Progressives are celebrating the string of four successes in marriage ballots last Tuesday, but if you dig deeper, the news is even better. In several key state governments, the level where many LGBT and women’s rights issues are determined, the sky got significantly bluer and/or conservative initiatives flopped. Drill down into all the analysis [...]
It’s been less than a week since Sandy (and the nightmare continues for many), but Tuesday night could be another wild ride. With the presidential election still close, and control of the Senate hanging in the balance, it’s going to be a bumpy night until all the results are in. For LGBT folks and allies, [...]
For better or worse – usually worse – the majority of states choose judges by popular vote, either initially or in retention elections following appointment. In a number of races around the country, the pro- or anti-gay positions of candidates for judicial office have become part of the debate. The best known example is Iowa [...]
Two years ago, voters in Iowa tossed out three justices of the state’s supreme court, after anti-equality forces mobilized anger against that court’s unanimous decision to require equal access to marriage. This year, Chief Justice David Wiggins is facing a retention vote, and supporters of the Varnum decision are trying to prevent a repeat of [...]
Beth Robinson, whose argument to the Vermont Supreme Court in Baker v. State produced the ruling that exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage was unconstitutional under that state's constitution, was sworn in yesterday as a Justice of the same court. Since handling Baker, which ultimately resulted in the state legislature enacting a civil union law, Robinson [...]
Judges Rosemary Barkett, Phyllis Kravitch, and William Pryor will decide two lgbt-related cases to be argued this week before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Barkett and Kravitch (who is on senior status) are two of the liberal members of what is usually a conservative circuit; they were appointed by Presidents Clinton and Carter, respectively. Pryor, considered [...]