 01/26/2012 | The Petri Dish
Seattle filmmaker brings film on marriages, gay and straight, to Everett festival
It's the story of Northwest couples, gay and straight, young and old.Seattle filmmaker Drew Emery has traveled the country showing his documentary "Inlaws & Outlaws."
Date: 01/25/2012 | Local News
Kastama signals support for gay marriage bill
Twenty-four down, one to go.State Sen. Jim Kastama, a conservative Democrat from Puyallup, announced today he will support a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry, leaving supporters one vote shy of a majority in the state Senate.But it wasn't easy for him.
Date: 01/19/2012 | The Petri Dish
Kastama to reveal how he'll vote on gay marriage bill
In the state Senate, there will be one less uncommitted vote on gay marriage Thursday.State Sen. Jim Kastama, a conservative Democrat from Puyallup, is calling a news conference at noon to announce how he will vote on legislation to legalize marriage for same-sex couples.
Date: 01/18/2012 | The Petri Dish
Bill for legalizing same-sex marriage arrives
A bill to make marriage legal for gay and lesbian couples was filed today in the state Senate.
Date: 01/13/2012 | The Petri Dish
McAuliffe declares support of gay marriage bill
Democratic Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe of Bothell said today she will support a bill to legalize marriage for same-sex couples, moving the Senate to within two votes of passing the legislation.In a prepared statement, she said:
Date: 01/13/2012 | The Petri Dish
Senate panel schedules hearing on gay marriage
A tip of the hat to the blog of the Family Policy Institute of Washington for reporting first that a hearing is set for Jan. 23 on a Senate bill to make marriage legal for...
Date: 01/12/2012 | The Petri Dish
Poll finds voters unlikely to repeal a same-sex marriage law
The Washington Poll today released more details of an October survey that show voters may not be willing to repeal a law legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples.
Date: 01/06/2012 | The Petri Dish
Gov. Gregoire says she’ll back same-sex marriage bill
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire publicly supported legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington state, saying Wednesday that she came to the decision after several years of battling her own uncertainty on the issue.
Date: 01/05/2012 | Local News
Fight on legalizing same-sex marriage ramping up
Gov. Chris Gregoire today threw her full support behind efforts to allow gay couples to marry in Washington, ending years of opposing such a move.
Date: 01/04/2012 | The Petri Dish
Just Out, magazine serving gay community, closes
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A newsmagazine that served Portland's gay community is shutting down.A brief announcement posted Monday on the website for Just Out says, "Three years of recession have taken their toll."
Date: 12/26/2011 | Northwest
Female sailors share 1st kiss at Navy ship's return (video)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted "first kiss" on the pier after one of them returned from 80 days at sea.
Date: 12/21/2011 | Nation & World
California teen sentenced for killing gay student
VENTURA, Calif. -- A teen who fatally shot a gay junior high classmate in the back of the head during a computer lab nearly four years ago was sentenced Monday to 21 years in state prison, capping an emotional case that focused attention on how schools deal with sexual identity.
Date: 12/19/2011 | Nation & World
Defense bill repeals military sodomy law
WASHINGTON -- Recently passed Senate legislation would make sodomy and sex with animals legal under military law, ending long-standing prohibitions and triggering cries of perversion from conservative groups.
Date: 12/09/2011 | Nation & World
Obama, Clinton to world: Stop gay discrimination
GENEVA -- The Obama administration bluntly warned the world against gay and lesbian discrimination Tuesday, declaring the U.S. will use foreign assistance as well as diplomacy to back its insistence that gay rights are fully equal to other basic human rights.
Date: 12/06/2011 | Nation & World
Marine: Fears of end to gay ban prove unfounded
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern has proven unfounded that repeal would undermine the war effort. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.
Date: 11/28/2011 | Nation & World
Toronto's zoo plans to split up gay penguin couple
TORONTO — Toronto's zoo is splitting up a pair of male penguins whose affection has drawn headlines and jokes about "Brokeback Iceberg."
Date: 11/09/2011 | Nation & World
Gay, lesbian service members sue for marriage benefits
BOSTON -- A group of gay active and retired military personnel who are married sued the federal government Thursday for the same benefits as straight military couples, arguing it's a matter of justice and national security.
Date: 10/28/2011 | Nation & World
Judge says names can be released from petition seeking vote on gay rights
OLYMPIA – It's no longer a secret who signed petitions putting a controversial expansion of the state's gay rights laws up for a vote in 2009.
Date: 10/17/2011 | Local News
Teacher criticized for Facebook remarks on gays
UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Officials in a New Jersey school district are investigating claims that a high school teacher who advises a prayer group posted remarks on her Facebook page that described homosexuality as "perverted" and said it "breeds like cancer."
Date: 10/13/2011 | Nation & World
Frank Kameny, gay rights pioneer, dead at 86
WASHINGTON — Frank Kameny, who was fired from his job as a government astronomer in 1957 for being homosexual and became a pioneer in the gay rights movement, died Tuesday at his home in Washington. He was 86.
Date: 10/11/2011 | Nation & World
End of 'don't ask, don't tell' could revive former Tennessee soldier's career
Scripps Howard News ServiceWASHINGTON -- Bleu Copas knows there are no guarantees.He's 35 now, an age that could make it harder to restart his military career. He'd have to compete for one of the limited slots open to prior-service veterans. Plus, he's already got a job he loves.
