(365 Gay) Bette Jo and Jo Ann became friends as college students in 1960. They reconnected 20 years later in Massachusetts, and fell in love. After 23 years as a couple, they were legally married on June 7, 2004 in the garden of their Jamaica Plain home.

(HRC Back Story) A date – May 6th – has been set for oral arguments in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management , the case challenging Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The case will be heard by U.S.

(SFGate) Impatient with the piecemeal approach to gay rights adopted by Democratic leaders, 90 House liberals, including Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee, introduced a bill Tuesday to repeal the central federal law governing same-sex couples. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act…

(HRC Back Story) photo via flickr user jimbowen0306 Yesterday, the West Virginia House of Delegates overwhelmingly voted down an attempt by House Republicans to move a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. In a sweeping victory for the LGBT community and our allies, the advance of this discriminatory legislation was defeated by a vote of 68 to 30. HJR5, or the Marriage Protection Amendment, would have called for a public vote to define marriage as between one man and one woman within the state’s constitution.

The Department of Justice asked a federal judge in Boston to dismiss the lawsuit that claims the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional because it denies gay couples federal benefits given to straight married couples. Of course, in an attempt to appease the gay community, [...]

Representative Earl Blumenauer, democratic Congressman from Oregon,  said that voting in favor of DOMA was the worst mistake of his career.  On July 12, 1996, I cast the worst vote of my political career. Having served in public office since 1973, that says something. While I’ve made other mistakes, this was different: it was a deliberate vote that I [...]

Lambda Legal is calling for the swift passage of the Respect for Marriage Act sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York, John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan and two openly gay members of Congress, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado.   The longest serving openly gay Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts declined to sponsor the legislation. Today at [...]

On September 15th, 2009, Rep. Jerry Nadler from New York plans to introduce legislation to overturn the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act passed under the Clinton Administration which prevents the U.S. federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Gay representatives in the house, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) will co-sponsor the bill.   However, according to [...]

Law.com: “While the high-profile, Ted Olson- and David Boies-managed legal fight against California’s Proposition 8 captures headlines, a carefully planned case quietly underway in Massachusetts federal court could be the gay marriage test with the greatest national impact. The challenge, Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, is one of four lawsuits in different parts of [...]

Miami Herald: “A federal judge in Southern California has dismissed on a technicality a same-sex marriage lawsuit that created a rift between President Barack Obama and his gay supporters. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ruled Monday that the case challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act must be refiled in federal court.”