Out in America Features» massachusetts

Barney Frank Retires

OIA Staff — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:24:42 +0000

Representative Barney Frank (D., Mass.), founding father of the National Stonewall Democrats and chair of the House Financial Services Committee, announced his retirement today in a surprise departure from Congress. At a press conference in Newton, Massachusetts Frank announced that he will retire after this congressional season and not seek a 17th term, leaving a [...]

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Massachusetts Passes Protections For Trans People

OIA Staff — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:37:33 +0000

We have learned that the Massachusetts House and Senate have passed the Transgender Equality Rights bill. This bill will protect the transgender community from discrimination in employment, education, housing and in situations where people face hate-based violence. Governor Duval Patrick is expected to sign the bill when it is handed to him. The bill does [...]

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Massachusetts Governor Signs Order Protecting Transgender State Employees

OIA Staff — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:35:12 +0000

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today issued two executive orders, numbers 526 and 527, which extend nondiscrimination protections to state employees on the basis of gender identity and expression, and apply to all state agencies and programs, as well as businesses that contract with the state. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force was pleased to [...]

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Springfield Cathedral High School athletic director Christine Judd loses job after same-sex marriage

OIA Staff — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:07:10 +0000

Christine M. Judd, who served as athletic director and dean of students, said she is no longer an employee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield school system after a meeting Wednesday with administrators of the Catholic high school. “I was given a choice of termination or resignation,” Judd said. “I married my partner this [...]

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Mass. judge who wrote gay marriage ruling retiring

OIA Staff — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:42:26 +0000

Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who wrote the landmark ruling making the state the first to legalize gay marriage, said Wednesday she’s retiring to spend time with her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease.Marshall said she would step down in October to be with her husband, former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, a two-time … [...]

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Is The Obama Administration Going to Appeal the Federal Marriage Ban Ruling?

OIA Staff — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:55:13 +0000

President Obama has never been in favor of marriage equality, however, there are troublesome rumblings that he is going to go so far as to directly stand behind the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. A Boston Federal Judge declared DOMA unconstitutional. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the activist group, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, who [...]

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Gay guys really are slimmer, study shows

OIA Staff — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:01:44 +0000

A new study shows that gay men really are leaner than straight men. And conversely, it also found that gay women tend to be heavier than their heterosexual counterparts. After scrutinizing a health survey of more than 67,000 Massachusetts residents between the ages of 18 and 64, the researchers found that 14 percent of gay [...]

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Barney Frank Says No Plans To Exclude Transgenders From ENDA

OIA Staff — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:25:35 +0000

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank says he won’t give in to pressure to exclude transgender people from a federal gay protections bill that has stalled out in committee. The main sticking point appears to be the inclusion of transgender protections. Frank, the bill’s sponsor in the House, has vowed to keep transgender rights in his bill. [...]

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Judge asked to strike down DOMA

OIA Staff — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:56:45 +0000

A lawyer for 17 gays and lesbians who wed in Massachusetts urged a federal judge today to strike down a 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union strictly between a man and a woman, calling it an unconstitutional intrusion on a matter previously left to states. Until Congress passed the Defense of Marriage [...]

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Mass. Legislature approves anti-bullying law

OIA Staff — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:56:48 +0000

The state Legislature has unanimously approved a state law cracking down on bullying, following two cases of Massachusetts youths committing suicide after allegedly being bullied. The legislation would require school employees to report all instances of bullying and require principals to investigate them. “We’re going to send out a message that this kind of behavior [...]

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Conservatives, I’m begging you: Leave animals out of your gay marriage talking points

OIA Staff — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:00:34 +0000

Sure we love our pets, but do we really ‘love’ our pets? Those crazy conservatives are always looking for ridiculous ways to skew the public’s opinion on same-sex marriage. Over the weekend, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who’s running against John McCain in Arizona’s Republican Senate primary, resurrected a preposterous old saw. Lamenting the Massachusetts Supreme [...]

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Will Obama Let Martha Coakley Have DOMA Declared Unconstitutional Without a Trial?

OIA Staff — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:36:42 +0000

Now that she’s not headed to Washington D.C., Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has some time to get back to that DOMA lawsuit she filed. And yesterday in new court papers (PDF here), she laid out her plans for getting the federal government to nix the discriminatory law: without a trial. [ via Queerty ] [...]

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LGBT Advocates Decry Efforts of Anti-Gay Marriage Group to Swing Senate Race to Brown

OIA Staff — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:05:51 +0000

Leaders in the LGBT community today responded sharply to reports that the National Organization of Marriage (NOM) placed thousands of robo-calls to Massachusetts voters on Saturday, urging them to defeat “radical” Martha Coakley because of her support of same-sex marriage. MassEquality and the Human Rights campaign were joined by Congressman Barney Frank and State Representative [...]

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9 Massachusetts High School Students RSVP’d for ‘Kill All Gay People’ Event

OIA Staff — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:33:41 +0000

Chelmsford High School, in the northeast corner of Massachusetts, is playing home to a police investigation after administrators were alerted to a Facebook event, set for Jan. 19, called “Kill All Gay People,” which at least nine students have RSVP’d for the event. [ Queerty ] Read the full article @ 9 Massachusetts High School [...]