Date: 10/04/2011 | Nation & World
Feds revise medical rules for transgender inmates
SAN FRANCISCO -- Transgender inmates who did not begin treatment prior to entering federal custody can now receive hormones, specialized mental health counseling and possibly gender reassignment surgery while they are in prison, according to new rules adopted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as part...
Date: 10/03/2011 | Nation & World
A decision too late for them
Maltby couple, both veterans, praise end of 'don't ask, don't tell'
Date: 09/30/2011 | Local News
Census: 131,729 gay couples report they're married
WASHINGTON -- Increasingly visible, the number of gay Americans telling the U.S. census they're living with same-sex partners nearly doubled in the past decade, to about 650,000 couples. And more than 130,000 recorded partners as husband or wife.
Date: 09/27/2011 | Nation & World
Equal benefits next goal of gay troops
WASHINGTON -- The repeal of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy doesn't mean same-sex partners of gay and lesbian troops can shop at the commissary, move into base family housing or get health care through the military.
Date: 09/26/2011 | Nation & World
Reinstated Spokane nurse welcomes end of military's gay ban
SEATTLE -- A Washington state flight nurse who spent seven years fighting the military's ban on open service by gays and lesbians says she hopes the repeal of the law will prompt gay service members to stand a little taller.
Date: 09/20/2011 | Northwest
Navy officer, partner wed as ban ends
DUXBURY, Vt. — When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.
Date: 09/19/2011 | Nation & World
Pentagon says military ready for gay ban repeal
WASHINGTON -- The military says it is ready for the lifting Tuesday of a ban on gays serving openly, while supporters of repeal applaud the historic change as a victory for equal rights.
Date: 09/19/2011 | Nation & World
Lawmakers try to delay end of military gay ban
WASHINGTON — Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
Date: 09/16/2011 | Nation & World
Military ban on gays ends Tuesday
WASHINGTON -- An Army general who co-directed a Pentagon study on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military said Wednesday that repeal is likely to prove "pretty inconsequential."
Date: 09/15/2011 | Nation & World
TSA workers to get transgender-sensitivity training
SAN FRANCISCO — The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday that its managers at Los Angeles International Airport are undergoing mandatory sensitivity training after a transgender employee alleged she was ordered to dress like a man, pat down male passengers and use the men's...
Date: 08/05/2011 | Nation & World
New HIV infections hold steady in U.S.
NEW YORK -- The number of Americans newly infected with the AIDS virus each year has been holding steady at about 50,000, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Date: 08/04/2011 | Nation & World
President Obama ends ban on gays in military
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday formally signed off on ending the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military, doing away with a policy that has been controversial from the day it was enacted and making good on his 2008 election campaign promise to the gay community.
Date: 07/22/2011 | Nation & World
Pentagon to announce ban on gays can be lifted
WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials will announce Friday that the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the armed services can be lifted without harming military readiness, a step that is likely to end the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy in September, Defense Department...
Date: 07/21/2011 | Nation & World
U.S. tries to delay an end to 'don't ask, don't tell'
LOS ANGELES--The Obama administration asked a federal appeals court late Thursday to suspend its decision last week ordering an end to enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which bars gay people from serving openly in the armed forces.
Date: 07/15/2011 | Nation & World
Military 'don't ask, don't tell' to end, court rules
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to immediately cease enforcing the ban on openly gay members of the military, a move that could speed the repeal of the 17-year-old rule.
Date: 07/07/2011 | Nation & World
Landmark gay history bill goes to Calif. governor
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers on Tuesday sent the governor a bill that would make the state the first requiring public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in social studies curriculum.
Date: 07/05/2011 | Nation & World
Obama challenges Defense of Marriage Act
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a strongly worded legal brief, the Obama administration has said the federal act that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman was motivated by hostility toward gays and lesbians and is unconstitutional.
Date: 07/03/2011 | Nation & World
Marines charged in alleged sham lesbian marriages
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Three Southern California Marine corporals are facing charges of defrauding the government for entering into sham marriages for financial gain, the military said Saturday.
Date: 07/02/2011 | Nation & World
Vegas targets same-sex honeymoons
Same-sex couples can't get married in Nevada, but Las Vegas tourism officials are still looking for a way to cash in on the growing gay wedding industry.The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is considering marketing southern Nevada as a honeymoon destination for same-sex couples.
Date: 07/01/2011 | Business
Gay marriage backers: Vote has national impact
NEW YORK — Many obstacles still lie ahead for supporters of same-sex marriage, and eventually they will need Congress or the Supreme Court to embrace their goal. For the moment, though, they are jubilantly channeling the lyrics of "New York, New York."
Date: 06/24/2011 | Nation & World
U.N. backs gay rights for first time ever
GENEVA — The United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever Friday, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.
Date: 06/17/2011 | Nation & World
Diversity program aims to open eyes in Snohomish County
Think about the one or two most important people or things in your life. Now, imagine this: Tell someone at work how you spent last weekend.Oh -- and you can't mention those people or things most important to you.What would that be like?
Date: 06/08/2011 | Local News
Gay, bisexual teens do riskier things, study concludes
ATLANTA -- Gay and bisexual high school students are more likely than their heterosexual classmates to smoke, drink alcohol or do other risky things, according to a government study released Monday.
Date: 06/07/2011 | Nation & World
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