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Florida Atlantic University to Implement Domestic Partner Benefits
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Daily Archives: 07/18/2013
Despite delays, hope on gay rights issues
Official seal of City of Boca Raton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Marci Shatzman | Sun Sentinel | July 17, 2013
There was no groundswell to grant Boca Raton gay employees domestic partnership benefits or extend the city’s policy to cover their civil rights, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that married same-sex couples could qualify for federal benefits.
Councilwoman Constance Scott’s decision to bring those and two related matters up came at the end of the last city council meeting. “I recommend bringing all of them forward and having an opportunity to vote on them,” she said.
But after discussions, council directed staff to first ask Wellington, which has a domestic partnership policy, and the state Attorney General. That was seen as delaying tactics. But Scott and Rand Hoch, who heads the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, are still optimistic that Boca Raton city leadership will come around.
“I am hopeful our elected officials will recognize the importance of adopting policies that will provide protection against sex discrimination and gender expression,” Scott said in an email.
Is a discharge petition ‘the only way’ to pass ENDA?
Chris Johnson | Washington Blade | July 16, 2013
Gay McCain-Feingold co-author Trevor Potter says a discharge petition is “the only way” to pass ENDA. (Photo courtesy of Caplin & Drysdale via Wikimedia Commons).
The gay co-author of the bipartisan campaign finance reform law known as McCain-Feingold says LGBT advocates could take a lesson from the way that measure passed into law — a discharge petition in the U.S. House — to advance the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Trevor Potter, a Republican attorney with Caplin & Drysdale who specializes in political law, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday that a discharge petition is “the only way” to get ENDA passed while Republicans remain in control of the House.
“Given the House GOP leader’s opposition to ENDA, and resulting refusal to schedule it for a floor vote, the ONLY way to get it passed in the House is by way of a discharge petition,” Potter said via email. “If the petition gets close to 218 signatures, then the leadership will negotiate.”
ACLU sues state of Montana over benefits for gay couples
American Civil Liberties Union (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Associated Press | Missoulian | July 16, 2013
HELENA – A civil rights organization filed a new lawsuit against the state Monday on behalf of seven gay couples in an attempt to win for them the same benefits that married couples receive in Montana.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed its amended complaint after the state Supreme Court rejected its first lawsuit in December for being too broad and not identifying specific laws that are discriminatory.
In the amended lawsuit, attorney James Goetz identifies numerous statutes, including laws he says prevent gay couples from receiving financial protections given to police officers and spouses and from designating their partners as beneficiaries for worker’s compensation.
STUDY: Kids Are Impacted By Their Parents’ Relationship, Not Their Sexual Orientation
University of Massachusetts Amherst (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Zack Ford | Think Progress | July 16, 2013
A second study in as many weeks has found that adopted children are not impacted by the sexual orientation of their parents. Instead, what matters is how well parents support each other and how satisfied they are with the division of childcare labor.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Virginia, compared gay couples, lesbian couples, and heterosexual couples who had all adopted a child within the first few weeks of life after they’d been parenting for three years. It did observe differences in terms of how the couples divided labor: heterosexual couples assumed more traditional divisions of labor, with mothers doing more parenting work than fathers, while same-sex couples were more likely to equally share childcare tasks. This distinction, however, did not have any impact on children’s behavioral problems.
According to researcher Rachel Farr, it’s harmony that matters:
FARR: While actual divisions of childcare tasks such as feeding, dressing and taking time to play with kids were unrelated to children’s adjustment, it was the parents who were most satisfied with their arrangements with each other who had children with fewer behavior problems, such as acting out or showing aggressive behavior. It appears that while children are not affected by how parents divide childcare tasks, it definitely does matter how harmonious the parents’ relationships are with each other.
When there was greater pleasure and engagement between parents, children behaved better for all three family structures.
Illinois Gay Marriage Backers Announce $2 Million Campaign
Seal of Illinois. Center image extracted from Illinois flag. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On Top Magazine | July 17, 2013
Gay marriage supporters in Illinois have announced the launch of a $2 million statewide campaign to legalize gay nuptials in Illinois.
The announcement comes after a marriage bill stalled in the House after passage in the Senate. Its champion in the House, Democratic Representative Greg Harris, who is openly gay, tearfully announced on the House floor his decision not to call the bill for a vote during the spring session but instead to wait until the fall.
Illinois Unites for Marriage said its new campaign includes the hiring of a campaign manager, a field director and a faith organizer.