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Same-sex Divorce Under Dispute in Texas

OIA Staff — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:03:01 +0000

One woman in Travis County is fighting for a divorce, but her spouse said the termination shouldn’t be recognized because same-sex marriage isn’t legal in Texas. Naylor and her partner married five years ago in Massachusetts, the only state to have legalized same-sex marriage at the time. Naylor’s spouse is challenging her request for a [...]

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Gay couples blast federal Defense of Marriage Act

OIA Staff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:54:31 +0000

Gay married couples suing the government over a federal law that doesn’t recognize same-sex unions say there is “no legitimate or plausible” reason for having a federal definition of marriage that excludes gay couples. The lawsuit was brought by seven gay couples and three widowers, all of whom were married in Massachusetts after it became [...]

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Obama Defends DOMA…. Again.

OIA Staff — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:40:17 +0000

While the Obama administration has repeatedly called the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) discriminatory and President Obama has vowed to work for its repeal, nevertheless the Obama Justice Department again defended the law in a court filing. In response to a lawsuit by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha M. Coakley, the Justice Department argued yesterday [...]

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Justice Department defends DOMA… AGAIN

OIA Staff — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:50:11 +0000

The Obama administration is again defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act while continuing to call for its legislative repeal in a new brief filed in response to an activist group’s lawsuit against the law. The U.S. Justice Department issued the document Friday in response to the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders’ [...]

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Are You Married?

OIA Staff — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:05:45 +0000

That is a question that will be asked on the 2010 US Census and it you’re heterosexual it’s a pretty easy question to answer. But not if you are a same-sex couple. Sure, if you live in Massachusetts and are married in the eyes of your state, or if you’re a single guy or gal [...]

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Rachel Maddow: Gay Marriage Saving Marriage in Massachusetts

OIA Staff — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:10:27 +0000

Rachel Maddow points out that since gay people started getting married in Massachusetts five years ago, divorce rates have descended to pre-1940 levels. Says Maddow: “Turns out gay marriage is a ‘defense of marriage’ act.” [ Towleroad ] Read the full article @ Rachel Maddow: Gay Marriage Saving Marriage in Massachusetts Read more articles @ [...]

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America’s First Black Lesbian Mayor Is Getting Married!

OIA Staff — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:43:55 +0000

Cambridge, Massachusetts, may be in the news lately for one race-based incident, but let’s turn that frown upside down: Denise Simmons, Cambridge’s mayor, is marrying her partner Mattie B. Hayes next weekend. [ Queerty ] Read the full article @ America’s First Black Lesbian Mayor Is Getting Married! Read more articles @ our blogBecome a [...]

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Mass. sues feds over definition of marriage

OIA Staff — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:56:56 +0000

Massachusetts has filed suit against the federal government. They claim that DOMA interferes with the state’s right to define marriage as they see fit. State Attorney General Martha Coakley filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Boston. [ Topix ] Read the full article @ Mass. sues feds over definition of marriage Read more [...]

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New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signs legislation granting the freedom to marry to same-sex couples

OIA Staff — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:50:14 +0000

‘Clearly this is a momentous day for New Hampshire – a state that holds individual liberty and fairness as core values.’ - National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey WASHINGTON, June 3 – The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force issued the following statement after New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed legislation [...]

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Complete Wedding Basics – 1, 2, 3

OIA Staff — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:13:33 +0000

The engagement was perfect: romance, wonder, laughter, tears and one gorgeous little band of white gold. It had been everything you’d envisioned, and everything your partner had longed for it to be. And now the pressure’s really on – Can the moment be topped? Can the two of you pull together the seemingly endless details [...]

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Impact Of MA Marriage For Same-sex Couples On Workforce, Economy

OIA Staff — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:48:18 +0000

After 5 Years of Extending Marriage to Gay Couples, New Studies Show Massachusetts Has Attracted Highly-Skilled Workers and Experienced Economic Boost of Over $100 Million On the eve of the fifth anniversary of same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts, two new studies released today by UCLA’s Williams Institute show clear economic gains for Massachusetts that have [...]

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The News We Use | General Gayety

OIA Staff — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:51:37 +0000

I’ve decided that it’s time. Time to test your knowledge of recent GLBT news. Circle the right answer for each multiple-choice question below. The correct answers are provided at the end. No cheating. I’ll know. 1. In Maine’s capital of Augusta, so many people wanted to attend the first public hearings on same-sex marriage that [...]

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Four Things You Didn’t Know About God and Same-Sex Marriage

OIA Staff — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:46:03 +0000

Last week, Iowa and Vermont joined Connecticut and Massachusetts to legalize same-sex marriage. Progressive religious voices and civil rights groups worked hard to help achieve these victories, moving us closer to our nation’s promise of equality and justice for all. Even so, conservative religious opponents are criticizing the victories, claiming that same-sex marriage violates the [...]

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Big Victories For Marriage Equality

OIA Staff — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:10:22 +0000

The Issue The state of Vermont made history on this week when it became the very first state to legalize gay marriage through the legislature rather than through a court decision. The Vermont House overturned Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto on gay marriage with a 100-49 vote; the veto was overturned in the Vermont Senate with [...]

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Vermont Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage!

OIA Staff — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:40:04 +0000

The Vermont legislature has just voted 100-49 to overturn the Governors veto of marriage. Vermont officially becomes the 4th state in the union to allow same-sex marriage after Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa. Thank you for all your hard work and congratulations!!! [ Queers United ] Read the full article @ Vermont Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage! Read [...]

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