(HRC Back Story) Today, Adrian and I, along with four other leading LGBT organizations in Hawaii, delivered letters from members of the Hawaii Business Roundtable to the Governor. 23 HBR members – a full 50% – have come out in opposition to the original stance by the executive committee of the organization calling for a veto of HB 444, the civil unions bill. This was a significant development and complete turnaround following the news on June 10 th that Hawaii’s most prominent business policy working group had urged a veto of the bill.

(Wash. Times) As the Obama administration hustles to fulfill President Obama’s campaign promises to create equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, conservative groups are crying foul. This week, the Department of Labor announced that the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will now allow employees other than parents to …

(SFGate) Stuart Milk, the 49-year-old nephew of assassinated gay rights trailblazer Harvey Milk, has picked up his uncle’s torch and taken it across the country and the globe speaking about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. He co-founded the Harvey Milk…

(Advocate) An executive order signed by Illinois state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will give gay and lesbian employees of his office the same domestic partner benefits as married employees.

(HRC Back Story) Last week, HRC joined forces with the Council for Global Equality and other organizations to submit a report on civil and political rights to the U.S. Department of State. The report highlights ways in which the U.S.’s treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals does not comply with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and also suggests steps to ensure increased compliance going forward.

(HRC Back Story) Today, following up on an announcement made last October , the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a notice detailing new requirements pdf for groups receiving HUD grants. For the first time, these new rules require HUD grant recipients to abide by state and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing. Many states pdf and localities have adopted such laws and this grant condition will ensure that organizations operating federally-funded housing programs do not use taxpayer dollars to discriminate against LGBT people where prohibited by law. While this is a positive and welcome step, the majority of LGBT Americans do not live in jurisdictions with laws protecting them from housing discrimination.

(SFist) SF Appeal alerts us to the under-publicized Pride Rally 4 Equality march and rally today at Noon at Harvey Milk Plaza (Castro and Market). The march, which is inspired by the first rally and Gay-In in 1970 that spawned SF’s first Gay Pride Parade, is a celebration of the 41st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and a reminder that equality still has not been attained — Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell still stands, and same sex marriage is still illegal in thirty states. After the rally at Harvey Milk Plaza City Hall , the march will head to the Federal Building at 7th and Mission, where there will be a brief rally and distribution of the petition for full federal equality.

(Pride Source) MCC has teamed up with Equality Michigan to provide gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to publicly pledge their love while also standing up for equal rights.

(SFGate) In a significant move for same-sex couples, the Internal Revenue Service has decided to recognize California’s community property law and treat the income earned by California registered domestic partners as community property income for federal income tax… Internal Revenue Service – Domestic partnership – Same-sex relationship – Income tax – United States

(Gay Politics) Gallup’s 2010 poll on values and morality has found 53% of American adults believe gay relationships are morally acceptable. Forty-three percent say they are morally wrong. This is the first time the poll has found a majority of respondents who are okay with the concept of same-sex couples.