“I’m excited to lead this already strong leadership team,” said John Kohlhepp, the group’s newly-tapped campaign manager. “Our expanded leadership structure brings together labor, political, community and religious organizing, creating a ground-game that directly engages voters to win the freedom to marry in Illinois.”
US Olympic Committee to Graham: Boycotts of Games don’t work
United States Olympic Committee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Julian Pecquet | The Hill | July 17, 2013
The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) said Wednesday it “strongly” opposes calls for a U.S. boycott of the Winter Games in Russia, saying it would only hurt American athletes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told The Hill on Tuesday that the Obama administration should contemplate the drastic move if Russia grants asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. The Carter administration led an international boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan the previous year, but the war ground on for another decade.
“If there are any lessons to be learned from the American boycott of 1980, it is that Olympic boycotts do not work,” U.S. Olympic Committee spokesperson Patrick Sandusky said in a statement. “Our boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games did not contribute to a successful resolution of the underlying conflict. It did, however, deprive hundreds of American athletes, all whom had completely dedicated themselves to representing our nation at the Olympic Games, of the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Haiti Religious Leaders to March Against LGBT Community
Cathy Kristofferson | Oblogdeeoblogda | July 17, 2013
Just as marriage equality’ is being celebrated in England and Wales, religious leaders in Haiti become the latest to use the threat of similar marriage legislation coming to that island as an excuse to march against homosexuality. That, of course means, it is a march for hate and homophobia since inevitably one begets the other.
The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a public interest law office, sent out a press release today denouncing the march planned for Friday.
In Haiti, same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults – 18 and older – in private has been legal since 1986. The strong presence of the Catholic Church combined with years of political unrest, though, does not make life easy for LGBT community members. There are minority rights in the country’s constitution but they do not explicitly call out LGBTI as a protected minority. There is no legislation, existing or proposed, to prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and no political party has ever even endorsed LGBT rights.
Challenging gay immigration entry bans in Belize and Trinidad and Tobago
Cathy Kristofferson | Oblogdeeoblogda | July 15, 2013
Maurice Tomlinson, the Jamaican attorney and HIV activist who recently sued three Jamaican TV channels for refusing to broadcast gay positive public service announcements, will be in court again Wednesday. This time for the first hearing of his challenge to the immigration entry bans of both Belize and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The case has been brought in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) which is the highest court in the region.
The two countries are the only ones in the Caribbean, in fact the sole countries in the Western Hemisphere, with laws banning entry of homosexuals.
Section 5(1) of the Immigration Act of Belize reads:
“… [T]he following persons are prohibited immigrants – … (e) any prostitute or homosexual or any person who may be living on or receiving or may have been living on or receiving the proceeds of prostitution or homosexual behaviour….”
SCOTUS v. the Right to Vote: Three Strikes, but We’re Not Out
John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court justice. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
John Lamperti and Arlene Ash | Truthout | July 17, 2013
“Supreme Court Shreds Key Provision of the Voting Rights Act” was a typical news headline June 26, this one from the National Journal. According to Vermont’s Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, the court’s decision in the case known as Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General, et al. “effectively struck down the core” of the law. [1]”Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has protected minorities of all races from discriminatory practices in voting for nearly 50 years,” Leahy explained, “yet the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the coverage formula effectively guts the ability of Section 5 to protect voters from discriminatory practices.” Rep. John Lewis said the court’s decision “put a dagger in the heart” of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The 5-4 decision has been widely condemned, but undoing the damage anytime soon will be difficult.
This ruling is the third time in the past five years that the Supreme Court has struck a blow against fair elections. The infamous 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the door to vastly increased spending by special interests seeking to influence elections. In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the Citizens United decision “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. … A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, one of the last “moderate Republicans,” commented that “today’s decision was a serious disservice to our country.” The 2012 election campaigns were subsequently polluted by an obscene and unprecedented $7-plus billion in spending by campaigns, party groups and PACs, super PACs and “outside groups.”
Even so, an earlier and less well-known Supreme Court decision competes with these two for the damage it has done to electoral democracy. The Court’s 2008 ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board upheld a restrictive Indiana voter ID law. This cleared the way for a flood of state laws making it harder for many low-income and minority citizens to vote. Widely promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing think tank that produces “model” legislation for state legislatures, ID requirements and other restrictive voting laws plagued the 2012 elections in more than 30 states.
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