unmarried

March 4, 2013

EVENTS: Center for American Progress to host panel on the LGBT undocumented (March 8)

by • Legislation • Tags: , , , ,

flagsFrom the Center for American Progress:

Passing an immigration reform bill with a roadmap to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented individuals living in the U.S. would lift LGBT undocumented persons out of the shadows, treat them with the dignity they deserve, and enable them to become full and equal participants in our society, economy, and democracy.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion on the LGBT undocumented and the special obstacles they face, including their inability to sponsor their same-sex spouse or partner for residency, their frequent mistreatment while in immigration detention centers, their challenges while seeking asylum, and the solutions that lie ahead.

You can follow this event on twitter using the hashtag #Out4Citizenship.

Continue at Center for American Progress for details

February 15, 2013

Illinois Senate passes marriage equality bill

by • Across the Country, Legislation, Marriage • Tags: , , , ,

illinoisPerhaps the timing was a coincidence, but still delightful.

From NBC News:

Valentine’s Day turned out to be one for the (law) books for gay marriage proponents.

The Illinois Senate advanced a bill legalizing same-sex marriage Thursday, voting 34-21-2 in favor of the measure.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, called it “a vote for the history books.”

“We have the opportunity today to welcome all families in Illinois as equally valued,” she said.

Gov. Pat Quinn has already said he will sign the bill once it passes. The House still needs to pass the bill.

February 15, 2013

37 Senators sign letter to Obama for LGBT workplace protections

by • Legislation • Tags: , , , ,

Screen Shot 2013-02-15 at 5.55.24 AMFrom Think Progress:

A coalition of 37 U.S. Senators who support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) have signed a letter calling on President Obama to take action now to protect LGBT people from being fired for their identities. Though ENDA faces Republican obstruction in Congress, Obama could still sign an executive order requiring that federal contractors not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Hopes were high that he would address either ENDA or an executive order in his State of the Union, but he did not specifically mention either.

From the Senators’ letter:

Issuing an Executive Order that includes sexual orientation and gender identity is a critical step that you can take today toward ending discrimination in the workplace. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity would extend equal workplace rights to more than 16 million workers, and would help ensure that they are not forced into the ranks of the unemployed based solely on their sexual orientation or gender identity. But doing so would also serve another important purpose, one that is always on our minds as appropriators of American’s taxpayer dollars, namely, making the most efficient use of federal government resources. 

Continue reading letter

February 6, 2013

Senate introduces LGBT-inclusive Domestic Violence Act

by • Legislation • Tags: , , , ,

menfightFrom the Advocate:

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote to reauthorize an LGBT-inclusive version of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides help and resources for victims of domestic violence.

The bipartisan bill, which has 61 cosponsors, was introduced two weeks ago by senators Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, and Michael Crapo, and Republican from Idaho. On Monday it was pushed forward for a full vote.

Continue at The Advocate

October 18, 2012

Seniors turning to health exchanges as employers drop Medicare coverage

by • Aging, Healthcare, Legislation • Tags: , , , ,

From Think Progress:

As employers continue to find ways of cutting their health spending, an increasing number of firms have stopped offering supplemental health benefit plans to retirees on Medicare. Instead, companies are contracting with external insurance marketplaces — exchanges similar to the state-wide models mandated by Obamacare in 2014 — to provide Medicare-eligible retirees with a choice of supplemental plans to cover benefits such as hospital visits and prescription drugs, Kaiser Health News reports.

Continue at source

October 11, 2012

Voter ID laws a hardship for transgender voters

by • Across the Country, Legislation, Transgender • Tags: , , , ,

From ABC News: 

Oct. 10, 2012

Kit Yan, a slam poet from New York who performs in English, Chinese and even Hawaiian Creole to enthusiastic audiences on the college tour, is confident on stage, but not when he goes to the voting booth.

His shtik is his Asian race and gender identity, a topic he knows well. Yan, who is transgender, was born a woman but for a decade has lived as a man.

“It just throws people for a loop,” said Yan, 28. “I have trouble at the polling booth with people not believing that it’s me.” 

Continue at source 

October 10, 2012

lgbtSr contributor Judy Rickard and wife Karin Bogliolo on HuffPost Live

by • Judy Rickard, Legislation • Tags: , , , ,

Judy and Karin were recently on HuffPost Live as part of a discussion on the immigration challenges faced by binational same-sex couples.

Cross-posted from Judy’s blog:

Karin and I joined several others on a HuffPost Live Hangout today – October 9, 2012 – and talked about our lives as members of same-sex binational families. One guest was Victoria Neilson, legal director of Immigration Equality. The rest of us were partners and spouses in different scenarious facing DOMA – Defense of Marriage Act – and its discrimination against us – gay and lesbian American and non-American spouse couples.

Brian’s husband is facing deportation. Erik’s is undocumented. Tiffany’s wife can’t get back into America from Canada now, but they hope to be reunited soon. Tiffany’s son is livid, she says, about their family being torn apart. Karin and I are stuck in America together now – we started calling ourselves Prisoners of Love. We used to be Love Exiles when we were forced out together. Now we are coming up on two years here and we can’t visit family and friends outside America because Karin won’t be let back in, most likely. We can’t take that risk while we are in proceedings since I filed for a marriage-based green card.

So to see the HuffPost Live Hangout program, go to this site:

http://tinyurl.com/8qbb7ly

Continue at Judy’s blog.